When it comes to a
healthier approach,
organic foods might be
the new way to go.
BY SUZI BROZMAN AND SHELLI LIEBMAN DORFMAN
switched to eating only steamed broccoli and plain baked
n our good-intentioned efforts to lead a healthy
processed or cooked," Benblatt explains. "Natural foods
lifestyle, many of us have a stack of diet books
may or may not be organic, depending on how they're
potatoes," warranting her worried mother to take her to a
and magazines — gathering dust. But perhaps we
grown and how you treat them after they're harvested."
nutritionist. "It wasn't until I moved to Los Angeles in my
should forget those diets that never worked and look
at ourselves — and our eating habits — in a whole
new light.
Rabbi Hillel Norry of Congregation Shearith Israel in
mid-20s, while enrolled in grad school, that I really came
Atlanta is a strong advocate for organic eating. "Forget
to learn about eating sensibly," she says. "Understand-
everything you know about healthy eating," he says.
ably, this was where I learned to acquire a love for slimy
"We've been fed so much conflicting information; we've
raw tofu; drink large quantities of soy milk — before it was
healthy. Think about what you're eating that can be deadly,
had a data crash. Take B-12; take calcium; eat this; don't
fashionable — and beet, celery and carrot juices; and to
and not just for your hips. Think about foods that taste like
eat that. People eat food, not vitamin B-12. Nutritional
devour a variety of nuts."
what they're supposed to be.
information is important, but let's talk about food.
Think about foods that can help make and keep you
Do you sprinkle a spoonful of pesticides on your
"Food is what we eat. It's related to everything we
Her husband is Cantor Ben-Zion Lanxner of Congrega-
tion B'nai David in West Bloomfield, the son of a kosher
steamed broccoli? Or pour your kids a cold mug of growth
do. There is no single thing that is within our control to
butcher who grew up on "endless plates of stuffed kishka,
hormone to drink with lunch? No? Then why, ask propo-
improve our health and well being more than what we eat.
a delicacy he claims consisted of the jellied cartilage of
nents of organic foods, do you buy produce, meat and
That is what led me to adopt a healthy, organic, kosher,
cow's kneecaps, fried chicken skins and ground liver with
dairy products containing those contaminants? Ameri-
vegetarian lifestyle. Here was something I could do, quite
onions," she says. "Now that Benny is married to me,
cans, they contend, eat food that has been poisoned and
simply, and yet it had such a profound effect on my
these types of foods have become a distant memory."
processed beyond recognition, all in the name of shelf life
overall health."
a boon for the grocer but not for your body.
Norry says he made a "simple decision" to eat a whole-
But Sinai-Lanxner concedes, "Often, while I am out,
my husband, who is a wonderful cook, will use this time
food, vegetarian diet — "real food, not processed." That
to sneak and prepare himself a couple of days worth of
the simplicity of whole, pure, unprocessed foods, grown
means a baked potato rather than a box of scalloped po-
kosher meat for those moments when he feels he just can-
in clean earth and brought to you straight from the soil;
tatoes or French fries and a diet filled with grains, beans,
not take it anymore."
animals grown as nature intended; foods as they used to
fruits and vegetables.
The answer, organic advocates say, can be found in
be, before long-distance trucking and corporate farming
He can't make any promises, but Norry says that when
As sales grow, mainstream grocers and consumers are
getting better educated. U.S. sales of organic foods were
required the introduction of methods and ingredients to
you adopt his healthy lifestyle, body changes occur. "One
estimated at $16 billion in 2004. Whole Foods' Benblatt
keep foods fresh long enough to get to market.
loses weight, has fewer stomach and digestive problems,
says: "The category is growing. Even traditional and con-
will be more regular, with less reflux. Blood pressure and
ventional grocers realize there are people out there who
ing to U.S. Department of Agriculture national organic
cholesterol tend to go down, and you can even begin to
want to eat natural and organic foods. We like to feel we
standards and certified by an accredited organization.
reverse heart ailments."
Organic food has been grown and processed accord-
fertilizers or sewage sludge, or bioengineering or ionizing
BYE-BYE BURGERS
radiation. Organic meat, poultry, eggs and dairy products
A vegetarian since she was 8 years old, Susan Sinai-
must come from animals given no antibiotics or growth
Lanxner of West Bloomfield learned about eating healthy
hormones. These animals most often must be allowed to
are helping bring people to a place where they feel that's
what they want to do."
Produce is grown without using most pesticides, synthetic
slowly. As a child, she stopped eating meat after
What does Judaism say about being healthy and
eating healthy?
"It is a core Jewish belief that we are each created in
the Divine image," says Rabbi Jason Miller, former associ-
range free, not be kept in a coop or barn for their entire
watching a TV show on animal slaughter and pack-
ate director of University of Michigan Hillel Foundation in
lives.
inghouses. "I realized our hamburgers and my favorite
Ann Arbor. "Therefore, the care of our body is an essential
Some people say organic foods are higher in nutri-
beef-filled tacos came from the insides of an animal," she
value for us to maintain in our desire to be holy like God.
ents; others say they reduce health problems, like some
remembers. "From that moment, I cut 'flesh' out of my life."
cancers. Others say they just taste better. Everyone says
For many years after, practically all she ate was instant
In fact, our tradition regards the body as a precious gift
given to us from God, and we therefore want to respect it
white rice and grilled-cheese sandwiches, until her pe-
and take good care of it. We should be mindful to perform
diatrician discovered her iron levels were extremely low,
those actions that will maximize our good health — eat-
ing manager for Whole Foods Market, says it's easy to
requiring her to take "two spoonfuls a day of disgusting
ing the right foods in the right amounts, regular exercise,
confuse organic foods with natural foods. "Organic refers
brown syrup loaded with iron and vitamins."
routine medical checkups — and to avoid behaviors we
they cost more.
Confused? You're not alone. Russ Benblatt, a market-
to the way food is grown. Natural refers to the way it is
28 •
SEPTI. liF;12 2o() • JNPLATINUM
From her teens to early 20s, Sinai-Lanxner says, "I
know to be detrimental to our body." Li