Yep, I worked at the Dairy Queen.I was 15. Brian Crawford worked at the Dairy Queen. I had a crush on him, on and off, through high school, so working at the DQ seemed like the right thing to do. (For some reason, the owners of our little Libby, MT, DQ only once let us work our hormone-laden shifts together. True tragedy.) I worked there for a whole month until I got the much more coveted job of working at the video store. Free VHS rentals = assumption of giant increase in popularity. (Not really sure that worked.)
DQ? I made a lot of root beer floats during that month. I also accidentally made a lot of unordered Blizzards that I needed to eat instead of letting go to waste. Bummer.
-Heather...off to buy some Ben and Jerry's...
Another great organic dairy, at least in Northern California is the Straus Family Dairy.
Wish I could say this is a great tip, and I grew up lovin’ root beer floats, but this is a disaster for our health. Do your research about milk and dairy products. I’ve eliminated them from my diet, and I feel much better now. Take a look at http://www.notmilk.com for some great resources. The world-wide scientific research doesn’t exactly match the National Dairy Council’s PR campaign.
I have to say the same thing about root beer, unfortunately. It was always my favorite growing up. But all carbonated beverages are terrible for your bones.
And to top it off, all the processed sugar is a disaster.
Ok, so what to do instead? Try a raw coconut smoothie, made with the white young Thai coconuts you see in Asian markets and some grocery stores. Cut open the top and drain the sweet delicious water into a blender. Scoop out the creamy smooth fruit along the side of the coconut. Add your favorite (organic) fruit to flavor. Add ice and blend. Yumm!
Not sweet enough? Add a date or two, or if you can find it at a health food store, the ground up leaf of the stevia herb (order a pound from http://www.wholespice.com). Unbelievably delicious and great for your body and mind!
For an adult version, try some Wolaver’s organic oatmeal stout with a scoop of organic vanilla or coffee icecream. If you can find Strafford Organic Creamery icecream, that is the best.
Also, if you have an espresso machine, try mixing a shot of espresso, and a drizzle of maple syrup into a pint of the Wolaver’s stout.
Cheers!
Or, just drink H2O, cheaper, better for you, and re-hydrating!
Water may be cheaper but definitely not as fun. If we can’t have fun while saving the planet, why bother?
None of the products listed are available locally to me but we have organics from other companies available and have been making organic floats for years now. Have never used a straw with a rootbeer float though, but then I am not a big straw using person for anything.
Yay Steve! Thanks for putting me back on track about dairy products, carbonated beverages and sugar. Before we can heal the planet, we have to heal ourselves, and that starts with a paradigm shift in our thinking about the animal footprint and the food we put into our mouths.
If you must you straws, like my kids, I found some plastic reusable ones from Crate & Barrel. You do have to rinse them out soon after use because they are hard to clean inside if they get stained.
I was going to comment on the sugar - and then read Steve’s comment on the carbonated beverages ... right on! I cut soda out of my own ‘diet’ about a month ago [tough thing to do!] and I still get the cravings for it from time to time. I wonder, is selzer water also as bad as regular carbonated water? Seems like you can make your own “root beer” with a little flavoring, some stevia and some selzer water. Add some soy ice cream and you’ve got it made. Seems like that should work ...
Sorry - I think O forgot the ‘t’ in seltzer… oops…
AND I can’t seem to type today anyway.
The notmilk site is not entirely good science - while there are some well-substantiated bits, a half of what I read there doesn’t stand up to scientific scrutiny (I have a PhD in biology). For example, BGH doesn’t affect humans - it’s digested like any other protein.
That being said, there is good evidence that other things in milk can be a problem - such as the increased estrogen in milk due to BGH treatment. I use and enjoy local organic milk and cheeses. The local cream made fantastic vanilla ice cream for my occasional (maybe 8 a year?) floats.
I have not checked out the notmilk.com site, but have definitely read about many studies indicating that rBGH IS bad for us. In fact the US is the only industrialized country that allows milk with rBGH.
But I wanted to write back and say that from what I saw briefly online, it seems that carbonation is not bad for you- it is the other things in soda. It seems this is a widespread myth. I don’t know for sure, but what I read made sense. I usually drink seltzer in place of soda, when I feel like a bubbly drink.
Organic milk would not contain rBGH/rBST. However the use of the hormone is falling in the U.S. even. Just a week ago, Kroger foods announced that they will be rBGH free in 2008. They are one of the nation’s largest food marketers.
The problem I have with most dairies though is the treatment of the animals. High Density Factory Farming should be outlawed. I get my dairy products from a California organic dairy that has their cows in a pasture 280 days a year and they live close enough that I can drive to the facility and get a tour if I want to. However, I think your diet and how meat is obtained are most suitable for other tips.
I’d try the coconut smoothie but no one local sells organic free-trade coconuts or coconut milk. Just have to leave it until I travel to Thailand.
Have you ever gone to a website called Tropical Traditions? http://www.tropicaltraditions.com/
They carry a plethora of coconut products and their shipping charges are very reasonable. I’ve been purchasing from them for nearly five years now and have never been disappointed. I believe that just about everything they sell is organic.
Thanks for the link but am trying to cut down on mail order shipping. I live in California which produces almost 400 million metric tons of CO2 every year. More than half of that is from vehicles. While I don’t live in a completely rural area, I do live 60 miles northwest of Los Angeles and we do not have direct shipping here. By purchasing from local stores, the emissions are spread out over a much larger batch of products and overall reduces total emissions in the state. Especially since diesel emissions are not currently regulated in the state like gasoline automobiles.
Therein lies the biggest problem, doesn’t it? It would be great to be able to jump on a bicycle, peddle over to the nearest Ma & Pa shop and buy all the local organic stuff we need. That’s not the case for the majority of us, however. Of course, we Americans have become very spoiled by the sheer variety of things we can purchase; if we were all forced to shop only at the local farmer’s market once a week our lifestyles would be much different than they are. To paraphrase DD’s post, “Before we can heal the planet, we have to heal ourselves” ... I am still very much working on ‘ME’. :o)
Another delicious organic root beer is Maine Root root beer. Go here for more info http://www.maineroot.com
All of the above are valid comments. A couple of things, however.
While I don’t believe that the article is promoting a diet of root beer floats, that on the odd occasion one treats oneself, then maybe use organic products, rather than the mass produced one.
The slow food and “locovore” movements promote looking for local products that don’t promote CO2 emmissions. go to Farmer’s Markets, buy local, seasonal products (don’t buy strawberries in December, they obviously come from South America ... little things like that) Do a little research. If your local market doesn’t carry local produce (things grown within 100 miles) work with or ask managment to do so. Be proactive!
One other resource about nutrition if you like science to provide the basis for your decisions is “The China Study: The Most Comprehensive Study of Nutrition Ever Conducted and the Startling Implications for Diet, Weight Loss and Long-term Health “ by T. Colin Campbell. It’s actually a fascinating read that summarizes the lifetime implacations of a leading MIT professor on the diets of a western audience.
He grew up on a dairy farm (in Viriginia?) and watched his parents and older generation get the typical western diseases (and die from them). He knew from his nutrition research the linkages between diet and health, so he and his son worked to publish this non-academic book for lay people.
I found it fascinating and recommend it as the best summary of nutritional knowledge and its impacts on our health.
On a related note, I have to add that meat and animal product diets are the worst environmental option. Farming for livestock consumes the most oil and is the least efficient use of land to feed the human population. The most efficient use of land is for fruit trees, followed by vegetables/grains, etc. Grow a garden if you can!
1. Root beer floats, two thumbs up.
2. HELP! The link for the biodegradable straws does not work...any other recommendations? I use straws a lot, and for hot beverages like coffee which I am now realizing is not so good for me…
Posted by: Laura | August 08, 2007 at 05:24 AM