In our unrelenting quest in solving our food supply problems, brilliant scientists and policy makers been harping on this great solution of everything.

"How about cloning animals for food, that will increase meat production for the masses?" says one native scientist

Rich corporate farmer replies : "What a utterly brilliant idea, lets push this draft to the FDA and get it passed."

I am so proud of myself for giving up eating mammals. A Boo boo to you mammal meat eaters!

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Food derived from cloned animals and their offspring

(Updated January 2008)

Introduction

Cloned animals and their products have been the subject of recent and increasing attention and discussion among government policymakers, research scientists, media and the general public in some countries.

In January 2008 the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) released its final risk assessment report see http://www.fda.gov/cvm/cloning.htm and the European Food Safety Agency released for public comment a draft opinion that the meat and milk from cloned animals is safe see http://www.efsa.europa.eu/EFSA/efsa_locale-1178620753812_1178685288301.htm .

What is cloning?

Animal cloning is an emerging technology involving a number of species including food producing animals, such as cattle, pigs, sheep and goats.

It is a different technology to genetic modification which allows food producers to alter certain characteristics of a food crop by introducing genetic material and proteins from another source - an example of this is a corn plant with a gene that makes it resistant to insect attack.

Cloning animals involves the replacement of all genetic material in an egg with a mature cell containing the complete genetic code from the donor animal to be cloned. The mature egg is then implanted into a surrogate mother who carries the cloned animal to term.

Are there cloned animals in Australia and New Zealand?

In Australia and New Zealand, the cloning of livestock animals which is restricted to small numbers of elite breeding stock, predominantly dairy and beef cattle (less than 100 in Australia) and small numbers of sheep, is still in the experimental stages.

Food Standards Australia New Zealand (FSANZ) has liaised closely with Australian and New Zealand leading researchers and industry in the livestock cloning area for several years now. FSANZ has been informed by those researchers that cloned animals produced by them are currently confined to the research environment and do not enter the food chain. In the future the cloned animal itself is unlikely to end up in the food supply as they are expensive experimental animals.

As cloning techniques continue to improve a number of countries are considering the issue of the safety of consumption of products from cloned animals, their progeny and further descendants.

FSANZ has been monitoring international developments on this issue for a number of years and has assessed the food safety evidence contained in the US Food and Drug Administration draft risk assessment report and will examine the findings of the final risk assessment.

For more information see: Review on the Current Status of the Extent and Use of Cloning in Animal Production in Australia and New Zealand 2003http://www.foodstandards.gov.au/_srcfiles/Cloning_Review_Final_June%202003.doc

Source: FSANZ

Recipe : Vegan Chermoula

Chermoula is a North African marinade used for meat, poultry and fish. It's a popular marinade used in Algerian, Moroccan and Tunisian cooking. Here I use it for vegetarian dishes like grilled eggplant, roasted capscium and squashes like zuchini or yellow squash.

The recipe is modified for Gerson Therapy cancer patients which omits strong aromatic spices and oils in their strict diet.

Recipe : Chermoula
Makes around 500ml marinade

Fresh Ingredients :

• 1 red onion
• 5 garlic cloves
• 90g organic coriander, including stalks
• 150g organic Italian Flat leaf parsley
• 1 strand saffron
• 1/2 bunch organic mint leaf

Other Ingredients :

• 1.5 Tablespoon Ras el Hanout
• 200ml Flax oil
• 1/2 lemon - juiced

Modified Ras el Hanout :
(roast the mixtured spices in low to medium heat in wok)

• 1 bay leaf (pounded finely)
• 1 teaspoon thyme (pounded finely)
• 1 teaspoon ground mace
• 1 teaspoon ground ginger
• 1 tablespoon ground coriander
• 1/4 teaspoon ground cumin
• 1/2 teaspoon ground anise
• 1/2 teaspoon ground allspice
• 1/2 teaspoon coriander seed (pounded finely)

Optional for Non GT patients :

• 1 teaspoon ground cumin
• I teaspoon turmeric
• 3/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 3/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• 1/2 teaspoon ground white pepper
• 1/2 teaspoon cayenne
• 1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
• 1/4 teaspoon ground cloves

Method

1. Blend in food processor for 1 min, all the fresh ingredients and roasted Ras el Hanout except flax oil and lemon juice. Texture should be pesto-like.
2. Slowly add small portions of Flax oil and lemon juice to the mixture till thick and paste form.
3. Cover marinade mixture to eggplant, sweet capscium or squashes. Grill.
   

Recipe : Sprouting your own food

Ever have trouble digesting beans or grains properly?
Want a great and cheap way to stay healthy?
Sprout them!

For those into Raw and Living Foods, sprouts are an essential part of the living diet.

The Lowdown on Sprouts:
- Enzymes , digestion and Nutritional info

Sprouted beans, grains, nuts and seeds essentially help to pre-digest complex carbohydrates and proteins by breaking down into simpler carbohydrates and free amino acids. It also removes anti-nutrients like phytates, enzyme inhibitors making it easy for the body to use less enzymes, hence easier for digestion. Some sprouts like seeds, grains and legumes even increase enzyme content such as proteolytic and amylolytic enzymes in our bodies. These are essential in digesting complex proteins and carbohydrates. Sprouted beans also helps reduce gas and flatulence in the body.

Some of the most nutritious are rye, fenugreek, wheat, mung bean, lentils, and alfalfa. The increase of vitamins in sprouts is tremendous during the sprouting period, compared to the unsprouted seed. Studies from India and Asia show increases in carotene and vitamin A, Dr. C.W. Bailey of the University of Minnesota showed, in a study attempting to establish the importance of enzymes in the human body, that vitamin C value increased by 600 percent in sprouted wheatgrass.

Many Brassicas sprouts (such as broccoli, cabbage, mustard, radish) contain high amount of anti-oxidants and increased vitamins and minerals.

According to John Hopkins University researchers estimates that a three day Broccoli sprouts contains 20 to 50 times the anti-oxidant compound sulfurophane than matured broccoli. Radish seeds may also have the anti-cancer potential according to Australian researchers (Australia Department of Primary Industries Queensland)

How to Sprout (takes 2-3days)

Sprouting is easy, a little time consuming, but its highly nutritious and great low budget option for those who find organic produce too expensive.

• Soak your beans in filtered clean water for 12-24 hours (depending on beans). Quality of water is important if you want your sprouts to taste great.
  

• Use a wide mouthed glass jar and filling up to one third of it with seeds. Sterilise the glass jar with hydrogen peroxide. Fit a piece of mesh (or muslin netting) over the mouth of the jar with a rubber band. The jar should be airy and slightly exposed.
  

• Rinse and drain the beans four times for every 8 hours, Find a cool place out of the sun to keep your jar tilted downwards at an angle to keep your beans oxygenated. Cover with tea-towel - beans need darkness to germinate.

• Rinse the beans with fresh filtered water. This is important. Germinated seeds/beans in our tropical and humid weather encourages bacterial and fungal growth. But regular rinsing with water oxygenates the seeds, preventing fungal growth. If sprouts smells bad, dump it and restart.

• When sprouts are ready, give them final rinse. Sprouted tail should be at least 2 times the length of the bean/seed

• Make sure the sprouts are completely drained of fluids and lightly moist. Store them in the fridge in a glass jar or zip-lock bag.

More information of sprouting times for various seeds and beans are found in http://www.sproutpeople.com

Further reference
-Book: "Sprout for the Love of Every Body"by author Viktoras Kulvinskas
- Raw and Living Food Website http://www.living-foods.com/articles/