The Survive and Thrive Boomer Guide

How is Trump’s tax act affecting you?

On Saturday afternoon, I mailed in my income taxes for 2018. Instead of getting a refund of around $1,000 like I do most years, my refund was $170.

The TurboTax representative I spoke to said deductions that were helpful to me in the past, such as for my small business and charitable donations, have been eliminated.

So while Trump’s tax revisions are helping the rich, they have no benefit for me. That huge corporations pay little or nothing in income taxes and I’m paying more is discouraging. I don’t mind paying my fair share of taxes. I support good schools, roads, and bridges. But Trump’s tax law is making the rich even richer.

Consumer groups sue over USDA’s roll back of school nutrition standards

The Trump administration violated the law when it rolled back nutrition standards for school meals, according to a lawsuit filed Wednesday in federal court.

The violations occurred when the U.S. Department of Agriculture issued a final rule that weakens nutrition standards on the amount of whole grains and sodium served in school meals, the lawsuit contends. The weakened standards put about 30 million children, including about 22 million low-income children, at greater risk of health issues associated with diets high in sodium and low in whole grains.

The plaintiffs, the Center for Science in the Public Interest and Healthy School Food Maryland, represented by Democracy Forward, are asking the court to set aside the rule lowering the nutrition standards and require the agency to follow Congress’s requirement to set school nutrition standards based on nutrition science as reflected in the Dietary Guidelines for Americans.

Which store has the cheapest ingredients for a stew?

Last week, I was coming home and I realized I forgot to stop at the local co-op to get the ingredients I wanted to make a crock pot stew. Instead of driving back across town, I decided to stop at Safeway and shop there instead.

My priority in buying groceries is to purchase as much organic food as I can. So, at Safeway, I set about buying organic vegetables for the stew. I was shocked when I got to the checkout and found out that the large sweet potato that I selected cost $3.41 cents.

I decided to compare prices and see if the makings for the stew were cheaper at my local co-op, Safeway, or Trader Joe’s. I’ve shopped at Trader Joe’s a few times recently because I heard an article on National Public Radio that said it had good prices and service.

Here’s the comparison for the stew ingredients:

Marion Nestle investigates food industry sponsored research in her latest book

Every time I hear about how research shows a food, such as coffee, is good for you, I wonder who paid for the research.

Marion Nestle, consumer activist, nutritionist, and professor, looks at research paid for by food companies in a new book.

In “Unsavory Truth: How Food Companies Skew the Science of What We Eat,” Nestle reveals how millions of dollars flow from corporations and trade groups to research laboratories at colleges and universities, distorting how consumers think about food and health. The ultimate goal of this research is to promote sales of their products.

7 cancer-causing food additives widely used in foods banned by the FDA

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has banned seven chemicals used in artificial flavors that have been linked to cancer in animals.

“Chemicals that could cause cancer should never have been allowed in our food in the first place, especially not hiding behind the confusing label of ‘artificial flavors,’” said Melanie Benesh, the Environmental Wording Group’s legislative attorney. “The FDA finally did the right thing by taking this important step to better protect consumers.”

The EWG and other environmental and public health groups petitioned the FDA for the ban.

No amount of alcohol is safe, global study shows

A new study finds there’s no safe level of drinking alcohol.

The study shows that in 2016, nearly 3 million deaths globally were due to alcohol use, including 12 percent of deaths in males between the ages of 15 and 49. The report was published Thursday in the medical journal The Lancet.

“The health risks associated with alcohol are massive,” said Emmanuela Gakidou, Ph.D., professor of global health at the University of Washington School of Public Health and the senior author of the study. “Our findings are consistent with other recent research, which found clear and convincing correlations between drinking and premature death, cancer, and cardiovascular problems. Zero alcohol consumption minimizes the overall risk of health loss.”

The worst chain restaurant meals for 2018

 

The Cheesecake Factory Breakfast Burrito

The Cheesecake Factory’s Breakfast Burrito is the “winner” of the 2018 Xtreme Eating Award for the Worst Way to Start the Day. It’s the nutritional equivalent of seven Sausage McMuffins from McDonald’s. The burrito is one of two Cheesecake Factory items among the awards issued for 2018 by the Center for Science in the Public Interest, a consumer advocacy group.

The Breakfast Burrito is a “warm tortilla filled with scrambled eggs, bacon, chicken chorizo, cheese, crispy potatoes, avocado, peppers and onions, over spicy ranchero sauce” that is served with sour cream, salsa, and black beans, according to The Cheesecake Factory. The meal has more than a day’s worth of calories, 2,730; two days’ worth of sodium, 4,630 milligrams; and more than three days’ worth of saturated fat, 73 grams.

“Long gone are the days when a big restaurant meal was an occasional splurge,” said Lindsay Moyer, senior nutritionist for the center. “Americans are eating out more than ever before. So when restaurant chains are serving up 2,000 calories or more on a single plate, it’s easy to see why people continue to struggle with overweight, obesity, and diet-related diseases.”

20 books to read about food this spring

The Food Tank is recommending 20 new books on food and agriculture to celebrate spring. Topics include the paradox of obesity and malnutrition, building strong communities through socially-conscious food systems, and the essential link between food and healt

Books are from Italy, Puerto Rico, Australia and many other countries.

The reading list includes:

1. “Bread is Gold,” Massimo Bottura

2. “Eat a Little Better: Great Flavor, Good Health, Better World,” Sam Kass

3. “The Faces of Local Food: Celebrating the People Who Feed Us,” Charlotte Caldwell

4. “Food from the Radical Center: Healing Our Land and Communities,” Gary Paul

5. “Food Is the Solution: What to Eat to Save the World,” Matthew Prescott

How to reduce the amount of harmful pesticides you and your children eat

All adults and children should eat more fruits and vegetables, whether they’re organic or conventionally grown, most diet plans and health care professionals recommend. The EWG’s 2018 Shopper’s Guide to Pesticides in Produce can help you choose healthy produce while cutting down on unwanted doses of toxic pesticides.

Pesticide residues are common on conventionally grown produce, even after it’s washed or peeled. The EWG's analysis of the most recent tests by the U.S. Department of Agriculture found that nearly 70 percent of samples of conventionally grown produce were contaminated with pesticide residues.

The USDA tests found 230 different pesticides and pesticide breakdown products on the thousands of produce samples analyzed. The EWG's review of the tests shows that there are big differences among various types of produce. The Shopper's Guide lists the Dirty Dozen fruits and vegetables with the most pesticide residues, and the Clean 15, for which few, if any, residues were detected.

9 reasons planting an awesome vegetable garden can improve your life

By Kevin Rodrigues, a developer-turned-blogger, blogging at Gardening Mentor

It’s your dream. You want to grow an awesome vegetable garden and reap the benefits. But, growing a vegetable garden is much more than just getting vegetables.

Sure you’ll be enjoying a harvest of wonderful food on your plate. But, planting a vegetable garden can improve your life as well. Your health and well-being will be transformed for the better. And, you’ll save some money in the process.

So, I hope you’re ready for the wonderful benefits of growing a vegetable garden.

1. You’ll start hating vegetables

Yeah, really. But only the ones that you buy from grocery stores. Once you grow your own vegetables, you’ll wonder how you could have eaten the store-bought ones. The problem with them is they’re grown for a profit. And growing for profit tends to compromise on the quality and flavor of the vegetables.

That’s because these vegetables are harvested days before they ripen, then transported across the country to a grocery store near you. And, the more time a vegetable spends on the shelf, the more it loses flavor and nutrients.

When you grow your own vegetables, you’ll harvest them when they are ready and not before. So you get to eat the vegetables when they’re the most nutritious and flavorful.

And, once you experience the awesome taste of fresh vegetables, there’s no going back to the store-bought ones.