BPA is Not Your Friend

That's right - BPA is no bueno. If you are a mom of a young child (like me) you probably know this. If you aren't, you probably don't. It wasn't until I was pregnant with Alex that I started realizing that BPA wasn't something to mess around with. So I did what any new mom-to-be would do: I only bought bottles, pacifiers, and toys marked "BPA free", but continued to prepare meals with cans of beans, tomatoes, and my Sparkletts #7 water bottles. After Alex was born, I realized that if something isn't good for him, it's probably not good for anyone else either. So I started investigating (slippery for someone like me, I do realize).

Spare yourself the agony of Googling "BPA". Trust me. It sucks. It's, like, one of the worst things ever to be created. If you read my last post "Finding Peace as a Meat Eater" you know I am extreme, but also try to find balance. Of course, I will never be able to rid myself of this terrible chemical entirely, unless I never eat at a restaurant or use a food processor, or have that darn cranberry sauce out of a can at Thanksgiving. However, there is so much I can do to limit my exposure on a daily basis - when I cook at home - that I wanted to share with you. These are the ways to limit your exposure to BPA:

- let food cool a little before placing it in a food processor. BPA is most often leached when food is stored in the container or as the temperature rises. A quick 30 seconds in a food processor isn't going to do much, if anything...so process away! Making anything with fresh ingredients at home is still, like, 1,000 times better than buying a processed mess at a local store. 

- do your homework on canned foods (or keep reading and I'll tell you...). Companies like Trader Joe's and Eden offer a wide selection of canned goods that are BPA free. Trader Joes' canned corn, beans, and meats use BPA free lining. Eden has a wide variety of beans in BPA-free cans as well. Here is the link to read more: http://www.treehugger.com/green-food/7-companies-you-can-trust-to-use-bpa-free-cans.html

- NEVER BUY CANNED TOMATOES. If anyone ever finds tomatoes in a BPA free can, I may just have to make a batch of Chocolate Chip Cookies for you to show my appreciation, because - as far as I know - they don't exist...something about the acidity in the tomatoes is too harsh...yada yada yada. This raises a red flag for me. If tomatoes' acidity is so strong, imagine the toll the can takes. No thank you! Instead, buy Pomi tomatoes. They come in a BPA free carton. While they aren't organic (boo!), they are not genetically modified (oh, don't even get me started on this...). I'll trade a little pesticide for a hormone-mimicking chemical any day. Whole Foods sells them, or you can order them online for a reasonable price. (Hint: if you go to Vitacost.com, you get FREE shipping on orders over $50. They are also available on Amazon (sometimes with Prime!). Here's more info from Pomi's website if you're interested: http://www.pomi.us.com/images/presslinks/PomiTomatoes_BPAFreeAlternativetoCans_EatDrinkBetter.pdf

Darn it all to heck! The baby just woke up. I wanted to post my recipe for the BPA-free spaghetti sauce I made last night. Oh well, that'll have to wait until next time.

In the spirit of my Italian Pomi tomatoes...

...Buona Sera!