It seems that each trip to the grocery store cuts further into the household budget, already strained by high gasoline prices. And as difficult as dealing with the high price of fuel has been, high food costs are an even bigger strain as we spend more of our income on food than we do on gas – about 13% vs. 4% on average.

So how do we cope? As simplistic as it may sound, the ways in which to cut food costs in 2008 is not that different than it was in 1988 or 1968. The principles remain the same, it’s the urgency that is heightened. Preparing more food in the kitchen rather than eating out several times a week or purchasing ready-to-eat foods will cut down on the overall cost of food. Currently, of the 13% of the household budget spent on feeding ourselves and our families, only about 7.5% is spent on groceries eaten at home, the rest is the cost of food when eaten out.

Clearly, cooking and baking more will decrease the cost of food. However, that means spending more time in the kitchen, time which you may not have. Begin by using food preparation as an excuse for a family activity. Rather than ordering pizza from the local pizza place, make homemade pizza crust and have everyone choose their own toppings. Grain-based foods have traditionally been an inexpensive way to create a wholesome meal. That has not changed. The bottom line is – low-cost plus 30% is still low-cost by comparison. Increasing the amount of pasta, bread – especially whole grain – products, tortillas, and rice in family meals will allow other, more expensive food products to go further.

Checking weekly newspapers for big sale items and purchasing in larger quantities if you have room to store will save money in the long run. Flour, bread, pasta, cookies and other grain-based food products can easily be stored in the freezer extending their usable life. Check for those products that are close to their expiration date. Retailers often have a separate section of the store for discounted items that are about to expire. Most food, even perishable food, still has several days or a week in which it is still good.

Remember all those tricks your mother and grandmother did in order to save at the grocery store? They are still relevant today. How do you save on your food bill?

Creating healthy children is an issue on which everyone agrees no matter your age, gender, economic level or political party. To this end the Wheat Foods Council is collaborating with Spoons Across America an organization dedicated to educating children, teachers and families about healthy eating. Like WFC, Spoons Across America strives to influence the eating habits of children through hands-on education that celebrates the connection to local cuisine and sharing meals around the table.

What does sharing meals and knowing from where your food comes have to do with combating obesity you ask? You might be interested to know that kids who habitually eat at home with their parent(s) are much more likely to eat healthier foods as well as avoid self destructive behaviors.

Wheat Foods Council has a long history of providing consumers and the media with educational materials that include nutrition information, appropriate portion size and the origins of food. Because of SAA’s dedication to educating children with healthy eating habits, and the focus behind our cookbook, the Council has decided to donate a portion of the proceeds from our 35th anniversary cookbook sales to this organization. Check them out and see all the different initiatives in which they are involved in creating healthy children.

According to the Department of Commerce, Census of Manufacturers, per capita flour consumption rose 3 pounds in 2007 to 137.5 pounds. This is the second consecutive year we have seen an increase. For those in the grain industry, this is good news indeed! After several years of dealing with low- and no-carb diets, flour consumption going up is great to hear. Not only is this good for the industry but great news for the general health of Americans. The Dietary Guidelines stress the importance that grains, and particularly whole grains, play in a healthy diet. Research continues to support this as well.

We addressed this subject last November when trends then were showing flour consumption to be on the upswing. This confirms the continuation of our work here at the Wheat Foods Council and provides the impetus for us to do more. Having grain-based foods as part of a daily diet is a good foundation for that. New research from the Medical College of Wisconsin – Milwaukee, shows that low-fat diets are more effective in preserving and promoting a healthy cardiovascular system than low-carb Atkins’ type diets. Low-carb diets tend to be high in fat, which in turn impedes arterial blood flow. The study was published in the February 2008 edition of the scientific journal Hypertension.

The WFC continues to educate the public about the health benefits of grain through our programming, nutrition education materials and website. These include, but are not limited to weight control, decreased risk of diabetes, cardiovascular disease and certain cancers, as well as a whole host of others. The rise in flour consumption is due, in part, to programs like ours that communicate the science-based information in an easy-to-understand way for Americans of all ages. As a nutrition education-based organization, we want the health of Americans to be the best it can be.

Have you increased your grain-based food consumption? If so how? Any favorite grain foods on your list? Please tell us your thoughts.

If you said that it’s a way for youth and their families to develop, practice and use their interest in baking and then give it away, you would be absolutely right!  Simply put, it is an opportunity to do something nice for someone else and have fun in the kitchen too.

Created in 1972 in Kansas by the Wheathearts, a state promotion organization, it was originally celebrated on the last Saturday in March to encourage baking homemade goodies made with wheat or wheat products and sharing with friends or neighbors.  It has now expanded to include the entire month of March.

The idea is to get people into the kitchen and bake something to share.  I did this a few nights ago by making banana bread.  Not only was it delicious for breakfast the next morning, but it was nice to have on hand when some friends dropped by the next day.  A second loaf is destined for an elderly neighbor.  See how simple it is!

Have you baked anything this month?  If so, what?  Was it for a special event like a birthday cake or just something for your family?  Share your ideas here and Happy Baking!

Feature Recipe click here.

March 10, 2008 is the first ever Registered Dietitian Day. Why should you care? Managing nutritional issues has risen to the top of health care concerns. Having a registered dietitian to whom you can routinely turn is becoming as important as having a physician to manage medical needs. Here are a few reasons why:

• Registered Dietitians (RDs) are food and nutrition experts who can translate the science of nutrition into practical solutions for healthy living.

• Registered Dietitians have degrees in nutrition, dietetics, public health or a related field from well-respected, accredited colleges and universities. They have also completed an internship and passed a national examination.

• Registered Dietitians use their nutrition expertise to help individuals make unique and positive lifestyle changes.

• Registered Dietitians work throughout the community in hospitals, schools, public health clinics, nursing homes, fitness centers, food management, food industry, universities, research and in private practice.

• Registered Dietitians are advocates for advancing the nutritional status of Americans and people around the world.

People are amazed to discover how small lifestyle changes, such as adding more vegetables or whole grains to daily eating plans, quickly add up and pay big health dividends over time. It is the RD who uses his/her nutrition expertise to help these folks make just this type of positive lifestyle change. Consulting an RD will enable you to not only address nutrition and health problems as they occur, but most importantly, prevent problems that are potentially looming down the road.

Still a skeptic? Check out this web site for specific issues registered dietitians solve for people like you every day.

Even better news is that many health insurance plans now cover visits to a registered dietitian. So celebrate health and help honor an RD today!

by Steve Mercer, Director of Communications, U.S. Wheat Associates

A unique combination of weather-related production issues and rising global demand for agricultural commodities is spurring wheat prices to all time highs. This is making flour users nervous. Some independent bakers are even calling for the government to intervene in the U.S. wheat market to protect domestic supplies.  

As the export market development organization funded and directed by wheat growers, U.S. Wheat Associates (USW) believes the global marketplace is strong and flexible enough to manage this problem. U.S. farmers must be allowed to freely respond to today’s market signal: It is time to produce more wheat!

The wheat marketplace is global, with world supply and demand heavily influencing U.S. wheat prices and U.S. producers heavily influencing world supply. Our own people only consume half of the wheat we produce every year. The other half is purchased by more than 90 other countries which cannot produce enough wheat to meet domestic demand.

Dig deeper and you will find that U.S. wheat producers find themselves in one of two categories: those who can only grow wheat and those who can grow other crops that offer good income potential. Any intervention by our government to separate our overseas customers from the U.S. wheat supply they have come to rely on would artificially bring down prices in the short term. It would also remove a critical economic incentive for U.S. farmers to produce more wheat in the long term—exactly the opposite of what is needed today and into the future.

Growers in the U.S. and around the world are responding to today’s tight supply and higher prices by planting more wheat. In fact, the International Grains Council recently forecast that the world is likely to produce a record 642 million metric tons of wheat in the coming year if there are no serious weather problems. We hope that good growing conditions prevail in the U.S. and around the world—and that our domestic flour users seek solutions to their short-term challenges in the marketplace instead of in the halls of government.

Read More. USW constantly tracks, analyzes and reports on world wheat supply and demand. This information can help growers, millers, wheat buyers, bakers and other flour users manage their supply and costs more efficiently. We invite everyone to visit our Web site at www.uswheat.org. There you can sign up for our bimonthly Wheat Letter for news and information, read the Price Report posted every Friday after the markets close, and study the World Wheat Supply and Demand Situation report updated every month after the USDA issues its World Agricultural Supply and Demand Estimates.

More good news about folic acid! In addition to helping reduce several birth defects, folic acid supplementation for one year before conception may now significantly reduce the risk for preterm births, according to a new study involving more than 38,000 women.

Dr. Radek Bukowski, MD, PhD, from the University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston, and colleagues analyzed data from women who had participated in the First And Second Trimester Evaluation of Risk, or FASTER trial, sponsored by the National Institutes of Health. About 20 percent of the participants, or 6,777 women, had taken folic acid supplements for at least one year before becoming pregnant, 36 percent had taken folic acid for less than one year, and 44 percent had not taken folic acid at all. Taking into account age, race, body mass index, history of preterm birth and other variables, only 160 preterm births occurred across all groups participating.

The findings suggest an easy and inexpensive method that may reduce the risk of preterm delivery. The effects were most profound with regard to the earliest preterm births, which were reduced by 70 percent among women who had taken folic acid for a year.

As is often the case with research, the final results will need to be studied further before these findings can be made into universal recommendations, according to Dr. Bukowski. If the results hold up, folic acid may be “one of the very few opportunities to prevent first preterm births.”

Consuming grain-based foods made from enriched flour or a combination of whole grain and enriched is an easy, economical way to get folic acid. The form in which this vitamin is added to enriched grains is the same form found in folic acid supplements, which is more readily absorbed than that found in nature. Click here for additional information on folic acid.

It has been 10 years – that’s right, 10 years since the FDA mandated supplementing enriched flour products with folic acid. Why? Because of the science that documented increased folic acid intake as a preventative measure against birth defects. Since the Food and Drug Administration issued the mandate in 1998, neural tube defects, including spinal bifida, have declined by 26 percent. A reason to celebrate – over 1,000 more healthy births each year.

The March of Dimes urges all women of childbearing age to consume 400 micrograms of folic acid daily beginning before pregnancy and continuing into the early months of pregnancy. Enriched grain products are the perfect vehicle for adding folic acid to the diet. Cereal, bread, crackers, bagels, pasta, pretzels and tortillas made from fortified, enriched white flour are popular and important sources of folic acid. Also, the form of the vitamin used in the enrichment process is much more absorbable that what naturally occurs in nature.

January is Birth Defects Prevention Month and January 7-13, 2008 marks Folic Acid Awareness Week. Join me in celebrating 10 years of success. Share our goal of increasing awareness of the importance of folic acid in preventing birth defects. Add grain based foods and folic acid to your diet. Click here for more information on the benefits of folic acid. For new recipe ideas, click here.

The Center for Science and the Public Interest’s latest target is Sara Lee. Since the release of the Dietary Guidelines in January 2005, the food industry has responded by developing an astronomical number of new products made with whole grains. Like many other bread manufacturers, Sara Lee produces a range of products from 100% whole grain varieties to those made exclusively with enriched white flour. Between the two lies the product in question, Sara Lee Soft & Smooth made with Whole Grain White. The bread is made from a blend of 30% whole wheat flour and 70% enriched wheat flour. The name accurately reflects what the product is – a bread product made with whole grain white flour.

Making bread with white wheat has gained popularity since the push for consumers to eat more whole grain products. White wheat is simply a different variety of wheat (see Grain Talk Blog, October 12, 2006). Bread made with this type of wheat has the same nutritional benefits as bread made with traditional red wheat. However, its soft texture and mild flavor tastes more like enriched white bread. Many of the bread manufacturers are using white wheat to create what are often referred to as transitional products. These breads contain part whole grain, part enriched wheat flour, and help folks adapt to the rich, heartier flavor of whole grains. Much like 2% and 1% milk are used to encourage consumers to switch to fat free milk, bread products made with some, but not entirely whole grains, can encourage the consumption of whole grain by white bread lovers who might not otherwise consider whole grains.

Even leading nutritionists are promoting the use of whole grains in products that are accepted by consumers who might not be familiar with heartier whole grain foods. Rather than encouraging this practice, CSPI has chosen to criticize, accusing Sara Lee of fraud. They (CSPI) believe that by pointing out the “whole grain goodness” of its products, Sara Lee is “attempting to put a whole grain halo on a bread that is not whole grain.” It is our belief that Sara Lee has acted in a responsible manner, compliant with the law and consistent with the rest of the industry. It is in fact made with whole grain. Let’s encourage the grain industry to develop more whole grain products not criticize them when they do.

Now that the holidays are in full swing, food is a temptation from all sides. The office Christmas party, the ‘girls’ luncheon, Christmas dinner, New Years’ Eve. . .

You don’t want to be accused of not having that Christmas Spirit, right? So you go ahead and use that reasoning to justify your little tastes here and there throughout the day. Those individually wrapped Christmas kisses in red and green – gotta have one of each. The Christmas cookies that your overly zealous neighbor baked – you can’t hurt her feelings, so have just one. The delicious home-made fudge someone brought into the office – why not? Here’s how those “little tastes” can add up:

• That cookie whose calories “fell out” when it broke removing it from the cookie sheet (30 calories)
• One small piece of home-made peanut brittle that your office mate brought into work (80 calories)
• That free cheese and cracker sample at the grocery store to tide you over before you can make dinner (40 calories)
• The free small holiday coffee sample at the corner coffee shop (20 calories)
• Still a few hours to go before dinner and you’re starved. You check out the break room. Ooh, look at those chocolate covered cherries!  Chocolate is good for the heart so just one won’t hurt – it’ll actually help! (60 calories)
• Standing near the snack table at this dinner party just made me dip my third chip! (75 calories)
• Old-fashioned, home-made egg nog?  Now you’re talking! It’s only a half cup (200 calories)
• I can’t let those two bites of candied sweet potatoes go to waste! If no one is going to finish them, I might as well. (60 calories)
• As the cook you get a “preview” taste of that dessert. One heaping spoonful of candy cane ice cream coming up! (100 calories)

CHRISTMAS MEMORIES – Priceless!

TOTAL count:  665 calories

Eating all these in one day could create problems but one or two a day won’t do any real damage. Food is a big part of holiday celebrations. What’s important is that memories are made and kept.

Information is powerful – knowing what we are eating can give us peace of mind. Handle your holiday eating in such a way that there are no regrets. Let us know what you do to manage your holiday eating!