Can You Guess What This Is?

Did you guess soft serve ice cream? You’d be wrong… It’s chicken… well sort of… It’s actually mechanically separated chicken made though a process called AMR – Advanced Meat Recovery and is lurking in your hot dog, bologna, chicken nuggets, pepperoni, salami, jerky etc… Using even more than the squeek, to get every ounce of…

Do You Eat As Well As A Dairy Cow?

Recently I was delighted to spend 2 days with Dairy Consultants and a Women’s Retreat in Wisconsin. Did you know dairy cows get regular visits from a nutritionist who specially formulates their feed to meet their current needs? Really! That’s right, in order to support the cow’s health, a nutritionist determines the specific needs of…

Make the Grocery Store a Guilt-Free Food Zone!

This post originally appeared as guest post on Michele Payn-Knoper’s Cause Matters Blog.Check out her blog for reliable information about the food you eat! Do you suffer with Food Guilt? No, I’m not talking about that regret you might feel after eating something packed with sugar or fat. I’m talking about guilt in the grocery…

Food Guilt in the Dairy Aisle: Is Store Brand Milk Okay?

Is it okay to just pick up a gallon of the store brand milk, or should I be buying the more expensive milk? Hmmm.. there it is… Food Guilt in the dairy aisle.  This isn’t guilt over eating something you know isn’t good for you.  No, this is the guilt placed on you by the…

Hey! Quit Picking On My Friends. Why I Thank A Farmer!

One of the more interesting changes in my business over the last year has been the opportunity to present stress management programs for farmers.  At first this didn’t seem to be a good match for me.  I’m a city-girl, very much removed from the world of agriculture. However, here’s the thing: people are people. We…

The Soul of Farming Part 2: Oink!

In March I had the opportunity to visit a hog farm and then present at the Swine Summit hosted by Vita Plus. In my never-ending quest to make healthy choices and understand how food is produced, I knew this was a great opportunity to learn, and boy did I! Before I started down this get-to-know-some-farmers…

Busy Woman’s Guide to Nutrition Month

Okay, it is Nutrition month, how excited are you? Many of us would like to eat better, but it is confusing.  Is that item labeled “healthy” really healthy? Is there really a magic food which will solve all of your nutritional issues? Finding a simple way to think about the food you eat would help,…

Love Thanksgiving? Thank A Farmer!

I love Thanksgiving. It is my favorite holiday. More than any other day, it is focused on being grateful for the food on our table and the people around it. This year, I’m even more thankful for the food because I have a better understanding of where it came from. In August, I had the…

Who is @mpaynknoper and why should she be Mashable’s Twitter User of the Year?

In the midst of a Brazillian pop star, a rock band, a musician, a Hollywood star, stands a Twitter User most people wouldn’t recognize, @mpaynknoper. Who? Mashable, The Social Media Guide, announced the nominees for the 2009 Open Web Awards today and Certified Speaking Professional Michele Payn-Knoper was one of the top five nominees for Twitter…