Arico Supports Public Radio
Volunteers for Oregon Public Radio’s ongoing pledge drive have been snacking on cassava chips donated by Arico Natural Foods to keep them going during the five-day on-air fundraiser.
Almost two-thirds of OPB's operating budget comes from individual membership contributions from viewers and listeners. According to OPB, the on-air drive is the most efficient way for the station to attract the largest number of new and renewing members.
The radio pledge drive began Monday and will continue through Saturday.
You too can support public radio. Visit OPR to learn more.
Gluten-Free Globetrotting
With summer vacations on the horizon, Loretta Jay shared her advice for traveling with food allergies with the British magazine Food Matters.
Planning ahead is the first order of business, according to Jay, a mother of two celiac children and the founder of Parasol, a consulting organization that specializes in the management of food allergies and celiac disease.
Among the helpful travel tips she offers to families:
• Stay in hotels that have kitchens in the guest rooms.
• Before your trip, ship non-perishable food items to your destination.
• Pack perishable items in a hard-sided suitcase, along with ice packs and a note from your
doctor explaining why they’re essential.
• Learn from the locals at your vacation destination what foods are available and how to
prepare them.
• It's common knowledge that you can’t pass through airport security with more than a baggie full of liquids, but did you know exceptions exist for those with dietary restrictions?
While “pre-travel homework” may be the key to easing the stress of traveling with food allergies, Jay reminds us that our restrictions need not curtail our adventures.
"The most important thing to remember is that food allergies are not who we are, just something that we have. Finding ways to manage our diets while we enjoy and embrace other cultures lets us experience all the world has to offer."
Read the full text of the article, Enjoying Food, Travel and Culture with Food Allergies, visit GoDairyFree’s web site.
Doing Good
Arico Natural Foods was recognized for its support of the gluten-free community and its environmental consciousness on the web site Doing Good, While Doing Business: Support Socially Responsible Companies.
The web site, found at www.changethemold.com, is authored by freelance writer Myrna Chandler Goldstein, who profiles businesses that give back to their communities and encourages consumers to support them.
Entrepreneurial Spirits
As proud alums of Cornell University, Arico Co-Founders Hermanto Hidajat and Angela Ichwan were pleased to be part of Entrepreneurship@Cornell Celebration '08, held April 10-11 on the university campus in gorgeous Ithaca, NY. The annual event brings together successful alumni with current business students for a two-day series of networking events.
Arico’s delicious all-natural cassava chips were featured in the goody bags that were handed out to guests of the event. The bags were filled with a dazzling array of sample products from 30 companies founded by or created by Cornell alumni (or connected with Cornell in some way).
Howard Millstein, a successful banking executive who was crowned the 2008 Cornell Entrepreneur of the Year, shared what it takes to succeed in business in his keynote speech at the event.
“Nothing you encounter, or think of, is being done as well as it can be,” said Millstein, as quoted in the Cornell Daily Sun. “There is opportunity in everything.”
Inspiring words, indeed.
Arico CEO Wins Leadership Award
Arico CEO Angela Ichwan was named the recipient of the Portland Business Journal’s coveted Orchid Award, the publication’s annual recognition of 25 women from the Portland business community who have demonstrated extraordinary leadership and accomplishment.
Ichwan was honored for her achievements during a ceremony at The Women in Business Party and Expo, held last night at the Oregon Convention Center in Portland. Ichwan is profiled in today’s Portland Business Journal’s “Women in Business” issue.
“It’s a great honor to be recognized for this prestigious award,” said Ichwan, who was selected for the award from a pool of more than 250 nominees. The winners were chosen on the basis of their outstanding business and civic accomplishments.
Fore! Autism
Last week’s LA Celebrity Golf Challenge raised more than $360,000 to support Autism Speaks, the nation's largest autism advocacy organization. The star-studded event was held April 14th at the beautiful Riviera Country Club in Pacific Palisades, CA. Arico’s delicious snacks were on hand to provide gluten-free replenishment.
Visit Autism Speaks for additional coverage of the event and to view photos of the diverse celebrity golfers – from Alice Cooper to Nick Lachey – who turned out to support autism awareness.
UK Recommends Ban on Artificial Food Colorings
In response to a study linking artificial food additives to hyperactivity in children, U.K. food regulators have called on manufacturers to voluntarily remove six common artificial colorings from their food products by the end of 2009.
This decision by the Britain’s Food Standards Agency (FSA) will affect “hundreds of products” sold throughout the U.K., according to an article in the British newspaper, The Independent.
The move was prompted by the findings of an FSA-commissioned study, published in September in the British medical journal, The Lancet, which showed that six artificial colors, as well as the preservative sodium benzoate, caused increased hyperactivity and decreased attention span in a wide range of children, not just those diagnosed with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD).
Read more about study in The Lancet.
Learn more about the quality standards of Arico’s all-natural whole grain cookies, which are free of artificial colors and preservatives.
Health Benefits of Going Gluten-Free
New research shows that rheumatoid arthritis patients who follow a gluten-free, vegan diet could have a reduced risk of heart attack or stroke.
According to an article published on WebMD, Swedish researchers studied the effects of the diet on a small group of rheumatoid arthritis patients and noted improvement in several markers for heart disease.
“Sticking to a gluten-free vegan diet lowers the most damaging forms of artery-clogging cholesterol and increases levels of antibodies that may be protective against the inflammation that contributes to both RA [rheumatoid arthritis] and heart disease, researchers report in the March 18 issue of Arthritis Research & Therapy.”
The researchers say larger studies are needed to find out exactly which elements of the gluten-free vegan diet offer the greatest benefit. Read more about the study.
A Tremendous Tuber
A giant cassava root, weighing in at over 65 lbs, was recently discovered on a farm in the Hainan province of China.
The so-called “king of cassava” has attracted curious onlookers to the farm of Fu Chunmei, who told China Daily that she planted the cassava in her sugar cane field about a year ago.
The massive cassava root was reportedly 20 inches long and close to a foot wide. To put that in perspective, the average cassava root grows to about 6 to 12 inches in length and from 2 to 3 inches in diameter.
For the uninitiated, here some facts about our beloved cassava:
* Also known as yuca or manioc, cassava is dietary staple consumed by more than 500 million people around the world.
* A cousin to the potato, the tuberous roots of the cassava plant have tough brown skins which protect the crisp, white, starchy interior.
* Cassava is known as a prolific and resilient crop, producing more food energy per unit of land than any other staple crop and thriving even in dry soil.
* Cassava cultivation originated in South America thousands of years ago and was brought to Africa in the 16th century by Portuguese traders from the Americas.
* In addition to being baked, boiled and fried by many different cultures around the world, cassava is also dried and ground to make flour and fermented to make beer.
* Cassava starch is extracted to produce tapioca flour and pearl tapioca.
* Cassava is the third largest source of carbohydrates for human food in the world.
* Arico launched its line of all-natural Cassava Chips in 2007, featuring the flavors Original, Sea Salt Mist, Barbecue Bliss, and Ginger on Fire.
* Arico Cassava Chips have twice the fiber and 30-40% less fat than leading brand potato chips.
* The cassava in Arico's chips is purchased from farmers on the Indonesian island of Java.
A Guide to Healthier Food Choices
Choosing Arico Cassava Chips instead of higher fat potato chips will bring you one step closer to “enjoying greater energy and vitality,” according to the Body Ecology Diet’s “Eat This Instead of That” guide to making healthier food choices.
As featured in its March 27 newsletter, the Body Ecology Diet’s guide recommends Arico Sea Salt Mist Cassava Chips as a healthier potato chip alternative and praises its use of palm oil, which is naturally high in monounsaturated fat, one of the so-called “good” fats.
The Body Ecology System of Health and Healing is a “back-to-basics approach” to good health and wellness that advocates consuming high quality fats, adding cultured foods to one’s diet and reducing carbohydrates and sugar intake.