Living in Aurora, Town of Aurora, Ontario » Food

WONDER® Bread-y Power Of Public Opinion, Makeover

Anna Lozyk Romeo — Tue, 22 Nov 2011 01:57:53 +0000

Last night we were driving on Bayview Street in Aurora when a new radio commercial about the WONDER® bread makeover started to play. So, the WONDER® bread got complete makeover according to the commercial – simplified ingredients list, no artificial preservatives, no chemical additives as artificial flavors or artificial colors.

Aha, are they kidding me?

I don’t have to write here about the health benefit of not having all those removed in the ingredient list.

It was a public opinion that got the company to do the makeover. According to their press release through PR Newswire:

‘… consumers are paying more attention to food labels and are seeking products that are free of artificial ingredients. The research revealed that nearly eight in ten (79%) of all women feel buying foods that are free of artificial preservatives, artificial colours and artificial flavours is important — and 77% of all women say buying foods free of these artificial ingredients is more important now than it was one year ago.’

I don’t think it was the research that initiated the make over, probably their sales were down and then they had to do the survey to figure out what is going on.

Okay, okay I will get to the point.

Do you really think that the WONDER® cares about consumers?

My opinion – no.

Less ingredients – reduced cost, increased profits.

No preservatives is interesting one. Now they are telling us – eat faster because it will not last that long. Consumer will have to buy this bread more frequently because of its reduced shelf life.

Oh and because of the health benefits they have grounds for increased price – I just hope not.

See what the power of public opinion can do, bring the better product to the market and profitability for the company.

What are they trying to do whack my head. No I will not allow because I am sticking with my whole grain bread.

Nokiidaa Trail Link, Do Not Feed Ducks With Bread

PLEASE Do Not Feed This Duck, That Duck, Any Duck In The Pond

Anna Lozyk Romeo — Fri, 26 Aug 2011 05:55:08 +0000

I saw father feeding ducks yesterday in the pond with white bread. He was with a small girl and was letting her feed ducks too. Ducks loved it. Girl enjoyed it. Matthew was doing happy dance. I was about to say something, but I did not.

Feeding wildlife in our ponds is not prohibited. Feeding waterfowl with our food destroys their health and creates serious health risks to humans.

It is so easy to see when ducks in our ponds are fed. Every time we arrived at the pond, ducks would come up close. Many ducks in Aurora are fed. How do you think I get these nice close ups. They come up to me all the time but I never have anything to offer, just a photograph. They leave.

Mallard

The scary part is that father, nor the ducks know that such fun and joyful feeding is harmful to everyone. May be it is time to let everyone know.

We definitely are not short on warning signs here in Aurora, so what will one more do. But if we do not want one more sign, may be it is time to reconsider new sign design. For example, like the ones on the highway directing drivers to the gas station, but also telling them that there are other services such as food court and restrooms. A sign that tells ALL. Just an idea if anyone is reading.

Duck Heading For Food

Educating public is everything. So I did little research. This may shade some light.

Please do not feed ducks, and this is why? Just a simple list here for now.

Bread or any junk food makes ducks sluggish, unable to fly or escape predators. Also affects migration.

Bread or any junk food makes them eat our food which is less in nutrients. Ducks become malnutritioned.

Bread or any junk food will make them stay where they are fed. The pond may become overcrowded and thus the increased territorial aggression.

Once slice of bread from you does not seem a lot. But once slice of bread from 20 of you is a loaf of bread.

Excess food thrown pollutes water in the pond or stream. Especially in the pond because water stays in one place, not like in the stream where water constantly flows.

Excess junk food attracts rats, pests and predators that kill ducks.

Disease/Parasite Alert. Uneaten and rotting food pollutes the water and breeds deadly diseases and parasites such as Duck Virus Enteritis (caused by artificial feeding) that kills all of the ducks.

Mold Alert. Uneaten and rotting food forms a deadly mold called Aspergillus; fatal to ducks if diagnosed too late.

Disease Alert. Avian Botulism (caused by artificial feeding) can kill entire waterfowl populations and also hospitalize people.

Parasite Alert. Artificially fed ducks emit a parasite causing a condition in humans called Swimmer’s Itch.

Ducks that are over-fed create dangerous amounts of waste that can harm fish and other animals living in ponds thus affecting the complete food chain.

Do not feed anything. You may think corn may be okay. Well, when feeding ducks others may join – like fish, and fish cannot digest corn and die. Note that some bird seeds cause severe cramping pain in ducks.

Mallard, Do Not Feed This Duck.

Lastly here is something to think about if you toss any other object, a coin or garbage.

It does not have to be food to kill a duck. A duck will eat anything tossed in the water. Coins thrown into the pond can be ingested by ducks causing serious health hazard. Zinc contained in the single penny will kill a duck. Duck will ingest anything by scouring the bottom of the pond such as coins and fishing tackle. Foreign objects or let say garbage that sometimes mysteriously appears in the water, again can be ingested by ducks. Anything that is not food cannot be digested properly. As the metals breaks down, toxins form and enter the bloodstream, muscle tissue and bones. Duck is poisoned and dies.

Mallard, Do Not Feed Even When They Look At You

That is my message for today, so think twice before you feed wildlife.

Senior’s Day In Pictures At Aurora Farmers Market

Anna Lozyk Romeo — Tue, 16 Aug 2011 05:26:17 +0000

A very eventful day at the Aurora Farmers Market on August 13th, 2011 it was. It was a Senior’s Day. As you can see in pictures they enjoyed signing, listening, shopping, chatting, eating good food, and more …

I must confess but I do enjoy reading the Senior Scape column published regularly in THE AURORAN. To make this post a bit more interesting, I would like to share a couple of quotes from the Senior Scape column I found inspiring.

‘Imagination and reason combine to guide the hands of the artist carefully, while roughing out an initial version of the shape; delicate artistry caresses the final creation to emerge from the rough shape, now rendered to its full glory by meticulous hands‘. Source: Honouring Walter Rydzik, by Brian Warburton, Senior Scape, THE AURORAN, Week of July 26, 2011, pg. 15.

To view photos in the gallery below just simply click on the thumbnail once, and then on the image to proceed to next and next photo.

‘The first meeting of the Camera Club received excellent support and interest, including one enthusiast clinging to a favourite film camera he had possessed for many years‘. Source: Co-ordinator begins maternity leave soon, by Brian Warburton, Senior Scape, THE AURORAN, Week of June 28, 2011, pg. 15.

Aha, I wonder how it would feel now to take out my first film SLR camera and take pictures. I think the habit of previewing each picture will be there, and I probably will be more reserved how many I would take. Taking hundreds of photos per day is very easy with a digital camera.

Children Eat Well, Not!

Anna Lozyk Romeo — Thu, 14 Jul 2011 02:09:07 +0000

In the past few months I have attended about four main events.

Matthew our three year old have gone to all four of them, and this is what he was served.

Event One

Fries and Chicken Sticks, Ketchup on the Side.
I put my served dish in front of Matthew, they had no choice but serve me again.

Event Two

Fries and Chicken Sticks, Ketchup on the Side.
I put my served dish in front of Matthew, they had no choice but serve me again.

Event Three

Fries and Fried Chicken, Ketchup on the Side.
I put my served dish in front of Matthew, they had no choice but serve me again.

Event Four

Fries and Fried Chicken, About 1/2 Cup of Ketchup and About 1/2 Cup of Plum Sauce.
I put my served dish in front of Matthew, they had no choice but serve me again.

How wacky is that, while we adults were served almost healthy meals, grilled meat, roasted potatoes and with lots of vegetables, all the kids were served fried ‘what-ever-it was’ food.