By Rita R. Robison, Consumer Specialist, Blogging at The Survive and Thrive Boomer Guide

Many American consumers know that eating too much salt is bad for their health. They’re also able to figure out when they look at canned soups and see 410 mg of salt for a serving of soup – 35 percent of the daily allowance of sodium – that it’s too much.

However, with busy lives, consumers eat high amounts of sodium in processed and fast food.

Today’s average sodium intake is several times what the body requires and its long-term effect on the health of consumers is serious, reports the Food and Drug Administration.

Hypertension, or high blood pressure, affects one in three U.S. adults – nearly 75 million people aged 20 or older. An additional 50 million adults suffer from pre-hypertension. High blood pressure can increase the risk for heart attacks, strokes, heart failure, and kidney failure. Too much sodium in the daily diet is a major contributor to high blood pressure.

I’ve wanted the FDA to take strict action on sodium for years. Putting so much sodium in processed and fast food is contrary to good health. It needs to be stopped.

I cheered when I read an article in The Washington Post recently that the FDA has begun the process of regulating the amount of sodium in foods. About time, I thought.

However, the FDA said in a statement that it’s not currently working on salt regulations nor has it made a decision to regulate sodium content in foods at this time. See “FDA Issues Statement on IOM Sodium Report” for details.

A report from the Institute of Medicine concludes that national action is imperative to reduce the sodium content of foods if the country is to make significant progress toward reducing the risk of hypertension and major cardiovascular events for American consumers.

The FDA said it will more thoroughly review the recommendations of the IOM report and build plans for how the FDA can continue to work with other federal agencies, public health and consumer groups, and the food industry to support the reduction of sodium levels in the food supply.

The Department of Health and Human Services will be establishing an interagency working group on sodium at the department that will review options and next steps, the FDA also reported.

“Success in reducing sodium intake will require coordinated national action, with participation of all,” the FDA said in a news release on sodium. “We are encouraged by the fact that some food manufacturers have already begun or announced their commitment to reduce sodium levels in their products.”

The FDA also gave this advice to consumers:

As a consumer, you can start lowering your sodium intake today by purchasing foods low in sodium, asking your grocer to carry more low-sodium products, and asking for low-sodium options at restaurants.

How disappointing. The federal government needs to require that sodium levels be dropped. To set up another study group and tell consumers that they should cut sodium when the marketplace is saturated with sodium-ladened foods boarders on the ridiculous. And to refer to voluntary actions by food manufacturers – who know that people crave foods high in salt, sugar, and fat – is laughable.

Stand up FDA. Regulate sodium levels now.

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By Rita R. Robison, Consumer Specialist, Blogging at The Survive and Thrive Boomer Guide

Green America, formerly Co-op America, wants Americans to take “The Green Economy Challenge” to celebrate the 40th Anniversary of Earth Day.

The challenge asks consumers to shift 10 percent of their current spending to green purchases.

American households spend about $3 trillion per year on items that could easily be greened. If Americans directed one tenth of these expenditures to purchasing from a green or local business, it would steer $300 billion towards more sustainable consumption.

“Going green saves money, creates jobs, and supports local communities,” said Green America Executive Director Alisa Gravitz.  “Green is the new red, white, and blue.”

Green products are those that are good for people and the planet.

Green American offers these 10 tips for going green:

1. Borrow, trade, or buy used.

2. Grow your own food.

3. Green your energy at home.

4. Give your car a break.

5. Buy used, organic, or sweat-shop-free clothes.

6. Buy organic and fair-trade personal care products.

7. Buy green home products.

8. Support local green businesses.

9. Invest in a greener future with the money you save.

10. Use Green America’s National Green Pages to get started.

See the news release “10 Ways to Shift $300 billion for the Planet: For Earth Day, Green America Urges Americans to take ‘The Green Economy Challenge’” for details on these 10 action items.

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By Rita R. Robison, Blogging at The Survive and Thrive Boomer Guide

Recently, I received a mailing from Food and Water Watch about the importance of citizen action on food safety issues.

It pointed out that a weak regulatory food system allows corporations to flood the market with unsafe products. Among the problems the consumer advocacy organization reports are:

1. Only 1 percent of imported product, fish, and processed foods is inspected. And, since the federal government refuses to allow country-or-origin labeling for processed foods such as roasted nuts, mixed vegetables, and frozen fish, consumers have no way to protect themselves from potential threats.

2. Despite new research that shows artificial hormones may contribute to a five-time increase in twin pregnancies for American women, the federal government still allows cows to be injected with these controversial drugs. They’re banned in Canada and Europe.

3. Much of the seafood sold in U.S. grocery stores is imported and raised in giant, offshore fish farms. In these facilities, fish are grown in giant nets and cages that are filled with antibiotics, hormones, pesticides, and animal waste.

4. Independent laboratory tests revealed that 10 widely sold U.S. bottled water brands contained mixtures of 38 different pollutants, including bacteria, fertilizer, Tylenol, and industrial chemicals.

5. Instead of forcing meat producers to fix serious sanitation problems at factory farms and slaughterhouses, the federal government allows them to take dangerous shortcuts such as pumping livestock full of antibiotics, dipping carcasses in toxic disinfectants, and irradiating meat.

What can consumers do about these issues?

“Consumers can vote with their dollars to buy food that is better for them and the environment, by looking for organic or local food and trying to buy food directly from producers at farmers markets or through community supported agriculture arrangements,” Patty Lovera, assistant director for Food and Water Watch, told me in an e-mail.

“But we can’t just shop our way out of these problems – we also need to hold our elected officials accountable for changing food policy so we can rebuild healthy local food systems,” said Lovera.

Food and Water Watch offers actions consumers can take on its Web site.

“Right now we are hoping to get lots of folks to sign a petition calling on the federal government to take action to restore fairness to agriculture markets – basically to take some antitrust action to break up giant food monopolies that are making all the decisions about how food is produced and what it costs – at the expense of farmers and consumers,” she said.

See www.foodandwaterwatch.org for details on the organization and its other action projects.

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Click on this photo to see my photo slide show of Skagit Valley tulips

By Rita R. Robison, Blogging at The Survive and Thrive Boomer Guide

On Sunday, I went to Mount Vernon, Wash., about a two and a half hour drive from my home, to take photos of the tulip fields. It gave me great joy.

It’s something I’ve always wanted to do. I wasn’t disappointed. The fields and gardens were beautiful. My photos are fantastic.

The Skagit Valley Tulip Festival is underway until April 30. However, April 11 is about the last day that the tulip fields are expected to be in full bloom. It depends on the weather.

This year, the tulips were early and began blooming the last week of March. Last year, the tulips didn’t bloom until April 17.

About 350,000 people visit the Skagit Valley during tulip time.

Farmers in the Skagit Valley raise millions of tulips. Some are cut and sold. Others are grown for their bulbs.

Visitors can order tulip bulbs, and they’ll be sent when it’s planting time.

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Photo/Green Valley, Ariz.

By Rita R. Robison, Blogging at The Survive and Thrive Boomer Guide

Most baby boomers want to age in place. But for those willing to move, they’re dreaming about retiring where it’s warm.

TopRetirements.com complies a list of the most popular retirement towns by keeping track of the towns with the most online visits among the 450 it’s reviewed.

Here are the top 10 communities on TopRetirements.com’s list, as reported by The Wall Street Journal’s MarketWatch:

1. Asheville, N.C.

2. Sarasota, Fla.

3. Prescott, Ariz.

4. Paris, Tenn.

5. Austin, Texas

6. Green Valley, Ariz.

7. Winston-Salem, N.C.

8. Beaufort, S.C.

9. San Diego

10. Ft. Myers, Fla.

See the article for details on what’s special about these communities and what the climate and cost of living are.

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