YOU CAN COOK | Blog

This week Bosco Santimano, founder and executive director of social enterprise You Can Cook, shares his thoughts on the UK leaving the European Union.

Finally its happened! We have officially left the European Union for “Unity, Peace and stability”. It’s taken three and a half years, three Prime Ministers and two elections to finally get to this stage. The initial process is now complete and the negotiations begin for what may turn out to be an eventful year ahead, especially for Scotland and Northern Ireland. As an organisation we are saddened to see the state of affairs as Westminster politics takes centre stage and holds the rest of the countries in this United Kingdom to ransom. Can we make it alone as an Independent nation or group of nations outside the EU? of course we can. Our concern is mainly about food, environment, climate change and health of Scottish residents post Brexit. Having personally worked closely with the EU and the Scottish government in the past it concerns me that all the safeguards that the EU put in place for our health and other social benefits will be removed or watered down to get trade agreements with the biggest shark in the world! America. Chlorinated chicken is the least of our worries as environmental laws and other climate related initiatives may be watered down to suit the Americans to get a free trade deal. Great Britain may be in the process of becoming Little Britain by the end of this year if we the people become complacent and think all is now lost.

As an organisation working at the grassroots and campaigning for equal health and access to cheap and good food rights for all Scottish residents, we will be specifically looking at costs of fresh foods, post Brexit, until December 2020 and beyond 2021 when supposedly we will have a trade deal with the EU. Prices of essential food and other items have increased by over 40% since 2007-08 recession and then again after the 2016 EU referendum by another 30%. I have taken a conservative figure compared to what the actual figure is; i.e. over 50 to 60%! Wages and benefits have not increased during this period, hence the establishment of the United Kingdom of Food Banks which have been setup all over this G7 country for the poor and working class. We did and in some cases did not support many regulations that were coming out of the EU over the years but many people fail to understand that those laws and regulations that were passed were fully approved by the governments of all the 28 EU nations, a fact conveniently left out by all right wing newspapers and tabloids and politicians. The EU has been proactive in banning harmful pesticides and fertilisers that scientific evidence proved was harming the environment and its people. American Corporations are waiting in glee to ravage this country with their toxic chemicals and products. Will Genetically Modified Seeds (GMO’s) now be allowed to grow in Scotland?

We hope not.

*Originally written & published in the Peeblesshire News.

This week Bosco Santimano, founder and executive director of social enterprise You Can Cook, shares his thoughts on recovering from the festive season.

It’s the end of the festive season and many are probably feeling physically and mentally exhausted, bloated and depressed. In my December column I wrote about how to avoid eating foods that are detrimental to our health during the festive season as prevention is better than cure. But for most of us it may have been an uphill task sticking to the do’s and don’ts mentioned in my article. So here are a few tips and suggestions to get you back in shape quickly and safely without resorting to a crash diet or hours of exercise in order to lose the extra pounds gained.

We all can be tempted to eat less especially high fat foods like processed meats but it’s very important to keep eating foods like veggies, fruits and plant based proteins in order to feel our bodies are receiving the right amount of nourishment. Our bodies will need to go through a proper cleansing process in order to feel vibrant and energised. Start each day in the new year with a cup of warm water preferably with a few drops of fresh lemon added as this will help detoxify the body. Avoid alcohol and caffeine during this period and switch to Green tea if possible as it is full of antioxidants but bear in mind to keep it a maximum of two cups a day as it still contains caffeine! As mentioned earlier switch to steamed vegetables, soups and smoothies and avoid eating a meal after 7pm. Drinking plenty of water will keep your body hydrated and will reduce your desire to eat/snack often during the day.

Sugar is one of the big culprits and we need to reduce our intake substantially during this detoxifying period. Eating a full breakfast will help you to avoid snacking before lunch and sticking to fruits and nuts after lunch as light snacks will keep you going comfortably until dinner. Make sure to have a light lunch, like a salad or brown bread as a base for your sandwich, keeping in mind to avoid any processed meats.

Get a good night’s sleep and avoid screens at least an hour before bedtime. Resting your mind and eyes during this process will help you feel better and more energised and resort to power napping during the day especially after lunch if you can as this can work wonders if you suffer from sleep deprivation. Please remember there are pros and cons to detoxifying; benefits include increased energy and sleep, while downsides are headaches and nausea. While these are just a few examples its best to consult your Doctor if you have any underlying health condition or just for advice and support. Don’t give up as its usually the first three days that can be extremely difficult and feels almost impossible to continue the detoxification process. These are just normal withdrawal symptoms and will go away once your body gets adjusted to this new routine.

So here is wishing you all a Healthy and Happy New Year 2020!

*Originally written & published in the Peeblesshire News.

This week Bosco Santimano, founder and executive director of social enterprise You Can Cook, shares his thoughts on food labelling.

Recent headlines in the media demonstrated the need for food labelling on all prepared and cooked foods in restaurants, take-aways and supermarkets selling ready meals/ready to use sauces, etc. No one should die because they ate food, that had an ingredient that was not meant to be, in the food, in the first place! There have been too many cases of individuals losing their lives while eating out and this has to stop.

Owen Carey, a young man died while out celebrating his 18th birthday in 2017 when he ordered a chicken burger at a famous burger chain. Owen informed staff about his allergy but was not told that the dish contained buttermilk, the hidden ingredient that proved fatal, as he was allergic to dairy. Owen suffered a severe anaphylactic shock after eating only half the chicken and feeling his lips tingling and experiencing stomach problems. He collapsed under an hour later never to wake up again.

A similar case happened to Natasha Ednan-Laperouse who died in 2016 after an allergic reaction to a Pret A Manger baguette which contained sesame seeds!

Currently the law states that as a food business you must follow the allergen information rules set in EU Food Information for Consumers Regulation. This means that you must;

1. Provide allergen information to the consumer for both pre-packed and non-prepacked food or drink
2. Handle and manage food allergens adequately

Food establishments also need to make sure that all staff are trained about allergens. By law you also need to tell your customers if any food products you sell or provide contain any of the main 14 allergens as an ingredient. Some of the 14 allergens are: celery; cereals containing gluten; crustaceans – such as prawns, crabs and lobsters; eggs; fish; lupin; milk; molluscs – such as mussels and oysters; mustard; tree nuts – including almonds, hazelnuts, walnuts; peanuts; sesame seeds; soybeans; sulphur dioxide and sulphites (if they are at a concentration of more than ten parts per million). As you can see it’s a complicated process and more needs to be done to reduce the risk to consumers.

One question that no one is asking is why are so many people having allergies and intolerances to food? Experts have various opinions about this but some independent Scientists and researchers have pointed the finger at our over use of chemicals, fertilisers and pesticides since the 1950’s! Plus the use of synthetic, laboratory made products that have been added to food to increase its shelf life along with additives to increase our consumption of processed foods. Plus can the Tories guarantee that they will not dilute or remove existing laws that were set up by the EU to protect consumers all over Europe?

As an organisation, we set out to focus on cooking food from scratch, as this is the only way to know what truly is in your food. Let’s all get back to basics and take back control of our health from the food lobby.

*Originally written & published in the Peeblesshire News.

This week Bosco Santimano, founder and executive director of social enterprise You Can Cook, shares his thoughts on aspartame.

In this column I will be tackling one hidden ingredient; Aspartame! What is this ingredient and why is it so valuable to corporations? In a nutshell, aspartame is a substitute for sugar or in other words an artificial sweetener that was accidentally discovered by a scientist researching an anti-ulcer medication in the mid 60’s and is composed of two amino acids; aspartic acid and phenylalanine. If you see any drink that has “Sugar free’ be warned, as for a majority of us, this could be worse than sugar itself.

Aspartame is mainly found in a number of sugar free food products like fizzy drinks, cereals, ice cream, chewing gum, diet cola’s, etc. to name a few. Chances that you are having this in your daily diet is probably very high and unavoidable in many cases. So what is this magic  ingredient? To give you an example aspartame is 200 times sweeter than refined sugar! 1 gram of aspartame has roughly 4 calories while 8 grams of sugar has 32 calories! That’s a huge saving if you only look at the headline grabbing banner. Unfortunately for the general public this sweet con has one big downside, i.e. bulging waistlines and links to obesity.  One way aspartame and other non-nutritive sweeteners may affect body weight is by increasing people’s appetite, which may lead to a higher food consumption. News reports over the last few decades have claimed that aspartame causes or increases the risk of headaches, dizziness, seizures, depression, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), Alzheimer’s, multiple sclerosis, cancer, etc, and the list continues. Currently there is insufficient scientific evidence to confirm or refute these claims of aspartame’s role in the above mentioned associated risks.

In July 2017 a systematic review was published in the Canadian Medical Association Journal which should make us stop and think twice before consuming any sugar free products.  The researchers also noted an increase in diabetes, metabolic syndrome, hypertension and cardiovascular events in those who used sugar-free sweeteners like aspartame. Evidence found did not clearly support the intended benefits of non-nutritive sweeteners for weight management, and observational data suggest that routine intake of non-nutritive sweeteners may be associated with increased Body Mass Index (BMI) and cardiometabolic risk.

The primary outcome of the research showed change in BMI while the secondary outcomes included changes in body weight; adiposity; glucose metabolism; and incidence of overweight/obesity, metabolic syndrome, type 2 diabetes, hypertension and other cardiorenal outcomes.

Some of the alternatives to sugar free sweeteners are stevia, which is plant based and is 200 times sweeter or monk fruit extract which is calorie-free and up to 250 times more sweeter than sugar. Both these are natural sweeteners but care should be taken to have them in moderation and if you have a sweet tooth like me try eating fruits and alternatively don’t skip or delay any meals as this will also contribute to you losing the battle to keep in check your sweet desires and increase your snacking habit.

I know!

*Originally written & published in the Peeblesshire News.

This week Bosco Santimano, founder and executive director of social enterprise You Can Cook, shares his thoughts on the healthy lifestyle.

What do you mean by living a healthy lifestyle? Over the decades I have asked this question to many of my family, friends, acquaintances, colleagues and the community we served since 2007. We realised it was not a very straight forward question and depending on who you spoke to, we always received different answers. Most people you speak to associate a healthy lifestyle to eating fresh vegetable and fruits, less red meat and processed foods and overall some sort of physical exercise. But is this true? Or is there more to it than meets the eye?

Having done my research over the years and engaging with a wide variety of people from all socio-economic backgrounds during our work on the ground delivering cookery and growing sessions, I have come to the conclusion that the factors we use to determine a healthy lifestyle are very narrow and restricted to a few buzz words like, calories, trans fats, no smoking, less consumption of alcohol and so on. Healthy lifestyle unfortunately is also hijacked by the middle class and alternative food fanatics like vegans and vegetarians to further confuse the lay person. Our current lifestyle for work in most jobs are very sedentary and laidback. We are constantly glued to our screens, whether it’s our smart phones, iPads, laptops, computers, television you name it and we are glued like zombies from an apocalypse movie. Children from a very young age are addicted to their screens either by default(a cheap babysitter) or their surroundings. Children are getting obese due to less physical activities and also the food they are given by their parents/carers who have lost the art of cooking from scratch.

As a child growing up in Bombay in a working class area, we had practically nothing compared to what young people have today, but we had the time of our lives. We played outdoors, ate fresh meals, very little sweets as they were expensive and did not have a designated babysitter as the neighbourhood kept a watch on your child. I remember having one obese child in our whole school and it was due to a medical condition. Now I see mostly obese kids, glued to their smart phones during school break. A far cry from what used to be life’s simple pleasures.

So where have we gone wrong and why is healthy lifestyle such a massive money making industry? In modern Britain both parents have to work nowadays just to put food on the table, let alone paying for the mortgage or rent. The biggest factor affecting our health today is “stress”. The number one silent killer that’s taking its toll on society and affecting both young and old. What can we do to reduce our stress levels which will than have a positive impact on our health and our relationships with close family/friends and society in general.

The solution is simple! Take stock of your life, stop chasing money and status and eat to live not live to eat!

*Originally written & published in the Peeblesshire News.