| Food Focus: The Wealth of Water |
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Food Focus: Water (Tap vs. Bottled)  Much is in the press lately about the pro/cons of bottled vs. tap water. The carbon foot print of the individual bottle of water is staggering. Bottles are cooled and shipped using petroleum-based processes and lots of energy. An advantage of drinking tap water is you can get details about the quality of your local water supply, which is hard to come by from bottled water suppliers. There is also some question about unhealthy chemicals leaching from bottles into the water, especially if heated. Some have health concerns over re-using the bottles. Might there be equal parts alarmist & truth to all of this? Most municipal water systems in the US provide high quality water for free. Some agree that while municipal (read free) water quality is very good, the pipes it travels through on the way to your faucet or drinking fountain taint the quality and/or taste of the water. There is some thought that water should be maintained as a free human right and that if the wealthy start only drinking bottled water, it will shrink the constituency for clean, free water to the less wealthy, and endanger the quality for all of us. What to do? The purists among us will be bothered as there's no right answer. Bottled water might be perceived as tasting better and being better for you, but that's difficult to confirm. Your local water supply is probably very good. Any issues with contamination between source and faucet can be addressed with filters either on the faucet itself or with filtered water pitchers. I am a bit of a hybrid. I'm fine with local water through local plumbing, unfiltered. That said, I won’t decline filtered or bottled water. I'll buy the bottle and re-use it until the bottle is too beat up or I misplace it. I've tried carrying a re-usable, washable bottle, but tend to forget them all over town. Don't think my health has suffered as a result. The point is to get enough. The stress of only holding out for the perceived “highest quality” water might be more damaging to your health than drinking out of the garden hose, if that's the only option available. Assuming the balance of your health maintenance routine is beneficial and local tap water through local plumbing is probably fine.  Recipe of the Month: Pot LikkerWater sautéing or boiling are easy and healthy ways to gently cook most vegetables. After serving the vegetables, the remaining liquid is also very good to drink on its own, called pot likker, or used as a base for other sauces and soups. Boiling mushrooms results in a very rich, earthy stock that is as good at room temperature, to get the rich earthiness without the heaviness that tends to accompany that flavor. Blanching water, whether blanching asparagus, kale, collards, peaches or tomatoes, also creates interesting drink possibilities. Any of these choices are wonderful served cold, room temperature or warm in a cup. |
