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Articles by Lou Bendrick

Lou Bendrick is a former contributor to the High Country News Writers on the Range syndication service whose freelance work now appears in various publications.

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Have you been mugged by some icky cocoa lately? This Bottom Line from the archives can help prevent it from happening again.

Can eco-cocoas melt away holiday stress?Photo: Jason HoustonLet’s just say for the sake of argument, that you’re a little busy this time of year. (This is the part where you snort, as if to say, “You have no idea, sister.”) Also, let’s say that it’s cold outside where you live. (Is the pope an old German guy?) Lastly, let’s assume that, because you’re reading this on an environmental news site, you have green inclinations.

This all leads me to conclude that what you need at this very moment is a steaming cup of hot cocoa that is not only quick but also environmentally principled. (I.E., not made by the handful of corporations known as “Big Chocolate” that buy cacao from heavily sprayed plantations and pay farmers poverty wages or, worse yet, use child labor. )

For you, my frozen, frantic reader, I bullied my friends assembled a panel of tasters, one of whom brought a light-up holiday animal that resembled an electrified Westie (see photo). I supplied the organic cocoa mixes... Read more

All Articles

  • Choosy tasters stick to Skippy-like organic peanut butters

    Some of the scary problems with peanut butter can be avoided by buying organic. But do any of them taste as good as the bad stuff? Lou Bendrick assembles a panel to find out. Find out which one will drive your taste buds nuts.

  • A recently converted vegetarian tells which meatless dogs cut the mustard

    Do vegetarians have to trade that smoky, juicy hot-dog flavor from our childhood ballgames for rubbery, ersatz wieners? A brand new herbivore fearlessly fires up the grill to find out.

  • Taste-testing the best green rosés

    (Jason Houston photos) When a certain Grist editor who shall remain nameless, suggested I do an organic rosé tasting, I was eager to comply. The weather has been getting warmer, and I had fond memories of a hiking trip in southern France that involved a familial decision to consume crisp, refreshing rosés in lieu of […]

  • A taste test of greener milks

    Full Circle’s ultra-pasteurized offering, versus small-farm Blue Hill’s raw milk: Which mooved tasters the most?(Photos by Jason Houston) Putting aside for a moment the dietary arguments against drinking cow’s milk — we’re not calves, it’s liquid meat, it’s snot-producing, so hard to digest, etc. — conventional milk deserves vilification for many reasons. Conventional dairy’s ethically […]