Real food or manufactured food. It's up to us to say no to GMO

Going GMO free….

After reading about the possible health effects of Monsanto’s genetically modified corn April Dávila did some research and then decided to go “Monsanto-free” for a month. You can read her story at Yes magazine (a great magazine if you don’t know about it).

What she discovered was that this was not such an easy undertaking. I’ve written a number of times about Monsanto and how prevalent they are in the food supply, and now we learn not just the commercial food chain.

Even eating strictly organic may not avoid Monsanto’s reach. Monsanto owns the majority of seed lines and this includes organic seeds…shocking I know. So trying to go Monsanto-free posed a challenge since Monsanto’s organic seed could be the source of prepared organic food, or even fresh organic produce. There are still a few brands of organic food that remain independently owned and they seriously scrutinize their supply chain. Here is an amazing chart from the Cornucopia Institute that shows who really owns many of the most common organic prepared food products.

Did you know that Muir Glen and Cascadian Farms are owned by General Mills?

Or that White Wave and Silk soy products are owned by Dean foods?

Check out this chart it is pretty scary that the majority of organic food products are actually owned by commercial food mega-corporations.

In a recent story along these lines Seeds of Change, a very cool company that produces organic seed had its New Mexico offices and farm closed and the staff that was asked to stay, and chose to stay, are moving to the California headquarters of their parent company…Mars Candy! What will now happen to Seeds of Change seed line remains to be seen, but their farm here in Northern New Mexico is definitely being shut down.

We are exceedingly vulnerable when so many organic product companies have been acquired by mainstream corporations where the bottom line is what motivates, not a desire to really go organic and create all the benefits that can go along with that-cleaning up the environment, the water, providing good, safe jobs and creating community.

Eating commercial meat can also lead back to Monsanto. According to this article sixty percent of genetically modified corn goes to feed cattle. Monsanto patented and produced recombinant growth hormone (rBGH), which is used to increase dairy production, but there had been such a public backlash against it Monsanto had tried to sell this division in 2008 and they finally found a buyer …Elanco, a division Eli Lilly. Yup the pharmaceutical company now sells the growth hormone and you had better watch your ice cream, if it isn’t organic it may still have rBGH in it. Click here to join the rBGH boycott.

Take a peek at this good read that includes four basic guidelines for avoiding Monsanto products and that means avoiding genetically modified organisms. We don’t have to be a part of this human experiment…say No to GMO

Here is a great article fresh from the Huffington Post by John Robbins on rBGH in ice cream and more about Monsanto. It is a bit shocking when you get to the part about the man who worked for Monsanto, and then he worked for the FDA and just happened to approve rBGH for cows, and then he went back to Monsanto. And did I mention he is now back at the FDA…something’s fishy here.

This is something that we all need to pay attention to, and stop….The FDA is considering approving GE (genetically engineered) salmon for human consumption. I don’t know about you, but I like my salmon to be 100% salmon, with no genes from other species….

“The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) announced on August 25, 2010, that it will potentially approve the long-shelved AquAdvantage transgenic salmon as the first genetically engineered (GE) animal intended for human consumption. The GE Atlantic salmon being considered was developed by AquaBounty Technologies, and genetically engineered to produce growth hormones year-round, creating a fish the company claims grows at twice the normal rate. This could allow factory fish farms to crowd the salmon into pens and still get high production rates.”

Have your voice count to stop this before it is too late to save salmon, the real ones. Click here to have your voice heard that you are opposed to this-if you are.

There are a lot of reasons why we need to stop this…

These genetically engineered fish could escape the “farms” and mate with the real salmon and this could lead to their extinction. Imagine if this happens there could come a time when “real” salmon no longer exist…just genetically modified ones.

Fish raised in farms are very susceptible to disease and are fed antibiotics regularly (one important reason why it is best to only eat wild fish). It is believed that GE salmon may even be more susceptible to disease so they would be fed even more antibiotics to keep them “healthy”.

This transgenic fish will grow twice as fast thanks to excessively working hormones, but what will this mean for those who eat them? Will their hormones also start working overtime? We are seeing that products with chemicals that interfere with our hormone system can be really damaging, offsetting our bodies delicate balance. We are not meant to be exposed to so many chemicals in our lifetime.

Many scientists and doctors believe that endocrine disruptors could be the cause of neuro-developmental problems such as reduced IQ, ADHD and autism. Or maybe the excessive hormone production in these laboratory created salmon will have an effect like Xenoestrogens. These man made compounds have estrogenic effects but are chemically different from naturally occurring estrogen. Their human impact is still inder study but many believe that they are leading to reduced sperm counts, breast cancer cell growth and in fish, altered sex ratios, male fish just don’t develop or they become female. It is time for the public to say no to being part of an experiment.

Beyond the possibility that our hormones could go awry many doctors and scientists are speaking out about the danger in general that we face from eating genetically modified food, yet it is on our shelves and does not even have to be labeled.

We can stop buying genetically modified food and send letters or call companies advising them that we have stopped using their products for this reason. Walmart even stopped carrying milk that was from cows injected with rBGH. If enough people do this the companies will change–they just want to sell products and if we support non-GMO, organically grown food more and more will be available. It is up to us.

I think that it is time for us to stop manipulating nature and stop being a part of this. This step to approving GE salmon is a huge one and the ramifications are great and frightening. Let’s not let this genie out of the bottle, when we do not really know what could happen–too much is at stake.

Check this out and sign the petition if you agree. “The hearing for approving the salmon is scheduled for Sunday, September 19, and no public comment period has been established for the approval of genetically engineered fish outside of this meeting, so this may be our only chance to oppose this dangerous approval!”

You can also call the FDA, your representatives, hey call your President and let him know that you are quite satisfied with salmon as nature makes it and you don’t want the FDA to approve GE salmon…ever!

I have been seeing so many people on bikes in Los Angeles, ok, mainly down by the beach in Venice, Santa Monica and Marina del Rey but in other parts of town too. I am thrilled whenever I can take a bike to shop or go wherever I am headed, and here in LA I find it pretty easy and even more convenient at times. It sure saves on parking time.

I just read about Climate Ride, which is a fund raising bike ride to support climate and energy solutions. There will be two rides, one in Northern California this September and then one in June from New York to Washington DC. Both sound like they will be beautiful rides.

Each evening riders will be able to hear speakers so it will be a climate and energy conference on wheels, a fundraiser and an opportunity to show many communities, and hopefully beyond, the importance of looking for and utilizing new energy solutions that do not harm the environment, people and animals.

The web site has lots of good information, including how to train for the ride. So if you ride or if this could motivate you to ride, check it out. I am tempted to bring SmartLifeways back east in June for the ride-maybe I will see you there.

“Founder Kenny Ausubel coined the term Bioneers in 1990 to describe an emerging culture. Bioneers are social and scientific innovators from all walks of life and disciplines who have peered deep into the heart of living systems to understand how nature operates, and to mimic “nature’s operating instructions” to serve human ends without harming the web of life.” You can readmore  about Bioneers here.

The conference brings together modern-day visionaries who are at work to make the future better than we might expect. Bioneers started twenty years ago and much of what was spoken about then has come to be our present reality…the future has arrived. At the conference we get to hear about what the next decade or two might bring.

There is a lot of negativity in the media and among people in general, but there also are a lot of wonderful things happening and at Bioneers we get to learn more about them, and become inspired. This year some of the speakers are Jane Goodall, Gary Hirshberg (founder of Stonyfield Farms yogurt, Andy Lipkis (founder of TreePeople) and Lynn Twist to just name a few. You can read about the speakers here and here is the complete brochure

The conference is October 15-17, with intensives the 14th and 18th.

I was at the Farm Tour intensive last year where we went to the Marin farmers market (a real treat to visit if you are ever in the area), met some of the farmer/vendors and then we went off to visit three farms. I even had a chance to catch up with Albert Strauss from Strauss Dairy who I had met at the Slow Money conference in Santa Fe last year.

If you can’t make it to Northern California you can still be a part of the conference. The morning Plenary Presentations, which feature the main speakers, will be beamed, in some cases live, across the country to a number of Beaming Bioneers Conferences. Depending on the location additional events may be planned. At the main conference the afternoons are for smaller workshops that you can read about in the brochure.

These beamed conference will take place from California to Massachusetts and even Alaska. You will even be able to “attend” if you are in Vancouver or Findhorn, Scotland. You can check here to see if one is near you. Click on your closest city and a link will take you to the actual event. This is also an opportunity to find out what is already happening in your local community and meet other like minded people. So if you can’t make it to Northern California you can still be a part of the Conference.

I am hoping to be there, so if you are too look for me and say hi.

Here are some photos from last years farm tour.

On the Bioneers Farm Tour at County Line Harvest

Albert Strauss telling us about Strauss dairy's commitment to the best, sustainable products over a great lunch.

A real surprise an apple orchard in the middle of nowhere.

Naturally there are animals on the farm too.

At last years Bioneers Farm Tour-County Line Harvest

This Sunday is the Santa Fe Farmers Market 15th annual Farm Tour. Four farms that are members of the Santa Fe Farmers Market will open their gates for all of us to come for a visit. For most of the day you can drive through beautiful Northern New Mexico, between Santa Fe and Taos, visit these farms, get a tour and taste their delicious produce.  At Romero Farms they will even be roasting chiles. Two orchards are also included in the tour, plus the Khalsa Greenhouses.

As the food that we find at conventional markets comes under more and more scrutiny, and suspicion, anyone who lives near a farmers market can consider themselves lucky. Here you can meet the people who grow your food, get to know them and ask them questions. My experience is that any farmer who is doing this right is more than happy to talk with you about their farm and their growing methods. And when you think about it why would any farmer really want to use pesticides that are harmful to his family and himself, deplete the soil and pollute the water that he and his family are probably also drinking? It just doesn’t make sense to use pesticides, herbicides and GMO’s unless you really don’t care about who is growing the food, the land and who is eating it.

If you are in the area don’t miss this special day. For those of you who don’t live nearby, see if your local farmers market sponsors such a day, and if not maybe suggest it. The more that all of us get to know the people who grow our food, and I must add appreciate them, the better off we all will be and the planet too. Local farms and markets are an important step in our food security as well. Just think about this, most stores only stock three days worth of food and we all have witnessed the panic shopping that usually happens when there is some sort of emergency – whether man made or brought by nature.

There are always surprises when getting to know who grows your food. I recently found out that Matt Romero had been a chef for many years, no wonder he is always doing cooking demos at the farmers market. Here are some recipes from him that were featured in Real Simple magazine.

Matt Romero's amazing eggplants

Hope to meet up with some of you on the tour-I will be taking photos with my orange camera to share with the rest of you, so if you happen to see me come over and say hi…..

No Impact Man and Family

If you have not seen the film No Impact Man and have channel Planet Green you are in luck. Saturday, August 28, at 10/9c pm No Impact Man will have its television premier.

This is a great film and you can read about in another post.

What I liked so much about the film is that we were able to see so many of the possible ways that we can reduce our impact on the earth. Some may be more important than others, but the idea is that we all do something and do it now. Together we will make a difference. As the film shows we may even find some beautiful benefits to living a cleaner, greener life, that we never even imagined.

Eating eggs shouldn't be like playing Russian Roulette

The egg recall of a half billion eggs (that is a lot of eggs to collect) that is just winding down will hopefully be a wake-up call to the realities of industrialized, factory produced food and the dangers of large, concentrated food producers who supply the entire country…not to mention companies that have repeatedly violated food safety standards yet are still in business.

Over the last year there have been so many food scares involving food recalls it is becoming common place. Does this remind you of some science fiction movie? It does me.

The good news is that over the weekend sales of eggs at farmers markets were a farmers dream come true. This MSNBC article talks about farmers markets from coast to coast that had record days with their eggs. Many egg sellers sold out before noon and had new customers, as well as many buying more than just one dozen.

This NY Times article from yesterday points out how this salmonella outbreak brings to light the flaws in our commercial, industrialized food system and the governments food safety system. We can see how the system broke down and much of that was due to lax regulations and a strange division of responsibilities between the Dept. of Agriculture and the FDA. It is a system that has not been modified to protect the public given today’s industrialized food model.

Hopefully many will realize that even with better regulation, which surely is needed, the system as it functions just doesn’t make sense. Industrialized factory food creates more pollution than smaller scale production of chickens, cows and even produce. When animals are allowed to exist as they do in nature with room to roam, cow or chicken, what creates a toxic pond at a factory farm can now fertilize the land and improve it. With smaller production more jobs are created and more humane ones. The film and book Fast Food Nation is a journey into the world of industrial farms and our food system.

Smaller but more numerous farms and ranches also means shorter drives to market. Just two factories distributed all of these tainted eggs from coast to coast. Imagine how much fuel it takes to transport a half billion eggs. When you buy local you are helping to conserve oil and reduce the pollution from all of those “food miles”.

Another problem with this system is that so much of our crops need to go to feeding livestock. Over 75% of all corn grown in America is used to feed livestock not people. On the open range cows graze, and supplementing their diet with hay is much better for the land and especially for the animals. Cows were not even meant to eat corn, it actually makes them sick, so then they need to be given antibiotics…it goes on and on and a cycle is created from this crazy food system that takes a bad situation, so many animals crammed into awful conditions and makes it worse.

And imagine the life that chickens have living in confined cages where they cannot even sit compared to animals that are outside and leading relatively normal lives. The question of even eating meat is one that many people grapple with, but whether you chose a vegetarian lifestyle or not the bottom line is our system of factory farms is really awful for everyone involved, except the top management and stockholders of these companies. So if you do eat meat support local, sustainable, humane producers-they are out there and they need our support to survive.

The current laws and regulations have been created amidst an environment of lobbyists who have had the government’s ear, and politician’s pockets, more than we the people, but this scare could be an important part of changing this. We need to speak out louder and let our elected officials know that we demand something different. It is important to show that we mean this by shopping at farmers markets, local coops, buying pesticide and antibiotic free, non-GMO food and humanely raised, grazing animals. Here is a link to Local Harvest, an organization that lists farmers markets across the country in case you don’t know where one is nearby.

It is up to us to act. So let this most recent salmonella outbreak be the straw that breaks the camels back and start shopping local if you don’t already. Not only will you protect yourself and your loved ones from future outbreaks, you will make a big step in protecting the environment and your health and you will be eating much better quality food.

Since it is eggplant season, here’s another idea to share with you

This is what I used quantity wise and there was plenty for two for a big main course (with some leftovers) or as a side dish for 4-6. This could be served as a warm or cold salad, or as something on the side.

1/2 of a good size classic purple eggplant. You could certainly use any kind and many farmers markets have a great variety right now so you could try some different varieties. Japanese or Chinese varieties will cook quicker.

I cut the eggplant into cubes, but it could also be sliced.

1 zucchini roughly sliced

2 cooked (boiled) potatoes. I used two amazing red fingerlings from Weiser Family  Farms. They are so delicious-consider yourself fortunate if you are in the L.A. area and can get them. You can use your favorite variety of fingerlings or Yukons or just about any kind. I had boiled a few to have them ready to use for who knows what so they were ready to go. I just chopped them roughly.

Small piece of leek-maybe two inches long (remember this was what was left in the fridge). You could use leek, shallot or any kind of onion.

Fresh cilantro and fresh mint

Dried spices: Whole Foods Pondicherry Curry Powder (not sure why but I really like this one), fennel seeds, turmeric, cayenne, cinnamon

Shredded coconut-optional

Saute onion in olive oil for a few minutes, add eggplant.

On top of the eggplant I used the following seasonings:

Salt

Whole Foods Pondicherry Curry Powder- i used enough to lightly cover the eggplant

Fennel seeds

Tumeric

Cayenne-beware and use to your flavor and heat bearing abilities

Cinnamon

Allow eggplant to cook for 10-15 minutes. toss often with tongs over medium heat. You may need to add a bit more oil.

Time to add the zucchini when the eggplant is almost ready

Once the eggplant is almost completely cooked add zucchini and toss every few minutes till the zucchini is almost cooked.

Add the potato, the chopped herbs and coconut. Cover and allow to just sit on top of other vegies for a few minutes to warm and then toss well.

This is also a great filling for making wraps, or putting inside of a pita and could be served warm or cold.

It’s also tasty with a yogurt sauce made from plain yogurt, chopped cucumbers, salt, dill, and chopped garlic.

You could also use other types of squash. Be creative when you are out shopping and maybe try something that you usually don’t buy. Every fruit and vegetable provides different nutrients, antioxidants and phytochemicals that we need to enjoy good health. And we get more of those essential elements when they are pesticide free & organic and really fresh like you find at a farmers market.

Maybe America would be looking a lot different, in a lot of ways if families spent more time together and you can be assured of this when you have a smaller house. Of course the need for resources like heat, water and electricity also decreases as the size of our homes do, another good by-product from building smaller.

These may be much smaller than you could imagine yourself in, but if its possible to reduce to these really small dwellings imagine what we all could do to downsize a bit.

Sometimes bigger isn’t better. Perhaps in the end we gain having less; like having more time in our lives for things that bring us more than stuff ever can….

Sometimes living more sustainably brings greater rewards than we could ever imagine. Try it, you just might wonder how you stayed away so long.

Have you noticed that since the big H1N1 scare hand sanitizers have turned up everywhere? I have seen them at markets, airports, banks and gyms….but do we really need them or is this just a way to create more fear, sell products and contribute to stronger bacteria that when we really need to treat ourselves we can’t

This is a great article brought to us from Food and Water Watch on the dangers of Triclosan. I am afraid that triclosan is just one more chemical that has been produced and then marketed to an unsuspecting public who just wants to stay healthy when in fact it makes it more difficult to treat illness when it comes, causes health problems and pollutes our water. Triclosan has been shown to be an endocrine disruptor and it can form into dioxin.

Check your products for this ingredient. When it has been found that soap and water are just as effective, why do we even need such ingredients and why does the government allow them to be used. Speak out and let your government officials know that we want to be protected from unregulated chemical use in products that are making us sick. And remember your dollars speak loudly when you stop using such products…you can also send letter to companies using them asking them to stop. When enough of us take action large corporations will see that they lose more using these chemicals and will stop.

For more on chemicals in our beauty and body products be sure to catch Annie Leonard’s latest film The Story of Cosmetics…it will change the way you shop, and protect your health.