Friday, August 21, 2009
The Absence of Soil
The BIRTH day of The Absence of Soil - introducing the Intro & Chapter One...more to come!: http://tinyurl.com/l4vst2
Wednesday, August 19, 2009
The REAL Food Movement
Eating locally is becoming increasingly popular. Numerous stories are flooding mainstream media featuring the next generation of young farmers, community supported agriculture, locavores, farmers markets and tips on growing your own garden. These heroic efforts are the saving grace and potential salvation for the future of nutritious food. Let’s take back our threatened food system and save ourselves.
(http://foodfreedom.wordpress.com/2009/06/16/hr-2749-totalitarian-control-of-the-food-supply/ and http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WH8Tchm4NKQ)
The nutrients in food today have drastically reduced since they were first researched in 1940. Since that time a 40% reduction in mineral content has occurred due to the widespread use of agrichemicals used on the soil. According to the “Worthington Report” in 2001, “organic food contains significantly higher levels of Vitamin C, iron, magnesium and phosphorous and significantly fewer nitrates than conventional crops” (The Little Food Book: You Are What You Eat, p. 129). It’s like eating four apples today to get the same nutritional value in one apple 70 years ago.
Yet even today, organic standards have been weakened as more and more corporate food giants have come on board with their own organic lines. Attempts have been made by the USDA to alter the definition of “organic” by including genetically modified foods or those grown using toxic sludge. As the organic industry grows and big business puts pressure on the government to make exceptions to the rule we must continue to use our voices to maintain the purity we currently have. The reason the organic industry is growing is due to consumer demand. So although it is impossible to completely avoid all contaminants in such a toxic world, we do know that eating organic reduces our toxic load considerably and is better for our children.
We need to demand NUTRITIONALLY DENSE food – even over organic. Instinctually we gravitate towards foods that are more nutritionally rich because they taste sweeter and as a result we eat less. Ultimately, hunger is the result of a lack of nutrition – our bodies are starving from the DEAD foods we are feeding them. We need to get the minerals and vitamins our bodies require for ultimate health from the foods we eat, not packaged foods and supplements. Avoid packaged, processed foods of all kinds – even those labeled organic. There is no healthy packaged food. It is just a gimmick to keep consumers buying fast food. Simple meals made with fresh ingredients are always best and more cost effective.
We now have the knowledge and capability to merge science and technology with nature and produce foods that maximize DNA potential, are nutrient rich and disease resistant, have a longer shelf life and taste better! When we choose to buy organic we must research the company or farm we are buying from! Fresh, local organic is always best. Take the comparison of non-organic collard greens and iceberg lettuce. Nutritionally speaking collard greens (being a dark leafy green) are much better for you than iceberg lettuce (which is devoid of any real nutritional value), yet non-organic collard greens contained 270 pesticide residues (including traces of DDE and DDT) while the iceberg lettuce had only 122.
Eating fresh is always best from a nutritional stand point, but not eating organically grown produce can actually be dangerous, especially for small, growing children as the supposedly “safe” levels of pesticides sprayed on fruits and vegetables are based on the size and serving of an adult male, not a young child. If you are not eating all organic, you need to know which non-organic fruits and vegetables to avoid. Many of the most dangerous fruits (apples, strawberries and grapes) are the ones our kids love the most! What child eats just a few berries? Celery is at the top of the list with a whopping 240 pesticide residues; cucumbers came in at 189; summer squash at 185; tomatoes at 214 and potatoes at 205. Dried raisins had 200 industrial chemical and pesticide residues (up an additional 90 residues within a thirteen year span). Check out Diet for a Poisoned Planet by David Steinman.
We must be wise consumers to determine the quality of organics we are dealing with. Frozen organic fruit grown in China is not the same as fruit grown in California due to water quality, air quality and processing standards. Organic produce from Mexico is more suspect because organic standards there are not as stringent as in the states. We are also looking for products that aren’t traveling excessive distances to get to us. Yet in areas where farm land is diminishing daily (like where I live in Connecticut) it is getting harder and harder to afford “local” foods as the demand exceeds what is available. Local food is not always organic yet farmers’ market prices in some areas are exceeding organic food prices as consumers seek out the latest and greatest in the new “local” niche.
The bottom line is that we need to demand food that is not sprayed or treated in any way so that our children can think clearly. It is more critical than ever that we feed our families nutritionally dense real food that will sustain them and not add to their toxic load. More and more farmers are beginning to realize that particular attention needs to be given to the soil in order to grow food high in nutrition – including those labeled organic. Dr. Anderson, a leader in the field of sustainable agriculture, determined in his research that the nutritional content of foods today are 15 to 75 percent less than a half a century ago “due to the poor nutritional practices of the farmers that grow the food”.
The overuse of the nitrates in agriculture to promote fast crop growth post World War II developed as a way to dispose of the over production of nitrates used in making explosive bombs. “The problem is (according to Dr. Anderson) that the crops are not fit to eat. There’s no nutrition there to speak of, and that’s part of the reason we have degraded our food.” Nitrogen has been promoted both as a pesticide AND a fertilizer by those in the business of making money, not farming. As a result, we have a situation where there is a lack of good soil remaining to grow food that our bodies need. Interestingly enough, when we grow crops in nutrient rich remediated soil, the crops not only taste better, are larger in size and produce greater yields, but they are also pest-resistant! Amazing – it’s as if Mother Nature really knew what she was doing! The challenges confronting farmers today due to the implementation of chemicals are numerous compared to those facing farmers 100 years ago.
There is a growing movement being launched by small-scale organic farmers who are on the cutting edge of this technology to bring to market this real food we are talking about. It is called The Real Food Campaign. The goal is to establish new standards by growing food with high levels of vitamins, carbohydrates, minerals, antioxidants and trace minerals (matching or exceeding pre 1940 USDA mineral levels). These HIGH BRIX foods will be flooding the market as both retailers and consumers begin to not only understand, but taste, the difference. BRIX tests the levels of sugars in the food – explaining the difference between a home grown juicy tomato of the past and the cardboard, tasteless relics of today. Grocery stores are already beginning to seek this high brix food because it is more shelf stable, lasts longer and creates positive experiences for their consumers bringing them back for more!
The campaign is linking together farmers, consultants, distributors, wholesalers, retailers and consumers educating them about the fact that it is possible to grow higher quality foods. Our role as consumers is to support the movement by purchasing these products but to take it a step further by telling others. When we have options we become empowered rather than helpless. We have a solution! We are getting back to the basic building blocks inherent in Mother Nature to solve some of the crisis we are challenged with today – biochar, algae, enzymes, mycelium…Mother Nature has the tools to remedy the solution IF we let her.
(http://foodfreedom.wordpress.com/2009/06/16/hr-2749-totalitarian-control-of-the-food-supply/ and http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WH8Tchm4NKQ)
The nutrients in food today have drastically reduced since they were first researched in 1940. Since that time a 40% reduction in mineral content has occurred due to the widespread use of agrichemicals used on the soil. According to the “Worthington Report” in 2001, “organic food contains significantly higher levels of Vitamin C, iron, magnesium and phosphorous and significantly fewer nitrates than conventional crops” (The Little Food Book: You Are What You Eat, p. 129). It’s like eating four apples today to get the same nutritional value in one apple 70 years ago.
Yet even today, organic standards have been weakened as more and more corporate food giants have come on board with their own organic lines. Attempts have been made by the USDA to alter the definition of “organic” by including genetically modified foods or those grown using toxic sludge. As the organic industry grows and big business puts pressure on the government to make exceptions to the rule we must continue to use our voices to maintain the purity we currently have. The reason the organic industry is growing is due to consumer demand. So although it is impossible to completely avoid all contaminants in such a toxic world, we do know that eating organic reduces our toxic load considerably and is better for our children.
We need to demand NUTRITIONALLY DENSE food – even over organic. Instinctually we gravitate towards foods that are more nutritionally rich because they taste sweeter and as a result we eat less. Ultimately, hunger is the result of a lack of nutrition – our bodies are starving from the DEAD foods we are feeding them. We need to get the minerals and vitamins our bodies require for ultimate health from the foods we eat, not packaged foods and supplements. Avoid packaged, processed foods of all kinds – even those labeled organic. There is no healthy packaged food. It is just a gimmick to keep consumers buying fast food. Simple meals made with fresh ingredients are always best and more cost effective.
We now have the knowledge and capability to merge science and technology with nature and produce foods that maximize DNA potential, are nutrient rich and disease resistant, have a longer shelf life and taste better! When we choose to buy organic we must research the company or farm we are buying from! Fresh, local organic is always best. Take the comparison of non-organic collard greens and iceberg lettuce. Nutritionally speaking collard greens (being a dark leafy green) are much better for you than iceberg lettuce (which is devoid of any real nutritional value), yet non-organic collard greens contained 270 pesticide residues (including traces of DDE and DDT) while the iceberg lettuce had only 122.
Eating fresh is always best from a nutritional stand point, but not eating organically grown produce can actually be dangerous, especially for small, growing children as the supposedly “safe” levels of pesticides sprayed on fruits and vegetables are based on the size and serving of an adult male, not a young child. If you are not eating all organic, you need to know which non-organic fruits and vegetables to avoid. Many of the most dangerous fruits (apples, strawberries and grapes) are the ones our kids love the most! What child eats just a few berries? Celery is at the top of the list with a whopping 240 pesticide residues; cucumbers came in at 189; summer squash at 185; tomatoes at 214 and potatoes at 205. Dried raisins had 200 industrial chemical and pesticide residues (up an additional 90 residues within a thirteen year span). Check out Diet for a Poisoned Planet by David Steinman.
We must be wise consumers to determine the quality of organics we are dealing with. Frozen organic fruit grown in China is not the same as fruit grown in California due to water quality, air quality and processing standards. Organic produce from Mexico is more suspect because organic standards there are not as stringent as in the states. We are also looking for products that aren’t traveling excessive distances to get to us. Yet in areas where farm land is diminishing daily (like where I live in Connecticut) it is getting harder and harder to afford “local” foods as the demand exceeds what is available. Local food is not always organic yet farmers’ market prices in some areas are exceeding organic food prices as consumers seek out the latest and greatest in the new “local” niche.
The bottom line is that we need to demand food that is not sprayed or treated in any way so that our children can think clearly. It is more critical than ever that we feed our families nutritionally dense real food that will sustain them and not add to their toxic load. More and more farmers are beginning to realize that particular attention needs to be given to the soil in order to grow food high in nutrition – including those labeled organic. Dr. Anderson, a leader in the field of sustainable agriculture, determined in his research that the nutritional content of foods today are 15 to 75 percent less than a half a century ago “due to the poor nutritional practices of the farmers that grow the food”.
The overuse of the nitrates in agriculture to promote fast crop growth post World War II developed as a way to dispose of the over production of nitrates used in making explosive bombs. “The problem is (according to Dr. Anderson) that the crops are not fit to eat. There’s no nutrition there to speak of, and that’s part of the reason we have degraded our food.” Nitrogen has been promoted both as a pesticide AND a fertilizer by those in the business of making money, not farming. As a result, we have a situation where there is a lack of good soil remaining to grow food that our bodies need. Interestingly enough, when we grow crops in nutrient rich remediated soil, the crops not only taste better, are larger in size and produce greater yields, but they are also pest-resistant! Amazing – it’s as if Mother Nature really knew what she was doing! The challenges confronting farmers today due to the implementation of chemicals are numerous compared to those facing farmers 100 years ago.
There is a growing movement being launched by small-scale organic farmers who are on the cutting edge of this technology to bring to market this real food we are talking about. It is called The Real Food Campaign. The goal is to establish new standards by growing food with high levels of vitamins, carbohydrates, minerals, antioxidants and trace minerals (matching or exceeding pre 1940 USDA mineral levels). These HIGH BRIX foods will be flooding the market as both retailers and consumers begin to not only understand, but taste, the difference. BRIX tests the levels of sugars in the food – explaining the difference between a home grown juicy tomato of the past and the cardboard, tasteless relics of today. Grocery stores are already beginning to seek this high brix food because it is more shelf stable, lasts longer and creates positive experiences for their consumers bringing them back for more!
The campaign is linking together farmers, consultants, distributors, wholesalers, retailers and consumers educating them about the fact that it is possible to grow higher quality foods. Our role as consumers is to support the movement by purchasing these products but to take it a step further by telling others. When we have options we become empowered rather than helpless. We have a solution! We are getting back to the basic building blocks inherent in Mother Nature to solve some of the crisis we are challenged with today – biochar, algae, enzymes, mycelium…Mother Nature has the tools to remedy the solution IF we let her.
For more information about the Real Food Campaign, visit www.realfoodcampaign.org ! Support their efforts by becoming a member!
REAL FRESH FOOD is available through The Growing Green Co-op. To place an order, contact Julia at Julia.Whittier@comcast.net (Hartford pick-up) or for more information about a drop-off location near you, contact Imani@thegreenvibration.com
Tuesday, August 11, 2009
Wednesday, August 5, 2009
CLICK HERE NOW!
FOOD SECURITY & FREEDOM - OPPOSE BILL H2749! It is each of our responsibility to protect both for our children. TAKE ACTION immediately! There is no time like the NOW to get informed.
Thursday, July 9, 2009
sweet misery
So, what's the demon? SUGAR... in all it's sultry forms....even for those of us eating mostly raw food diets we still come face to face with the culprit that entices us all. From agave to aspartame we are required to explore our relationship with sugar. But the outrage, for me, comes when blatant, misleading advertising is inflcited upon those who don't yet understand the issue - particularly our children.
A few weeks ago we showed SWEET MISERY as part of our free film series. It is a must see for anyone that still believes that aspartame is not a lethal toxin and makes you wonder who it is exactly that is out to destroy our species. A few days later my daughter stumbled across the $30 million effort over the next 18 months on behalf of corn syrup companies to convince Americans that this stuff is "natural". Check it out:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hYiEFu54o1E
Most moms fail to realize that 2 of every 3 products inthe grocery store contain SUGAR - not just the junk food but the other stuff like pickles, pasta sauce, yogurt. There are over 52,000 items alone that contain high fructrose corn syrup!!! Read: Sugar Shock by Connie Bennett and begin to educate yourself about the DANGERS of this deadly poison being inflicted upon our innocent children around every corner.
A few weeks ago we showed SWEET MISERY as part of our free film series. It is a must see for anyone that still believes that aspartame is not a lethal toxin and makes you wonder who it is exactly that is out to destroy our species. A few days later my daughter stumbled across the $30 million effort over the next 18 months on behalf of corn syrup companies to convince Americans that this stuff is "natural". Check it out:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EEbRxTOyGf0&feature=related
and
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KVsgXPt564Q&feature=related
I particularly love this rebuttal which is much more accurate:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hYiEFu54o1E
Most moms fail to realize that 2 of every 3 products inthe grocery store contain SUGAR - not just the junk food but the other stuff like pickles, pasta sauce, yogurt. There are over 52,000 items alone that contain high fructrose corn syrup!!! Read: Sugar Shock by Connie Bennett and begin to educate yourself about the DANGERS of this deadly poison being inflicted upon our innocent children around every corner.
Friday, June 19, 2009
Water...our most precious resource
Happy Solstice! Join us and others around the world in this history making "EXPERIMENT". . . . The new concept in harmony . . . Connecting all through the water that sustains the planet and makes up most of your body. . . .New research proves different types of water hold unique capabilities that can free humanity from every urgency. Learn more about water and the new way to hear music . . . in 528Hz.Join us. . . . It’s for everyone.
The EXPERIMENT will gather millions of people this Summer Solstice weekend, June19- 21. Participants at more than 70 venues worldwide adjacent important bodies of Water are poised to make this first LIVE H2O Internet broadcast a historic success. Best of all, it’s all done by volunteers, and no large commercial sponsors. People everywhere will unite musically to celebrate the healing harmony in Water and LOVE. This unprecedented interactive Internet broadcast over LIVEH2O.tv will engage an estimated 10 million or more viewers in this first ever experiment in awareness and understanding. Music played at 528 Hz, with heart-felt loving intention for peace, health, and more, will resonate the oceans, rivers, lakes, and streams, including your blood stream, for the LOVE of it!
Co-creating Peace, Health & AbundanceEverything is possible with LOVE, faith, and people united in prayer! This 72-hour global event is designed to bring humanity back to unity and security in the name of LOVE, by celebrating Water.There are three ways for you to participate: 1) Go to the nearest venue; 2) Create your own gathering with friends interacting using LIVEH2O.tv and this "FREE PASS" to the LIVEH2O.tv "Control Room" that links you to streaming video broadcasts from around the world; and 3) Produce your own experience by "surfing" the streaming video, singing, praying, and chanting with multitudes of warm hearts connected online.That's right! Even if you are home alone, everyone is invited to celebrate LIVE H2O, especially during the global prayers on Sunday, June 21st, at 10AM and 6PM Pacific Standard Time.
Let‘s co-create a "Global Baptism" during the greatest spiritual concert in history--all for the LOVE of Water!DRUM, PRAY and CHANT with the World, . . .Share in the "LOVE WATER EXPERIMENT". . . . SUNDAY, JUNE 21, 2009.
For those of you in Hartford, we will meet at the co-op at 4pm on Sunday.
The EXPERIMENT will gather millions of people this Summer Solstice weekend, June19- 21. Participants at more than 70 venues worldwide adjacent important bodies of Water are poised to make this first LIVE H2O Internet broadcast a historic success. Best of all, it’s all done by volunteers, and no large commercial sponsors. People everywhere will unite musically to celebrate the healing harmony in Water and LOVE. This unprecedented interactive Internet broadcast over LIVEH2O.tv will engage an estimated 10 million or more viewers in this first ever experiment in awareness and understanding. Music played at 528 Hz, with heart-felt loving intention for peace, health, and more, will resonate the oceans, rivers, lakes, and streams, including your blood stream, for the LOVE of it!
Co-creating Peace, Health & AbundanceEverything is possible with LOVE, faith, and people united in prayer! This 72-hour global event is designed to bring humanity back to unity and security in the name of LOVE, by celebrating Water.There are three ways for you to participate: 1) Go to the nearest venue; 2) Create your own gathering with friends interacting using LIVEH2O.tv and this "FREE PASS" to the LIVEH2O.tv "Control Room" that links you to streaming video broadcasts from around the world; and 3) Produce your own experience by "surfing" the streaming video, singing, praying, and chanting with multitudes of warm hearts connected online.That's right! Even if you are home alone, everyone is invited to celebrate LIVE H2O, especially during the global prayers on Sunday, June 21st, at 10AM and 6PM Pacific Standard Time.
Let‘s co-create a "Global Baptism" during the greatest spiritual concert in history--all for the LOVE of Water!DRUM, PRAY and CHANT with the World, . . .Share in the "LOVE WATER EXPERIMENT". . . . SUNDAY, JUNE 21, 2009.
For those of you in Hartford, we will meet at the co-op at 4pm on Sunday.
Monday, June 1, 2009
REAL Food
Our organic café has blossomed over the years and continues to attract people struggling with food related issues. Throughout the years, I have noticed the disconnection people seem to have with their physical bodies. For example, most people have lost touch with their innate hunger response. Here in America, we eat just for the sake of eating- crazy schedules, boredom, loneliness and habit.Our culture has reinforced this concept with bottle feeding. We use food as a way to pacify children rather than comfort them with the breast or physical attention. It is easier to stick something in their mouths to shut them up rather than to deal with their specific needs at a particular moment in time.
But with what result? We now have a nation of overweight and emotionally starved children who turn into adults with the same issues in various forms. Food, sex, shopping - one addiction is linked to another. We are a compulsive society aching to fill the insatiable emptiness within. The Age of Consumerism has created a chasm between our inner wisdom and what we are told we need in this country like no other.
Here in the US we have the highest rates of obesity and diabetes resulting from growing a nation of children disconnected from where there food comes from or what real food even is for that matter. We assume the packaged edible matter with a nutritional label attached actually is good for us because that is what we have been mis-led to believe the unreal.
A hundred years ago our grandparents ate the food they grew in their garden, the wild edibles that surrounded them and products that came from nearby farms. We see the rage for raw food, local food and farmers markets growing as more and more people begin to see the light. Yet as we begin to incorporate more of these REAL foods into our diets, the real challenge is to fully obliterate the unhealthy products from our diets....
Join us for one of our RAW FOOD BASICS courses at our cafe (new series starts next week) if you are in the area (http://www.alchemyjuicebar.com/) or check out http://www.foodmatters.tv/ AND do your part by signing on to the latest campaign sponsored by Corporate Accountability that is urging more states to follow cities and states such as NYC and Massachussets who are enforcing madatory nutritional labeling from fast food restaurants. Connecticut could become the latest state to ensure fast food chains provide customers with nutritional information on menu boards! Take action: Tell Governor Rell to pass strong protections for Connecticut fast food patrons - and our kids!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
Posts
