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Taking Positive Action to Stop Home Improvement Stores Pushing Pesticides on Consumers

3/15/2015

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Convincing the public to accept and use products that can kill us such as cigarettes has obviously been done successfully in the past and now has become a science as reported by Robert Kenner maker of “Food Inc” in his new documentary "Merchants of Doubt.”  Companies selling these types of products can turn to advertising and public relations firms that have become experts at playing with our minds and virtually tricking us into paying for products that make us hurt ourselves, the people we love, and contaminate our homes and the inside of our bodies.  What a scam!

It is painful to watch commercials for Roundup, Monsanto, nutritionally empty food filled with pesticides, GMOs, and chemicals, along with pet products that are nothing more than pure poison such as flea collars that sit directly on skin and expose pets and our families to some of the most toxic pesticides.  Those flea collars are so dangerous the National Resource and Defense Council has filed a lawsuit against the companies that make them.  Lice products exist that are also pesticides.  Why are we using them when people have successfully substituted coconut oil instead.  Why risk permanent neurological damage to our children by allowing these products to be sold at all?  To support pharmaceutical and pesticide corporations?

The wealth of these companies keeps growing and so does their power to control our lives. They take our dollars and in turn use them against us, infiltrate our government, pay lobbyists, and pump out commercial after commercial designed to brainwash consumers to disregard logic and believe the products to be safe.
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Have heard many complaints on social media about politicians that have been bought off by these companies through campaign contributions.  With all of their power, we have to also what it means for candidates to go against them.  Agree the sell out is a travesty, but if we could realize and accept just how powerful our dollars and our purchases really are, and that it is really consumers that keep them in power, maybe we could stop feeding the beasts.  
It is easy to blame others, but what if we could accept that all of the dollars we have given them when we accept what they tell us and buy their products, has made them into the mega corporations that we have today.  

Somewhere along the line we started to think it was cool to buy the popular product and abandon supporting small and local businesses, which was really hurting ourselves as many lost jobs and their freedom, and were forced to work for big corporate instead.  Many of those jobs provide no benefits, only offer part time employment, and eliminate the possibility of getting ahead by working harder.  Instead you make the corporation more money.  Some offer advancement, but can you reach the same level as having a successful business of your own?  Bottom line big corporations don't want small business because take away profits.
We have to then decide if companies that knowingly poisoned us with pesticides and GMOs ever deserve our dollars again when there are so many companies that do deserve our dollars and have never engaged in those kind of practices.  Helping family owned companies versus big corporations can give us greater satisfaction as well.  Especially if we take a little time to get to know them and the people that run them.

It is hard being a smart consumer because we are up against some of the smartest trickery that can come from a human mind as outlined in the “Merchants of Doubt.”  They are so good we have to wonder if we even stand a chance.  

Perhaps recognizing we are playing a game, and work on see though the hype, and coming up with a strategy on how to not let them get over on us so we win could work.  By choosing to support companies that deserve our dollars because they offer safe food and products even if they have to take a cut in profit such as those selling USDA Certified Organic is a perfect way to start.  Logic should tell us it is best to buy from companies that have to be accountable for every ingredient and process. Organic companies are required to document every step along the way so each step and ingredient can be traced back to it’s origin.  Non certified companies have no accountability. 

No one is immune to the tactics used by the “Merchants of Doubt."  Was recently a victim myself, and so was another person that I had talked to so didn’t feel so stupid.  Here is a picture of the sign that fooled me.  It hangs above plants sold outside in the home gardeners section at a Lowe’s down the the street from my house. 

At first glance I thought it was saying that the plants on that shelf were organic.  That was important to me as there was a big uproar on social media about plants sold at stores had already been sprayed with Roundup.  That included herbs that you break off and put into food.  Think that was what I wanted to believe, that Lowe’s had started doing the right thing and was offering organic plant choices for our gardens free of Roundup.  

Those of us that have done the research and know how much damage Roundup can do, that it doubles as a registered “antibiotic” so destroys important gut bacteria too, and is basically a “killing machine" that destroys or mutates DNA of every cell it touches.

It wasn’t until I made a fool out of myself encouraging another couple shopping for plants there to choose the “organic” plants on the side with the sign that it became clear what it was really saying.  Then realized there was nothing on the plant that identified it as “organic,” and the sign was really selling “organic fertilizer."
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What was more upsetting is that the manager of the store whom I’d just finished having a conversation with and congratulated on the offering of organic garden plant choices did not dispute the fact but instead went along as if it were truth.  Had planned to tell him how upset people were on social media that Roundup was sprayed on plants they were buying, but didn’t mention it because thought they had at least made an effort to offer an organic choice.

Got the idea to talk to the manager of Lowe’s after my interview with Estelle Foster the editor of “Going Organic Magazine.” She had been able to make a difference after talking to a local home improvement store manager and found myself inspired enough to try and see if I could do something.  Had heard about the pallets of Roundup sitting by the entrances to their store, and had just talked to a nurse who reported seeing many children come in with pesticide poisoning.  Thought maybe I could do something, just wasn’t sure what that would be exactly.

The nice young manager looked like he was in his early 30s and might have a family and young children at home.  Was hoping could get him thinking about the big picture.  By stopping the use of toxic pesticides we are not only protecting our families and children now, but changing the world we them and their children and so on.

After sharing what had been said on our Smart Health Talk Radio Show such as how Dr. Michael Hansen, Senior Scientist Consumer Reports, who claims to have read more research on pesticides than anyone in the country warned that in three generations our children will be sterile, my mind was trying to figure out how we could make something positive happen right here at my community home improvement store that could have an impact at the corporate level as well.  Thought if we could show that consumers want to get rid of pesticides and will use organic products if they better understood them, sales of organic products would increase.  That's when I got an idea!

Lowe's, Home Depot and other home improvement companies offer free classes so people better understand how to use the products they sell so why not teach a class on how to transition away from pesticide use at home and teach customers what organic alternatives could work for them instead?  

He said they had discussed the possibility and would be willing to work harder on making it happen.  At that point my mind started thinking of the possibilities.  If consumers showed interest and came to the class could this store become a role model for every other home improvement stores around the country?  Could we really make an impact on how many pesticides are sprayed in people’s homes, schools, businesses, churches, parks, and more?  Why just include my community?  Why not propose for this effort to be duplicated now all over the country?

Have learned never to assume anything, and the only way to make sure this gets down is to stay on it.  Plan to keep stopping by and asking how much longer until they will offer the class.  Will work on putting some plans in place once they set a date to promote it to the local community.

Want to thank all that have read this post, and hope you will also be inspired to take action NOW.  There is no time to waste when it comes to protecting our families from harm.  Please listen to our interview with Estelle Foster because this incredible woman was my inspiration and perhaps you can find strength from her personal experience and words of encouragement.  After listening to her, become confident a single person could make a huge difference.
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Click picture to read "The Daily Journal" article.
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Estelle Foster, Editor of Going Organic Magazine helped me believe a single person could make a big difference by finding the courage to just speak up and make a suggestion to someone like a store manager.  Her actions inspired a whole community and started a chain reaction that helped reduce the amount of pesticides that were being used and protected thousands from exposure.  Most important she proved we can ALL make a difference if we take that first step.

Visit Going Organic Magazine homepage for more great information 
and articles you can trust from Editor Estelle Foster. Click HERE.

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Click to listen to the rest of our interview with Estelle Foster as she explains why we all should be scared of inert ingredients.  The sources for these substances included in pesticide mixture will SHOCK YOU!

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Real Life "Merchants of Doubt" Strategy Playing Out Right NOW!

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Click to go to Huffington Post article on how this Merchants of Doubt strategy is playing out in real life.  The experts in spinning a story to hide the truth about what is happening to our country so they can influence policy that makes big corporate BILLIONS of dollars, but sets up Americans and the planet to breath air that will make them sick, drink contaminated water, and pay higher prices for food as drought and fields dead with pesticide & GMO contamination yield less and less for us to eat.  The reality they don't want us to know, and keep off the news as six corporation control most of what we see and hear is air carbon levels are now at 400 ppm, (the last time this high was MILLIONS of years ago and the ocean was 85 ft HIGER), which means that catastrophic weather events are not "IF" but "WHEN."  Those events will cost Americans their lives, trillions of dollars in destruction, and lost homes/work.  Many victims of the East Coast disaster are still without homes, and could face another event.  There is an answer that can help save us despite big corporate efforts to send us down a path of destruction and will pull large amounts of carbon from the air faster than any method.  It is something we can all support and do NOW and make our families healthier and stronger.

Click to find out what can save our planet, and the future of our children by reducing carbon in our air.

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Rodale's Online Editor Leah Zerbe on GMO Myths

12/19/2014

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Leah Zerbe know exactly what it's like to be an organic farmer because her and her husband own a 100 year old farm in Pennsylvania and feed families every week with a share of their crop.

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Rodale has been researching farming and food information since 1935.  Smart Health Talk considers their publications and online presence the #1 place for information you can trust.  They still do the research before reporting and sometimes that involves research done at their own facilities in Emmaus Pennsylvania where they have tested all forms of farming.

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If you find information that contradicts what you hear from Rodale Institute or Rodale News, you probably want to seriously question your sources.

Click here to go to Rodale's Original Article
GMO Myths by Leah Zerbe

GMO Myth #1: GMOs have been around for 1000s of years.

The Facts: Genetic modification is different from traditional breeding and presents its own set of unique risks.

• The term "genetic modification" really refers to the unnatural process of taking genes from ones species and using a special gun, viruses, or bacteria to inject it into another organism. This process could never occur naturally in nature. So the genetic modification we're talking about when it comes to seeds and genetically engineered ingredients in our food—we're talking about this completely unnatural process.

• Traditional breeding, known as selective breeding, has been around for thousands of years, where people can cross breed, for instance, tomato plants with favorable qualities, like great flavor, natural disease resistance, etc., with another tomato plant. This IS NOT what happens when we're talking about genetically modified seeds.

• Most GMOs in use now are created to withstand heavy herbicide sprayings. The company that creates the seed also sells the chemical you use on it. It's a package deal.

• Bonus Tip—Look for organic seeds from companies that take the Safe Seed Pledge. These companies go to great lengths to avoid purchasing seed from companies that promote GMOs.

GMO Myth #2: We need GMOs to control weeds and pests.

The Facts: In an ironic twist, GMO technology has actually made pest problems more severe.

• Most of the GMO seeds currently in use were genetically manipulated to either produce their own pesticides inside of the plant or to withstand heavy doses of chemical pesticides that would normally kill the plant.

• In 2012, there were 154 million acres of genetically modified soy, corn, alfalfa, cotton, canola, and sugar beets developed to withstand chemical herbicide dousing.

• About a third of that land now harbors superweeds, problem plants that won't die when sprayed with the GMO's intended weed-killing chemical.

• Most are designed to withstand high doses of glyphosate, the active ingredient in Roundup.

• Weeds quickly became resistant to glyphosate, meaning heavier—and more frequent applications—are required to try to combat weeds.

• Professor Chuck Benbrook, PhD, a research professor at Washington State University, recently found that between 1996 and 2011, GMO technology actually increased herbicide use by 527 million pounds—that's an 11 percent bump. (The study appeared recently in the journal Environmental Sciences Europe.)

Listen below to hear Dr. Charles (Chuck) Benbrook's warnings on risks and losses associated with GMO/pesticide use. Go to his profile. Follow Benbrook's Blog.

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• In fact, for every fewer pound of insecticide used, 4 pounds of herbicides are used. GMOs are not living up to the promise. It's that simple.

GMO Myth #3: GMOs reduce farmers' dependence on more older, more toxic pesticides.

The Facts: Dow Agrosciences is currently asking the United States Department of Agriculture to approve a new generation of GMO corn and soy crops designed to withstand heavy doses of 2,4-D, an old, toxic weedkiller because current GMOs are failing.

•There's been an explosion of superweeds that are no longer killed with glyphosate. 21 weed species are now resistant.

• Millions of acres of farmland are now abandoned due to the GMO/superweed problem; some farmers are paying up to $150 an acre per hour for hand weeding.

• Due to the superweed crisis, the USDA may approve 2,4-D resistant crops in the coming weeks. Penn State University weed scientists Dave Mortensen, PhD, ran the numbers and predicts this will quadruple chemical pesticide use.

GMO Myth #4: GMO ingredients are safe to eat.

The Facts: GMO ingredients have never been adequately tested for long-term impacts on public health despite hitting the market in 1996.

• There are about 600 studies focusing on the composition of genetically engineered foods, looking at things like calories, protein, fat, and vitamins.

• These mostly industry-funded studies are generally performed to show the Food and Drug Administration that the food is nutritionally comparable to non-GE foods, or to convince livestock farmers that GE feed is on par with non-GE feed.

• Both types of studies have next-to-nothing to do with human health and safety, Benbrook warns.

• Some of the very few studies looking at shorter-term health impacts suggest cause for concern. A carefully designed meta-analaysis of 19 longer-term published studies looking at mammals found those fed genetically engineered corn or soybeans experienced kidney, liver, and bone marrow damage, potential indicators for chronic disease.

• GMOs are also implicated in skyrocketing food allergies rates.

• Roundup, the chemical often sprayed on GMOs, has been linked to certain cancers, DNA damage, premature births, and ADHD.

• Warren Porter, PhD, professor of environmental toxicity and zoology at the University of Wisconsin, Madison, analyzed government data on glyphosate in the environment and found cause for concern. The levels could lead to accumulated levels that could:

o Alter endocrine-mediated pathways, leading to obesity, heart problems, circulation issues, and diabetes.
o Low level glyphosate levels have also been linked to immune system damage, birth defects, cell death, and learning disabilities.

• It's not good for animals, either. In a recent study published in the Journal of Organic Systems, Australian and U.S. researchers found pigs fed genetically engineered feed were much more likely to suffer from severe stomach inflammation and heavier uteri, a condition that could signal endometrial cancer, endometriosis, abnormal thickening, or gynecological polyps, all things that could affect fertility.

GMO Myth #6: GMOs are safe for the environment.

The Facts: GMOs are crushing biodiversity and are implicated in the collapse of several species.

• The catastrophic drop in Monarch butterflies is attributed greatly to glyphosate, the chemical of choice for GMO crops. Glyphosate annihilates milkweed plants, in and near fields and roadways; Monarchs need milkweed to reproduce—their babies need to eat the leaves to live.

• All GMOs designed to be sprayed with weed-killing chemicals are also coated in neonicotinoid insecticides. Neonicotinoids move through the plant and wind up in the pollen, where it's believed to cause neurological problems in bees.

• Farmers use so much Roundup the active ingredient has actually been detected in streams, the air, and even the rain at levels that could harm humans.

GMO Myth #7: GMO technology is an exact science.

The Facts: Although improving, GMO technology is still young and not very reliable.

• When inserting a foreign gene into a plant, there's a 1 in a 100 trillion chance of getting the insertion into the same place twice, according to farmer and GMO researcher Howard Vlieger.

• The desired characteristic inserted into the plant could have other traits, including ones we haven't even discovered yet. We don't know how that could impact human health, but GMOs are already implicated in skyrocketing rates of food allergies.

• Since biotechnoligists only know a sliver of what there's to be known about the genome of any crop species and about the genetic, biochemical, and cellular functioning, even inserting genes at a site deemed to be "safe" could cause a crop to become toxic or feature reduced nutritional value, or reduce it's ability to resist disease, pests, drought, or other stresses, according to an Earth Open Source report.

Another Report by Leah Zerbe, 
Rodale Online Editor 

Phthalates hidden in your home and in products that 
come in direct contact with our bodies that may be turning our hormone switches on and off.
Go to Leah's report. 
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The problem is not just about GMOs and pesticides, but stopping the global mess they've gotten us into, climate change because the carbon in the air at 400 ppm last happened millions of years ago and the ocean was 85 feet higher. 

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Over 50% of the population lives near a coastline so many at risk. We need to go back to using nature's process of pulling large amounts of carbon from the air and locking that carbon in the soil instead of it floating around in the atmosphere.

Micoorganisms in soil are key to the process, but conventional farming kills them off every time the field is sprayed.  

Organic no till farming gives micoorganisms the perfect place to live.  We are just starting to learn about all of the ways they help and protect us.
  

Earthworms Have Highly Evolved Intestinal Tracts
Reasons why soil full of earthworms and microorganisms busy at work, could be delivering another level of nutrition that is right there for us all, but not if we kill them!

There is no denying the increase of carbon in our air.  The last time the air had 400 ppm carbon was millions of years ago.  Catastrophic weather events are not if, but when and how bad.  Director of the Rodale Research Institute has a plan and the research to back it up.  Go here.

It was not until the year 1800 that we reached the first one billion people on the planet.  We have not passed the 7 billion mark just a little over 200 years later. Global sustainable practices can solve many problems.

We vote with our dollars every time we buy products.  Some companies abuse profits by using them against their customers rights for labeling transparency.  There are other great organic companies that we can support and many times can be cheaper.  Farmers markets are a great place to save because farmer direct. More here.

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Watch the video and hear what researchers have to say along with the original published article that Monsanto was able to get unpublished, but after further peer review, was republished in another magazine because no reason to not trust the research or results. Read the full study report.  Click here.

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Say I Love You With Non GMO Organic Valentine Treats and Flowers

2/14/2014

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Orange Juice May Soon Contain Pig Genes

8/13/2013

1 Comment

 

Is this what we want the future of our food supply to be?

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Putting animal and plant genes together, cloning animals and people, and much more weird lab experiments happening right now is exactly why we all have to work together to stop corporate take over of our food and resources. The most powerful weapon we have requires nothing more than feeding our bodies and our family food without their chemical and genetically modified adulterations. Corporate created poisons are designed to kill and are successful almost every time we eat them. They play with us, turning things on and off, messing with DNA or mutating cells. Increasing odds something will go wrong and then sickness. We are told the answer to illness is genetically modified drugs. Think about the fear added to our lives since we’ve allowed food companies to add 80,000 chemicals to food, limit diversity of real foods, and replace our calories with processed foods carrying higher doses of what they’re delivering. Control what is necessary for our existence, eliminate choices by controlling what we’re allowed to buy, and they have us. We’re giving them permission to go inside our body the most sacred place of all where only the purest of foods should be allowed above all. The foods we eat can influence our thoughts and how we feel and therefore actions. It’s easy to conceive a more extensive science of controlling our body and brain in this way. Have always been a rebel and a fighter and when it comes to my body and the health of my family is when I fight the hardest. When you think about it, they have the perfect system as the very thing these corporations make money from weakens the fight in body and mind, but something we have that cannot be created in a lab or manufactured is the human spirit and desire to survive. They will never tell us the whole truth, we know that, so why do we deny the obvious? We must fight for the health of our bodies and our way of life on this planet. Never assume choices will continue. While we have a choice, choose organic.
Orange Juice May Soon Contain Pig Genes 
http://www.undergroundhealth.com/orange-juice-may-soon-contain-pig-genes/
undergroundhealth.com 

August 11, 2013 at 8:43 am
by Eric Zielinksi – Naturalhealth365.com

The future of orange crops are at risk and pig genes may be considered part of the solution. (I’m not kidding) 

On July 27, the New York Times (NYT) officially staked its flag into Big Ag’s garden and into the soil of the GMO camp with its wildly controversial piece, “A Race to Save the Orange by Altering Its DNA.

”The feature highlights the story of a highly influential orange grower and his undying quest to stave off Asian jumping lice and the bacteria that they carry, which has been devastating Florida’s orange crop since 2005.

Committed to engineering the world’s first genetically modified orange tree, the article centers on Ricke Kress, the president of Southern Gardens Citrus who is in charge of two and a half million orange trees and a factory that squeezes juice for Tropicana and Florida’s Best. According to NYT, Kress’s GMO savior would fight C. liberibacter and citrus psyllids through whatever means science determines necessary. As for public acceptance, Kress told his industry colleagues, “We can’t think about that right now.

”Rick Kress’ mission to save oranges by whatever means necessary.

Kress’ crusade has led him along a path, the past several years, widely out of public view. His work has tested potential DNA donors from two vegetables, a virus, a pig, and a synthetic gene manufactured in a laboratory. Unbeknownst to the world, the NYT reports that later this summer Kress “will plant several hundred more young trees with the spinach gene, in a new house.

In two years, if he wins regulatory approval, they will be ready to go into the ground. The trees could be the first to produce juice for sale in five years or so.

”According to the NYT, whether it is his transgenic tree or someone else’s, Kress insists, “Florida growers will soon have trees that could produce juice without fear of its being sour, or in short supply. 

”What is the danger of the “Greening” disease? 

C. liberibacter, the bacterium that has all but annihilated Florida’s citrus crop, chokes off the flow of nutrients and are spread by Asian citrus psyllids that can carry the germ a mile without stopping, and the females can lay up to 800 eggs in their one-month life. It was first detected more than a century ago in China and has earned a place, along with anthrax and the Ebola virus, on the Agriculture Department’s list of potential agents of bioterrorism.

When it first hit, Florida growers attempted to subdue the contagion known as “Greening” by chopping down hundreds of thousands of infected trees and by spraying a broad spectrum of pesticides on the lice that carries it. However, the disease could not be contained. It has thus been determined by University of Florida agricultural analysts that the Asian bug and bacteria has cost Florida $4.5 billion and 8,000 jobs between 2006 and 2012.

Presently, there is no known cure for Greening disease. “In all of cultivated citrus, there is no evidence of immunity,” the plant pathologist heading a National Research Council task force on the disease said.

Does the New York Times really care about the health of its readers?  

Although our hearts break for the thousands of people who have lost their jobs and for the unknown impact this orange crop devastation will have on the world as it continues to spread, our tempers boil against the New York Times for their highly biased representation of GMOs to their readers, of whom many are ignorant to the harmful realities related to GMOs.

Astoundingly, the NYT attempts to compare genetically modifying oranges to ancient breeding practices, something that they call “genetic merging.”

Because oranges themselves are hybrids and most seeds are clones of the mother, new varieties cannot easily be produced by crossbreeding – unlike, say, apples, which breeders have remixed into favorites like Fuji and Gala. But the vast majority of oranges in commercial groves are the product of a type of genetic merging that predates the Romans, in which a slender shoot of a favored fruit variety is grafted onto the sturdier roots of other species: lemon, for instance, or sour orange. And a seedless midseason orange recently adopted by Florida growers emerged after breeders bombarded a seedy variety with radiation to disrupt its DNA, a technique for accelerating evolution that has yielded new varieties in dozens of crops, including barley and rice.

Completely ignoring the inherent dangers of GMOs and confusing the process with conventional crossbreeding, the NYT states.

Even in the heyday of frozen concentrate, the popularity of orange juice rested largely on its image as the ultimate natural beverage, fresh-squeezed from a primordial fruit. But the reality is that human intervention has modified the orange for millenniums, as it has almost everything people eat.

In addition, the NYT times argues that, “Even conventional crossbreeding has occasionally produced toxic varieties of some vegetables.” The famed news source even insists that,Oranges are not the only crop that might benefit from genetically engineered resistance to diseases for which standard treatments have proven elusive. And advocates of the technology say it could also help provide food for a fast-growing population on a warming planet by endowing crops with more nutrients, or the ability to thrive in drought, or to resist pests. Leading scientific organizations have concluded that shuttling DNA between species carries no intrinsic risk to human health or the environment, and that such alterations can be reliably tested.

A nation divided

Supposedly, the scientific consensus holds that genetic engineering is the only solution to defeating Greening. “People are either going to drink transgenic orange juice or they’re going to drink apple juice,” one University of Florida scientist told Kress.

“And,” according to the NYT, “If the presence of a new gene in citrus trees prevented juice from becoming scarcer and more expensive, Kress believed, the American public would embrace it. ‘The consumer will support us if it’s the only way,’ Kress assured his boss.

”However is this true? Will the American consumer embrace the GM orange and feed GM juice to their children in the quantities that they are now?

According to the NYT,

If various polls were to be believed, a third to half of Americans would refuse to eat any transgenic crop. One study’s respondents would accept only certain types: two-thirds said they would eat a fruit modified with another plant gene, but few would accept one with DNA from an animal. Fewer still would knowingly eat produce that contained a gene from a virus.

Orange growers are still divided

Kress’s boss worried about damaging the image of juice long promoted as “100 percent natural.” “Do we really want to do this?” he demanded in a 2008 meeting at the company’s headquarters on the northern rim of the Everglades.

“The public will never drink G.M.O. orange juice,” one grower said at a contentious 2008 meeting. “It’s a waste of our money.

”“The public is already eating tons of G.M.O.’s,” countered Peter McClure, a big grower.“

This isn’t like a bag of Doritos,” snapped another. “We’re talking about a raw product, the essence of orange.”
Tags: GMO, monsanto, orange juice, pig genes 


1 Comment

14 Steps to Cut Out Processed Food

6/1/2013

2 Comments

 
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14 Steps to Cut Out Processed Food 
Author Lisa Leak and Elaine McFadden, MPH, RD
We thought the 14 Steps that Lisa Leak put together where great and might be the perfect road map for someone looking for one new eating, cooking, or shopping skill they could try and practice and incorporate into their daily routine that could make a big difference in helping to eliminate the kind of foods that could contribute to chronic disease or obesity.  Master any or all of the skills below and you will see major changes in your body and energy level.  With all the money you will save on fast food, high priced beverages, and more food than you really need, you can instead buy high quality real foods that you prepare into easy, simple meals that have more flavor, and even store longer to save money on spoilage.

Try and add one new "food skill" per week and practice it each day.
Lisa's original recommendations in
black and Smart Health Talk comments in red.

14 Weeks of “Real Food” Mini-Pledges

Week 1: Two fruits and/or vegetables per meal– Eat a minimum of two different fruits or vegetables (preferably organic) with every breakfast, lunch, and dinner meal.  Fruits can have twice the calories as vegetables so always great when vegetables are the top choice and save fruit for when you get a strong craving for sweets.  Add more vegetables to meals that you already make.  For example even if you went for a can of Amy's Spicy Organic Chili, you could pump it up by adding onions, tomatoes, bell pepper, corn, and even another can of beans which is much cheaper than the chili and increases the volume 3X.  You can even find canned organic beans at the 99 cent store.  With vegetables at 25 calories a half cup, you can eat more and feel satisfied.

Week 2: “Real” beverages – Beverages will be limited to coffee, tea, water, and milk (only naturally sweetened with a little honey or 100% pure maple syrup). One cup of juice will be allowed throughout the week, and wine (preferably red) will be allowed in moderation (an average of one drink per day).   

Agree with these recommendations.  We only choose filtered water, organic coffee, tea, milk and juice.  Don't want any pesticides on my coffee or tea, and since I make it myself instead of buying by the cup somewhere else I save enough to have the best.  Highly recommend that you have a great organic Tulsi, or also called Holy Basil tea such as Tulsi Green Tea, and a pu erh tea.  If tea is not organic, quality, you can get cross contamination or pesticides. Numi is our favorite, Emperor Pu erh is made from 300 year old tea plants from a remote area of China.  Numi works directly with growers to ensure only the best and cleanest organic growing methods are used.  

Milk can have GMOs and raised using industrial inhumane conditions, so buy organic.  Consider using raw milk for the highest quality of nutrition and to prevent and even heal from allergies.  

Some fruits and vegetables have so much pesticide you should never even eat them.  Never eat conventional strawberries according to Smart Health Talk guest Leah Zerbe, Rodale Press.  When fruits and vegetables have been heavily sprayed, and since you cannot "wash it all off," juice is actually concentrated pesticides and tests have shown that to be true.  

Remember that a serving is just 4 oz. for juice as full of sugar and little fiber like found in the whole fruit.  Try low calorie coconut water or even mixing tea and juice so you can sweeten the tea with juice instead of more sugar and increase the total volume.  Coconut water is lower in calories and can be added to other juices to lower sugar and calories.  Only buy 100% juice and watch out it has not been "cut" with GMO high frutose corn syrup, artificial colors that may be on the California Center for Science in the Public Interest "Chemical Cuisine" website "AVOID LIST", other cheaper juices that are substituted for what says in the name or picture on package., artificial flavor which hides 50+ chemicals needed to make "fake strawberry" and are not required on the label.  These chemicals are "hidden" behind the words "ARTIFICIAL FLAVOR OR FLAVORS."  

NEVER give children pure juice as can rot teeth.  ABSOLUTELY NEVER but juice in a baby bottle, only sippy cup diluted at least 50% with water.  Water and formula is all that should ever go in a bottle.  Can destroy baby and permanent teeth.

Week 3: Meat – All meat consumed this week will be locally raised (within 100-miles of your hometown). Meat consumption will also be limited to 3 – 4 servings this week, and when it is eaten meat will not be presented as the “focal point” of the meal. Instead meat will be treated as a side item or simply used to help flavor a dish.  Conventional meat grown on industrial farms is fed GMOs, expired junk food, chicken feathers, daily doses of antibiotics, and treated inhumanely.  Grassfed beef is allowed to roam, is far superior and contains Omega 3s and CLA a special fatty acid that is good for your heart and controlling inflammation.  It can also help protect you from cancer, control blood pressure and blood sugar.  Non organic chickens are not only fed antibiotics daily but arsenic too.  The chickens live in terrible conditions with the antibiotics helping fatten them up in a short unnatural amount of time just like they fatten us up too.  Conventional processed meats are full of cancer causing nitrates.  Don't buy processed meats and NEVER buy farmed salmon.  Dirty operations that are destroying entire eco systems.  Farmed fish sold in stores has been diagnosed with viruses that have spread to wild salmon and are responsible for killing millions of wild salmon before they can even spawn.  Genetically engineered salmon gives you a double whammy of being infected with viruses, cross bred with an eel, three times as big and turns into a cannibal when food is low and will eat another wild salmon.  Will eat all the food and wipe out our wild populations and when gets out (they do everyday) will cross contaminate other fish and can never take it back.  
Week 4: No fast food or deep-fried foods – No fast food or any foods that have been deep-fried in oil.  The oil used for cooking fast food is probably GMO and rancid which is cancer causing.  Fat is 100 calories a tablespoon and vegetables only 25 calories for a half cup.  Eat baked not fried.
Week 5: Try two new whole foods – Try a minimum of two new whole foods that you’ve never had before.  This "exploration exercise" can be fun and a chance to get the kids involved.  Let them help pick the new food to try, figure out what recipe to use to cook it, and then help prepare.  Chances are after they have helped with all of that they will eat it.  Try a theme night to highlight your new food such as picking a country, a food from that country, and can decorate and even dress up to go with the theme.  Use EatLocalGrown.com to find a farmers market in your area and go looking for something new and exciting to try from the market.  Many times the farmer can give you some preparation ideas or go and visit us on Pinterest and find some great weight loss, vegan, raw, or paleo recipe choices. 
Week 6: No low-fat, lite or nonfat food products – Do not eat any food products that are labeled as “low-fat,” “lite,” “light,” “reduced fat,” or “nonfat.”  Never buy these types of products because when they take the fat out they have to replace it with something and it is probably sugar or something manmade or worse such as transfats which are fats that have been modified to stay a solid at room temperature even though they don't start off as a solid.  When you see "artificial flavor" on the label it could be hiding another 50 chemicals that it took to make that fake flavor.  
Week 7: 100% Whole grain – All grains consumed must be 100% whole-grain.  Agree you should always choose whole grain, but would like to add to be very careful about the grains and how much you are eating.  Have to recommend that you stay away from wheat as much as possible.  The wheat has been so altered that our bodies don't even recognize the protein anymore.  Only organic sprouted wheat and try and keep that intake low.  Only eat organic brown rice if possible.  Also oats, buckwheat, quinoa, and Salba Chia which is our #1 top pick as a grain.  The Salba chia expands sixteen times it 's size and has super fiber and a slew of nutrients and Omega 3s.  If you add it to any carbohydrate food it will keeps blood sugar from spiking.
Week 8: Stop eating when you feel full – Listen to your internal cues and stop eating when you feel full.  Have to add to that to not eat if you are not hungry either.  Some people do well with several small meals throughout the day, but others may do better with just one meal that has some from all groups with a focus on vegetables and a good quality protein and maybe just some almonds or Salba Chia mixed in water.  Organic eggs are the best protein bargain in the store, or better yet buy them right from a local organic farmer.  See what the eggs we get each week look like below.  Think about stopping before you are full, say about 80% full to keep from feeling miserable a little while later.
Week 9: No refined sweeteners – No refined or artificial sweeteners including (but not limited to): white sugar, brown sugar, raw sugar, sucanat, splenda, stevia, agave, corn syrup, high-fructose corn syrup, brown rice syrup, and cane juice. Foods and beverages can only be sweetened with a moderate amount of honey or maple syrup.  Organic raw honey is the gold standard when it comes to sweetener.  Don't buy regular, filtered honey.  Why?  All the good stuff is gone.  Most all corn based sweeteners and artificial sweeteners are GMO.  Don't use them EVER.  Organic maple syrup has special nutritional value as well.  Remember that honey/syrup is 100 calories a tablespoon.  Can add up quick.
Week 10: No refined oils – No refined or hydrogenated oils including (but not limited to): vegetable oil, organic vegetable oil, soybean oil, corn oil, canola oil, organic canola oil, margarine, and grape seed oil.  NEVER BUY OR EAT HYDROGENATED OILS.  Don't depend on "Nutrition Facts" to tell you if there are transfats in the product.  If 0.5 grams or less they don't have to list, but if you look at ingredients and see "hydrogenated" oil, you will know that there are transfats.  Any soybean, canola, or corn oil is GMO SO DON'T EVER BUY IT UNLESS ORGANIC.  Personally never buy margarine.  Organic grassfed butter, organic olive oil, grapeseed oil, sesame, and peanut oils are our top choices.
Week 11: Eat local foods – Eat at least 1 locally grown or raised food at each meal. This includes, but is not limited to: fruits, vegetables, eggs, grains, nuts, meats, and sweeteners like honey.  Use EatLocalGrown.com and find a farmer's market or CSA (Community Sustainable Agriculture) that is a local farmer and grows weekly shares of food for local families.  You get a box of organic food fresh picked each week.  Sometimes they will deliver to your door.  Could be a local farmer or big organic home delivery operation like Farm Fresh to You.  Recommend both.  Like your birthday each week with a special surprise on what you will get.
Week 12: No sweeteners – Avoid all added sweeteners including, but not limited to: white sugar, brown sugar, raw sugar, honey, maple syrup, date sugar, maple sugar, sucanat, splenda, stevia, agave, fruit juice concentrate, corn syrup, high-fructose corn syrup, brown rice syrup, and cane juice.  This is taking it one step further with sugar.  You should eliminate anything with high frutose corn syrup, and try living without sugar even for just one day.  Have gotten it down to just my cup of coffee in the morning and with my tea.  Most all other foods don't have added sugar.
Week 13: Nothing artificial – Avoid all artificial ingredients including, but not limited to: sweeteners, flavors and colors.  The government has approved over 80,000 chemicals to be used in foods.  Some were never tested for safety and were introduced before testing.  They were allowed because they had been used for awhile and didn't seem like they were causing any harm so we really don't know about those because there never was scientific testing.  Other chemicals that have been approved are all based on what the manufacturer reports, the government does not test products for safety, but just accepts the word of the company making it.  The maker may be able to test the chemical in a way that makes it look safe, but we don't really know about the interaction between chemicals in our body, and as we mentioned earlier when you see "artificial flavor" it can be hiding 50+ chemicals needed to make a fake flavor.  Those 50 chemicals you will never have heard of before, maybe not even if you are a chemist.  Many artificial flavors are recommended to NEVER EAT OR EAT WITH CAUTION.  
                                                                                    Why risk it?
Week 14: No more than 5-ingredients – Avoid any and all packaged food products that contain more than five ingredients no matter what ingredients.  Try and choose products with organic, whole food ingredients for the most nutrition bang for your buck.


Know Where Your Food Comes From Whenever possible, please support local growers by shopping at a farmers market! Getting to know the people that actually grow your food is a great experience and you'll be supporting your local community at the same time. 
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Start processing fresh organic vegetables right away.  This gives me salad for days and more likely to eat salad because it's already made.

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These came from a local CSA
Click to find one near you.

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Monster Farm Fresh To You Box Delivered to My Door

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We recommend this service as providing high quality organic food with reliable service right to your door.  You don't even have to go shopping!

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6 Sunscreens You Should Never Use

5/20/2013

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For truly safe sun protection, avoid these six categories of sketchy, ineffective products.
By Emily Main


When you slather on sunscreen, you'd like to think that it's protecting you against sunburns and skin cancer, right? That's not always the case in the United States, where lax guidelines and regulations have made sunscreen your weakest tool in the fight against ever-increasing rates of melanoma, according to the nonprofit Environmental Working Group (EWG).

For the seventh year in a row, EWG has released its sunscreen ratings, based on the findings of the group's research scientists and public health experts, who analyze the safety and efficacy of 1,400 sunscreens, lip balms, makeup products, and lotions with SPF.

What did they find? Just 25 percent of those products offer safe sun protection against both UVA and UVB rays without also being littered with unsafe sunscreen ingredients, says Nneka Leiba, EWG's deputy director of research and the lead researcher on the project. "Sunscreen awareness may be improving, but overall sun protection is not," she says.

A big part of the problem, she says, is that regulation on behalf of the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is weak. In December, the agency finally instituted new rules that will require that claims of "broad-spectrum"—meaning that products protect against both sunburn-causing UVB rays and skin-cancer-causing UVA rays—be independently tested and validated. Also, the use of the terms "waterproof" and "sweatproof" will be banned. But, says Leiba, "the bar they set was so weak that most products didn't have to change formulations in order to meet those requirements." Ninety percent of the products sold in the U.S. meet the new FDA guidelines, she adds, but just 50 percent of U.S. products would pass muster under Europe's much stricter safety rules.

Why Sunscreens Can't Keep You Safe

That's not all. American shelves are littered with products that lull users into a false sense of security, don't provide full coverage, and expose people to toxic chemicals that could actually be increasing their risk of skin cancer. EWG's report highlighted a bunch of those products, and here are their picks for the six worst kinds of sunscreen:

#1: Sunscreens with Retinol
Retinol, or vitamin A, can increase the risk of tumors on sun-exposed skin, according to a number of government tests. Yet it's commonly added to sunscreens and lotions owing to its antiaging effects. "That's especially concerning in light of the fact that melanoma rates have risen 2 percent each year over the past decade, says Leiba. It's become such a risky ingredient that the Canadian government is considering requiring warning labels on vitamin A–containing products that say the ingredient "may increase your skin's sensitivity to the sun and particularly the possibility of sunburn. Please limit sun exposure while using this product and for a week afterwards." Exactly what you want to read on a bottle of sunscreen, right?

#2: Sunscreens with SPFs Higher Than 50
SPF is a measure of protection against sunburn-causing UVB rays only, not of cauncer-causing UVA rays, and UVA protection in these products is poor, according to EWG's analysis, says Leiba. High-SPF products also lull you into a false sense of security. "Because they protect you longer from UVB rays, you may not get burned, which you associate with time to go inside," she adds. Thus, you stay outside longer and absorb too much skin-damaging UVA. The FDA has proposed rules that would prohibit companies from advertising SPFs higher than 50, which they call "inherently misleading," but those rules have never gone into effect.

#3: Sunscreens that Contain Oxybenzone
Oxybenzone is a chemical sunscreen agent that gets absorbed by your skin. The problem with it, says Leiba, is that it penetrates the skin very easily and gets absorbed into your bloodstream. Once inside your body, it mimics the hormone estrogen, which, over the long term, can lead to reproductive issues and thyroid problems, and autism researchers suspect that the chemical is also neurotoxic. More than half the products EWG analyzed contained oxybenzone, and government studies have detected the ingredient inside the systems of 96 percent of Americans. Read labels carefully to avoid it. It can also be listed as benzophenone or benzophenone-3.

#4: Sunscreens in Powder, Spray-on, or Towelette Form
Anything you could potentially inhale shouldn't be saturated in sunscreen chemicals that act like hormones in your body, EWG warns. Plus, "when you're spraying on sunscreen, it's hard to tell if you're getting the amount of coverage you need," Leiba says. The same goes with powders and towelettes. In fact, this is the last summer you'll see either product on store shelves. The FDA has said that it won't allow powder- or towelette-based sunscreen products to be sold after the end of 2013.

3 Surprising Skin Cancer Risks

#5: Sunscreen/Bug Repellent Combos
They're unnecessary and potentially harmful. Bug repellents can contain effective but potentially irritating chemicals that you need only apply once a day, whereas sunscreen should be reapplied every two hours. Beyond that, you don't need them, says EWG. Unless you're on a long hike in the wilderness, bugs are mostly pesky at dawn and dusk, not during the heat of the day when UV rays are strongest.

#6: Moisturizers, Lip Balms, and Makeup with SPF
Fewer than 10 percent of these meet EWG's criteria for providing UVA and UVB protection, and for that matter, most products on the market can't claim "broad-spectrum" protection as defined by the FDA. So any claims that they can prevent skin damage from sunlight are overstated, EWG has found. Plus, most women apply these just once a day, and any protection they do offer will last only a few hours. If you really like those products, see below.

Better Bets for Safer Sunscreen
What sunscreens should you buy? There are some good ones out there, EWG found. When they look at sunscreen effectiveness and safety, the EWG researchers use models to determine how much of a sunscreen you absorb and how quickly it breaks down when exposed to sunlight. Also, they analyze ingredients for any, like vitamin A, that raise red flags.

Their 2013 sunscreen database highlights the most effective products with the fewest harmful ingredients, and breaks them down into the following categories:
• Beach & sport sunscreens
• Moisturizers with SPF
• Lip balms with SPF 
• Makeup with SPF


MOST importantly, realize that sunscreen should always be your THIRD line of defense against skin cancer and sunburns, recommends EWG, the American Academy of Dermatology, and the World Health Organization—among many other advocacy groups. The first should be to seek shade or stay out of the sun between 10 a.m. and 4 p.m. when UV radiation is strongest. The second, to cover up with hats, long sleeves, and long pants. Once you have these defenses in place, then cover your exposed skin with sunscreen.


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Dr. Alex Morton Takes Legal Action Against Massive Wild Salmon Die Off in BC Canada

5/13/2013

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Dr. Alex Morton joined us on Smart Health Talk the day after she filed this lawsuit against the Canadian Federal Government and Marine Harvest Hatchery in response to as high as 90% disappearance of wild salmon in BC Canada (hear interview: http://www.smarthealthtalk.com/). 

Fish recently confirmed with ISA virus have been approved to be sold for human consumption in BC Canada w/o labeling of course. US has refused to allow ISA infected imports so red flag there. May be hopeless to think it can be stopped as ISA virus spreading along coast to WA, OR, CA. This ISA originated in Marine Harvest farmed salmon closed pens in Norway. 

Would have to think the Canadian gov't is protecting multi billion dollar Marine Harvest Hatchery as a move was recent made to pass a law, Bill #37 making it illegal to report infected animals/fish with a penalty of 2 years in jail and $75,000 fine so Dr. Morton could have been jailed if passed. 

Rivers now full of thousands of dead wild salmon and the government doing nothing but protecting the corporation with the introduction of laws that thanks to watchdog non profits were able to be stopped temporarily because proven to be blatantly unconstitutional.  So much so the legislator that introduced it admitted that it may be a little unconstitutional.  Apparently still sits there ready for passage if there is enough support to do it.

Another virus brewed in the hundreds of Norway farmed salmon closed pens run by Marine Harvest is called PRV (Piscine Reovirus) and is spreading like wild fire. For ten years scientists in Norway could not figure out why farm salmon were dying from heart disease they called Heart and Skeletal Muscle Inflammation (HSMI).  It spread to 400 farms. Fish heart muscle broken down to mush. Salmon have heart attack before spawning.  Die on the way there with all their eggs still inside.

Dr. Morton's blog (http://alexandramorton.typepad.com/ states:
“it is urgent that measures be taken to control PRV … due to the potential for transmission to wild salmon populations” (Palacios et al. 2010) In a popularized version of this paper one of the authors states: “If the potential hosts are in close proximity, it goes through them like wildfire,” said Lipkin. Science Wired.

So many wild salmon dead that hungry grizzly bears upstream are eating each other. 

Wild salmon are significant as a "Keystone Species" that is the foundation from which many other species are dependent on life.

Dr. Morton said on Smart Health Talk that caring customers buy farmed salmon thinking they are helping protect wild salmon populations, but every purchase of farmed salmon is hurting and killing wild salmon.  

Each farmed salmon purchase is supporting a single multi billion dollar corporation instead of thousands of fishing families. Boycotting farmed salmon is the most important action anyone can take to protect our future wild salmon populations. 

Fish farms are big issues.  http://www.worldwatch.org/node/5755 

Knowing which fish to buy that are sustainable and reproduce quickly is top recommendation from Monterey Bay Aquarium.  Their phone app can help you learn about these new fish choices and make the right decisions at the store and restaurant. 

Oceana reported on Smart Health Talk the 100% Red Snapper on restaurant menus tested was NOT Red Snapper.  It doesn't exist anymore.

Cost of farmed salmon protein is not cost effective and wastes resources with high environmental destruction. Farmed salmon are fed GMO corn/soy.  GMO excrement from fish goes into rivers/oceans. GMO corn and soy do not belog in these water and cause another pollution problem in itself.

Only alternative for fish farmers is to take food meant for wild populations and give it to their farmed fish.  Taking wild fish food and giving it to farmed fish does not make sense either because it also creates a negative environmental impact.  Those costs have to be factored in when calculating true cost of food.

Huge populations of parasitic lice on farmed fish escape everyday and are creating epidemics of parasitic lice infestations to all fish in rivers/oceans that pass by fish farms. Now even found on small baby fish.

Look out Genetically Engineered (GE) farmed salmon on the way. When food supplies reduced GE salmon will turn to cannibalism and eat other salmon.  CANNIBALISM NOT A WILD SALMON CHARACTERISTIC.  

What will happen after GE salmon escape from pens into rivers and oceans A daily occurance for fish farms.  If mixed GE/wild salmon population and little food available for GE salmon voracious appetite, how will wild salmon defend themselves against GE Salmon Cannibals?  

GE Salmon are 3x larger than wild salmon and grow at a much faster rate thanks to AquaBounty genetic insertion of a DNA strand from an unrelated species into salmon DNA strand.  The other species grows faster than wild salmon and they want to force fish to grow much faster than nature ever intended even through this is a totally new technology that we know nothing about the long term consequences in the real world.

Fish infected with these viruses that are brought home from grocery stores and washed in our kitchen sinks can spread through sewer systems. Lean more. 

We already know a virus was able to wipe out an entire Sockeye salmon population. That virus gave fish a "Leukemia/AIDS" type of disease. The government, also part owner in salmon farm hatcheries, did nothing.  Court orders from it's own judicial system were ignored. 

Other fish raised in "farmed fish environments" such as koi fish, are spreading diseases such as "Koi Herpes Virus" causing worldwide outbreaks. No so much in Japan where traditional, sustainable koi fish farming techniques that support healthy eco systems has shown no sign of disease. 

Support Dr. Alex Morton's brave efforts to stand up for the rights of the salmon that depend on us to save them.  Will cost you zero dollars.  Just boycott farmed fish.


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Countdown to Earth Day Launch With Dag Falck from Nature's Path Organic Foods

4/13/2013

1 Comment

 
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Dag Flack is the Organic Program Director for Nature's Path Organic Foods and helps create new organic farmers so the future organic grain supply is secure, and has served as an Organic Trade Association Board Member.

Listen to our interview with Dag on the "Importance of eating organic foods, GMOs in our food, and the destruction of soil nutrition potential."

Countdown to Earth Day Launch With Dag Falck from Nature's Path Organic Foods (via SBWire)

Smart Health Talk launches their Countdown to Earth Day with Dag Falck from Nature's Path Organic Foods as their guest for the live radio show on Thursday, April 12th at 4:00 pm PST. Anyone can "listen live" by following the directions under the "about us" tab on the SmartHealthTalk.com website. Dag…


 

Dag Falck helping farmers grow organic crops.

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Dag helps farmers stop using pesticides and GMO crops and learn organic farming so we all can have more organic grain farmers in the future.


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Dag Falck as an organic food advocate.

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Dag has served on the Organic Trade Association Board (OTA), the group that oversees the rules and integrity of the organic certification program.
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Hawaii and Vermont Representatives Elle Cochran and Kate Webb on Mandatory GMO Labeling Bills Today

4/13/2013

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Hawaii and Vermont Representatives Elle Cochran and Kate Webb on Mandatory GMO Labeling Bills Today (via SBWire)

Two women legislators representing the people of their state by introducing a Mandatory GMO Labeling Bill, now find themselves facing GMO seed maker Monsanto in two different ways. One faces a long-standing physical presence and the other a lawsuit. San Bernardino, CA -- (SBWIRE) -- 04/19/2012 -- Elle…


 
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Smart Health Talk Olympic Kickoff With Hometown Olympic Coach Sue Nesbitt

4/13/2013

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Smart Health Talk Olympic Kickoff With Hometown Olympic Coach Sue Nesbitt (via SBWire)

Olympic Coach Sue Nesbitt joins Smart Health Talk Radio Show today, July 26th, 4-5:00 pm PST. Type in "KCAA Radio 1050 AM" into any radio app. Go to KCAARadio.com. Click "listen live." On SmartHealthTalk.com homepage click "Many Ways to Listen." San Bernardino, CA -- (SBWIRE) -- 07/27/2012 -- For the…


 
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A native of Riverside, Nesbitt has been in the water practically since birth. She was a key member of the Riverside AQuettes from 1964 to 1972, and swam for Riverside Poly High School, winners of three league championships during her time there. She attended San Jose State in 1977, and graduated with a Bachelor’s degree in Recreation. She swam for the Santa Clara Aquamaids for five years, winning fourteen international titles and eighteen national titles with them during that time. She was a finalist for the 1977 Sullivan Award.

Nesbitt successfully coached the Canadian National Synchronized Swim Team for ten years. She also coached the Australian National Team in the 1984 Olympics. In 1991, she returned to Riverside as head coach of the AQuettes, her goal being to build a strong program in Riverside that would allow swimmers to stay close to home to achieve their goals. Nesbitt fostered a powerhouse program that has won two Junior National overall championships and sent four athletes, so far, to the Olympics. In 2004, two of her athletes (including her daughter Stephanie) were chosen to represent the United States in Olympic Synchronized Swimming competition. The team proudly took home a Bronze medal.

Nesbitt has recently retired from active coaching, but continues to teach and consult with clubs and swimmers across the country. Some of her many other awards and achievements include: two-time Developmental Coach of the Year in Nova Scotia, Canada; Coach of the Year in Canada; two Citizens Savings Hall of Fame Awards; and Women’s Sports Hall of Fame induction. Nesbitt still resides and mentors youth in Riverside. Nesbitt and her two daughters, Barbara and Stephanie, make up what Ohio State’s The Lantern referred to as “one of the sport’s rare family dynasties, one that is as important to synchro as the Mannings are to football.” Her goal over the years has been to produce good people and strong citizens, and she has gone above and beyond in achieving this goal.


Riverside Sport 
Hall of Fame

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Sue Nesbitt with the Junior Olympic Team for Synchronized Swimming.
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    Elaine McFadden, MPH, RD, is the host for "Smart Health Talk Radio Show, Thursdays, 4:00-5:00, on KCAA Radio 1050 AM in Southern California.  Elaine is a dietitian dedicated to bringing consumers information that can improve their life and save them money.

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