Here are my quick links of the week to some information that is designed to inspire. Red states and blue states, we can all use a little jolt of love to remind us to keep moving and working forward.

One about food (eat well!), one about the movement (live well!).

1- The Ocean Beach People’s Organic Co-op has provided this AWESOME list of reasons why GM (genetically-modified, not the failed auto giant!) food is not the bees knees:

http://obpeoplesfood.blogspot.com/2009/06/10-reasons-why-we-dont-need-genetically.html

Read a label today!

2- If you haven’t heard about Paul Hawken’s inspirational commencement speech at the University of Portland, you should check it out. The title is, “You are Brilliant, and the Earth is Hiring”

http://yesmagazine.org/article.asp?id=3559

(my favorite parts:

“When asked if I am pessimistic or optimistic about the future, my answer is always the same: If you look at the science about what is happening on earth and aren’t pessimistic, you don’t understand the data. But if you meet the people who are working to restore this earth and the lives of the poor, and you aren’t optimistic, you haven’t got a pulse. What I see everywhere in the world are ordinary people willing to confront despair, power, and incalculable odds in order to restore some semblance of grace, justice, and beauty to this world. The poet Adrienne Rich wrote, “So much has been destroyed I have cast my lot with those who, age after age, perversely, with no extraordinary power, reconstitute the world.” There could be no better description. Humanity is coalescing. It is reconstituting the world, and the action is taking place in schoolrooms, farms, jungles, villages, campuses, companies, refuge camps, deserts, fisheries, and slums.”

-and-

“Ralph Waldo Emerson once asked what we would do if the stars only came out once every thousand years. No one would sleep that night, of course. The world would create new religions overnight. We would be ecstatic, delirious, made rapturous by the glory of God. Instead, the stars come out every night and we watch television.”)

Be delicious!

BB

BizzyBoots here, the newest member of the environmentastic! team.  My area of specialization will be all things food and agriculture related, and I hope to get y’all thinkin and brewin about the stuff goin in your bodies every day.

I wanted to get started by seeing if there were any burning issues you’d like me to explore and report back.

-and/or-

I know sometimes navigating the sustainable/local/organic issue with food is not only fraught with confusion, but economically dicey as well.  So, if you have questions about these topics I’d be happy to be a resource.

My personal interests include Farmers’ Markets; Community-Supported Agriculture; Organic, Biodynamic and Shumei Natural Agriculture; all things compost; Environmental effects of agriculture; Locavore-ing; and international agriculture development initiatives.

Thanks for reading, and I look forward to your questions/comments!

Sunshine & compost,

-BB

The Organic Consumers Association has decided not to fight this appointment, but is taking a more positive approach – calling on people to pressure Obama to draft Jim Riddle as the head of the USDA Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS), the department that oversees organic food, farming, and standards. Riddle is an organic farmer from Minnesota, former Chair of the National Organic Standards Board, and a longtime advocate for sustainable and organic farming. With Riddle heading up the AMS, farmers markets, Community Supported Agriculture, transition to organic programs, and the National Organic Program will finally receive the attention, technical assistance, and funding they deserve.

Sign the Organic Consumers Association petition online, and help ensure that you will always know what is actually in the food you are putting in your body, and that you will have a choice to eat healthy, pesticide-, herbicide-, and bio-engineering free food far into the future.

Namaste,
A. Caleb Hartley

It has some great info about saving money for the long term to help yourself get out of debt in the short term!

Today’s post is about how to buy organic food without breaking the bank!

Enjoy!

Namaste,
A. Caleb Hartley

I’ll post as often as I can while I am there as well – about anything I can find that is remotely environmentally-related (which, come to think of it, is damn near everything).  Hopefully I’ll have lots of fodder to blog about upon my return as well…

If any of my readers are in Hong Kong, let me know by leaving a comment – I’d love to meet up with you!

 Below is a blurb from the article above that piqued my interest:

In recent years, people have become more conscious of “organic living”.  Riding on this new trend and with the staunch support of Hong Kong Organic Resource Centre, a thematic pavilion entitled “HKBPE Organic Lifestyle Home” is set up this year.  Through an array of activities including product displays, organic cooking and farming, and products demonstrations etc, visitors will gain a better understanding of the extensive “organic” applications in our daily lives and of healthy living and environmental protection.

I try to eat well, but I’m not always successful. My biggest downfall is salty, crunchy food (like Doritos or Sun Chips). So while cruising the organic section of the grocery store a few weeks ago, I caught site of a new offering at my store – Sensible Foods Organic Sweet Corn.  I took a look at it and, not knowing exactly what to expect, bought a package and tried them. 

They are great!  They are crunchy but not hard, and they are a little sweet (they are sweet corn after all!).  The greatest thing is that the whole package is 70 calories (only 6 from fat), lots of fiber, and the ingredients are “100% Organic Sweet Corn, Sea Salt, and Nothing Else.”  I liked it so much that I bought three more packages the next time I went to the grocery store, and also bought one of each of the other three flavors that were available at my grocery store: Cherry Berry, Orchard Blend, and Tropical Blend. 

Of the three fruity types I tried, tropical blend had the most variety, in my opinion.  My favorite, though, was orchard blend… it’s a bit of a stronger flavor than the others, but reminded me of eating fruits from my grandparents’ house… we used to pick raspberries and blackberries and strawberries and apples when my cousins and I were all kids.  Those were the freshest, strongest-flavored fruits ever, and I could taste a hint of them in the Orchard Blend, just like when I was eight, visiting Mimi and Gran for the summer.

Do yourself a favor and pick these up, even if it’s just to try them once.  I think you’ll be pleasantly surprised – and come back for more!

BTW- I am not getting paid for this post, but I’ve become a fast evangelist for Sensible Foods! If you do try them (or if you already have), leave a comment and let everybody know what you thought.

Namaste,
A. Caleb Hartley