Archive for the 'Organics' Category

July 7, 2008 | Outdoors, Being Green, Organics

 

Well, natural fertilizer doesn’t have to be the butt of potty jokes. You can actually use kitchen waste to make your own fertilizer for your yard and garden. Why? You’ll save money and send less to the landfill, reduce your climate footprint, and you’ll be creating your very own concoction - and who doesn’t like to create something new? (more…)

February 2, 2008 | Outdoors, Organics

What do you do to control bugs and little critters on your vegetable garden? Are you ready for this? (Drum roll please…) Rhubarb!

Rhubarb leaf tea, that is. Next time you buy some rhubarb to make your fantastic strawberry-rhubarb pie, don’t discard the leaves. (more…)

December 11, 2007 | Outdoors, Health, Organics, Pregnancy

The December issue of Environmental Health Perspectives has an interesting article that links childhood cancers - Acute Leukemia and Non-Hodgkins Lymphoma - to the mother’s use of or exposure to pesticides and insecticides during pregnancy.

It’s based on a study done in France that looked at non-agricultural families. This is the first study to test the effects of pesticides and insecticides used in domestic situations, and it found startling results. Even moms who only used pesticides or insecticides once during their pregnancy have children with increased rates of leukemia and non-Hodgkins lymphoma. In fact, the rate increases two-fold. That’s right, children whose mothers used insecticides inside or outside the home during pregnancy were twice as likely to develop hematopoietic cancers.

What qualifies as pesticides or insecticides? Any chemical-based application of insecticide to rid the home, pets, or garden of crawling or flying pests, any herbicidal ‘weed-killer,’ or any fungicide to get rid of mold. The conclusion therein is that pregnant mommies avoid such products both during the pregnancy and preferably while nursing an infant as well. We might draw similar conclusions that if those chemicals are harmful to the developing fetus, they might also cause due harm on anyone with a suppressed immune system - the elderly, children, or the infirm.

Just another reason to take steps toward the organic side of life.

Note: When I googled hematopoietic cancers, I also came across studies linking these specific cancers to pregnant mommies’ use of chemical hair dyes, consumption of aspartame sweetener, and exposure to ethylene oxide (a sterilizing agent).

October 17, 2007 | Food & drink, Organics

Strawberries are going onto my list of things to buy organic. The EPA just approved a new pesticide for use on strawberries to replace Methyl bromide, which has been banned by international treaties for ozone depletion. the new pesticide, methyl iodide is also a highly toxic fumigant, a neurotoxin, carcinogen, and has been linked to miscarriages in animals. They say it’s more dangerous to be near fields treated with the chemical than to eat the food produced there - apparently it leaves little to no residue. I’ll still be buying organic though.

The four-year review of the pesticide, coined by the EPA as ‘one of the most thorough’ analyses of a pesticide, was conducted by none other than the Tokyo based company that manufactures it. Furthermore, the company’s former CEO is now the administrator in the northwest region of the EPA.

Anyone else smell a rat? Oh, wait, no. That’s what pesticides are for.

For more information, check out the story here.

July 23, 2007 | Food & drink, Organics

Well, at least the consequences of the experiment. See, I have 2 toddlers. Toddlers and cherries do not mix.

Cherry juice doesn’t come out of clothes as easily as it slides off my laminate countertops. And a very nice Janie & Jack striped polo has become a casualty of the cherries.

As an afternote, I realized after buying (and feeding my kids) over a pound of (regular) cherries that cherries are, in fact, on the list of the worst offenders for pesticide-laden produce. Maybe I should redo the experiment with organic cherries… and leave the kids topless but fully bibbed.

May 23, 2007 | Food & drink, Health, Organics, Pregnancy, News

Joni Mitchell said it best, “…Hey, farmer, farmer, put away that DDT now. Give me spots on my apples, just leave me the birds and the bees, please!…” Now we can add to the birds and the bees line, babies and brains too!

News this week? Babies conceived in the summer months don’t do as well in school as those conceived at other times of the year. Neonatologist Paul Winchester analyzed the scores on standardized tests and found that children who were conceived in June, July, and August were significantly less proficient in language and math. He attributes the effect to high levels of environmental pesticides during the most crucial months of nervous system development. “The pesticides we use to control pests in fields and in our homes and the nitrate we use to fertilize crops and even our lawns are at their highest level in summer,” Winchester says. He suspects that pesticides are causing higher rates of hypothyroidism in pregnant women, a condition known to affect brain development in growing babies. Not only that, pesticides and fertilizers are also blamed for premature and preterm birth.

So, no more makin’ whoopie in the summer time! Well, scratch that. But if you’re pregnant or trying to get pregnant this summer, I’d say it’s high time to start buying organic produce, and limiting the chemicals you use in and around your home. Switch to natural cleaning products (or a natural maid service, like… need I say? Broom Huggers!), see if you can manage your lawn and indoor pest control without pesticides and fertilizers. And most definitely, buy yourself some organic 2% milk (miscarriage rates rise a bit in women who drink skim), and limit your beef intake.

April 2, 2007 | Organics

Cotton accounts for less than 3% of farmed land globally but consumes about a quarter of the pesticides. Isn’t that mind-boggling? That statistic won’t change until we let cotton farmers know, through our purchasing habits, that we object. Think about it.

March 30, 2007 | Food & drink, Organics

As it turns out, Kermit was quite right. It’s not easy being green. Check that. If you’re living on a budget, it’s not easy being green. Environmentalists tend to be upper-middle class folks who can afford the luxury of being green. Check out this article from the Washington Post today. And the author has a point. Compare $3.09 for a gallon of whole milk to $3.89 for a half gallon of organic whole milk. Or $2.49 for Formula 409, versus $4.60 for it’s ecologically-friendly equivalent at a specialty store. It’s true. It’s not easy being green.

I’d like to add to that and say that eating nutritiously also isn’t easy if you’re living on a budget. Look at the eating habits of the lower middle class. My first job was a grocery store cashier. I was always amazed that the people coming through with nice jewelry and expensive cars bought health food. And the folks who were using food stamps and WIC filled up their shopping carts - more often than not - with junk food and very little that was nutritious. But hey, iIt’s cheaper to buy soda than milk. You can fill up your grocery cart with chips and cookies, and spend less than you would on a little hand-held shopping basket full of fresh produce. It’s even cheaper to buy that powdered mac & cheese mix than it is to buy regular pasta. So, if you’re trying to feed your kids without breaking the bank, junk food is a natural choice. No one goes hungry. And hey, the kids like what they’re eating too.

I don’t know what the solution is. I guess it all starts with education. No one is going to buy a pomegranate if they don’t know how to eat one or what the benefits are. But as far as making it financially accessible? Food stamps and WIC help - for those who fall into that category. And there are food co-ops that are moving in the right direction. But I don’t know how to conquer the discrepancy between cheap soda and expensive milk or between sodium-filled convenience foods and fresh steamed veggies. Any ideas out there?

February 21, 2007 | Being Green, Organics

Organic Valley, whose organic milk is currently sharing space in my fridge with a leftover peice of strawberry pie, has a super cool website that I just found. They have games for kids (check out Ovie’s Underground in the Get Cultured! section), you can meet their farmers, and they have recipes - I can’t wait to try the Organic Mama Veggie Fritatta! Take a few minutes, look around, and read some real life stories of the farmers who are trying to make a difference.

February 18, 2007 | Organics

There’s been a lot of discussion out there about whether or not organic milk is worth what we pay for it. It’s one of the organic foods that has fully entered the main stream. All the grocery stores around me carry at least 3 different brands of organic milk, and US demand has actually become so high that many producers are augmenting their supply with imported organic milk from New Zealand and other countries. So the big question, is it worth it? I just came across a study published in a BBC news report (by no means recent - it’s from 2005) that says organic milk is higher in vitamins.

According to the report,  organic milk is higher in vitamin E, omega 3 essential fatty acids, and antioxidants. It also says that you probably get enough of these in your diet even if you don’t drink organic. But for me, the combined benefit of higher nutritional content combined with the lack of BGH (bovine growth hormones), pesticides, and antibiotics makes it a worthwhile expenditure - at least for my kids’ growing bodies. But regardless if it’s organic or not, milk - it does a body good!