Eco-Nutrition Blog for EatWellBeFit.com

Happy Spring! The local northwest asparagus has arrived at the farmers market. Tomorrow is Earth Day, what better way to celebrate than to plant something, whether it be in your garden, a community pea patch or a container plant. Flowers are beautiful but my preference is to plant edibles. No petroleum based trips to the store–it is a pleasure to be able to walk outside and shop in your garden for free. Enjoy Earth Day this year. Here’s a website to ponder over our mass impact on the earth. Photographer Chris Jordan Portraits of American Mass Consumption.

On my weekly visit to the Ballard Farmers Market, I was drawn to the Full Circle Farm’s stall by this beautiful bok choy with such slender stalks. The proprietor described how tender the stalks are, he said “they just slip onto your fork.” We then moved on to discuss the arugula and how it’s a favorite of Barak Obama. After I paid for the bok choy, he said “thanks, love.” Another overheard conversation at the Nash’s produce stand, a tip to get your kids to eat carrots. Try pureeing them into homemade mac n’ cheese, the carrots will provide the orange color that we have become accustomed to. The tag around the Full Circle Farms bok choy says “Don’t Panic, It’s Organic!” Visit your local farmers market an experience you won’t get at the grocery store.

Here we go again… to find out if your pistachios may be contaminated go to FDA website: www.accessdata.fda.gov
For a some background on the contamination check out this Seattle Times article : www.seattletimes.nwsource.com
Thankfully, the Trader Joes pistachios in my house are not on the list (at least for now)…

Here’s a cool T-shirt I picked up at last weekend at the Green Festival. It’s made by a company called Green Label www.greenlabel.com The shirts are made w/ organic cotton, sweatshop-free and low-impact dyes.
Last weekend’s Green Festival in Seattle was a blast! I went last year and it seemed like there were fewer well known speakers this year. I picked the few speakers that I recognized and didn’t regret it at all. The first talk was given by Kevin Danaher on Building the Green Economy, a very interesting talk about the state of the current economy and where we can go from here. Kevin is a very dynamic speaker. I thought the topic would be about jobs installing solar panels and so forth. I was surprised to hear that my profession as a nutritionist and personal fitness trainer is considered a “green” job. Preventative health care uses little resources and saves resource in the long run. It shifted my thoughts about “green” jobs. He talked about the need to change the perception of the word “conservative” to a more positive “green” term. Kevin is the co-founder of Global Exchange, a human rights organization that supports social, economic and environmental justice around the world. For more information on Global Exchange go to www.globalexchange.org They have a fair trade store and provide reality tours (trips to various country which immerse you into the culture of that county with guides based in those countries). I went a reality bike tour through Cuba many years ago. One of the most memorable trips I’ve ever taken. I learned about how Cubans do organic farming and grow medicinal herbs with few resources.
But I digress from the Green Festival, the next speaker was Alice Waters of Chez Panisse in Berkeley, know for starting the first locally sourced fresh food movement in the restaurant business. She is more recently known for organic garden projects in the school system. This is a great way to connect children to fresh produce and start them early in developing a preference for fresh fruits and vegetables. The Alice Water’s talk turned out to be a panel discussion with two other people whose names I didn’t get. One of the persons created the film “Food Fight” which sounded like an interesting film about local farmers vs. large food corporations. I will have to catch that later. I was amazed at how many people lined up for the Alice Water’s panel discussion. We were in the largest room and I was surprised we got a seat considering how long the line was. Alice was exactly how she is portrayed in her book “Alice Waters and Chez Panisse”, ethereal in her thoughts; blue sky ideas and surrounded by people who bring her thoughts to fruition. Then saw a film short, “What’s the Economy for, Anyway?” Lots of statistics and history on our economy told with a humorous twist.
The next day was Amy Goodman of “Democracy Now”, co-anchor of the independent news show. We didn’t even make it into the room there was such a crowd, we ended up in an overflow room with large monitor of her talk. Democracy Now is great independent journalism, no holding back and giving the party line. As side note she was arrested at the republican convention this last year, press pass and all!
As for the exhibits, this year there seem to be fewer food exhibitors and fewer samples. This may be a sign of the current economy. Most intriguing was the machine that took moisture out of the air and produced drinking water. I wasn’t clear on its efficiency; how much energy it took or how long it took to pull enough water from the air to get a certain volume of water.
Overall, the speakers are well worth seeing, the exhibits can be very crowded, especially the food exhibits and it’s fun to check out the “green” t-shirt designs. I always feel inspired afterwards. Check out the next Green Festival in your town www.greenfestivals.org

If you’re in Seattle this weekend, don’t miss going to the Green Festival at the convention center.  Today at noon Amy Goodman from Democracy Now! is speaking.  I went yesterday and there were some excellent speakers and exhibits on living green.  This year’s focus seems to be more about moving towards a “green” economy which isn’t just about green jobs but more than that.  I’ll provide a summary of the my experience later.   I highly recommend going if you can!

The FDA now has a searchable database of foods recalled by the Peanut Corporation of America.  These recalled foods may be contaminated with Salmonella.

Click on the link below for more information:

http://www.accessdata.fda.gov/scripts/peanutbutterrecall/index.cfm

More later…

With the new administration of Barack Obama, these are the things that I hope for:

• improved environmental policies.
• better control over our food distribution.
• support for small local farms.
• a safer food system.
• preventative heath care for all.
• inspiration for all to become involved in the  health of our communities.

Keep the hope…

Here we are another year gone by.  It’s not unusual for us to take stock of our lives.

Exercise and healthy diet are the foundations that transfer to your whole life and to others around you.  If you are in good health and feeling good about yourself, you are a greater asset to your friends, family and profession.   Sometimes in our busy lives we put the priorities of work and family ahead of ourselves.   I’ve heard this story many times, “I’m too busy to eat well and make time for exercise.”  We take for granted when we are healthy and expect that to be the norm.  When our health fails and our energy is low, the others around us suffer as well.   If you do anything this year, please make yourself a priority.  When you do that, all the pieces of your life will fall into place.  You will be surprised at how much more productive you are when your health and energy are at their peak!  That is, the greatest gift to give yourself and to your loved ones.

Have a Healthy and Happy New Year!

Melamine, the industrial chemical that has sickened and killed a number of Chinese from drinking tainted milk has found it’s way into our food system via dairy containing products such as chocolate candy.  Now the FDA says a small amount melamine is “ok”  unless it’s in baby formula.  I’d rather avoid it in all cases whatever the FDA says.  Which makes me wonder, can we tell by the label if a candy bar is manufactured in China?   I prefer non-dairy, dark chocolate anyway.

So may think you’re safe from melamine tainted dairy from China…  Thankfully we don’t import our milk from China.   At least not yet.  But let’s take a closer look at how Chinese dairy could be in other food products.    Chinese made Cadbury milk chocolate products were recently recalled in Australia and other countries.  Supposedly these products were not imported to the U.S.  But what about other candies made in China such as those chewy White Rabbit candies?  Next time you’re shopping at Ranch 99 Market, take some extra time to check the ingredients in the products that you’re buying.  It still doesn’t make sense to me, why put an industrial chemical such as melamine in food?  Did they think no one would notice?  The Chinese still have lot to learn.  Then again do we trust the FDA to keep our food safe?