Archive for March, 2011

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Just How Healthful is your Favorite Breakfast Cereal?

Thursday, March 31st, 2011

Breakfast of Champions

by Catherine Haug, March 29, 2011

(photo, right, from Wikipedia)

Do you, like most Americans, believe that a bowl of boxed breakfast cereal provides a good nutritious breakfast? If so, you might be in for a shock.

Unless it’s certified Organic, did you know that cornflakes are made from corn intended as animal feed, and is likely GMO?

Have you ever looked at a grain of wheat or kernel of corn? Do they look anything like a flake of Wheaties or Cornflakes. Does a grain of oat look like the round tube of Cheerios? No. So, how do they turn a grain into a flake or a round tube, and what is the nutritional consequence?

Some cereals are “fortified” to increase the nutritional value on the label. But what is used to fortify them?

Side note: It isn’t just cereals that are questionable as healthful foods. Consider the recent article in Main St blog: 16 Foods With Scary Surprises concerning allowed contaminants (maggots, rhodent hair, feces, etc.) in certain processed foods.

(more…)

Posted in Food-Nutrition-Health, GMO | Comments Closed

New from The Story of Stuff: Citizens United vs FEC

Saturday, March 26th, 2011

by Catherine Haug

Remember that landmark Supreme Court decision, Citizens United vs FEC, that held opened the door for corporations to spend as much money as they want to sway elections?

Now the Story of Stuff has a video about this decision, and its impacts upon our society and elections. Whether or not you agree with this point of view, it’s worth a watch. You can view this video at:

Citizens United vs FEC: Why Democracy only Works when People are in Charge.

For more on this issue, see Story of Stuff: About the Citizens United Issue

Other videos by The Story of Stuff: (more…)

Posted in Community | Comments Closed

Gathering Summary: Managing an Organic Beehive, by Veronica Honthaas, February 23, 2011

Saturday, March 26th, 2011

Small Cell Hive

by Catherine Haug, March 17, 2011

(Photo, right, from Facebook – Flathead Beekeepers; photo, below, by Veronica Honthaas)

Presentation Topics

The following topics are covered in more detail in the complete Gathering Summary: Managing an Organic Beehive and Photo Gallery: Managing an Organic Beehive.

(more…)

Posted in Agriculture, Gathering Summaries | Comments Closed

Compassion for Japan

Friday, March 25th, 2011

by Catherine Haug, March 22, 2011

I received the article below in an email from Robert Seymour, a member of our ESP community from Kalispell. He alerts us to a day of compassion for Japan, to be held on Sunday April 10.

If you choose not to participate via the community of churches, there are other organizations involved in the relief effort that you can support, including Unicef, Save the Children, Red Cross and Doctors without Borders. Or check out Google Crisis Relief: Resources related to the 2011 Japan Crisis. (more…)

Posted in Community | Comments Closed

Event Summary: Ken Meter on Economy of Food & Farm

Tuesday, March 22nd, 2011

by Catherine Haug

I took lots of notes at this presentation last week by Ken Meter, but have not yet had a chance to write them up. What follows is a very short synopsis of the event. I will update this with more detail soon, and send the update with the next newsletter.

(more…)

Posted in Agriculture, Food-Nutrition-Health | Comments Closed

Why are GMO Foods NOT Labeled?

Monday, March 21st, 2011

by Catherine Haug, March 19, 2011

This is a question we should all be asking our president and his agencies who are responsible for allowing GMO crops/foods to be approved (FDA, USDA). If we don’t get an answer there, we should all ask our legislators to demand an answer, and then to change the laws so that GMO products are labeled.

As free Americans, isn’t it our right to know what we are getting when we purchase foods that may be GMO? As Montanans, isn’t it our right to a clean and healthful environment (as stated in our constitution), which includes a right to know when GMO crops are being raised in our local area?

If GMO foods are safe, why the refusal to label them? Perhaps because they fear:

  • No one would buy them;
  • There would be a cost to keep track of GMO up the food chain or processing chain (which cows ate GMO feed? which cuts of beef came from GMO-fed cows? which boxed food products contain GMO, etc.);
  • An angry backlash against those who engineered the GMO foods;
  • More money would be spent on research to determine the health and environmental effects of GMO.

If you aren’t as angry as I am over the current state of affairs concerning GMO, read this article from the New York Times Opinion page (Feb 15, 2011) by Mark Bittman:

Why Aren’t G.M.O. Foods Labeled?

See also my post Health Hazards of GMO Foods & Crops.

Posted in Agriculture, GMO, Health | Comments Closed

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