Archive for the ‘Post Topics’ Category

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Why do doctors advise avoiding GMO foods?

Wednesday, March 5th, 2014
Frankenfood

Frankenfood

by Catherine Haug, March 5, 2014 (image, right, used with permission from Organic Consumers Association)

The following text is written by Jeffrey Smith of Institute for Responsible Technology (IRT) for the Huffington Post ‘Food for Thought’ blog on 2/17/14. His email to IRT subscribers gives permission to ‘enjoy it, share it, “like” it, and help spread the word.’ In publishing it on The EssentiaList, I’m doing just that.

His article opens with these questions, “Why are thousands of physicians advising patients to avoid eating GMOs (Genetically Modified Organisms) and how did these high-risk foods get onto the market in the first place?”. He then presents documented facts about the harm of GMO foods for humans, livestock and pets.

 

Here is his article. Please read, then pass it on. (more…)

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

A Healing Garden: Milkweed for Monarchs

Thursday, February 27th, 2014
Female Monarch in May

Female Monarch in May

by Catherine Haug, Feb 27/2014 ( photo, right, from Wikimedia Commons; photo, below, from Wikimedia Commons)

In addition to bees, we are also losing another valuable pollinator to the effects of GMO crops: the Monarch Butterfly. This beautiful animal feeds only upon milkweed in its youth, but the spraying of GMO crops with Roundup and other herbicides is killing off all the milkweed. You can help by growing this flowering plant in your yard or garden. See Monarch Watch: Growing Milkweed.

Don’t confuse the common milkweed with Asclepias tuberosa, also called butterfly weed, because it is listed as toxic.  Asclepias tuberosa has erect, orange flowers and watery rather than milky sap. (See ces.ncsu.edu/depts/hort/consumer/poison/poison.htm for more about this).

Milkweed in bloom

Milkweed in bloom

Milkweed has medicinal use and is also used as a food. For example, young milkweed can be used much like spinach; the shoots can be cooked like asparagus, and the buds can be coated with beer batter, then deep-fried. See Maine Organic Farmers and Gardeners Association: Milkweed.

For more on a Healing Garden, see the original post A Healing Garden – for You and Bees.

 

 

Posted in Agriculture, Ecology, Gardening, GMO, Health | Comments Closed

Nigerian Dwarf Goats – Perfect for town lots

Tuesday, February 18th, 2014
Nigerian Dwarf Twins

Nigerian Dwarf Twins

by Catherine Haug, Feb 18, 2014 (from March 3, 2013)

(photo, right, from Wikimedia Commons (2))

This is the second in a series on different kinds of dairy goats raised by our members. Read about BrendaLee’s Kinder Goats: Small breed for city lots or farms, or Gayle’s Toggenbergs: Keeping a Family Goat

If you would like to contribute info on your dairy or meat goats, please contact Cat (see our ESP Contact page).

Sheree T. raises Nigerian dwarf goats on her urban homestead for their milk, which she uses in her goat-milk soaps. She would like to start a Nigerian Goat Club in the valley; contact her for more information.

(more…)

Posted in Home & Ranch, Livestock | Comments Closed

A Healing Garden – for You and Bees

Monday, February 10th, 2014

by Catherine Haug, February 9, 2014; updated Feb 27,2014 regarding monarch butterflies

Our pollinators, especially bees, are in trouble, dying in great numbers. The situation is getting so severe that growers are concerned their crops will soon lose the ability to to produce seed for future crops, because of the decline in healthy pollinators. This affects almost all vegetables – including squash, tomatoes, greens, cabbage, broccoli, carrots, beets, beans, peas, etc.; and many fruits – including huckleberries and other berries, apples, pears, peaches, apricots, plums, melons and more.

Update: We are also losing another valuable pollinator to the effects of GMO crops: the Monarch Butterfly. This beautiful animal feeds only upon milkweed in its youth, but the spraying of GMO crops with Roundup and other herbicides is killing off all the milkweed. You can help by growing this flowering plant in your yard or garden. See Monarch Watch: Growing Milkweed.

But there is something you can do – every one of you – to help not only the plight of pollinators and our food supply, but also for the health of your family. (more…)

Posted in Ecology, Gardening, Health, Remedies | Comments Closed

Kitchen Hint: More Uses for Apple Cider Vinegar

Wednesday, January 22nd, 2014

by Catherine Haug, Jan 22 2014

See also Kitchen Hints for others on this site, including Uses for vinegar from 2012. The EssentiaList: Homemade Apple Cider provides instructions for making your own raw apple cider vinegar.

The following uses for apple cider vinegar are from TakePart.com (1), or other sources as noted. You don’t need to use raw apple cider vinegar unless you ingest it (as in items 1, 3 and 9). Save money and use regular apple cider vinegar if it is not to be ingested. For household uses, you can use white vinegar. (more…)

Posted in Ecology, Food-Nutrition-Health, Health, Kitchen Hints, Remedies | Comments Closed

The problem of plastics pollution

Saturday, January 18th, 2014

Recent Studies State Chemical In Plastic Liquid Containers Contain ToxBy Catherine Haug, Jan 18, 2014

(photo of plastic pop bottles, right, from npr.org (3))

This month (Jan 30, 2014), Citizens for a Better Flathead and Waste Not Project are hosting a movie night/panel discussion on recycling more in the Flathead (see Event Notice: Movie Night on Recycling More in the Flathead, Jan 30. 2014). Attendees are encouraged to bring questions and solution ideas to the panel, and a documentary film: Unwasted: The Future of Business on Planet Earth, available on YouTube (1) may give you some ideas to bring to the event, or inspire you to action in your community. The film was produced in 2011 by Seattle-based, green facility maintenance firm Sage Environmental Services2 in partnership with PorterWorks,3 a sustainable solutions company.

High on the list of things that are difficult to recycle here are plastics. We can currently recycle milk jugs and plastic pop bottles, but that’s about it.Yet plastics pose a great threat to the future of our planet.

From Dr. Mercola’s article on this film and topic (2): (more…)

Posted in Community, Ecology, Recycle, Repurpose | Comments Closed

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