tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10463070618532064402023-11-15T11:00:35.132-05:00Take Action!This blog will present petitions for you to act on, give you ways to live a healthier life, chances to change simple habits to "go green" and give you information on a plethora of popular news stories.
It will give you a chance to help save the world, one action at a time!Unknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger97125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1046307061853206440.post-56762463350473593062013-02-17T15:36:00.000-05:002013-02-17T15:36:42.286-05:00DonorsChoose.org & The Good Causes Continue<br />
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Friends, (Romans, Countrymen?):</div>
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I just created a Giving Page at DonorsChoose.org, to help support low-income classrooms on DonorsChoose.org. And I'm inviting you to help support it!</div>
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DonorsChoose.org is an online charity connecting individuals, like you, to classrooms in need. The average public school teacher spends $500 - $700 on classroom supplies out of his/her own pocket, and students still go without critical supplies they need to learn. So this website is great, because teachers can post requests, like books, microscopes, art supplies, even field trips to the zoo, and you can help fund them.</div>
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You can visit my Giving Page, <a href="http://www.donorschoose.org/taf-gp/282183">http://www.donorschoose.org/taf-gp/282183</a>, to make a donation. Thanks in advance for your support!</div>
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Sincerely,</div>
<div style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;">
Tara</div>
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<center>
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</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 19px;"></span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">The non-passing of the <a href="http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/z?c111:H.R.3501:" style="color: #0c739e; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">HAPPY Act (HR 3501)</a> at the end of the 111<sup style="vertical-align: text-top;">th</sup> Congress left a lot of pet owners sad. If enacted, the bill would have given a $3,500 tax credit to pet owners with qualifying expenses. And the depression grows around this time of year when many of us are treading in piles of receipts and credit card bills in an attempt to itemize and deduct all that we can. Adding up pet care costs can be disturbing. It’s one of those things that you may not really want to know, if you want to stay in love with your pet.</div><div style="margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">As important as our pets are in our lives, nothing raises an accountant ’s hackles more than seeing “four dependents” listed on the tax return of a single man with a dog, two fish, and a ferret.</div><div style="margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">So, you’ve heard it before, and you’ll ask it again this year and probably again next year, but here is the answer you don’t want to hear: Your pets are not deductible. Their healthcare is not deductible. Their food, leash, sweater, exercise equipment, and bones <span style="text-decoration: underline;">are not</span> deductible.</div><div style="margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">It may cheer you up to hear that there are some pet deductions that are legitimite. Here are some good ones to discuss with your accountant—not your friend from the dog park, your <em>accountant</em>:</div><div style="margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;"></div><div style="margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;"><strong>1. Pet moving costs</strong></div><div style="margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">Here’s where your pet is considered to be a part of the family…the family property. If you qualify for moving expense deductions (i.e. if you move because you changed jobs), then moving expenses are deductible, including the cost of moving pets.</div><div style="margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;"><strong>2. Seeing eye/service dog</strong><strong></strong></div><div style="margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">The law allows for: “The costs of buying, training, and maintaining a service animal to assist an individual with mental disabilities may qualify as medical care.” This isn’t just your pet who keeps you company when your buddies are all out of town. You have to prove the service animal is being used primarily for your illness. Be sure to have a medical doctor’s note in your files.</div><div style="margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;"><strong>3. Guard dog</strong><strong></strong></div><div style="margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">This is primarily for home-based businesses. Caution: as protective as your Pekinese can be, the IRS may not be too impressed with him or your very moody cat. A guard dog should be registered, trained, and of a likely breed (German Shepherd, Rottweiler, Doberman, etc).</div><div style="margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;"><strong>4. Donations to animal shelters</strong></div><div style="margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">While adoption fees are not deductible, money that you donate to the shelter out of gratitude may be. Be sure to check with the organization to clarify its non-profit status.</div><div class="blogger-post-footer"><center><a href="http://takeactionwithtara.blogspot.com/" target="_blank">
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Sign up using the link posted in the About Cause section, or simply go directly to the donate portion if Facebook isn't your thing:<br />
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<center><a href="http://www.socialvibe.com/?r=135010&i5"><img width="94" height="109" border="0" src="http://media.socialvibe.com/user_photos/3079665/44999_436488031400_630116400_5398773_8261468_n_thumb.jpg"/><img border="0" src="http://media.socialvibe.com/m/invite/invite_msg_b.png"/></a><br><img border="0" src="http://media.socialvibe.com/m/invite/spacer.png"/><br><a href="http://www.socialvibe.com/?r=135010&i5"><b>DistortedSmile</b> invites you to SocialVibe.com</a> <a href="http://www.socialvibe.com/?r=135010&i5"><img border="0" src="http://media.socialvibe.com/m/invite/join_me.png"/></a></center><div class="blogger-post-footer"><center><a href="http://takeactionwithtara.blogspot.com/" target="_blank">
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<li style="list-style-image: initial; list-style-position: initial; list-style-type: none; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;"><strong>Sponsored by:</strong> <a href="http://www.care2.com/petitions/feedback/188445074" style="color: black; text-decoration: none;">CREDO Action</a></li>
</ul><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 19px;"><span id="overview_trunc">We have a chance to make birth control for women free by designating it preventative health care -- but we'll have to ensure the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) listens to women and not Catholic Bishops when it comes to women's reproductive health.<br />
<br />
The White House has repeatedly failed to counter conservative initiatives that leave women without comprehensive health care. HHS's refusal to make birth control free for most women as long as it's designated as "preventative health care" is only the latest blow to women's reproductive health.<br />
<br />
Fortunately, HHS is revisiting this decision. <strong>But the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops testified at the first meeting of the decision-making panel -- why would they weigh in on what qualifies as preventative health care for women?</strong><br />
<br />
Tell the Secretary of HHS Kathleen Sebelius to listen to women, not Catholic Bishops, and recommend providing free access to birth control.</span></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 19px;"><span id="overview_trunc"><br />
</span></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 19px;"><span id="overview_trunc"><b>Sign it now: http://www.thepetitionsite.com/takeaction/188/445/074/</b></span></span><br />
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</b></span></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 19px;"><span id="overview_trunc">Guys, this is an important issue for you as well. The letter being sent on your behalf (after signing the petition) will be as follows:</span></span><br />
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</span></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 19px;"><span id="overview_trunc">Dear Secretary Sebelius,<br />
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I stand for women's reproductive health. The Department of Health and Human Services should listen to women, not the Catholic Bishops, and mandate free access to birth control.<br />
<br />
<em>[Your comments will be inserted here.]</em><br />
<br />
Sincerely,<br />
[Your name here]</span></span><div class="blogger-post-footer"><center><a href="http://takeactionwithtara.blogspot.com/" target="_blank">
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It’s the inspiration of the <a href="http://www.americanhumane.org/protecting-animals/special-events/adopt-a-cat-month/" target="_blank" style="color: rgb(12, 115, 158); text-decoration: none; ">American Humane Association </a>to call attention to the nearly 4 million cats that are abandoned every year. It’s also a reminder to the public that cats left to fend for themselves, are at risk for disease, abuse, starvation and many other dangers. A young cat by the name of Broke Back is one of these felines, but she not just a statistic. She is a real cat that someone threw away like the trash. Here is her story of abuse and the spirit to survive. </p><p class="MsoPlainText" style="margin-top: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 0in; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; line-height: 1.6; "> </p><p class="MsoPlainText" style="margin-top: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 0in; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; line-height: 1.6; ">Broke Back is a terrible name for a cat, but it was the nickname given to her by the animal rescue group that saved her life. It was their way to lighten the tragic moment when they crawled under an abandoned trailer and found her twisted body. </p><p class="MsoPlainText" style="margin-top: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 0in; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; line-height: 1.6; "> </p><p class="MsoPlainText" style="margin-top: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 0in; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; line-height: 1.6; "><strong>Broke Back had been under the trailer for several days with a broken back, pelvis and hip.</strong></p><p class="MsoPlainText" style="margin-top: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 0in; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; line-height: 1.6; "> </p><p class="MsoPlainText" style="margin-top: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 0in; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; line-height: 1.6; ">Details from neighbors at the trailer park are sketchy about how the Tortoiseshell cat got hurt, but it was apparent to the rescue group that she had been beaten and left to die. That would have happened if a neighbor hadn’t taken the time to call for help.</p><p class="MsoPlainText" style="margin-top: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 0in; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; line-height: 1.6; "> </p><p class="MsoPlainText" style="margin-top: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 0in; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; line-height: 1.6; ">The Heaven Can Wait Animal Society (HCWS) in Las Vegas, NV took Broke Back to a local veterinary hospital for a complete evaluation. Dr. David Henderson found that in addition to having a broken back, hip and pelvis, the cat also had multiple fractures in her spine. He explained the cat faced several surgeries over the next few months and many more months of rehabilitation.</p><p class="MsoPlainText" style="margin-top: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 0in; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; line-height: 1.6; "> </p><p class="MsoPlainText" style="margin-top: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 0in; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; line-height: 1.6; ">HCWS made the decision to have the costly surgeries performed and over the next seven months, Broke Back underwent a series of operations to repair the damage done to her.</p><p class="MsoPlainText" style="margin-top: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 0in; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; line-height: 1.6; "> </p><p class="MsoPlainText" style="margin-top: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 0in; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; line-height: 1.6; ">Nearly one year later Broke Back has not only healed, but she is ready to be adopted. The cat has also dropped her nickname for the more suitable name of Katira. It means <em>“ray of light.”</em> </p><p class="MsoPlainText" style="margin-top: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 0in; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; line-height: 1.6; "> </p><p class="MsoPlainText" style="margin-top: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 0in; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; line-height: 1.6; "><a href="http://hcwsblog.org/" target="_blank" style="color: rgb(12, 115, 158); text-decoration: none; ">Elaine Warken, the group’s Cat Coordinator reported on the organization’s blog, <em style="cursor: pointer; ">“Broke Back will make a wonderful family pet.”</em></a></p><p class="MsoPlainText" style="margin-top: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 0in; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; line-height: 1.6; "><em> </em></p><p class="MsoPlainText" style="margin-top: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 0in; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; line-height: 1.6; "><em>“Yea, she limps a little, but hey she also uses the litter box, rolls over, plays with other cats and loves to purr. Even though her nickname is Broke Back, there is nothing broken about this cat’s spirit,”</em> wrote Warken.</p><p class="MsoPlainText" style="margin-top: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 0in; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; line-height: 1.6; "> </p><p class="MsoPlainText" style="margin-top: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 0in; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; line-height: 1.6; "><a href="http://hcwsblog.org/" target="_blank" style="color: rgb(12, 115, 158); text-decoration: none; ">Click Here to see the complete story and photos of Broke Back's recovery. </a></p><p class="MsoPlainText" style="margin-top: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 0in; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; line-height: 1.6; "> </p><p class="MsoPlainText" style="margin-top: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 0in; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; line-height: 1.6; ">Help the American Humane Association spread the word about Adopt-A-Cat Month. Please share with others that “wonderful cats of every breed, age and personality waiting for homes in animal shelters.”</p><p></p><div class="blogger-post-footer"><center><a href="http://takeactionwithtara.blogspot.com/" target="_blank">
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</a></center></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1046307061853206440.post-92212642849078325332010-05-24T02:16:00.002-04:002010-05-24T02:21:59.726-04:007 Foods Banned in Europe - Still In The U.S.!<div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#0000EE;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="text-decoration: underline;"><br /></span></span></div><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://dingo.care2.com/greenliving/genetic.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 443px; height: 267px;" src="http://dingo.care2.com/greenliving/genetic.jpg" border="0" alt="" /></a><br /><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" line-height: 19px; color: rgb(56, 56, 56); font-family:Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;font-size:13px;"><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 1.4em; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; line-height: 1.6; "><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 13px; font-weight: normal; line-height: 19px; "></span></b></p><b><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 1.4em; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; line-height: 1.6; "><strong> Modified Foods</strong></p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 1.4em; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; line-height: 1.6; ">Although the E.U. is continuously coming under <a href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/7182793.stm" target="_blank" style="color: rgb(12, 115, 158); text-decoration: none; ">attack for policies banning GM foods</a>, the community is highly suspicious of genetically modified foods, and the agro-industrial pressures that drive their use. The problem with GM foods is that there is simply <a href="http://www.treehugger.com/files/2007/08/david_suzuki.php?dcitc=prev_post" target="_blank" style="color: rgb(12, 115, 158); text-decoration: none; ">not sufficient research</a> and understanding to inform good public policy. In spite of widespread GM use without apparent negative impacts in other countries, the recent public reaction to trans-fats are reason enough to support a precautionary principle for the food supply chain.</p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 1.4em; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; line-height: 1.6; "><strong>Pesticides in Your Food</strong></p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 1.4em; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; line-height: 1.6; ">The E.U. has acted against the worst pesticides typically found as residuals in the food chain. A <a href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/7825552.stm" target="_blank" style="color: rgb(12, 115, 158); text-decoration: none; ">ban on 22 pesticides</a> was passed at the E.U. level, and is pending approval by the Member States. Critics claim the ban will raise prices and may harm malaria control, but advocates of the ban say action must be taken against the pesticides which are known to cause harm to health and nevertheless consistently found in studies of food consumption.</p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 1.4em; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; line-height: 1.6; "><strong>Bovine Growth Hormone</strong></p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 1.4em; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; line-height: 1.6; ">This drug, known as rBGH for short, is not allowed in Europe. In contrast, U.S. citizens struggle even for laws that allow <a href="http://www.treehugger.com/files/2008/02/green-eyes-sour-milk.php" target="_blank" style="color: rgb(12, 115, 158); text-decoration: none; ">hormone-free labeling</a> so that consumers have a choice. This should be an easy black-and-white decision for all regulators and any corporation that is really concerned about sustainability: give consumers the information. We deserve control over our food choice.</p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 1.4em; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; line-height: 1.6; "><strong>Chlorinated Chickens</strong></p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 1.4em; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; line-height: 1.6; ">Amid cries that eating American chickens would degrade European citizens to the status of guinea pigs, the E.U. continued a ban on chickens washed in chlorine. The ban effectively prevents all import of chickens from the U.S. into Europe. If <a href="http://www.euractiv.com/en/food/outrage-plans-lift-chlorine-chicken-ban/article-172810" target="_blank" style="color: rgb(12, 115, 158); text-decoration: none; ">chicken chlorination is “totally absurd” and “outrageous”</a> for Europeans, what does that mean for Americans?</p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 1.4em; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; line-height: 1.6; "></p><p style="text-align: center;margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font: normal normal normal 12px/normal Helvetica; "><img src="webkit-fake-url://F191660D-0C5F-4BF0-BC1D-417FE24C60B6/bpabottles.jpg" alt="bpabottles.jpg" /></p><p style="text-align: center;margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font: normal normal normal 12px/normal Helvetica; "><br /></p><p style="text-align: left;margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font: normal normal normal 12px/normal Helvetica; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 19px; "></span></p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 1.4em; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; line-height: 1.6; "><strong>Food Contact Chemicals</strong></p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 1.4em; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; line-height: 1.6; ">Phthalates and Bisphenols in plastic are really beneficial. They help manufacturers create plastic products with the softness and moldability needed to fulfill consumer needs. But when the food contact additives are found in the food and liquids contained by those plastics, trouble starts. Both the U.S. and Europe stringently regulate food contact use of chemicals. However, the standard of approval is different. In Europe, the precautionary principle requires that the suppliers of chemicals <a href="http://www.neurope.eu/articles/86563.php" target="_blank" style="color: rgb(12, 115, 158); text-decoration: none; ">prove their additives safe</a>, or they will be banned. Of course, although the E.U. has banned phthalates in toys, both phthalates and bisphenol-A remain approved for food contact uses — subject to strict regulations on their use.</p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 1.4em; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; line-height: 1.6; "><strong>Stevia, the natural sweetener</strong></p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 1.4em; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; line-height: 1.6; ">The U.S. recently approved this “natural” sweetener as a food additive. Previously, it was sold in the U.S. under the less stringent dietary supplement laws. It has been embraced in Japan for over three decades, but E.U. bans still stand — pointing to potential disturbances in fertility and other negative health impacts. But the sweetener is credited with potentially positive health effects too. Is this a case where consumer choice should prevail?</p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 1.4em; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; line-height: 1.6; "><strong>Planned Ban: Food Dyes</strong></p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 1.4em; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; line-height: 1.6; ">Many food dyes previously recognized as safe are suspected of contributing to attention deficit disorder. Action is afoot as the UK evaluates a <a href="http://www.treehugger.com/files/2008/07/only-fools-dye-young.php" target="_blank" style="color: rgb(12, 115, 158); text-decoration: none; ">ban on synthetic food colors</a>. <a href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/7340426.stm" target="_blank" style="color: rgb(12, 115, 158); text-decoration: none; ">Regulation in the E.U.</a> often starts through the leadership of one Member State, which pushes the concepts up to Brussels after a proof-of-concept pilot phase. Red 40, Yellow 5, Yellow 6, Blue 1, Blue 2, Green 3, Orange B, and Red 3 are among the <a href="http://www.foodnavigator-usa.com/Financial-Industry/Pressure-mounts-for-removal-of-artificial-colors" target="_blank" style="color: rgb(12, 115, 158); text-decoration: none; ">food colors associated with hyperactivity</a>.</p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 1.4em; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; line-height: 1.6; "><br /></p><p></p><p></p></b><p></p></span></div><div class="blogger-post-footer"><center><a href="http://takeactionwithtara.blogspot.com/" target="_blank">
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</a></center></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1046307061853206440.post-82960383771189779642010-05-21T14:29:00.002-04:002010-05-21T14:33:36.938-04:00Scariest Fast Food Breakfasts<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 19px; color: rgb(56, 56, 56); "><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 1.4em; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; line-height: 1.6; ">How would you like to meet your daily <a href="http://www.care2.com/greenliving/6-foods-that-weaken-bones.html" target="_blank" style="color: rgb(12, 115, 158); text-decoration: none; ">sodium</a> and saturated fat allowance, as well as nearly half of your daily calorie needs, in one quick breakfast eaten on the road? It’s becoming progressively easy these day as food technicians, chefs and market researchers, holed away in corporate fast food “studios,” are busy developing monstrous new breakfast items. Trying to claim as much of the $57 billion fast food breakfast market as they can, the fast food giants are drumming up increasingly cheesy, steak-y, fried chicken-y breakfast dishes that tap into flavor combinations that have proven successful for lunch and dinner items. It’s no longer eggs and English muffins for fast food breakfast–breakfast burger anyone?</p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 1.4em; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; line-height: 1.6; ">What’s most striking about some of these high-calorie items–aside from the unsustainable, industrial, often <a href="http://www.care2.com/greenliving/are-you-eating-genetically-modified-foods.html" target="_blank" style="color: rgb(12, 115, 158); text-decoration: none; ">GMO</a> and synthetic ingredients–is the very high sodium and saturated fat content. According to the USDA, the current recommendation for sodium consumption is less than 2,300 milligrams a day. For saturated fat, the maximum allowance is between 18 grams to 31 grams, depending on your caloric intake needs. (You can calculate your caloric need with this <a href="http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/calorie-calculator/NU00598%202350" target="_blank" style="color: rgb(12, 115, 158); text-decoration: none; ">calculator</a> from the Mayo Clinic.) Many of these breakfast items meet or exceed the daily sodium and fat allowances, and provide much more than one-third of your daily caloric needs.</p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 1.4em; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; line-height: 1.6; "><strong>1. Carl’s Jr Breakfast Burger<br /></strong>Yes, I’m afraid you read that right, “breakfast” and “burger” in the same menu item. How do you turn a regular burger into a breakfast burger? By adding not only an egg–but an egg, bacon, American cheese and <em>hash brown nuggets</em> too!<strong><br /></strong></p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 1.4em; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; line-height: 1.6; ">Calories: 780<br />Fat Calories: 370<br />Total Fat: 51 grams<br />Sat Fat: 15 grams<br />Sodium: 1460</p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 1.4em; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; line-height: 1.6; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 19px; "><strong>2. McDonald’s Big Breakfast with Hotcakes</strong><br />Chances are that if you are ordering a breakfast that contains scrambled eggs, sausage, hash brown, hotcakes and a biscuit, you’re probably not really watching your waistline (well, watching it increase, maybe) but still, the tally for this corpulent combination is quite impressive.</span></p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 1.4em; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; line-height: 1.6; "></p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 1.4em; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; line-height: 1.6; ">Calories: 1150<br />Fat Calories: 540<br />Total Fat: 59 grams<br />Sat Fat: 20 grams<br />Sodium: 2260</p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 1.4em; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; line-height: 1.6; ">If you decide to go with something less bulky, like the McSkillet Burrito with Sausage, you’ll still be ringing up 610 calories. The “best bet” here is the Egg McMuffin at 300 calories and 5 grams of saturated fat. But then again, the sound of “Pasteurized Process American Cheese, Canadian Style Bacon, and Liquid Margarine” may leave you a little blue in the gills…</p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 1.4em; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; line-height: 1.6; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 19px; "></span></p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 1.4em; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; line-height: 1.6; "><strong>3. Burger King Biscuits and Sausage Gravy Platter</strong><br />I can’t decide which one is worse, the Biscuits and Sausage Gravy Platter or the Double Croissan’wich with Sausage Egg and Cheese. Calories are the same, but you can have 35 grams of fat with <em>2350 mg</em> of sodium (that’s your limit for the day), or you can opt for the <em>49 grams</em> of fat with 1520 mg of sodium.</p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 1.4em; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; line-height: 1.6; ">Calories: 680<br />Fat Calories: 310<br />Total Fat: 35 grams<br />Sat Fat: 28 grams<br />Sodium: 2350</p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 1.4em; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; line-height: 1.6; "><strong>4. Burger King</strong> <strong>Double Croissan’wich with Sausage Egg and Cheese</strong><br />Does the cutesy name make it any less threatening?</p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 1.4em; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; line-height: 1.6; ">Calories: 680<br />Fat Calories: 421<br />Total Fat: 49 grams<br />Sat Fat: 18 grams<br />Sodium: 1520</p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 1.4em; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; line-height: 1.6; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 19px; "></span></p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 1.4em; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; line-height: 1.6; "><strong>5. Hardee’s Double Sausage Egg n’ Cheese Biscuit<br /></strong>Anytime you start saying “double sausage” when talking about a meal, you should just know to expect trouble…like 21-grams-of-saturated-fat kind of trouble. Along with your RDA for sodium and saturated fat all scooped up with this one sandwich, you can pretty much eat nothing else besides celery for the day. The problem with any of the biscuit meals here is that the biscuit alone is 370 calories.</p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 1.4em; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; line-height: 1.6; ">Calories: 830<br />Fat Calories: 570<br />Total Fat: 63 grams<br />Sat Fat: 21 grams<br />Sodium: 2100</p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 1.4em; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; line-height: 1.6; "><strong>6. Hardee’s Loaded Breakfast Burrito<br /></strong>Can you imagine? “Eggs, crumbled sausage, bacon and diced ham, lots of shredded cheddar cheese, then wrapped in a warm flour tortilla. Served with zesty salsa.” I like the use of “zesty”–as if it somehow lightens this overwhelming brick of animal fat disguised as a burrito.</p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 1.4em; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; line-height: 1.6; ">Calories: 760<br />Fat Calories: 400<br />Total Fat: 49 grams<br />Sat Fat: 21 grams<br />Sodium: 1380</p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 1.4em; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; line-height: 1.6; "><strong>7. Hardee’s Low Carb Breakfast Bowl</strong><br />So, you think maybe the low carb option is going to be the better option? How does this sound: “eggs topped with a sausage patty and a slice of Swiss cheese, then piled with a loaded omelet (with crumbled sausage, bacon, diced, ham and shredded cheddar), then finished with more shredded cheddar and sprinkled with bacon bits.” Sounds like “call 9-1-1″ to me.</p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 1.4em; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; line-height: 1.6; ">Calories: 620<br />Fat Calories: 450<br />Total Fat: 50 grams<br />Sat Fat: 21 grams<br />Sodium: 1380</p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 1.4em; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; line-height: 1.6; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 19px; "></span></p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 1.4em; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; line-height: 1.6; "><strong>8. Jack in the Box Steak and Egg Burrito </strong><br />I don’t know who came up with the idea of steak and eggs for breakfast, but, ouch. Even worse when they are wrapped up in a tortilla along with hash browns, cheddar cheese, jack cheese and a bunch of sauce.</p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 1.4em; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; line-height: 1.6; ">Calories: 821<br />Fat Calories: 450<br />Total Fat: 48 grams<br />Sat Fat: 15 grams<br />Sodium: 1616</p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 1.4em; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; line-height: 1.6; "><strong>9. Jack in the Box Extreme Sausage Sandwich</strong><br />When a regular sausage sandwich just isn’t enough…</p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 1.4em; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; line-height: 1.6; ">Calories: 690<br />Fat Calories: 445<br />Total Fat: 41 grams<br />Sat Fat: 17 grams<br />Sodium: 1356</p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 1.4em; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; line-height: 1.6; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 19px; "></span></p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 1.4em; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; line-height: 1.6; "><strong>10. Chick-fil-A Sausage Biscuit<br /></strong>The Chick-fil-A Sausage Biscuit is not too much better or worse than the other sausage biscuits. The general problem with a biscuit breakfast is that it is not that large of meal, yet you are using up a lot of calories for a lot of junk and animal fat.</p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 1.4em; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; line-height: 1.6; ">Calories: 590<br />Fat Calories: 370<br />Total Fat: 41 grams<br />Sat Fat: 16 grams<br />Sodium: 1250</p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 1.4em; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; line-height: 1.6; "><strong>11. Chick-fil-A Chicken Egg and Cheese Bagel on a Sunflower Mutligrain Bagel<br /></strong>Well it’s nice that they opted for a multigrain bagel studded with sunflower seeds, but does that really hide the fact that there is a <em>slab of fried chicken</em>between the eggs and American cheese?<strong><br /></strong></p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 1.4em; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; line-height: 1.6; ">Calories: 530<br />Fat Calories: 200<br />Total Fat: 23 grams<br />Sat Fat:7 grams<br />Sodium: 1330</p></span><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><div class="blogger-post-footer"><center><a href="http://takeactionwithtara.blogspot.com/" target="_blank">
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</a></center></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1046307061853206440.post-84938557953973755992010-03-19T19:19:00.003-04:002010-03-19T19:26:01.902-04:00Ripped Fish + Overfishing 'Solution'<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://dingo.care2.com/pictures/c2c/share/14/142/237/1423732_431.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 431px; height: 267px;" src="http://dingo.care2.com/pictures/c2c/share/14/142/237/1423732_431.jpg" border="0" alt="" /></a><br /><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 19px; color: rgb(56, 56, 56); ">The increase in the popularity of fish as well as the every growing human population has led to the creation of a ripped fish. Professor Terry Bradley of the University of Rhode Island, has found a way to create trouts that produce 20% more muscle than the average trout.<br /><br />For over ten years, Professor Bradley has been trying to address a way to create more food while spending the same amount on feed and equipment. While Bradley's super fish are a new development, the concept of creating animals that produce more muscle is not. Since the 1950s, the desire for meatier animals led to the popularization of genetically engineered cattle, namely the Belgian Blue. This cattle contain a natural mutation that inhibits the myostatin gene. This gene is what controls muscle growth. When this muscle is truncated, the lean muscles grow at an accelerated rate, leading to double-muscling [Source: <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Belgian_Blue" style="color: rgb(12, 115, 158); text-decoration: none; ">Wikipedia</a>]. Bradley takes the same concept and applies it towards fish.<br /><br />When Bradley first began the experiments, he was unsure of the results, since fish have different muscle development than animals. However after 500 hours of injecting rainbow trout eggs with different types of DNA that inhibit myostatin, 300 of the 20,000 eggs developed the "six-pack" effect [Source: <a href="http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2010/03/100310113540.htm" style="color: rgb(12, 115, 158); text-decoration: none; ">Science Daily</a>]. Those fish that carried this trait were then bred with all of the offspring expressing the desired trait. This could be a huge boon to the fish farms as they could farm the same amount of fish but make more money while spending the same amount. Not only that, but this could help decrease the amount of bottom-trawling occuring in our oceans and over-fishing in our lakes and streams. The study of how these genes affect fish and mammals could also shed light on muscle wasting diseases in humans [Source: <a href="http://www.uri.edu/news/releases/?id=5243" style="color: rgb(12, 115, 158); text-decoration: none; ">URI</a>].<br /><br />A major issue still facing Bradley is whether these transgenic fish meet regulatory standards. But besides that, there are many variables to consider before allowing these bodybuilder fish for public consumption:<br />1. Will there be any side effects for those eating the fish?<br />2. If they somehow made it to the wild, how will they affect the natural ecosystem?<br />3. Will more lean muscle decrease the amount of good fat in fish(i.e. omega-3 fatty acid)?<br /><br />There are still many unanswered questions, and while the proposition seems attractive, especially to those who own fisheries, there is still not enough information to begin mass production. Still, this news could help to decrease the overfishing problem all over the world.</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;font-size:100%;color:#383838;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 13px; line-height: 19px;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;font-size:100%;color:#383838;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 13px; line-height: 19px;">I'm one of the many avid fishers out there - unlike some, though, I only keep fish I am planning on consuming. This isn't a nation-wide outlook and many still keep fish they have no intention of consuming. I'm still unsure as to whether or not the "ripped fish phenomenon" is going to effect my lifestyle or my fishing habits. What are your thoughts on this article?</span></span></div><div class="blogger-post-footer"><center><a href="http://takeactionwithtara.blogspot.com/" target="_blank">
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Awesome.<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_3yaMByNmZTg/Sxk7u6KVG6I/AAAAAAAAAE4/ErlHjCnW7Qo/s1600-h/1013451.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 241px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_3yaMByNmZTg/Sxk7u6KVG6I/AAAAAAAAAE4/ErlHjCnW7Qo/s400/1013451.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5411422104334965666" /></a><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#0000EE;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" line-height: 19px; color: rgb(56, 56, 56); font-family:Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;font-size:13px;"><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 1.4em; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; line-height: 1.6; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">Ah, the winter holidays. Even before your Thanksgiving turkey (or Tofurkey) has fully digested, retail stores have already sprung into full-on holiday mode. Garland arches over every aisle. Sleigh bells play overhead. Coffee shops break out the peppermint/eggnog/gingerbread lattes. In such a sweet environment, who wouldn’t be lulled into spending a fortune on presents and stocking stuffers?</span></p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 1.4em; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; line-height: 1.6; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">Before you lift your credit card though, think about heading to a different shopping destination: Your closet. Do you have an old coat you no longer wear? If so, here are five ways to recycle it into cute stocking stuffers.</span></p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 1.4em; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; line-height: 1.6; "><strong><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">1. Button ring</span></strong></p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 1.4em; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; line-height: 1.6; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">We got this idea from Lorelei’s Blog: Inside the Studio. Check out their</span><a href="http://lorelei1141.blogspot.com/2009/10/button-ring-tutorial.html" target="_blank" style="color: rgb(12, 115, 158); text-decoration: none; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">excellent button ring tutorial</span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">.</span></p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 1.4em; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; line-height: 1.6; "><strong><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">2. Button bobby pin</span></strong></p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 1.4em; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; line-height: 1.6; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">These hair accessories couldn’t be easier to make. Do make sure though that you use the right tools: Plain old pins won’t cut it, so read Lenny da Vinci’s </span><a href="http://lennydavinci.blogspot.com/2009/02/how-to-covered-button-bobby-pins.html" target="_blank" style="color: rgb(12, 115, 158); text-decoration: none; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">step by step instructions for one-of-a-kind button bobby pins</span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">.</span></p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 1.4em; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; line-height: 1.6; "><strong><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">3. Fabric frame</span></strong></p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 1.4em; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; line-height: 1.6; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">By this point you’ve successfully de-buttoned your old coat; now it’s time to upcycle the fabric body. We like How Stuff Works’ </span><a href="http://home.howstuffworks.com/fabric-crafts5.htm" target="_blank" style="color: rgb(12, 115, 158); text-decoration: none; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">directions for turning that fabric into a picture frame</span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">.</span></p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 1.4em; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; line-height: 1.6; "><strong><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">4. Wrist cuffs</span></strong></p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 1.4em; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; line-height: 1.6; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">Now put the rest of your coat’s fabric to work by making a slew of wrist cuffs. Cut Out + Keep offers a </span><a href="http://www.cutoutandkeep.net/projects/cuffs" target="_blank" style="color: rgb(12, 115, 158); text-decoration: none; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">4-step process for transforming scrap fabric into chunky bracelets</span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">.</span></p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 1.4em; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; line-height: 1.6; "><strong><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">5. Tea clutch</span></strong></p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 1.4em; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; line-height: 1.6; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">If you’re feeling </span><em><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">really </span></em><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">inspired, use your coat’s remaining fabric body and inner lining to make this sharp tea clutch. The Object Project recommends materials like tweed and satin (perhaps what your old coat was made out of to begin with), but feel free to substitute two different fabrics. Whip out your scissors, and read </span><a href="http://theobjectproject.typepad.com/the_object_project/2009/05/tea-clutch-tutorial.html" target="_blank" style="color: rgb(12, 115, 158); text-decoration: none; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">their tea clutch how-to</span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">.</span></p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 1.4em; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; line-height: 1.6; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">For more easy homemade gift ideas, click </span><a href="http://www.care2.com/greenliving/25-easy-homemade-gift-ideas.html" target="_blank" style="color: rgb(12, 115, 158); text-decoration: none; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">here</span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">.</span></p></span></div><div class="blogger-post-footer"><center><a href="http://takeactionwithtara.blogspot.com/" target="_blank">
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</a></center></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1046307061853206440.post-11643494277395185882009-11-28T20:18:00.004-05:002009-11-28T20:23:11.449-05:00The Dangers of Antibiotics<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_3yaMByNmZTg/SxHMp1_rVbI/AAAAAAAAAEY/Le7Uf7wwBas/s1600/antibiotics.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 242px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_3yaMByNmZTg/SxHMp1_rVbI/AAAAAAAAAEY/Le7Uf7wwBas/s400/antibiotics.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5409329646689539506" /></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><br /></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" line-height: 19px; color: rgb(56, 56, 56); font-family:Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;font-size:13px;"><p style="text-align: left;margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 1.4em; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; line-height: 1.6; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">In the 1930s, a discovery was made that changed the medical world and our entire lives as a result. Sulfa drugs were unleashed as successful combatants against harmful bacteria, and the following decade, penicillin was developed to do the same. With these power antibiotics at their disposal, doctors were able to treat illnesses that had previously confounded them.</span></span></p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 1.4em; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; line-height: 1.6; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:verdana;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Fast-forward to many years later, when antibiotics of all kinds are now the go-to prescription for just about every illness. At this point, our reliance on them is more like abuse. Antibiotics are used all too commonly–most egregiously, for diseases they can’t even treat–and that’s resulting in their overall ineffectiveness. Not only does such frequent pill popping cause relatively unknown side effects, but it can become deadly on a global level if it continues unabated.</span></span></p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 1.4em; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; line-height: 1.6; "><strong><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:verdana;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">What They’re Really Good For</span></span></strong><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:verdana;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><br />Antibiotics have prevented countless deaths since their creation, but even too much of a good thing can have disastrous results. The worst part is that most people, including some in the medical industry, aren’t fully aware of the problem. In March 2009, pharmacies around the U.S. gave away free antibiotics to promote health in cash-strapped times. Luckily, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) stepped in and advised people against treating antibiotics like all-purpose medicine or, even worse, taking them like multivitamins.</span></span></p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 1.4em; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; line-height: 1.6; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:verdana;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Therein lies the biggest problem with antibiotics overuse–people think of them as wonder drugs that can heal anything. But they’re effective only against bacteria, so if someone has an ear infection, tuberculosis, or other bacterial infection, an antibiotic prescription makes sense. Antibiotics don’t have any effect on viral illnesses, which include colds and flu.</span></span></p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 1.4em; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; line-height: 1.6; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:verdana;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Unfortunately, this fact has been lost in a sea of misinformation. A survey that Foodborne Diseases Active Surveillance Network conducted from 1998 to 1999 found that 32 percent of the population believed antibiotics should be taken for colds. Over half of those surveyed were unaware of any potential risks associated with them. But consumers aren’t the only ones perpetuating the myth–in 2001, over 31 percent of antibiotic prescriptions were for colds or sore throats.</span></span></p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 1.4em; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; line-height: 1.6; "><strong><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:verdana;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">A Newly Discovered Side Effect</span></span></strong><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:verdana;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><br />Taking antibiotics isn’t always an easy process, especially for those especially sensitive to medication. Feeling nauseated or actually throwing up is fairly common when someone’s taking the pills, as are diarrhea and skin issues. Kidney stone development, an increased reaction to sunlight, and blood clot formations are much rarer but can occur, depending on the type of antibiotic prescribed. But a recent study suggests that there are even more dangerous side effects to worry about.</span></span></p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 1.4em; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; line-height: 1.6; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:verdana;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">The study, sponsored by the CDC and published in the </span></span><em><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:verdana;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Archives of Pediatrics and Adolescent Medicine</span></span></em><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:verdana;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">, targeted a group of pregnant women. Researchers found that those with babies who had birth defects had a higher incidence of taking two types of antibiotics (sulfa drugs and nitrofurantoins) for urinary tract infections than mothers with unaffected babies did. The mothers taking sulfa drugs tended to have babies with weak hearts and brain illnesses, as well as smaller-than-average arms and legs. Nitrofurantoins were linked to heart issues and cleft palates.</span></span></p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 1.4em; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; line-height: 1.6; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:verdana;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></span></p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 1.4em; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; line-height: 1.6; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" line-height: 19px; font-family:Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span></span></span></p><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 1.4em; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; line-height: 1.6; "><strong><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:verdana;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">When Medicine Gets Deadly</span></span></strong><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:verdana;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><br />Even if the really serious side effects are isolated to small parts of the population, antibiotics’ increasing ineffectiveness is a problem that impacts all of us. Antibiotics work by flushing out all bacteria–including the good kind that keeps us healthy, which is another big problem–out of our systems to get rid of the infection. But when they don’t eradicate all of the bad kind, it results in hyper-resistant bacteria that require a stronger form of antibiotics. These superbugs leave scientists scrambling to create new and more potent treatments, but the overuse of antibiotics leaves them with very little to work with anymore. Now there are a multitude of bacterial strains that no existing antibiotic can treat. It’s such a widespread problem that Dr. Perry Hookman, a gastroenterologist who teaches at the University of Miami, called it a “global threat” in an interview with </span></span><em><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:verdana;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">The New York Times</span></span></em><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:verdana;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">.</span></span></p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 1.4em; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; line-height: 1.6; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:verdana;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Clostridium difficile, or C. difficile, is an example of this issue. The rates of C. difficile, once confined mostly to hospitals and other health care facilities, have risen drastically this decade, and the strain’s deadlier than ever. It’s actually brought on in part by antibiotic use–the drugs kill off the beneficial bacteria in our guts, making way for C. difficile to take root. Even after treatment–which is another round of antibiotics–some patients continue showing symptoms. An estimated 20 percent of affected people will get sick all over again later.</span></span></p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 1.4em; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; line-height: 1.6; "><strong><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:verdana;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">The Global Implications</span></span></strong><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:verdana;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><br />The indiscriminate use of antibiotics extends beyond humans–they’re even used to treat and prevent diseases in animals. So even if we use antibiotics wisely, there’s a chance we’ll still be overexposed if we consume animal products. The best course of action is education. People need to learn not only about what antibiotics can and can’t do, but about alternative treatments as well. If we keep abusing antibiotics, eventually we’ll be out of solutions for all bacterial infections, and then a cold or a sore throat will be the least of our worries.</span></span></p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 1.4em; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; line-height: 1.6; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:verdana;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">This doesn’t mean that antibiotics don’t have their place in medicine; in some cases, their improvement to our well-being has been immeasurable. But in order to keep it that way, we need to understand and respect their limits, especially during flu season. As the old saying goes, everything in moderation–even when it’s something as helpful as medicine.</span></span></p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 1.4em; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; line-height: 1.6; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:verdana;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Use, don't abuse and be a healthy consumer.</span></span></p></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><p></p><div class="blogger-post-footer"><center><a href="http://takeactionwithtara.blogspot.com/" target="_blank">
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</a></center></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1046307061853206440.post-55399253039936752142009-06-23T18:35:00.002-04:002009-06-23T18:37:39.473-04:00Vegetarian Bayou Jambalaya Recipe<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://dingo.care2.com/pictures/greenliving/1/873.large.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 392px; height: 260px;" src="http://dingo.care2.com/pictures/greenliving/1/873.large.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><br /><p style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size:78%;">Adapted from <i>Rice and Spice</i> by Robin Robertson (Harvard Common Press, 2000).</span></p> <div id="GlStoryContainer" class="story_wrapper"><p> You won’t miss the meat or seafood in this glorious vegetarian version of the Creole classic. New Orleans fire and flavor along with colorful anti-oxidant nutrition and satisfying ease of preparation. Pure bayou bliss!</p> <p> <b>INGREDIENTS</b></p> <p>1 tablespoon vegetable oil<br />1 small onion, coarsely chopped<br />1/2 cup coarsely chopped celery<br />1 green bell pepper, coarsely chopped<br />1 garlic clove, minced<br />1 16-ounce cans diced tomatoes<br />2 tablespoons tomato paste<br />1 teaspoon file powder (look in your local gourmet food store)<br />1 tablespoon chopped fresh parsley<br />1 teaspoon Tabasco sauce<br />1 teaspoon salt<br />1/2 cup water<br />1 1/2 cups cooked or canned pinto beans, rinsed if canned<br />4 ounces tempeh, cubed<br />8 ounces vegetarian sausage links, cut into 1-inch pieces<br />6 cups hot cooked brown rice </p><p>1. In a large pot, heat 1 1/2 teaspoons of the oil over medium heat until hot. Add onion, celery, and bell pepper and saute for 5 minutes, or until the vegetables begin to soften. Add garlic, tomatoes, tomato paste, file powder, parsley, Tabasco sauce, salt, and water. Cover and simmer for 20 minutes, or until the vegetables are soft. Stir in the pinto beans. </p><p>2. Meanwhile, heat the remaining 1 1/2 teaspoons oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add tempeh and vegetarian sausage and cook until browned, about 5 minutes. </p><p>3. Add tempeh and sausage to tomato mixture and simmer about 5 minutes, until flavors are well blended. Adjust seasonings and serve over hot cooked rice. </p><p>Serves 4 to 6.</p> </div><div class="blogger-post-footer"><center><a href="http://takeactionwithtara.blogspot.com/" target="_blank">
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</a></center></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1046307061853206440.post-49588276684444615642009-06-16T00:12:00.003-04:002009-06-16T00:16:00.333-04:00Sustainable Gardening .101: Small Spaces + Urban Planning<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_3yaMByNmZTg/SjccApDpOhI/AAAAAAAAAD8/VMBm4uu3v54/s1600-h/SmallVeggieGarden.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_3yaMByNmZTg/SjccApDpOhI/AAAAAAAAAD8/VMBm4uu3v54/s400/SmallVeggieGarden.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5347773879872469522" border="0" /></a><br /><p>Do you avoid gardening due to a lack of space? Living with limited space should not prohibit you from reaping the benefits of homegrown fresh food. My previous post about <a href="http://takeactionwithtara.blogspot.com/2009/06/sustainable-gardening-101-kitchen.html" target="_blank">kitchen gardens</a> spoke about creating a home garden that is just steps away from your kitchen. Many of the same principles can be employed using a little creativity when growing plants in containers on patios, balconies, rooftops or windowsills.</p> <p>I recently read,<em> <a href="http://www.chelseagreen.com/bookstore/item/fresh_food_from_small_spaces:paperback" target="_blank">Fresh Food From Small Spaces: The Square Inch Gardener’s Guide to Year-Round Growing, Fermenting, and Sprouting</a></em>, by R.J. Ruppenthal. He claims that it’s possible for a person to produce 20% of their own food in a small space. Ruppenthal, a California attorney and professor, has lived in city homes and feeds his family homegrown food 365 days per year. His book is a practical primer for urban food production grown in small spaces. It gives advice on many aspects of container gardening, from growing vegetable crops to making yogurt. The chapter on composting with worms gives a detailed account on how worms generate healthful fertilizer for plants. I knew worms were advantageous to composting, but I was fascinated to learn that using worms for composting will make plants stronger and more pest-resistant.</p> <p>Here are some questions and answers adapted from an interview with R.J. Ruppenthal:</p> <p><strong>What if your home has no yard, no soil?</strong></p> <p>Get a container and fill it with good soil and organic fertilizer. Some low maintenance vegetables include: lettuce, tomatoes, spinach, carrots and beets. Depending on your climate and what you like to eat, you could grow fruit too.</p> <p><strong>What is a misconception about gardening in a small space?</strong></p> <p>Conventional wisdom holds that vegetable gardening requires 6-8 hours of direct sunlight per day. Some vegetables can be sprouted inside with space and light restrictions.</p> <p><strong>How can people who live in small spaces gain more control over what they eat and can they become more reliant? </strong></p> <p>Growing fresh food is a positive step toward sustainability. With rising food prices, you can save money and lessen your carbon footprint by rescuing the resources that are wasted on food production.</p> <p><strong>How about urban farmers markets?</strong></p> <p>Farmers markets are important. They support small farmers, who get a direct local outlet for their produce. City folk are attracted to farmers markets because the food is grown with great care and just picked and people like having a connection to something that is real.</p> <p>Farm to table promotes sustainable, local agriculture, but backyard or container to table gardens are about as close to nature that your taste buds can get. Do you have a garden at your home? If not, here are 10 inspiring small gardens from Apartment Therapy’s,<a href="http://www.thekitchn.com/thekitchn/gardening/10-inspiring-gardens-for-growing-food-in-small-spaces-083198" target="_blank"> The Kitchen</a>. Do you have a garden at your home?</p><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="blogger-post-footer"><center><a href="http://takeactionwithtara.blogspot.com/" target="_blank">
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</a></center></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1046307061853206440.post-45989263705196247742009-06-10T16:24:00.004-04:002009-06-10T16:30:49.274-04:00Sustainable Gardening .101: Kitchen Gardens<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_3yaMByNmZTg/SjAW_2gFoRI/AAAAAAAAAD0/GFdHsTOq3jY/s1600-h/KitchenGarden.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 295px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_3yaMByNmZTg/SjAW_2gFoRI/AAAAAAAAAD0/GFdHsTOq3jY/s400/KitchenGarden.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5345798043906449682" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><div style="text-align: left;"><p>Do you know where your food comes from? In the last few months there has been a flurry of books and articles on the subject of sustainable food. First Lady, Michelle Obama, helped break ground on a new White House organic “kitchen garden”. The White House kitchen garden will be the first working garden since Eleanor Roosevelt planted a so-called “victory garden” at the height of World War II. The Obamas’ garden with its proposed 55 varieties of vegetables sends a message about where they want their food to come from.</p> <p>Home kitchen gardens can be one of the most sustainable food options for people who want to know where their food comes from. Kitchen gardens can provide a living tapestry of healthy vegetables and fruits, just steps away from your kitchen. My family's kitchen garden is an integral part of our home. It sits a stones throw from our kitchen out the back door. We know where to go when someone says, “I need chives for the soup” or, “Who wants to help with the salad?”</p> <p>The French have been designing jardin potagers, or kitchen gardens, for centuries. Kitchen gardens serve as functional, practical and beautiful additions to many homes. These gardens are typically located outside of a kitchen and include herbs, vegetables and fruits. Some kitchen gardens contain medicinal plants and flowers. Having immediate access from the kitchen is optimal for harvesting while cooking. Kitchen gardens can be easier to tend because they have clearly defined beds and paths.</p> <p>Creating a bountiful kitchen garden can be an economical and healthy addition your home. Planned kitchen gardens still have an element of trial and error, like all gardens, but worth the experimentation.</p> <p><strong>What you need:</strong><br />• graph paper<br />• wooden dividers or an arrangement of pots<br />• watering supply<br />• trellises or stakes<br />• sunlight<br />• plants-vegetables, fruits, herbs, flowers</p> <p><strong>Here are some things to consider when planning a kitchen garden:</strong><br />• Divide each bed into rectangles (or whatever shape will fit in your space).<br />• Plot out on graph paper the types and numbers of plants you think you’ll be able to fit into the space. Raised beds will allow for a more efficient use of space.<br />• It’s said that vegetables are like people, they thrive on companionship. Vegetables may yield up to twice as much when they are surrounded with companion plants.<a href="http://www.humeseeds.com/comp1.htm" target="_blank"> Here is an article </a>about companion planting that outlines which vegetables are best friends.<br />• Think about combining plants that will create patterns of color and texture: a square of red leaf lettuce with deep green basil in the middle; the ferny fronds of fennel surrounding the bold leaves of cabbage.<br />• Plan for the spread and height of each vegetable, so the beds don’t get too overgrown, and so you’re able to find and reach the vegetables as they ripen.<br />• Plant intensively and close together so that there is little room for weeds and the plants shade each other.</p></div><div style="text-align: left;">I'll post some more next time for would-be gardener's with small spaces. (Urban planners? Have hope!)<br /></div><div class="blogger-post-footer"><center><a href="http://takeactionwithtara.blogspot.com/" target="_blank">
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</a></center></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1046307061853206440.post-70295790559437885152009-05-30T12:39:00.003-04:002009-05-30T12:45:14.672-04:00Attention ZYRTEC Allergy Users!<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://www.zyrtec.com/econsumer/zyrtec/rewards.view?body=/zyrtec/pages/zyrtopia_rewards.jsp&rewards=true"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 181px; height: 400px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_3yaMByNmZTg/SiFiaIao5HI/AAAAAAAAADk/z8gLdMdiXo4/s400/Zyrtec.PNG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5341658834113455218" border="0" /></a><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><br />In the land of allergies, there's not much we can be hopeful for - beyond taking a medicine that will stop the sniffles and itchies for a while. But Zytrec has done something I've never really seen before...<br /><br />You can now use your allergies for a good cause.<br /><br />That's right, Zytrec has put on a promotion where you can take the UPC codes from your Zyrtec packaging and convert it into an instant $2 for one of three major charities. How can you participate? It's easy.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;"><a href="http://www.zyrtec.com/econsumer/zyrtec/rewards.view?body=/zyrtec/pages/zyrtopia_rewards.jsp&rewards=true">Just follow this link to leave your mark.</a><br /><br /></span>There is going to be a cap of $300,000 per charity, the money to be split up evenly between these guys:<br /><br /><ul><li>National Trust for Historic Preservation</li><li>ASPCA</li><li>World Wildlife Fund</li></ul>So please get involved - and put those sniffles to good use! Tell any of your allergy sufferers to participate!<br /><br />- Tara<br /><span style="font-weight: bold;"></span><div class="blogger-post-footer"><center><a href="http://takeactionwithtara.blogspot.com/" target="_blank">
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</a></center></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1046307061853206440.post-7541918192262969832009-04-22T18:35:00.003-04:002009-04-22T18:45:14.605-04:00Happy Earth Day! - 7 Tips For Green Eating<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://dingo.care2.com/greenliving/eat1.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 443px; height: 267px;" src="http://dingo.care2.com/greenliving/eat1.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><br /><p>It’s Earth Day. Which means that you might be experiencing a rush of media extolling the virtues of reusable shopping bags, the evils of single use water bottles, and the importance of organic food. And seasonal food. And local food. And so on. All important issues, but I’m guessing a lot of you know about these things by now. So may I interest you in some other ideas on how to make an impact with your food choices?</p> <p>Don’t get me wrong. My closet’s packed with cheerleading outfits for the basic tenets of green eating: local, seasonal, organic. They are, in my opinion, vastly important. So I’ll pay tribute to them, quickly, in tip number one–and then cut to the chase with six other tips that see less of the spotlight.</p><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://dingo.care2.com/greenliving/eat2.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 443px; height: 267px;" src="http://dingo.care2.com/greenliving/eat2.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><br /><strong>1. Buy Local, Seasonal, Organic.</strong><br />Shop locally to decrease the fuel consumption of transportation–shop at farmer’s markets, CSAs, food co-ops, and markets that sell local products. Even big box stores are hopping on the local food train. Eat seasonally, which essentially means that you are eating locally, which means that you are not supporting the fuel consumption of cross-country, cross-global transportation. This can be challenging for those of us living in, say, Brooklyn in the winter, but you’d be surprised by all the things you can do with dark greens and winter squash! Support organic agriculture. There, said.<br /><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://dingo.care2.com/greenliving/eat3.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 443px; height: 267px;" src="http://dingo.care2.com/greenliving/eat3.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><br /><strong>2. Don’t Buy Organic.</strong><br />What??? Organic should be first choice when it’s locally grown, but consider that shipping a pound of organic apples across the country increases fuel and greenhouse gas emissions by 30 percent more than if they had been consumed at their point of harvest. And much of the organic produce on the market is now shipped across the planet. Meanwhile, many local farmers practice organic methods but don’t certify organic because it is expensive and labor-intensive administratively. Since each type of crop needs to be registered, for a smaller farm growing a variety of food it becomes a Herculean task. If you shop at a farmer’s market, talk to your vendors and see if they use eco-friendly agricultural methods–many of the farmers I have talked to do so because they recognize the importance of keeping their land healthy. Consider buying non-organic locally grown produce over non-local organic produce, if you can determine that it was grown conscientiously.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://dingo.care2.com/greenliving/eat4.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 443px; height: 267px;" src="http://dingo.care2.com/greenliving/eat4.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><br /><p><strong>3. Yes, Eat Your Weeds.</strong><br />Dandelions, purslane, chickweed, stinging nettle, lamb’s quarter, burdock? Yum! Skip the herbicides, and celebrate your weeds instead with a hot pan and some olive oil. Many plants now maligned as bothersome invaders of the perfect lawn were long used as food greens. Just make sure that you identify the plant species correctly. I, for one, go absolutely shivery in the knees for dandelions–you could be, too, by looking at these pages:</p> <p><a href="http://www.care2.com/greenliving/eating-dandelions.html" target="_blank">Eating Dandelions</a><br /><a href="http://www.care2.com/greenliving/cream-of-dandelion-soup-recipe.html" target="_blank">Cream of Dandelion Soup</a><br /><a href="http://www.care2.com/greenliving/the-green-dish-dandelion-syrup.html" target="_blank">Homemade Dandelion Syrup</a></p><p><br /></p><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://dingo.care2.com/greenliving/eat5.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 443px; height: 267px;" src="http://dingo.care2.com/greenliving/eat5.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><br /><p><strong>4. Minimize Your Meat.</strong><br />Meat is the most resource-intensive food on the plate. It takes much more energy, water and resources to produce a pound of meat, than a pound of grain or produce. (A pound of beef can require about 12,000 gallons of water to produce, compared to 60 gallons for a pound of potatoes.) In addition, agricultural hormones and antibiotics lead to pollution of soil, air, and water.</p> <p>If you eat meat, aim for meat from animals who were raised humanely; grass-fed, and without hormones or antibiotics. Try hard to avoid factory farmed meat which relies on large-scale industrialized and intensive agricultural practices that are focused on profit with animals kept indoors and restricted in mobility. Each industry has its own abusive practices, and some are much more cruel than others. For example, the chicken, egg, turkey, and pork industries tend to be far more abusive to animals than the beef industry. A growing number of producers are raising animals without intensive confinement. Refining your diet by choosing cage-free animal products, instead of the conventional factory farm products that fill most supermarket shelves, will help to reduce animal suffering. Happy animals are part of a happy planet.</p> <p>Try slowly cutting out meat from your diet. Become the term that <a href="http://www.markbittman.com/lose-weight-save-the-planet-become-a-lessmeatarian" target="_blank">Mark Bittman</a> of The New York Times has coined–a Lessmeatatarian! He is vegan daily until 6:00 PM.</p><p>And, trust me, this is torture for me - a die-hard meat-lover. The bloodier it is, the better. But there are benefits.<br /></p><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://dingo.care2.com/greenliving/eat6.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 443px; height: 267px;" src="http://dingo.care2.com/greenliving/eat6.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><br /><p><strong>5. Eat Antiques.</strong><br />Grow and shop for heirloom vegetables–varieties that have been around for a long time–to help promote biodiversity. Heirloom varieties can be knobby, speckled, bursting with flavor and loaded with character–they’re not industrially-raised supermarket produce designed for life in a truck and a shelf. With big agriculture growing only a small variety of the same bio-engineered (often patented and sterile) seeds, we run the risk of letting thousands and thousands of generations-old fruits and vegetables become extinct. The same goes for grains and beans. Heirloom beans are awesome; their flavor and texture do justice to their poetic names such as Black Valentine or Butterscotch Calypso.</p> <p>Learn about heirloom beans and how to cook them <a href="http://www.care2.com/greenliving/cool-beans-go-heirloom.html" target="_blank">here.</a></p><p><br /></p><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://dingo.care2.com/greenliving/eat7.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 443px; height: 267px;" src="http://dingo.care2.com/greenliving/eat7.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><br /><p><strong>6. Mind Your Chills and Hot Flashes</strong><br />Your refrigerator can be one of the biggest energy drains in your home. Here’s the cooling-efficiency cheat sheet cribbed from Sustainable Dave’s (much more comprehensive) post, Putting the <a href="http://www.care2.com/greenliving/putting-the-deep-freeze-on-your-energy-loss.html" target="_blank">Deep Freeze On Your Energy Loss</a>: Do the dollar bill trick on the seal to check air-tightness; keep the fridge and freezer full; keep the fridge at 35 to 38F degrees, and the freezer around 0F; clean the coils; keep it in a cool place.</p> <p>Meanwhile, keep the heat out of the kitchen by cooking outside–outdoor grills use less energy than your stove and keep heat out of the house, reducing energy needed to feed hungry air conditioners. And being outside is nice.</p><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://dingo.care2.com/greenliving/eat8.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 443px; height: 267px;" src="http://dingo.care2.com/greenliving/eat8.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><br /><p><strong>7. Love Your Coffee Farmer.</strong><br />Lord knows I try to be good about my eating habits, but then, there’s coffee. I can manage to eat straight from my farmer’s market all winter long, but I can’t seem to shake the coffee. And until someone figures out a way to grow coffee beans in New York’s climate (which isn’t going to happen any time soon–fingers crossed), it’s a decidedly not-local item.</p> <p style="text-align: left;">Especially with coffee, the consumer’s spending power can really make a difference. Coffee is the world’s second most valuable traded commodity, behind only petroleum. <em>Second</em>, isn’t that interesting? Imagine the impact of our shopping? According to <a href="http://www.globalexchange.org/campaigns/fairtrade/coffee/faq.html" target="_blank">Global Exchange</a>, there are approximately 25 million farmers and coffee workers in over 50 countries involved in producing coffee around the world. Coffee producers are kept in a cycle of poverty and debt by the current global economy designed to exploit cheap labor and keep consumer prices low. Buying Fair Trade Certified coffee ensures a proper wage and working conditions for those who harvest and handle it, and has strong environmental standards built into its certification process that protect watersheds and virgin forests, help prevent erosion, promote natural soil fertility and water conservation, and prohibit GMOs and many synthetic chemicals. Look for the Fair Trade Certified label on your beans or in your coffee shop.<br /></p><div class="blogger-post-footer"><center><a href="http://takeactionwithtara.blogspot.com/" target="_blank">
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</a></center></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1046307061853206440.post-64694740392995963582009-03-31T15:50:00.003-04:002009-03-31T15:52:13.128-04:006 Quick Fatigue Fighters<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://dingo.care2.com/pictures/greenliving/1012/1011696.large.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 390px; height: 260px;" src="http://dingo.care2.com/pictures/greenliving/1012/1011696.large.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><br /><p>We all know that secret stash of chocolate or third cup of coffee won’t do our bodies any good, yet when fatigue sets in, who doesn’t reach mindlessly (and with a good measure of guilt) for a quick pick-me-up? Turns out there’s a biological reason for your lack of willpower: Your body is declaring its need for energy. Fast.</p> <p>“By definition, all foods provide energy, because calories are energy,” says Tara Gidus, RD, a dietician in Orlando, Florida. But the type of food you choose plays a huge role in how energized or lethargic you feel after you’ve digested it. While the body breaks all foods down into simple sugars, sweet and processed foods cause blood sugar to spike quickly (giving us immediate energy) and then dip (making us “crash” and leaving us looking for another boost). The key to avoiding those quick highs and longer lows? Choose foods that the body metabolizes slowly.</p> <p>Here are six nutritionist-approved energy boosters that will keep your metabolism revved and have you feeling less drained throughout the day.</p> <p><strong>Oats</strong><br />Carbohydrates may have gotten a bad rap in recent times, but they are actually an ideal source of quick energy thanks to the body’s ability to digest them almost immediately. But before you embrace buttered toast as your breakfast staple, remember that the most effective carbs come packed with fiber–like oats. Just a half cup of cooked oats provides a whopping four grams of dietary fiber, which takes a long time to digest and therefore slows the absorption of glucose into the bloodstream. The result? High, steady energy and a curbed appetite, says Gidus. Feeling dependent on the morning jolt you’ve come to expect from your sugary breakfast cereal? Add a little honey or molasses to your bowl of oatmeal; both of these nutrient-rich natural sweeteners provide a quick shot of energy. Paired with the slow-release energy from oats, this breakfast will give you the best shot at steering clear of a mid-morning slump.</p> <p><strong>Bananas </strong><br />One of few fruits that contain both simple and complex carbohydrates, bananas deliver immediate energy and longer-lasting endurance. No wonder athletes rely on them. Easy-to-digest, potassium-rich bananas make a great snack before a big meeting or lunchtime power walk. To further slow down and extend the energy release this power fruit provides, spread some protein, like peanut butter or cottage cheese, on bite-size slices.</p> <p><strong>Bell peppers</strong><br />Mixing these veggies in an omelet or salad does much more than add a colorful crunch: Bell peppers are a stellar source of vitamin C, which plays a key role in helping the body burn fat for energy. Vitamin C sparks the production of carnitine, a molecule that transports fat to the part of the cell where it’s metabolized, helping to burn more of it overall (and helping your metabolism stay revved and working as efficiently as possible).</p> <p><strong>Nuts</strong><br />Nuts are a tasty little energy food thanks to their heart-healthy monounsaturated fat content, which gives them nine calories per gram (compared with four calories per gram in carbs and proteins). Research shows that eating monounsaturated and polyunsaturated fats, popularly known as “good fats,” instead of saturated and trans fats, slows the digestion of food, which keeps your metabolism firing and helps you feel full for longer periods of time. Plus, these good fats have also been shown to reduce the risk of diabetes, heart disease, and other illnesses. Just remember that a little goes a long way. To keep from overdoing it on this easy-to-pop snack, measure out your servings with a shot glass.</p> <p><strong>Green tea</strong><br />Swap your afternoon coffee with a cup of green tea and you’ll get a post-lunch pick-me-up that won’t make you jittery for the rest of the day. Caffeine stimulates the sympathetic nervous system (the part responsible for our “fight or flight” response to danger) and can quickly boost alertness and performance, says William Evans, PhD, director of the nutrition, metabolism, and exercise laboratory at the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences. Green tea delivers less caffeine than coffee, but it also contains another natural stimulant, theophylline, that has caffeine-like effects. The result? A boost that’s similar to what you get from coffee, minus the energy-sapping withdrawal. Just remember, any caffeinated food or beverage can cause dehydration, so keep chugging your body’s natural regulator–water–too.</p> <p><strong>Sweet potatoes</strong><br />With chart-topping levels of vitamin A in the form of beta-carotene, sweet potatoes are loaded with important antioxidants, the body’s best defense against free radicals (which proliferate when we’re stressed or overly tired). Described by Gidus as “a nice package of very nutrient-dense food,” this root vegetable contains fewer than 100 calories, yet provides 28 grams of carbohydrates and more than 100 percent of your daily requirement of beta-carotene. Sweet potatoes are also an excellent source of vitamin C, and they’re full of fiber, vitamin B6, iron, and other nutrients, too.</p><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="blogger-post-footer"><center><a href="http://takeactionwithtara.blogspot.com/" target="_blank">
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</a></center></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1046307061853206440.post-53561800429758806662009-03-15T20:32:00.003-04:002009-03-15T20:36:52.782-04:00Natural Toothpaste Solutions & Homemade Toothpaste<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://dingo.care2.com/pictures/greenliving/1012/1011681.large.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 373px; height: 260px;" src="http://dingo.care2.com/pictures/greenliving/1012/1011681.large.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><p>Find yourself standing perplexed in the middle of the toothpaste aisle, trying to find brands that don’t contain harmful chemicals like sodium lauryl sulfate (SLS)? Jot down the following guidelines before you return to the store.</p> <p><strong>Got sensitive teeth?</strong><br />• Look for alkalizing agents such as baking soda, Co-Q10, and aloe vera, which reduce inflammation in the mouth and soothe irritated gums.<br />• Avoid SLS, which can dry out your mouth and may cause canker sores, says Harold Katz, DDS. Also steer clear of sugar (marked on the ingredients label as sucrose or glucose) and alcohol.<br />• We like SLS-free Natural Sensitive Care from Tom’s of Maine, which uses potassium nitrate and aloe to soothe sensitive teeth and gums. $5.99, 4 oz.</p> <p><strong>Want a brighter smile?</strong><br />• Look for natural abrasives made from peelu or diatomaceous earth (soft sediment), which will gently remove stains without harming tooth enamel.<br />• Avoid hydrogen peroxide and glycerin, which are drying and can lead to tooth sensitivity. Also stay away from harsh abrasives, such as sand, chalk, or alumina.<br />• We like Peelu toothpaste which uses the natural fibers of the Indian peelu tree to safely brighten your smile. $5, 7 oz.</p> <p><strong>Need extra tartar control?</strong><br />• Look for xylitol. This natural sugar fights and even heals developing cavities by stopping the growth of the bacteria that cause tooth decay. Also look for Co-Q10, which has been shown to heal and prevent gingivitis, as well as gum-soothing aloe.<br />• Avoid fluoride, a common ingredient in tartar control and cavity-fighting toothpastes. Once you’re 25, fluoride no longer strengthens enamel, says Katz.<br />• We like Kiss My Face Tartar Control. Combining xylitol, Co-Q10, aloe, and olive-leaf extract, this toothpaste helps prevent cavities while boosting your whole-mouth health. $5.99, 4.3 oz.</p> <p style="text-align: center;"><img src="http://dingo.care2.com/greenliving/naturalsol_logo2.jpg" width="150" height="50" /></p> <p><em>Natural Solutions: Vibrant Health, Balanced Living</em> offers its readers the latest news on health conditions, herbs and supplements, natural beauty products, healing foods and conscious living. <a href="https://www.bridgehealth.com/subscribe/alternativemedicine/subscribe.form.cfm?offer=ams1" target="_blank">Click here for a free sample issue.</a></p><p><br /></p><p style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.bridgehealth.com/subscribe/alternativemedicine/subscribe.form.cfm?offer=ams1" target="_blank"><br /></a></p><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://dingo.care2.com/pictures/greenliving/1012/1011747.large.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 392px; height: 260px;" src="http://dingo.care2.com/pictures/greenliving/1012/1011747.large.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><br /><div style="text-align: left;"><p>Feeling like saving some money and being healthier? Skip the harmful chemicals in many commercial toothpastes and make your own. This is a simple, inexpensive, odor-eliminating, tooth-whitening, and very effective formula from <em>Organic Body Care Recipes</em> (Storey, 2007) By Stephanie Tourles. </p> <p><strong>INGREDIENTS</strong><br />1 teaspoon baking soda<br />1/2 teaspoon sea salt, finely ground<br />1 drop peppermint, spearmint, sweet orange, clove, or cinnamon bark essential oil<br />A few drops tap water</p> <p>Combine ingredients in a small bowl and mix them thoroughly with a toothbrush, your finger, or a small spoon until a smooth, thick paste forms. The paste shouldn’t be too runny; it has to stay on your toothbrush.</p> <p>Dip your toothbrush into the paste and use as you would regular commercial toothpaste.</p></div></div><div class="blogger-post-footer"><center><a href="http://takeactionwithtara.blogspot.com/" target="_blank">
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</a></center></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1046307061853206440.post-73523856253059822902009-03-12T13:17:00.003-04:002009-03-12T13:19:52.295-04:00Milk Alternatives - Recipe SupplementWow! It took me quite a while to get this up here...Sorry about that everyone!<br /><br />Don't forget to voice your opinion in the poll to your left. Thanks. - Tara<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://dingo.care2.com/pictures/greenliving/4/3584.large.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 373px; height: 260px;" src="http://dingo.care2.com/pictures/greenliving/4/3584.large.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><br /><p>There are dozens of methods for making milk alternatives. Some call for soaking, blanching, and peeling of nuts, some don’t. Some are straightforward, some are more complicated. Raw nuts are often specified to meet the needs of people who prefer raw food, but cooked nuts work just as well. Sweeteners are a big issue here. Agave nectar is a wonderful alternative to honey because it is low on the glycemic index and is vegan—but can be hard to find. Honey and maple syrup are good alternatives to processed sugar. Pitted dates and banana can be used to sweeten as well as to create a thicker texture. We suggest playing around with the recipes here (and the different sweeteners) until you find the perfect fit for your needs. All of these milks need to be refrigerated, and should keep for at least 2 days.</p> <p><strong>30-SECOND NUT MILK</strong><br />Inspired by <em>Raw Food, Real World</em> (Regan Books, 2005)<br />2 heaping tablespoons raw nut butter<br />2 cups filtered water<br />Pinch of sea salt<br />2 tablespoons agave nectar or 1 packet stevia<br />½ teaspoon vanilla extract<br />1 tablespoon coconut butter (optional)</p> <p>1. In a blender, puree all ingredients until smooth.</p> <p><strong>BASIC ALMOND MILK</strong><br />1 cup raw almonds, soaked at least 4 hours<br />3 cups filtered water</p> <p>1. In a high-speed blender blend the nuts and water for about 2 minutes until the nuts are completely blended.<br />2. Strain the mix through multiple layers of cheesecloth in a colander two times.</p> <p><strong>ALMOND NOG</strong><br />Adapted from a recipe at www.rawglow.com<br />1 batch basic almond milk<br />5 large soft pitted dates<br />2 very ripe bananas<br />1 vanilla bean, scraped<br />1/8 teaspoon nutmeg<br />1/8 teaspoon cinnamon<br />1/4 cup raw macadamia nuts (optional)</p> <p>In a high-speed blender add all ingredients and blend until combined.<br />Adjust sweetness to taste by adding more or less dates.<br />The macadamia nuts are optional but they will give the drink a thicker consistency.</p> <p><strong>CASHEW MILK</strong><br />1/2 cup raw cashew pieces<br />2 cups water<br />1 tablespoon maple syrup</p> <p>Combine cashews with 1 cup water and maple syrup in blender.<br />Blend on high until thick and creamy.<br />Slowly add remaining water and blend on high for 2 minutes.<br />Strain if desired.</p> <p><strong>HEMP MILK</strong><br />Hemp milk contains 33 percent protein and Canadian studies point to hemp protein as being the highest quality found in any plant. Hemp also offers well-balanced essential fatty acids that our bodies require and don’t make themselves. The key for making quick and easy hemp milk is to buy shelled hemp seeds. I called four local natural food stores and all carried shelled hemp seeds, so it is easy to go this route. Otherwise you have to take extra measures to strain out the shells. Check the dates on your seeds to make sure that you buy the freshest seeds possible. Store in a dark place. Sunlight will destroy the oils’ benefits and make the seeds rancid.</p> <p>¼ cup shelled hemp seeds<br />1 cup warm water<br />Flavoring (vanilla, honey, etc.)</p> <p>1. Combine all the ingredients in a blender.</p> <p>Some recipes for unshelled hemp seeds are more complex, ”>but here is an example.</p> <p><strong>HORCHATA</strong><br />Inspired by a recipe by Gale Gand from the Food Network<br />1 cup long grain white rice<br />2 cups almonds<br />1-inch piece cinnamon bark<br />8 cups water<br />1/2 organic sugar (or your favorite sweetener)</p> <p>1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract</p> <p>1. Wash and drain the rice.<br />2. Use a spice grinder, or electric coffee grinder, and grind the rice until fine.</p> <p>3. Combine rice with the almonds and cinnamon bark. Add 3 1/2 cups water, cover, and let sit overnight.<br />4. In a blender, blend rice mixture until smooth. Add 2 1/2 cups of water and continue blending. Add sweetener and vanilla extract.<br />5. Strain horchata with a metal strainer, and then again using a double layer of cheesecloth.<br />6. Add up to an additional 2 cups of water until it you get the consistency you like.</p> <p><strong>MACADAMIA MILK</strong><br />Inspired by <em>Raw Food, Real World</em> (Regan Books, 2005)<br />1 cup macadmaia nuts, soaked 1 hour or more<br />3 cups filtered water<br />3 tablespoons agave nectar<br />2 tablespoons coconut butter (optional)<br />2 teaspoons vanilla extract (optional)<br />pinch of sea salt<br />(optional)</p> <p>1. In a blender, blend the nuts and water on high speed for about 2 minutes.<br />2. Add the rest of the ingredients and blend to combine.<br />3. Strain if you want it super creamy, or drink as is.</p> <p><strong>OAT MILK</strong><br />2 cups cooked oatmeal<br />4 cups water<br />1 ripe banana<br />1 teaspoon vanilla<br />Pinch of salt (optional)<br />Sweetener to taste (if desired)</p> <p>1. Place all ingredients in blender and process until smooth about 2-3 minutes.<br />2. Chill, and shake before using.</p> <p><strong>RICE MILK</strong><br />Inspired by a recipe from <em>Mothering Magazine</em></p> <p>1/2 cup brown rice<br />8 cups water<br />1/2 teaspoon sea salt<br />3 tablespoons maple syrup or honey<br />1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon</p> <p>1. Place rice, 8 cups water, and salt in pan.<br />2. Cover and bring to a boil over high heat, reduce heat to low and simmer 3 hours, or until rice is very soft. (You can also do this in a slow cooker overnight.)<br />3. In blender, puree rice mixture with remaining ingredients. You will have to do it in two batches. Puree each batch at least 2 or 3 minutes to completely liquefy the rice.<br />4. Add more water if you prefer it thinner.</p><br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="blogger-post-footer"><center><a href="http://takeactionwithtara.blogspot.com/" target="_blank">
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</a></center></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1046307061853206440.post-89474571525579572182009-03-02T15:04:00.003-05:002009-03-02T15:08:21.690-05:00Milk Alternatives - A Three Part Series, Part III<p>Some people have pretty compelling arguments against drinking milk. And while it’s true that we are the only species to drink the milk of another species—we are also the only species that cooks its food and can open a bottle of red wine (should we give that up too?). Truth be told, there are a number of persuasive reasons to wean oneself from cow milk—find out here if you should stop drinking milk, and read about non-dairy alternatives.</p> <p>Personally, I’ve hopped on and off the milk-drinking fence so many times I am not sure which side I’m on. But a few things are sure: If you are vegan, lactose intolerant, or have a milk allergy, you probably use milk alternatives. Some might also switch to milk alternatives for taste, or to lower their saturated fat intake (although skim cow’s milk is non-fat, some find milk alternatives are a better tasting way to avoid saturated fat). I would convert, once and for all, to non-dairy milk if I couldn’t get milk from rBGH-free cows.</p> <p><strong>The Vegan Case</strong><br />Animal rights proponents point to the cruelty inherent in industrial farming. The animals are treated terribly and the milk is can be quite unhealthy. (See "Cow Milk" from a couple of posts ago). In addition, there are serious environmental problems that dairy farms create. The dairy-products industry is the primary source of smog-forming pollutants in California; a single cow emits more of these harmful gases than a car does. The last common argument for a dairy free life is that cow’s milk is made for cows. We are the only mammal that drinks the milk of another mammal—and we were just not meant to do that, as evidenced by our inadequate lactase production.</p> <p><strong>Intolerance and Allergies</strong><br />Lactase is the enzyme produced in our small intestine that breaks down lactose, the natural sugar in any milk. In toddler-hood we begin producing less lactase. It is the reduction of lactase that leads to lactose intolerance—which is the inability to properly digest milk. Millions of Americans are lactose intolerant, and an estimated 90 percent of Asian-Americans and 75 percent of Native- and African-Americans suffer from the condition. Lactose intolerance can cause bloating, gas, cramps, vomiting, headaches, rashes, and asthma. Having a milk allergy is different: in this case the body has an allergic reaction to one or more of the proteins in milk (casein, whey, and lactalbumin). Milk allergies can incite gastric distress, as well as skin problems like rashes and eczema, and runny noses or nasal congestion.</p> <p><strong>The Calcium Issue</strong><br />But if we require so much calcium, it might seem that our bodies really do need milk. According to an authoritative article in the British newspaper <em>The Guardian</em>, Anne Karpf exhaustively explores the problems with milk. Here is just one fascinating fact she doles out: “American women are among the biggest consumers of calcium in the world, yet still have one of the highest levels of osteoporosis in the world…Most Chinese people eat and drink no dairy products and consume only half the calcium of Americans…yet osteoporosis is uncommon in China despite an average life expectancy of 70.” She goes on to propose that the bone loss and deteriorating bone tissue that take place in osteoporosis are due not to calcium deficiency but rather to its resorption: it’s not that our bodies don’t get enough calcium, rather that they excrete too much of what they already have. Is our need for calcium from dairy just a very deep-seated myth? Okay, I am grappling with this one. We have been programmed since childhood to believe in the necessity of milk and calcium, but those statistics are hard to ignore.</p> <p><strong>The Alternatives</strong><br />With all of that in mind, here’s a quick round up of the alternatives. One of the reasons that milk is so popular is because it’s an excellent source of fortified (added) calcium, B12, riboflavin, and vitamin D. (As well as a very strong dairy industry and their lobbying arms.) Milk alternatives won’t automatically contain those ingredients, so be sure to look for a brand that is fortified.</p> <p><strong><em>Read the Labels</em></strong><br />Also, when selecting a milk alternative be sure to compare nutritional labels. You’ll be amazed by the amount of sugar some of these products have. One popular brand of soy milk rang in with a dizzying 19 grams of sugar per serving: that’s the equivalent of almost five teaspoons of sugar!</p> <p><strong>Almond Milk</strong><br />With only 2 grams of protein per 8 ounces, almond milk is not that impressive in the protein department—but almonds are one of the healthiest foods around. They’re rich in magnesium, potassium, manganese, copper, the antioxidants vitamin E and selenium, and calcium. Almond milk has a nice sweet, nutty flavor and a good consistency, which makes it good for drinking as well as a good dairy substitute in cooking.</p> <p><strong>Hemp Milk</strong><br />A personal favorite: Hemp milk is new to the market and is made from seeds grown in Canada, where growing hemp is legal. It is a good source of omega-3 and -6 essential fatty acids, calcium, and phosphorous, and is commonly fortified with other vitamins and minerals. One (very delicious) brand, Living Harvest, states that unlike soy protein, hemp protein doesn’t contain high levels of enzyme inhibitors, phytates, which can interfere with the proper assimilation of essential minerals, or oligosaccharides which cause flatulence and stomach distress.</p> <p><strong>Oat Milk</strong><br />Oat milk is gaining in popularity and availability. It is high in fiber, is cholesterol and lactose free, and contains vitamin E, folic acid, and other trace elements and minerals. Oats are also rich in phytochemicals, naturally occurring chemicals in plants that help fight diseases such as cancer, heart disease, and stroke. It is said to be highly tolerated by people with multiple allergies—however it’s not good for people with gluten intolerance.</p> <p><strong>Rice Milk</strong><br />Rice milk is processed from brown rice and typically contains rice syrup, evaporated cane juice or another natural sweetener. It is usually fortified with calcium or vitamin D. It is generally very sweet, and pretty watery. The main drawback of rice milk is that it is mainly just a source of carbohydrates—it is a good dairy substitute for cooking, but shouldn’t be used as a replacement for nutrients.</p> <p><strong>Soy Milk</strong><br />There was a time when soy was considered nothing short of a miracle bean. But times have changed. The preponderance of GMO strains drifting into soy fields is alarming (it is estimated that 90 percent of soy is genetically modified), and people are increasingly acquiring quite serious allergies to soy. If you drink a lot of soy milk, you might want to read the arguments about possible health issues associated with soy. Dr. Kaayle Daniel, author of the book <em>The Whole Soy Story: The Dark Side of America’s Health Food</em> says: “Soy isoflavones–the plant estrogens in soy most often credited with cancer prevention–are listed as carcinogens in many toxicology textbooks. They have also been proven to be mutagenic, clastogenic and teratogenic.” Excessive soy intake has also been linked to an increased risk of thyroid disease, and some feel that soy’s phytoestrogens may attenuate testosterone levels in boys. The jury may still be out on soy, but the bottom line might just be that soy milk is significantly more processed than the other milk alternatives.</p> <p><strong>Not-Milk Milk Recipes</strong><br />Milk alternatives are surprisingly easy to make at home. See our collection of simple, delicious, and quick nut, seed and grain milk recipes in the next post!</p><div class="blogger-post-footer"><center><a href="http://takeactionwithtara.blogspot.com/" target="_blank">
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</a></center></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1046307061853206440.post-74952225216565702352009-02-26T23:17:00.003-05:002009-02-26T23:20:04.960-05:00Raw Milk - A Three Part Series, Part II<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://dingo.care2.com/pictures/greenliving/4/3560.large.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 390px; height: 260px;" src="http://dingo.care2.com/pictures/greenliving/4/3560.large.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><br /><p>One day my boyfriend announced that he wanted to buy a cow so that we could drink raw (non-pasteurized) milk. Now this wouldn’t be a new animal for our farm, since we live in New York. Hmmm. And, isn’t pasteurization a good thing? The debate about raw milk versus pasteurized is a heated one, and comprises the second part of our series on milk. Here’s what I found about raw milk (and whether or not we bought the cow).</p> <p><strong>The Raw Milk Laws</strong><br />As it turns out, my boyfriend didn’t want to install a cow in our urban garden, he wanted to join a cow-share program; a covert way of gaining access to a beverage pretty difficult to buy in our state. Drinking raw milk is not illegal, but in many areas, purchasing it for human consumption is. Each state determines the details of raw milk sales. It is illegal to sell it for human consumption in 15 states, and available with restrictions in 26 states. Around these restrictions raw milk lovers have been scrambling to set up clandestine routines to get their milk. One of several loopholes used by consumers is a cow-share program, which allows the shareholder a percentage of milk from “their” cow. The cow lives on a dairy farm and is cared for and milked by a farmer, the milk is then delivered to you-thus no money is actually exchanged for the milk itself.</p> <p><strong>Why Pasteurize?</strong><br />When I first starting hearing about raw milk my mind went straight back to a grade school black and white educational film about the miracle of pasteurization-how treating milk with heat followed by rapid cooling would kill all of the evil pathogens lurking in there. And looking at the history of the dairy industry, pasteurization was indeed a bit of a miracle. With 19th century industrialization came very unsanitary dairy farms. When pasteurization was introduced to dirty Victorian milk, infant survival rates saw a dramatic increase. By 1917, pasteurization was legally required or officially encouraged in most big cities.</p> <p>By eliminating most of the pathogens that cause disease, including E. coli, salmonella and listeria, health official say that pasteurization has helped lower infectious-disease rates in the U.S. more than 90 percent over the past century. So pasteurization seems good-but I am also inclined to have a deeper trust in food that has seen as little processing as possible, albiet from clean farms, so the idea of raw milk was very intriguing. And if it’s so unhealthy, why are so many seemingly intelligent people drinking it?!</p> <p><strong>Types of Pasteurization</strong><br />There are four types of pasteurization, each with a designated minimum temperature to which the milk must be subjected for a minimum amount of time. They range from Vat Pasteurization which requires that milk be held at 145 degrees Fahrenheit for 30 minutes, to Ultra Pasteurization (UP) which requires a minimum temperature of 280 degrees Fahrenheit for 2 seconds. Most national brands of milk are ultra-pasteurized because it is quick and dramatically increases shelf life (UP milk can stay fresh for up to two months). Vat pasteurization, the most gentle of the methods, is a costlier process and the milk has a shorter shelf life. (Hence it is not viable for large-scale dairy farms.) Vat pasteurization is the method for preparing milk for starter cultures in the processing of cheese, yogurt, and buttermilk-that suggests to me that the vat process leaves some life in the milk.</p> <p><strong>Why Raw?</strong><br />Advocates for raw milk claim that the process of pasteurization destroys the beneficial bacteria, proteins, and enzymes that aid in digestion. Specifically, raw milk contains immunoglobins, lipase and phosphates that are killed by heat. Raw milk contains vitamins C, B12 and B6, much of which can be lost to pasteurization. Healthy bacteria naturally found in milk, such as Lactobacillus acidophilus, is also lost during heat treatment. Raw milk proponents point out that these “friendly” bacteria aid in digestion and boost immunity. According to an article in Time Magazine, some people with a history of digestive-tract problems, such as Crohn’s disease, swear by the curative powers of non-pasteurized milk. Others praise its nutritional value and its ability to strengthen the immune system.</p> <p>A common observation among raw milk proponents is that the dangerous pathogens found in raw milk are directly connected to the outrageously awful conditions of factory farming-mostly due to diseased animals. It is far easier to pasteurize milk than to stop industrialized farming. When you get milk from a clean, smaller farm where the animals are healthy, raw milk is not dangerous.</p> <p><strong>Our Cows</strong><br />Quite frankly, the argument for raw milk makes perfect sense to me, but in the end I just couldn’t completely shake a lifetime of pasteurization dogma. Maybe if my boyfriend and I could buy raw milk legally and locally I would have been swayed-but as it is we ended up with a compromise. We take occasional trips two hours north to buy raw milk at Hawthorne Valley Farm, one of the farms in our state that is certified to sell raw milk. But the bulk of our milk is purchased weekly at our local farmers market. We are fortunate to have an amazing dairy farm that supplies high-quality milk to the city markets. The milk is minimally processed-it is not homogenized (meaning that the cream can separate to the top) and it is vat pasteurized, retaining some of that healthy bacteria.</p> <p>By purchasing this less processed milk we get clean milk that hasn’t had the daylights zapped out of it, we support a local family farm, cut down on waste with returnable glass bottles, and it is actually cheaper than supermarket organic milk. But the best part? We get to drive upstate to the farm and visit the 55 hormone-free, grass-chomping cows that are making our milk-it’s almost like having our own cows.</p><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="blogger-post-footer"><center><a href="http://takeactionwithtara.blogspot.com/" target="_blank">
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</a></center></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1046307061853206440.post-37863974556094936122009-02-25T19:24:00.002-05:002009-02-25T19:28:45.170-05:00Cow Milk - A Three Part Series, Part I<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://dingo.care2.com/pictures/greenliving/4/3545.large.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 367px; height: 260px;" src="http://dingo.care2.com/pictures/greenliving/4/3545.large.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a>For many, milk is nearly as fundamental as water—the definition of “wholesome” in a glass. The choice has traditionally been simple: whole or skim? But as the scientific and political debates about different kinds of milk increase, so do the options. The choices are confounding. In this first of a series of three on milk, find out the one sure thing we recommend about milk. <p>Health-conscious people, animal advocates, the scientific community, and the dairy industry all have very strong feelings about milk. I have seen debates among friends fierce enough to rival the Hatfields and McCoys: Organic vs. conventional, raw vs. pasteurized, animal vs. soy. And when you bring in the literature from professionals—oh boy.</p> <p>In the midst of all the arguments, despite the conflicting information pelting us from non-dairy proponents on one side and dairy industry advocates on the other, our research has made one thing clear. If you drink cow’s milk, make sure it is free of Recombinant Bovine Growth Hormone (rBGH)!</p> <p><strong>The rBGH Hormone Story</strong><br />Oh rBGH, you naughty little genetically engineered hormone. Developed by Monsanto in the 1980s and marketed under the name Posilac, rBGH (also called rSBT) was approved by the FDA in 1993. Approved by the FDA? Sounds good, safe even. However, in a strange twist of procedure, rBHG was tested on 30 rats for only 90 days—while most studies required by the FDA are performed on hundreds of rats and last for two years before approval is granted. How in the world can a genetically engineered hormone be deemed safe in 90 days?!</p> <p>We won’t go into reports of Monsanto employees working for the FDA and all of the thrilling intrigue there…or the details about Monsanto’s history with horrifying chemicals…or Monsanto’s role in genetic modification.</p> <p><strong><em>Most of the World Has Banned It</em></strong><br />No, we won’t go there—but we will tell you that Canada, Japan, New Zealand, Australia, and all 25 nations of the European Union have banned rBGH. Codex Alimentarius, the U.N. body that sets food safety standards, has refused to approve the safety of rBGH not once, not twice, but three times.</p> <p><strong><em>With rBGH Human Cancer Cells Can Multiply Faster</em></strong><br />rBGH is injected into dairy cows to increase milk production by stimulating a growth hormone called Insulin-Like Growth Factor 1 (IGF-1). We humans absorb this IGF-1, and guess what, it makes our cells grow faster, including cancer cells. It doesn’t take a hypochondriac to worry about what extra doses of cell-growing hormones might do to a body. As it turns out, it is no surprise that numerous studies have determined that increased levels of this hormone are connected to increased risks of prostrate, breast, colon, pancreatic, and lung cancers.</p> <p><strong> <em>With rBGH You’ll Get Cow Antibiotics in Your Milk</em></strong><br />With the 10 to 15 percent increase in milk production from rBGH, also comes a whopping increase in the rates of mastitis, an infection of the udders. Along with the problem this presents to the poor cow, this affects our milk in two ways. To treat mastitis the infected cows are pumped with antibiotics, which can pass through the milk.</p> <p>Some people have allergies to specific antibiotics and their unexpected presence in food can cause reactions. Also, frequent exposure to low level antibiotics can cause resistance to them so that they are ineffective when needed to fight a human infection. According to the Centers for Disease Control, overuse of agricultural antibiotics is the biggest contributor to food-borne, antibiotic-resistant infections in humans.</p> <p><strong><em>…And Pus</em></strong><br />Beyond the possibility of antibiotics being passed through milk to humans—mastitis causes another substance to pass to the drinker as well. And this isn’t pretty. As with all infections, mastitis creates an increased somatic cell count—which is the nice way of saying pus. This may sound far-fetched at first, like vegan propaganda or an urban food myth—but the FDA has an actual acceptable level of somatic cells allowed in milk. So there you go. Up to 750,000 somatic cells per milliliter are allowed in milk. Yuck.</p> <p><strong>What You Can Do</strong><br />We try to be pretty open-minded here, but when it comes to milk we have one guiding principal that we’ll go to the mat for: If you can buy organic, do. It costs more, but it is an important place to spend the money if you can.</p> <p>If you have a choice between organic brands, buy from smaller local dairy farms rather than national brands. As well, if you are unable to buy organic try to purchase milk produced from smaller local dairy farms. Smaller farms rely less on industrial dairy practices and have lower infection rates. Since Monsanto has lawsuits against dairies that label their milk “rBGH-free” some cartons may not use that specific language. Look for “hormone free” and “antibiotic free.”</p> <p>The lobbying powers of Monsanto and the dairy industry are exceptionally strong, as is the literature from the scientific and anti-dairy communities. It really boils down to a “he said-she said” scenario. But even without all of the statistics and scientific facts being batted around, at the very least, who wants to drink milk from cows treated with a genetically modified hormone to make them produce more milk—polluted milk from infected, aching cows? Strive for milk from natural, happy cows—milk as wholesome as milk should be.</p> <strong>Coming up: Raw Milk, and Milk Alternatives. Stay tuned</strong>!<div class="blogger-post-footer"><center><a href="http://takeactionwithtara.blogspot.com/" target="_blank">
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</a></center></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1046307061853206440.post-37506210359060493182009-02-19T13:49:00.002-05:002009-02-19T13:50:21.855-05:00Recipe: Grapefruit Brulee<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://dingo.care2.com/pictures/greenliving/1012/1011693.large.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 394px; height: 260px;" src="http://dingo.care2.com/pictures/greenliving/1012/1011693.large.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><br /><p><br /></p><p>Here’s a simple dessert, a fit cure for wintertime blues. Simply broil the grapefruit slices until warm and irresistible. Follow them up with a strong cup of aromatic jasmine or Earl Grey tea.</p> <p><strong>INGREDIENTS</strong><br />3 large pink or ruby-red grapefruits<br />6 tablespoons packed dark brown sugar<br />1 tablespoon butter cut into tiny pieces<br />1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon<br />1/4 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg</p> <p>1. Position oven rack about 5 inches from broiler; preheat broiler.</p> <p>2. Slice the stem end and opposite end off each grapefruit. Stand the grapefruit, one cut-end down, on a work surface. Cut off the rind and pith with a sharp knife, making sure to remove all the white pith. Cut each fruit into 4 rounds, about 1/2 inch thick, by making slices parallel to the ones you made on the top and bottom.</p> <p>3. Place the slices in a large baking pan in a single layer. Top each with 1 1/2 teaspoons brown sugar, dot with butter and sprinkle with a pinch of cinnamon and nutmeg.</p> <p>4. Broil the grapefruit until bubbling and starting to brown, 6 to 8 minutes. Drizzle pan juices over each serving.</p> <p>Serves 6.</p> <p>Recipe nutrition per serving: 121 calories; 2 g fat (1 g saturated fat, 0g mono unsaturated fat); 5 mg cholesterol; 27 g carbohydrates; 1 g protein; 2 g fiber; 5 mg sodium; 215 mg potassium.</p> <p>Nutrition Bonus: Vitamin C (60% daily value), Vitamin A (30% dv).</p> <p>2 Carbohydrate Servings.</p> <p>Exchanges: 1 fruit, 1 other carbohydrate, 1/2 fat.</p><div class="blogger-post-footer"><center><a href="http://takeactionwithtara.blogspot.com/" target="_blank">
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</a></center></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1046307061853206440.post-71157297036651239872009-02-18T10:19:00.002-05:002009-02-18T10:26:00.999-05:00Salmonella Outbreak and Pets<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://dingo.care2.com/pictures/greenliving/1012/1011729.large.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 392px; height: 260px;" src="http://dingo.care2.com/pictures/greenliving/1012/1011729.large.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><p>The peanut product recall seems to have taken on a life of it’s own. It’s not just peanut butter–the list wanders all over the place from brownie and donut products to salad dressings and pet food and treats. The FDA says that the risk of animals contracting salmonellosis is minimal, yet you should check the pet food products on the lengthy recall list to avoid any unnecessary risk.<br /><strong><br />Signs that your pet may have salmonella:</strong></p> <p>• Dogs and cats that become ill from salmonella generally will have diarrhea that may contain blood or mucus.<br />• Affected animals may seem more tired than usual, and may have a fever or vomit.<br />• Some cats do not have diarrhea, but will have a decreased appetite, fever, and excess salivation.<br />• Some dogs or cats may have Salmonella but may not appear to be sick. Well animals can be carriers and infect other animals or humans. </p> <p>If your pet has consumed the recalled product and has these symptoms, contact your veterinarian.</p> <p>Below is the list of “recalling firms” of pet food products. Check out the <a style="font-weight: bold;" href="http://www.accessdata.fda.gov/scripts/peanutbutterrecall/index.cfm#PetFood" target="_blank">FDA list</a><span style="font-weight: bold;"> </span>for links to the specific products and more information like UPC Code Number, lot descriptions, packaging size, etc.</p> <p>Aggieville USA, Mountain Grove, MO<br />American Nutrition, Inc.<br />Carolina Prime<br />Carolina Prime Pet<br />Farm Style<br />Grreat Choice<br />Happy Tails<br />Healthy Hide<br />Healthy-hide Deli-wrap<br />Hill Country Fare<br />Integrity<br />Mill Creek<br />Next Gen Pet Products<br />Northwest Royal<br />Premium<br />Salix<br />Shoppers Valu<br />Springfield Prize<br />Vita Bone Flavors<br />Vita Snacks<br />Western Family Biscuits<br />Western Trade Group, Inc.<br />Yeaster</p> <p>Also note that there is risk to humans from handling contaminated pet food products. To prevent foodborne illness when handling pet foods and treats, wash hands with hot water and soap before and after handling pet foods and treats and wash pet food bowls and utensils with hot water and soap after each use.</p><p>Again, if you believe your pet may be experiencing symptoms of salmonella, <span style="font-style: italic;">please </span>bring your pet to your local veterinarian as soon as possible.<br /></p><div class="blogger-post-footer"><center><a href="http://takeactionwithtara.blogspot.com/" target="_blank">
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</a></center></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1046307061853206440.post-867441134913329942009-02-16T13:27:00.000-05:002009-02-16T13:30:10.837-05:00Euthanasia Alternative: Pet Hospice<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://dingo.care2.com/pictures/greenliving/1012/1011679.large.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 392px; height: 260px;" src="http://dingo.care2.com/pictures/greenliving/1012/1011679.large.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><br /> <div id="post-1011679" class="main_story"> <!-- /htdocs/js/yahoolibs/animation-min.js relocated to footer --> <!-- /htdocs/js/c2/bookmark.js relocated to footer --> <!-- /htdocs/share/share.js relocated to footer --><br /><br />Up until just a few years ago, people had one treatment option for their terminally ill pets–euthanasia–and the average veterinarian thought it better to get it over with sooner rather than later. But if Eleonora Babayants had listened to the veterinarian who advised her to put her dog Lima to sleep immediately, she and Lima would have lost out on their additional three years together. Instead of euthanasia, Babayants elected to care for Lima at home, using a relatively new program for dying pets called “pet hospice.” Pet hospice allows a dying animal to live out the rest of its life at home, pain free and surrounded by its loved ones.<div id="GlStoryContainer" class="story_wrapper"> <p>“Human hospice and pet hospice are very similar ideas, because pet hospice is modeled on human hospice programs,” says Kathryn Marocchino, president and founder of Nikki Hospice Foundation for pets, a nonprofit organization that links sympathetic veterinarians with pet owners and provides education and advocacy concerning pet hospice. “The basic tenet is that you live each day until you die, and you make the best of it. And in both humans and animals, making the best of it revolves around pain management,” she says.</p> <p>Veterinarians who are willing to work with individual clients to provide pet hospice at home can help train owners to deal with many of the day-to-day tasks that make caring for a dying pet so difficult. These include keeping the pet out of pain, teaching owners how to administer medications at home, even shots and IVs, instructing owners on how to keep wounds clean and prevent bedsores, and providing other suggestions to keep the pet comfortable.</p> <p>“The pet owner needs a vet who is willing to support the owner with anything that may arise when taking care of a dying pet,” Babayants says. “In the case of my vet, she was willing to provide the hospice care for me.” She said, “If it gets to the point where I need to come to the house and help, I will.” Babayants says that although it was a bit intimidating for her, she learned how to give Lima fluids under the skin, administered shots, and learned what signs to look for to keep the dog out of pain. “The owner has to be willing to learn these basic medical techniques, but with the support of a vet who is willing to help, I found I could do anything I needed to,” Babayants says.</p> <p>Another option for pet hospice care is frequent in-home visits from people trained in end-of-life care, like the veterinary students who participate in the Colorado State University’s College of Veterinary Medicine and Biomedical Sciences Pet Hospice program. From a medical point of view, it can be difficult and scary to have a terminally ill pet at home, according to Co-Team Manager of CSU’s program, Christie Long, “especially if they require a lot of support, like administering fluids for rehydration, giving medications, keeping feeding tubes clean. It’s so stressful for a sick animal to be brought into the clinic, so we can have a much less stressed patient if we can keep the pet comfortable at home.”</p> <p>CSU’s hospice service is one of the only formal programs in the country to offer structured in-home hospice care, free of charge, but many other veterinarians are willingto work with owners on an individual basis to provide hospice care to pets. Nikki Hospice Foundation for pets offers no in-home services itself, but it offers referrals to a network of willing pet hospice veterinarians across the country.</p> <p><strong>When to say goodbye</strong><br />Sometimes pet owners are so subjectively devoted to the idea of keeping their pets alive that they can’t see when it’s time to let go. According to Long, it’s the responsibility of the hospice team to carefully assess the animal’s pain level and encourage owners to make the decision to euthanize when the pet can’t be kept pain free. “One of our standards for accepting a pet into the hospice program is if the animal can be made comfortable at home, because we don’t want to assist you with keeping an animal alive who’s in pain,” Long says. “And sometimes, when the animal no longer can be kept out of pain and has no quality of life, then euthanasia can often be the best gift.” While the CSU team will never force euthanasia, they will withdraw from a case if they feel the animal is suffering needlessly and they can’t persuade the owner to choose euthanasia.</p> <p>The Nikki Hospice Foundation for pets takes a slightly different approach, advocating for the owners’ right to choose how and when their pet dies, including the right to refuse euthanasia altogether. Marocchino founded the organization out of her own grief at finding no end-of-life assistance when her beloved cat, Nikki, was dying of acute feline kidney failure. Marocchino had taken Nikki to an emergency animal clinic, where vets pressured her to euthanize Nikki on the spot.</p> <p>Instead of putting Nikki to sleep immediately, Marocchino took her to the University of California Davis, where they also recommended euthanizing the cat. “I had trained as a human hospice volunteer the year before, and so I kept asking if we couldn’t do some kind of home hospice care,” Marocchino says. “I was looking for pain management at home, but there just wasn’t anything they could offer me. So in the end, we made the decision to euthanize her there at UC Davis, on a cold steel table.” Marocchino, extremely traumatized by the event, walked away deciding then and there to help found a pet hospice foundation so that no one would ever have to go through what she had just suffered.</p> <p>Despite the organization’s stance on freedom to choose euthanasia or not, Marocchino is clear that she personally believes the owner should let go when a pet cannot be kept pain free. “The point isn’t to just extend the animal’s life, it’s only if you can take advantage of that quality time,” Marocchino explains. “If the pet can’t be kept out of pain, or if it’s comatose, then it’s time to let go.” But the main point she makes is that the choice must lie solely with the pet owner–not with the veterinarian or even the hospice providers.</p> <p><strong>Grief, but no regrets</strong><br />When you talk to owners who have gone the hospice route, they share one clear trait: They have no regrets. Nancy Haugen, an assistant clinical professor at the University of California at San Francisco School of Medicine, who chose in-home care over euthanasia for her dog, Brinn, says pet hospice allowed her to focus on her dog’s needs and encouraged her to follow her own intuition for his care. “When you can just focus on your own instincts, and on the animal’s instincts, that ends up creating a situation where there’s no regrets,” Haugen says. “Pet hospice gives us permission to trust a really old primitive part of us, and to trust the nature of the dog or cat. It allows a powerful end-of-life experience where there’s sorrow and grief, which is very natural, instead of trauma and regret.”</p> <p>When Babayants chose the challenging path of pet hospice for her dog, Lima, she had no idea what she was getting herself into. But with the help of her regular veterinarian, Babayants was able to keep Lima comfortable so they could enjoy their final time together. “She had a very happy three years, she didn’t suffer, she ate, she went for long walks,” Babayants says. “The best doctors in the whole world, when they tell you how long your pet has to live, can’t really know for sure. We would have lost those three years together if I’d just put Lima to sleep. When she passed away, I was in terrible grief, but I never felt any regret.”</p> <p>For more information:<br /><a href="http://www.pethospice.org/" target="_blank">Nikki Hospice Foundation</a><br /><a href="http://www.csuanimalcancercenter.org/%20wbswebpage.cfm?pagetextid=Hospice" target="_blank">CSU’s Pet Hospice Program</a><br /><a href="http://aahabv.org/Hospice.htm" target="_blank">The American Association of Human-Animal Bond Veterinarians</a></p> <p style="text-align: center;"><img src="http://dingo.care2.com/greenliving/naturalsol_logo2.jpg" width="150" height="50" /></p></div></div><div class="blogger-post-footer"><center><a href="http://takeactionwithtara.blogspot.com/" target="_blank">
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</a></center></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1046307061853206440.post-15264826659269799352009-02-06T22:04:00.000-05:002009-02-06T22:05:02.282-05:00Easy Greening: Water Bottles<div style="text-align: center;" class="main_image" id="main_image"><img src="http://dingo.care2.com/pictures/greenliving/4/3458.large.jpg" alt="Easy Greening: Water Bottles" /></div> <!-- /htdocs/js/yahoolibs/animation-min.js relocated to footer --><!-- /htdocs/js/c2/bookmark.js relocated to footer --> <!-- /htdocs/share/share.js relocated to footer --><p>It is estimated that Americans will drink more than 30 billion single-serving bottles of water this year. Since these bottles are non-returnable, two million tons worth of that everlasting plastic will end up in landfills–and roads, and beaches, and streams. Refilling used plastic water bottles offers a number of safety risks; so just how are we supposed to responsibly quench our thirst on the go?</p> <p>Plastic water bottles are non-returnable and since they are generally used away from the home they rarely see the inside of a recycling bin. Most water bottles are made of polyethylene terephthalate (PET) and have a lower recycling rate than any other common packaging materials, according to a report by the Container Recycling Institute (CRI). The quick solution many have adopted is simply refilling plastic water bottles from the tap—but alas, these bottles are not made or regulated for reuse and quite possibly don’t have the physical characteristics required to be safely reused.</p> <p>Along with the possibility of bacterial contamination is the risk that PET is likely to leach some ugly little phthalates (known hormone disrupters) into your water. Harder polycarbonate (PET 7) bottles, like those used by hikers, can leach a known endocrine disruptive chemical, bisphenol-A (BPA), according to research published by the journal <em>Current Biology</em>.</p> <p><strong>Solution</strong>: Get yourself a nifty eco-friendly, safe, reusable water bottle. Look for one made from aluminum or stainless steel, inert materials that have 0.0 percent leaching. Fill it up with filtered water from your tap, and you’re good to go. Is it as convenient as buying a frosty plastic bottle of water when your thirst summons? No. But will it save you money, protect your health from leaching toxins, and make the planet a better place? Yes! So go ahead, quench in peace…</p> <p><a href="http://www.mysigg.com/">Sigg Swiss Engineered Water Bottles</a></p> <p><a href="http://www.kleankanteen.com/">Klean Kanteen</a></p><div class="blogger-post-footer"><center><a href="http://takeactionwithtara.blogspot.com/" target="_blank">
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