on my mind monday 5.28.12

news | photo: mconnors

It's never the same two weeks in a row.  A collection of what I find interesting regarding food, nutrition, and holistic.  Read what's on my mind.

Flame Retardants Could Affect Our Bodies For Generations - The more we pollute our environment, sadly, the more we pollute our bodies.  And the effect is cumulative (and in some cases exponential) from one generation to the next.  In her book Origins: How the Nine Months Before Birth Shape The Rest Of Our Lives author Annie Murphy Paul talks about how the placental barrier is not as impermeable and protective as we had previously thought.  And with the growing number of chemicals in our environment our bodies are taxed even more.  As the article highlights, there are a growing number of studies that show the results affect DNA and last for generations.  This is a very scary issue and one that needs to garner more attention both from the public and from industry.

The Garden Summer - a new twist in reality t.v., the main person invited four other people to join her in living on a farm.  None of them had any experience.  The documentary highlights their journey.  I would be interested in seeing the movie although I'm not sure how wide the distribution will be.  I envision this as a modern day version of Frontier House, a PBS series where several families were given a little training and then put into a setting reminiscent of the late 1800's.  It's a sobering thought, however, that so many of us no longer know how to raise our own food and how to live a more environmentally connected life.

Sunflowers to clean radioactive soil in Japan - The fallout from Fukushima is serious and likely to last for generations.  I was glad to hear that phytoremediation (the use of plants to clean up the soil) was an option being encouraged in this disaster.  Apparently this method was used after the Chernobyl accident back in the late 1980's.  In addition to sunflowers other plants such as mustard, alfalfa, fennel, and barley are effective choices.  One important issue is the fact that plants used this way cannot be consumed due to the high level of heavy metals they extract from the soil.  I am a little puzzled that Japan is asking local citizens to grow sunflowers and then plans to harvest the seeds and plant them at Fukushima.  To my mind it would make more sense to ask for donations of sunflower seeds from around the world and the phytoremediation could be started one growing year earlier.  Research on the internet, however, failed to turn up an address where sunflowers seeds could be sent.

Tainted Spinach Detected By A Program Budget Cuts Will Axe - Given the increasing number of food recalls and contamination issues I am very surprised to see that this program will be going away.  The governmental agencies already do a poor job at monitoring the food supply, I have to believe this will only make the situation worse.  The best solution in this case is to consider shopping more locally and get to know your farmer.  Know where your food comes from and how it gets to you.



Composting is wonderful; it's almost magical how you can take leftover coffee grounds, egg shells, potato peels, lawn clippings and other green matter and turn it into a high quality dirt so your garden will grow better.  We've finally discovered (after three prior attempts) how to keep the dogs out of the compost bin (really they're pigs in disguise).  An off-the-ground tumble style container.  Locked behind a gate.  We're finally starting to generate enough decent compost to be able to use it in the garden and that's a great thing.


What I'm reading:

Savor by Thich Nhat Han This is a book incorporating information about nutrition with the practice of mindfulness as applied to weight, health, and our relationship with food.  An interesting blend of science and spiritual practice I am enjoying it so far.\

disclaimer: cmp.ly/5