The founding fables of industrialised agriculture

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"Horticulture"

GM Watch: The founding fables of industrialised agriculture
Oct 30, 2013 | Independent Science News | Colin Tudge

"Vitamin A deficiency is now a huge and horrible issue primarily because horticulture has been squeezed out by monocultural big-scale agriculture — the kind that produces nothing but rice or wheat or maize as far as the eye can see.."

Award winning science writer Colin Tudge explains what's wrong not just with GMOs and Golden Rice but with the approach to agriculture that is driving them.

The Founding Fables of Industrialised Agriculture
Colin Tudge
Independent Science News, October 30 2013

http://www.independentsciencenews.org/un-sustainable-farming/the-founding-fables-of-industrialised-agriculture/

Governments these days are not content with agriculture that merely provides good food. In line with the dogma of neoliberalism they want it to contribute as much wealth as any other industry towards the grand goal of “economic growth”. High tech offers to reconcile the two ambitions – producing allegedly fabulous yields, which seems to be what’s needed, and becoming highly profitable. The high-tech flavour of the decade is genetic engineering, supplying custom-built crops and livestock as GMOs (Genetically Modified Organisms).

So it was that the UK Secretary of State for the Environment and Rural Affairs, Owen Paterson, told The Independent recently that the world absolutely needs genetically-engineered “Golden Rice”, as created by one of the world’s two biotech giants, Syngenta. Indeed, those who oppose Golden Rice are “wicked”: a comment so outrageous that Paterson’s own civil servants have distanced themselves from it.

Specifically, Golden Rice has been fitted with genes that produce carotene, which is the precursor of vitamin A. Worldwide, approximately 5 million pre-school aged children and 10 million pregnant women suffer significant Vitamin A deficiency sufficiently severe to cause night blindness according to the WHO. By such statistics a vitamin A-rich rice seems eminently justified.

Yet the case for Golden Rice is pure hype. For Golden Rice is not particularly rich in carotene and in any case, rice is not, and never will be, the best way to deliver it. Carotene is one of the commonest organic molecules in nature. It is the yellow pigment that accompanies chlorophyll in all dark green leaves (the many different kinds known as “spinach” are a great source) and is clearly on show in yellow roots such as carrots and some varieties of cassava, and in fruits like papaya and mangoes that in the tropics can grow like weeds.

So the best way by far to supply carotene (and thus vitamin A) is by horticulture – which traditionally was at the core of all agriculture. Vitamin A deficiency is now a huge and horrible issue primarily because horticulture has been squeezed out by monocultural big-scale agriculture — the kind that produces nothing but rice or wheat or maize as far as the eye can see; and by insouciant urbanization that leaves no room for gardens. Well-planned cities could always be self-sufficient in fruit and veg. Golden Rice is not the answer to the world’s vitamin A problem. As a scion of monocultural agriculture, it is part of the cause. Syngenta’s promotion of it is yet one more exercise in top-down control and commercial PR. Paterson’s blatant promotion of it is at best naïve.

For Golden Rice serves primarily as a flagship for GMOs and GMOs are very big business – duly supported at huge public expense by successive governments. It is now the lynch-pin of agricultural research almost everywhere. The UK’s Agriculture and Food Research Council of the 1990s even had the words ‘Agriculture’ and ‘Food’ air-brushed out to become the Biotechnology and Biological Research Council (BBSRC). We have been told that GMOs increase yields with lower inputs and have been proven beyond reasonable doubt to be safe. Indeed, journalist Mark Lynas has been telling us from some remarkably high platforms that the debate on GMOs is “dead”; that there is now “a consensus” among scientists worldwide that they are necessary and safe.

In reality, GMOs do not consistently or even usually yield well under field conditions; they do not necessarily lead to reduction in chemical inputs, and have often led to increases; and contra Mark Lynas, there is no worldwide consensus of scientists vouching for their safety. Indeed, the European Network of Scientists for Social and Environmental Responsibility (ENSSER) has drawn up a petition that specifically denies any such consensus and points out that “a list of several hundred studies does not show GM food safety”. Hundreds of scientists are expected to sign. Overall, after 30 years of concerted endeavour, ultimately at our expense and with the neglect of matters far more pressing, no GMO food crop has ever solved a problem that really needs solving that could not have been solved by conventional means in the same time and at less cost.

The real point behind GMOs is to achieve corporate/ big government control of all agriculture, the biggest by far of all human endeavours. And this agriculture will be geared not to general wellbeing but to the maximization of wealth. The last hundred years, in which agriculture has been industrialised, have laid the foundations. GMOs, for the agro-industrialists, can finish the job. The technology itself is esoteric so that only the specialist and well-endowed can embark on it – the bigger the better. All of the technology can be, and is, readily protected by patents. Crops that are not protected by patents are being made illegal. Only parts of the EU have so far been pro-GM but even so the list of crops that it allows farmers to grow – or any of us! – becomes more and more restricted. Those who dare to sell the seed of traditional varieties that have not been officially approved can go to prison. Your heritage allotment could soon land you in deep trouble.

As GMOs spread – and governments like Britain’s would love to follow the US lead in this – they could soon become the only options; the only kids on the block. Then all of agriculture, the key to human survival, will become the exclusive property of the few huge companies that hold the patents. By every sane judgment this is a horrible prospect. Among many other things, the obvious loss of biodiversity will make the whole world even more precarious than it is right now, especially if climate changes the growing conditions year by year. Yet our government’s support for GM technology and for the thinking behind it is unswerving. Government wants agriculture to be seen as big business. Lip service is still paid to democracy (young men and women are sent to their deaths to defend the idea of it) but in truth we have rule by oligarchy: a virtual coalition of corporates and government, with establishment scientists in attendance. This monolith, and the crude thinking on which it is founded, is a far bigger threat to humanity than North Korea or “terrorism”, or the collapse of banks or dwindling oil.

Yet we have been assured, time and again, that there is no alternative; that without high tech, industrialized agriculture, we will all starve. This is the greatest untruth of all; though it has been repeated so often by so many people in such high places that it has become embedded in the zeitgeist. Whether the officially sanctioned untruths spring from misconception or from downright lies I will leave others to judge. But in either case, their repetition by people who have influence in public affairs, is deeply reprehensible.

Specifically we have been told that the world will need 50% more food by 2050. The Chief Scientific Adviser to the Government, Sir John Beddington, said this in his “Foresight” report of 2012 on The Future of Food and Farming [1] His argument was, and is, that a billion out of the present seven billion are now undernourished; that numbers are due to rise to 9.5 billion by 2050; that people “demand” more and more meat as they grow richer; and that meat requires enormous resources to produce (already the world’s livestock gobble up about 50% of the world’s cereal and well over 90% of the soya). So of course we need 50% more – and some have raised the ante to 100%. Thus the message comes from on high, we must focus on production, come what may.

But others, including some far closer to the facts, tell a quite different story. Professor Hans Herren, President of the Millennium Institute in Washington, points out that the world already produces enough staple food to support 14 billion – twice the present number. A billion starve because the wrong food is produced in the wrong places by the wrong means by the wrong people – and once the food is produced, as the Food and Agriculture Organization of the UN (FAO) has pointed out, half of it is wasted. The UN demographers tell us that although human numbers are rising the percentage rise is going down and should reach zero by 2050 – so the numbers should level out. Nine and a half billion is as many as we will ever have to feed – and we already produce 50% more than will ever be needed. The task, then, is not to increase output, but to produce what we do produce (or even less) by means that are kinder to people, livestock, and wildlife; more sustainable; and more resilient.

The truth is that for commercial purposes – for the maximization of wealth – it is too easy to provide good food for everyone. A few years ago, after all, when the economy was tweaked a little differently, farmers in Europe and the US were embarrassed by gluts of wheat and maize; and as farmers have always known, gluts are second only to total crop failure as the route to financial disaster. The obvious and sensible solution would be to reduce production: to tailor output to need and to genuine desire. “Set-aside” was a crude stab at this. But the far more lucrative course is the one we have taken- to overproduce – and if it turns out that people really don’t need more food, then those who seek primarily to maximize wealth must pretend that they do. So the word is put around, backed by well-chosen and uncritical statistics, that we will need 50% more in the next few decades.

The resulting surpluses are then fed to livestock. Livestock that could, incidentally, be fed in more than adequate numbers if we made better use of the world’s grasslands, which account for about two-thirds of all agricultural land; or – which is a straightforward scam, though again it can be made to look respectable – the surplus wheat and maize can simply be burnt if labelled “biofuel”. “Demand” (in this scenario) is judged not by what people actually say they want (who ever said they wanted wheat-based biofuel, or cereal-fed beef rather than grass-fed beef?) but by what can be sold by aggressive PR and successfully lobbied through complaisant government.

Then we are told that the 50% increase we are said to need can be provided only by industrial agriculture and that this industry, like all human endeavour, works most efficiently when driven by the maximally competitive global market. The pious slogan that is meant to justify all this is “sustainable intensification”: more and more output per hectare, achieved by high tech. The magic bullet of GMOs is just part of the hype.

For if we really did need more food (and it would be good to produce more in some places) then the industrial high tech route is not the one to go down. As the IAASTD report [2] of 2009 pointed out – this being one of the few official reports of recent years that is truly worthwhile – the industrial farming that is supposed to be feeding the world in practice provides only 30% of the world’s food. Another 20% comes from fishing, hunting, and people’s back gardens – and the remaining 50% comes from the mostly small, mostly mixed traditional farms that the industrialists and their political assistants tell us are an anachronism; and small mixed farms can be the most productive of all, per unit area [3]. Furthermore, to produce their 30%, the industrial farms gobble up enormous quantities of oil for their industrial chemistry with immense collateral damage, not least to the climate. In contrast traditional farms are low input, and at least when properly managed, need not be damaging at all.

More yet: traditional farms worldwide typically produce only about a half or even a third of what they could produce – not because the farmers are incompetent, as Western observers like to claim, but because they lack the most basic supports. For instance, if farm prices are left to the global market, they go up and down– so that farmers who have no proper financial support from banks or governments are subjected to dumping of foreign surpluses. They then cannot afford to invest upfront in more production. So they err on the side of caution, while western industrial farmers, or at least the richest ones, have often thrown caution to the winds. A little logistic help could increase the output of traditional farms – 50% of the whole – by 100%. Heroic efforts would be needed to increase the output of high-tech western crops and livestock even by another 10%, because the 10-tonne per hectare wheat fields and the 10,000 litre-plus dairy cows are already hard up against physiological limits (while the livestock is well beyond welfare limits). But all the official effort, and our money, is poured into more industrialization. Policy, agricultural and alas scientific, goes where the money leads.

Finally, we are told that the high-tech, global market approach to food production keeps prices down. Small, mixed, traditional-style farms are said to be far too expensive because they are labour-intensive. But in fact, about 80% of what people spend on food in supermarkets goes to the middle-men and the banks (who lend the money to set up the system in the first place). So the farmers get only 20%. If those farmers are up to their ears in debt, as they are likely to be if they have gone down the industrial high-tech route, then a fair slice of that 20% goes to the banks. At most, the farm labour costs that we are supposed to try so hard to keep down probably account for less than 10% of the total food bill. It’s the 80% we need to get down. When farmers sell directly to customers they get 100% of the retail price; through farmers’ markets they typically get around 70%; and through local shops at least 30%. With different marketing the small farmers can certainly make a good living – and farming as a whole in Britain could easily soak up all the million under-25s who are presently being invited to wile away their days in the job centre. (But then, agricultural economists don’t tend to take social costs into account).

In short, agriculture in Britain and the world at large needs a sea-change – an “Agrarian Renaissance”: different ways of farming and marketing and – emphatically — different people in charge. The oligarchy of corporates, government, and compliant academe has failed. Farming that can actually feed us is innately democratic. Worldwide, the farmers know best – but the oligarchs rarely talk to them. They are content merely to impose their scientific and economic and scientific dogmas: high tech in a neoliberal market.

Mercifully, worldwide, many people are helping to bring the Renaissance into being. They range from setters-up of local farmers’ markets to organizations like ENSSER to the worldwide peasants’ movement, La Via Campesina. As many as can be fitted in congregate each year at the Oxford Real Farming Conference: the next one is in January 2014. Do come, and join the Renaissance. This is the cause of our age, for whatever else we may aspire to do, agriculture is the thing we absolutely have to get right.

1: Foresight. The Future of Food and Farming, GO-Science, 2011

2: International Assessment of Agricultural Knowledge, Science and Technology for Development (IAASTD), Island Press, 2009.

http://www.unep.org/dewa/Assessments/Ecosystems/IAASTD/tabid/105853/Default.aspx
3: See for example Commentary IX (UNCTAD TER 2013): Comparative analysis of organic and non-organic farming systems: a critical assessment of on-farm profitability, Noemi Nemes, FAO

Study Proves Sustainable Farms, Organic Farming Beats Factory Farms

© Natural Society

Study Proves Sustainable Farms, Organic Farming Beats Factory Farms
Oct 15, 2013 | Natural Society | Christina Sarich

For those who are appalled at the way animals are treated in conventional livestock production, there is a better way. Sustainable livestock production practices include providing greater animal welfare, increasing biodiversity, and extending good working conditions to those who care for the animals, all while maintaining a profitable business. A new study clarifies this further, showing how sustainable livestock care outperforms that of factory farms.

More and more people are turning to small farms and more sustainable practices as a means to get their meat. New research from the University of Cambridge (U of C) has identified silvopastoral systems of livestock production as a means of sustainable, ethically sourced food production. This system differs from the tiny cages and infinitesimal square footage that our livestock is most often raised in now. It includes shrubs, and trees with edible leaves or fruits and lots of herbs for natural grazing.

Professor Donald Broom of U of C states that:

“Consumers are now demanding more sustainable and ethically sourced food, including production without negative impacts on animal welfare, the environment and the livelihood of poor producers. Silvopastoral systems address all of these concerns with the added benefit of increased production in the long term.”

Read: Russians Prove Small-Scale Organic CAN Feed World

Now, even cows that are lucky enough to go to pasture are relegated to GMO grains as a means to fatten them for slaughter. They are also often pumped full of hormones and antibiotics which have led to all sorts of health issues in the humans who consume their meat. The current agricultural and livestock production methods also dramatically decrease biodiversity, as well as pollute the soil and waterways due to the chemicals and artificial fertilizer that is necessary to grow animal feed, and maintain the pasture. In the current paradigm, animal feed is rife with GMOs, too.

Instead of this outdated means of livestock production, the researchers from U of C advocate using a diverse group of edible plants that will help with soil and water retention and cause less pesticide-laden run-off. This in turn:

• Reduces stress and injury to animals

• Improves the working conditions and overall satisfaction for farm workers

• Encourages biodiversity which affects the entire food chain – from plant to insect to bird, bee, and bovine

Further, the researchers point out that varying types of shrubs and trees provide more edible leaves and shoots per unit of land area than cleared pasture land. Trees and shrubs also provide shade to the animals and allow them to hide from any perceived danger. In short, it is a more natural environment for them to live in.

 “The planting as forage plants of both shrubs and trees whose leaves and small branches can be consumed by farmed animals can transform the prospects of obtaining sustainable animal production,” said Professor Broom. “Such planting of ‘fodder trees’ has already been successful in several countries, including the plant Chamaecytisus palmensis which is now widely used for cattle feed in Australia.”

Video: Chipotle Blasts Factory Farms

Farmers have already attempted this more bio-diverse way of pasturing animals in Columbia where a combination of the shrub Leucaena along with common pasture grass increased dry matter for food and protein production for the animals by 64%.

The silvopastoral system applies for cows, sheep, goats, and even chicken. It even increases milk production by several kilograms a day without having to pump the animals full of hormones. With its increases in biodiversity and the reduction of animal cruelty, this system is a much more sustainable way of feeding the world, without an increase of land use – which means we can stop mono-cropping and start perma-culture farms in the land we lost in urban sprawl and GMO company monopolies in the past decade.

Additional Sources:

ScienceDaily

Florida Farm Workers Allege Pesticide Exposure Is Giving Them Cancer

Florida Farm Workers Allege Pesticide Exposure Is Giving Them Cancer
Oct 8, 2013 | Cornucopia | Carmen Sesín

Marta Cruz left Michoacán, Mexico with her husband and 1-year-old son a decade and a half ago to work in the fields of Homestead, Florida, picking lemons and tomatoes as farm workers. A couple of years ago, she began suffering from headaches but figured it was from the long hours working under the sweltering sun or the stress of figuring out how to pay bills.

Two years ago she fell to the ground with convulsions and was rushed to a hospital, where she learned she had a cancerous brain tumor — it was later removed. One year later, her 17 year-old son was diagnosed with cancer. By the time he received medical attention, it had already spread to his stomach, chest and lungs.

According to Cruz, no one in her family has ever suffered from cancer. She believes she and her son may have developed the disease from exposure to pesticides while working at a Florida nursery.

“Like in many nurseries, the situation wasn’t the best,” said Cruz. “They would spray in the morning while we were arriving to work instead of spraying in the evenings.”


A representative for the nursery declined comment.

At the time, Cruz said she had no idea pesticides posed a health risk to workers. When her son was around nine, he started going to the fields to help his father work, which Cruz believes further exposed him to pesticides.

“Since the problem of cancer seems to be popping up a lot in the community, I believe it may be associated to pesticides,” Cruz explained. She knows at least six other farm workers who developed cancer recently – four have died.

She is not the only one who feels the amount of farm workers with cancer is growing. Elvira Carvajal, from The Farmworker Association of Florida, which focuses on training how to properly handle pesticides, took notice of the growing concern and began tracking cancer cases.

Carvajal said the five she has documented so far this year are former co-workers she visits and monitors but said she continues to hear of others in the community. Carvajal alleged these farm workers may be developing cancer from exposure to pesticides.

She said she speaks from experience. Before joining the organization, Carvajal worked in nurseries for over 20 years. Her job was to plant 700 orchids every 20 minutes along with five other women. Each bed of orchids they worked on would be sprayed as the workers were planting.

“I would feel the mist of the pesticide on me and thought it was refreshing from the intense heat…they would tell us the pesticides were harmless and wouldn’t affect us,” Carvajal said.

“They would tell us it was food for the plants. Since the flowers and leaves looked so beautiful and healthy, we really thought pesticides were harmless… we didn’t know any better,” she added.

Exposing a worker to pesticides is a violation of the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act. It wasn’t until Carvajal attended a meeting of the FWAF that she realized exposure to pesticides is harmful and she needed to start protecting herself.

Carvajal recalled “there was a family of farm workers at that meeting and two members had just died of cancer. People were saying it was because of the pesticides. One of them would spray and not protect himself. I left feeling uncomfortable.”

According to the Florida Health Department, “in animal studies, some pesticides have been shown to be carcinogenic. Research among human populations have had mixed findings, but seem to suggest evidence of a relationship between certain pesticide exposures and certain cancers.”

The Health Department’s Agricultural Health Study, which focuses on the development of cancer in the farming community, has evaluated more than 20 pesticides to determine if there is an increased risk of developing cancer.

According to the study, “some of these results have shown that people exposed to certain pesticides have an increased risk of developing certain cancers, but further research is needed to confirm these findings…”

Ruben A. Mesa, chair of hematology and oncology at the Mayo Clinic in Arizona, agreed.

“Pesticides definitely can increase the risk of cancer,” he said. But he noted that “it is difficult to pull out whether one specific cancer is caused by natural chance or chemical exposure.”

Carvajal said she plans to file a report with the Health Department and blames the overexposure of pesticides on lack of knowledge among workers and weak government regulation.

Environmental Protection Agency regulations require “that a pesticide product undergo hundreds of studies that the agency uses to ensure any pesticide use is safe for human health and the environment.”

Under those regulations, “nurseries are required to post warning signs (in sprayed areas) required by the (Worker Protection Standard) in both Spanish and English.”

But Carvajal doesn’t think the regulations go far enough, or at least workers by and large have no idea they exist. So more awareness is necessary, she said.

The FWAF said the EPA and the United States Department of Agriculture are not doing enough to protect farm workers, activists like Carvajal say. They said the Worker Protection Standard, which is set by the EPA to reduce pesticide poisoning and injury, needs updating.

According to the EPA, there are already changes under consideration that would “improve protections to the human health of almost two million workers minority and low income workers.”

Another complaint is that the USDA only has 43 inspectors for over 20,000 nurseries in the state of Florida. In addition, inspectors call nurseries before inspection to let them know they are going, which gives managers ample time to make appropriate changes to meet regulations.

According to the USDA, “the department does schedule routine inspections, which require certain individuals to be on site. However, we do not notify them in advance for inspections related to complaints or concerns. These are unannounced.”

The agency conducts about 820 inspections annually and inspectors are available to respond immediately to any adverse pesticide related events.

Meanwhile, Cruz continues to wonder how she and her son could have developed cancer, if the cause was not pesticides. She can no longer work so she and her two children depend on her husband’s salary. They save three weekly checks to pay the rent and medical bills are mounting.

Despite all the setbacks, Cruz remains strong and upbeat.

“If it’s not pouring rain, it’s drizzling,” Cruz said with a smile.

Source: Fox News Latin

Better than big pharma: 5 herbs you can't do without

Better than big pharma: 5 herbs you can't do without
Sept 29, 2013 | Alternet | Jill Richardson

Sometimes herbs can deliver up healing powers that pharmaceutical companies can only dream about.

Can't sleep? Try lemon balm. Suffer from anxiety? Lemon balm. Want to boost your immune system? Lemon balm. Cold sore? Lemon balm. And this lemon-scented mint relative is also antiviral, good for fevers, and great for indigestion, gas, and bloating.

Find it surprising that one plant can do so much? Herbs are not always as multipurpose as lemon balm - not to mention delicious, safe, and effective - but sometimes herbs can deliver up healing powers that pharmaceutical companies can only dream about. And if that sounds crazy, then give it a try with an open mind and see for yourself.

In my own case, after trying every pharmaceutical around, I've found two fixes for my migraines. One is Percocets, a controlled, Schedule II substance that cannot be used too frequently because of dependency issues. If you use Percocets regularly, you'll find that the same dose no longer delivers the same amount of pain relief.

My other migraine fix is peppermint essential oil. Safe, cheap, non-prescription, and non-addictive. I smear the stuff all over the part of my head that hurts, keeping it well away from my eyes, and within minutes my headache dissipates. For me, that's an herb I cannot live without.

Each of us is unique, with different health problems and needs, and sometimes the best herb for you depends on where you live and what grows nearby. In the Pacific Northwest, Oregon grape is likely an herb you can't live without, whereas in Southern California, you'd find use after use for white sage or creosote. But there are a few herbs that are fantastic across the board, no matter who you are or where you live. These plants can help you take your health into your own hands.

 1. Lemon Balm: As noted before, lemon balm is a highly versatile herb that is useful for a number of different conditions. The fact that it's safe for all ages and tastes good makes it a great choice for kids. In fact, herbalist Rosalee de la Foret recommends it as an ideal choice to help teething babies deal with pain. She also uses it for cold and flu, particularly when you've also got a fever, digestive complaints, cold sores, and stress. (The only note of caution here: don't use lemon balm too much if you suffer from hypothyroidism.)

2. Ginger: You've likely sipped ginger ale or ginger tea when you've had an upset stomach. Ginger's fantastic for nausea - and so much more. Because it gives your immune system a boost, it never hurts to add ginger to your cooking if you like its flavor. It's also antimicrobial and pain-relieving, properties you can take advantage of both internally or externally - for example, by applying cooled ginger tea to burns. Its expectorant and diaphoretic properties make it a great choice for colds, coughs, and fevers. De La Foret also recommends ginger for menstrual cramps.

Drinking a tea of ginger alone can be overwhelming, so you might wish to combine it with other herbs so your tea has a little zing without making it too difficult to drink. Try an immune-boosting blend of equal parts ginger, lemon balm, rose hips, and dandelion, for example. Pour one cup of water "just off the boil" over one teaspoon of herbs and steep, covered, for 20 minutes. Then sweeten with honey, add lemon if you wish, and enjoy.

3. Turmeric: Turmeric is another herb - well, a spice technically - that acts like one-stop shopping. What doesn't turmeric do? This curry ingredient is used for everything from eczema to Alzheimer's. It helps with heart health, digestion, liver function, and more. You can find many resources on turmeric online, from a scientific analysis to sites telling how to use it as everything from a natural dye to a tooth whitener.

One word of caution about using turmeric: some sources say that the active ingredient is fat soluble (meaning you have to consume it with some fat in order to get its benefits) and works best when combined with a small amount of black pepper. In other words, maybe consuming turmeric in a curry is a good idea!

 4. Dandelion: This scourge of suburban lawns everywhere is actually a superfood. And every single part of the plant is useful or edible, from the root to the flower. Even the sap can be used topically on warts. In herbal medicine, the root and the leaf are used most often. Dandelion leaf is bitter, especially after the plant flowers. Herbalists say the bitterness of the leaves stimulate digestion, making dandelion leaf a good choice as a salad green to eat at the start of a meal.

Dandelion leaves are also highly nutritious. But watch out - the French word for this diuretic herb is pissenlit ("wet the bed"). While it will send you to the bathroom, it won't actually make you wet the bed.

Both the leaf and the root - especially the root - are great for your liver. Dandelion root is a fantastic detox herb. One way to enjoy it is as "coffee," by roasting the dried root until it changes color and becomes fragrant. Then use the roasted root to make a coffee-like, caffeine-free beverage. You can even add cream and honey like you would to real coffee.

5. Elder: Although elder is used for fewer purposes than the other herbs on this list, it makes the cut because they are such a delicious introduction to herbal medicine. You might be familiar with elder only through pop culture references in Harry Potter and Monty Python, or maybe you've heard of elderflower cordial and elderberry wine. But did you know that elderberries are an herbal powerhouse for boosting your immune function? Before cold season begins, make a batch of elderberry syrup to help your family keep from getting sick. Elderberry syrup blurs the line between medicine and dessert.

Before delving into treating yourself with herbs, it's a good idea to check out a book or at least a website like LearningHerbs.com to familiarize yourself with the basics. And be sure to check with your doctor, especially if you are treating children or you are pregnant, breastfeeding, taking prescription drugs, or suffering from a medical condition.

However, you might already use ginger and turmeric in your cooking, and odds are you use other potent herbal remedies in the kitchen as well. Garlic, cinnamon, onions, thyme, shiitake mushrooms, peppermint, black pepper, cilantro, cayenne, and lavender are all useful for both culinary and medicinal purposes. So even if you don't plan on becoming a guru of herbal remedies, go ahead and spice up your cooking. Or expand on your culinary use of herbs and spices by discovering how to take your health into your own hands.

About the author  

Jill Richardson is the founder of the blog La Vida Locavore and a member of the Organic Consumers Association policy advisory board. She is the author of Recipe for America: Why Our Food System Is Broken and What We Can Do to Fix It..

Interview with Vandana Shiva: Sowing Seeds of Health, Hope and Humanity

Interview with Vandana Shiva: Sowing Seeds of Health, Hope and Humanity
July 13, 2013 | Green Med Info | Linda Sechrest

Interview by Linda Sechrist

About Vandana Shiva, Ph.D.: a scientist, philosopher, environmental activist, author and eco-feminist. The founder of Navdanya, a seed freedom movement in India to promote native seeds, Shiva is a formidable opponent in the global battle over genetically modified seed, which she links to problems in our ecology, economy and humanity. Shiva is a keynote speaker at the Great Lakes Bioneers Chicago conference this month.

You believe that we need a new paradigm for living on the Earth because the old one is not working. What does that new paradigm look like?

The old paradigm is based on fragmented thought, mechanistic science and on a deepening division between humans on the basis of class—the 1 percent versus 99 percent of the Occupy movement—as well as on gender, race and greed as a virtue. The emerging paradigm, which many of us are now seeing, is based on interconnectedness and equality as diversity, rather than on uniformity, as well as sharing and caring as virtues.

How does your education in quantum theory and the science of interconnection play into the new paradigm?

I wrote my Ph.D. thesis on the Foundations of Quantum Theory, especially the aspect of non-locality or nonseparability, which acknowledges the interconnectedness of the universe.

Quantum theory—the science of interconnectedness, which is the nature of reality—teaches us nonseparability, which is built into the new science of quantum theory and the new biology. Separation between humans and nature was intrinsic to the old mechanistic assumptions developed during the 1600s and 1700s by French philosopher and mathematician, René Descartes; English scientist, Francis Bacon; and English physicist, Sir Isaac Newton.

The Einstein-Podolsky-Rosen Paradox, developed by Albert Einstein and his colleagues, Boris Podolsky and Nathan Rosen, has shown that when a quantum system is subdivided and the two subsystems are separated in space and time, their state is nonseparable. I agree with physicists such as Niels Bohr, Wolfgang Ernst Pauli and David Bohm, who stressed the non-separable wholeness of the universe of physical phenomena.

Which epic myths are you debunking about our industrialized food system?

The first myth is that it is efficient. Using 10 units of energy to produce one unit of food as energy is not efficient.

The second myth is that it improves farmers' livelihoods. In India, 270,000 farmers have been pushed to suicide, and the majority of family-owned farms in the U.S. have disappeared.

The third myth is that it produces more food. Our study and numerous studies conducted by the United Nations show that ecological farming produces more food.

Most industrial-farmed food now is dedicated to ethanol production for cars and to feeding animals in factory farms. It is not food for people. We have food deserts in cities and in the countryside.

What is the Declaration on Seed Freedom? Why is it important that people sign it?

It is important for everyone to sign the Declaration on Seed Freedom because seed is the first link in the food chain. If we lose seed freedom, we lose food freedom. Seed freedom is threatened by genetically engineered seeds, which are contaminating our farms, thus closing the option for GMO-free food for all.

The seed freedom of farmers is threatened when, after contaminating our crops, corporations sue farmers for "stealing their property." It is also threatened by the deliberate transformation of the seed from a renewable, self-generative resource to a non-renewable, patented commodity. The most extreme case of non-renewable seed is the "Terminator Technology", developed with the aim to create sterile seed.

Thirty years ago, most North American and European seed companies were small, family-owned businesses that specialized in varieties adapted to regional climates, with resistance to local pests and diseases. Today, just 10 companies control 30 percent of the commercial seed market worldwide. Just five vegetable seed companies control 75 percent of the global vegetable seed market. Some of these companies, such as Monsanto, are imposing genetically engineered, patented seed on small farmers and are denying citizens' labeling. In effect, they are robbing us of our most fundamental freedom, our food freedom.

What is the Earth Democracy movement?

I refer to the new paradigm as Earth Democracy, which recognizes that the Earth and all her beings, including humans, have rights and freedoms; that we are interconnected in a web of life, and are all members of an Earth Family. Earth Democracy enables us to make transitions to a living democracy, living economy and living cultures that celebrate life.

How is what is happening in India important here in the U.S.?

The U.S. and India have become deeply intertwined through dominant corporate globalization and Earth Democracy. Monsanto; Cargill, Incorporated; and Walmart are trying to take over India's food and agriculture like they took over food and agriculture in the U.S. Our movements to resist corporate takeover of our seed, our food and our markets need to be connected.

Can Navdanya, the seed freedom movement you founded in India, be repeated in other countries?

At the Navdanya biodiversity and organic farm in Doon Valley, in Uttarakhand, North India [set at the foothills of the Himalayas], more than 630 varieties of plants are growing, butterflies are flourishing, and earthworms fertilize our soils. People from all over the world come here to learn and observe. For example, our A-Z course on organic farming attracted 55 people from 12 countries.

My colleagues in Italy have started Navdanya there. And the Seed Freedom movement spreading across the world shows that what is being done by Navdanya in India is relevant worldwide.

How has your experience at Navdanya shown you that the future of cities, in any country, lies in gardens and organic connections to the countryside?

As we evolved Navdanya on the basis of diversity and decentralization to offer an alternative to the monoculture and centralization, it became evident that cities can be sources of their own food through urban gardens, and can create their own foodshed by more intimate connections with the countryside. This improves the well-being of the country, those who farm in the country, and those who live in cities. It is a concrete step towards creating Earth Democracy.

What has led you to the conclusion that living cities should be cultivated organically and that living food is the basis for living communities?

Over the past three decades, beginning with my study on the Green Revolution, I realized that chemicals, monoculture and giant farms as the basis of food security constitute a lie that we have been sold.

During the past 25 years, my Navdanya experience has helped me to realize that good farming is like gardening. Biodiverse small farms produce more food and nutrition than large industrial farms. Navdanya's concept of "Health per Acre" measures nutrition and quality of food instead of the "yield" of commodities.

Industrial food has created a killing culture, which is killing biodiversity, the soil, farmers and our health. Organic agriculture creates living food and living communities.

How does ecological connectedness promote a sense of common humanity?

Ecological interconnectedness is based on Earth citizenship. As citizens of the Earth, we breathe the same air, drink water in the same hydrological cycle, and eat food from a common food web. This makes us aware of our common humanity, and our common rights and responsibilities to the Earth and each other.

Do you have any suggestions for how people in the U.S. can fight for food labeling of genetically engineered food?

The California vote is only one step in labeling of GMOs. Other steps need to be based on creating local, organic, GMO-free food systems.

You have fought Coca-Cola and other multinational giants over the privatization of water in your native India. Now you are doing battle with Monsanto over genetically modified seeds. What keeps you going?

We have a beautiful text in India, the Bhagavad Gita, in which [Hindu deity/avatar] Krishna gives a simple lesson: Do not measure the fruit of your action; rather, measure your obligation of action. You have to find out what is the right thing to do. That is your duty. Whether you win or lose is not an issue. The obligation to do the right thing is the issue.

From childhood, I have been an ecologist and nature lover. My right thing and duty is to protect the diversity of species and their intrinsic value. Their integrity is vital, as are the rights of our farmers to have seed—the most fundamental source of livelihood in a poor country. Today, 80 percent of the world's food is produced by small farmers such as those that we have in India. Our small farmers are 1.2 billion East Indians.

I believe that we have forgotten what smallness means when it is multiplied many times. We've also become accustomed to the dinosaur mentality. We only see the big and have forgotten that dinosaurs are extinct.

To learn more about Navdanya and its mission to protect nature and people's rights to knowledge, biodiversity, water and food, visit Navdanya.org. For information and to register for the Great Lakes Bioneers Chicago conference, visit BioneersChicago.org.

About the Author 

Linda Sechrist is the Senior Staff writer, editor and National Director for Community Outreach for Natural Awakenings, a healthy lifestyle magazine actively publishing in 80 U.S. major markets, with 3 million readers a month. She is the founder of ItsAllAboutWe.com and radio host of the upcoming Greenmedinfo.com sponsored show, part of the World Health Freedom forum, the official radio network of the National Health Federation.

Illinois Ag. Department Illegally Seizes Privately Owned Bees Resistant to GMO Poison

Illinois Ag. Department Illegally Seizes Privately Owned Bees Resistant to GMO Poison
May 31, 2013 | Natural Society | Christina Sarich

Terrence Ingram, a world renowned naturalist who once saved the Bald Eagle from being on the endangered species list, was recently met by the Illinois Agricultural Department which seized his privately-owned bees. The department seized his bees that were ‘resistant to GMO pesticides’ and killed the remaining healthy queen bees in his beehives.

Ingram had been researching the effects of Roundup, the Monsanto franken-food best-selling herbicide meant to make crops more resilient to pests. Roundup itself has long list of negative effects, with the product even shown to kill human kidney cells. Much of the ill effects of Roundup are produced by the active ingredient, glyphosate.

Ingram has been raising his bees for 58 years and researching Roundup’s effects on the bees for 15+ years. “They ruined 15 years of my research,” he told Prairie Advocate, by stealing most of his stock. You can surmise, that the results of his research were not likely a glowing report on the benefits of GMO pesticides.

The Ag Department allegedly seized Ingram’s bees because they were stricken with a disease known as American foulbrood. However, Ingram said he could prove that this is simply not true, and intended to do so at a hearing in April. Unfortunately, his bees were seized in March and are MIA.



 The department released this statement to Ingram:

“During a routine inspection of your honeybee colonies by … Inspectors Susan Kivikko and Eleanor Balson on October 23, 2011, the bacterial disease ‘American Foulbrood’ was detected in a number of colonies located behind your house…. Presence of the disease in some of your colonies was confirmed via test results from the USDA Bee Research Laboratory in Beltsville, Maryland that analyzed samples collected from your apiary….”

Monsanto will not be held to any legal action, not in any state in America, especially as it loses stable footing in countries like Hungary. With scientific evidence mounting every day against their faulty seeds, of course they would need to dismantle additional research which proves the long-term negative effects of their GMO crops. Ingram’s bees were ‘inspected’ without his presence and without a warrant. As government regulation of our freedom’s are increasingly suppressed, why are companies like Dow and Monsanto given free reign?

Additional Sources:

Institute of Science in Society

The Latest Cannabis Discoveries That the Federal Government Doesn’t Want You to Know About

Photo Credit: ShutterStock.com

The Latest Cannabis Discoveries That the Federal Government Doesn’t Want You to Know About
Mar 22, 2013 | Alternet | Paul Armentano

Federal lawmakers and the White House continue to willfully ignore science in regards to the cannabis plant.

Despite  issuing a highly publicized memorandum in 2009 stating, "Science and the scientific process must inform and guide decisions of my Administration," it remains clear that federal lawmakers and the White House continue to willfully ignore science in regards to the cannabis plant and the federal policies which condemn it to the same prohibitive legal status as heroin. In fact, in 2011 the Obama administration went so far as to reject an administrative petition that called for hearings to reevaluate pot’s safety and efficacy, pronouncing in the Federal Register, “Marijuana does not have a currently accepted medical use in treatment in the United States or a currently accepted medical use with severe restrictions. At this time, the known risks of marijuana use have not been shown to be outweighed by specific benefits in well-controlled clinical trials that scientifically evaluate safety and efficacy.” (The Administration’s flat-Earth position was upheld in January by a three-judge panel for the US Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia.)

Nevertheless, scientific evaluations of cannabis and the health of its consumers have never been more prevalent. Studies are now published almost daily rebuking the federal government’s allegations that the marijuana plant is a highly dangerous substance lacking any therapeutic utility. Yet, virtually all of these studies – and, more importantly, their implications for public policy – continue to be ignored by lawmakers. Here are just a few examples of the latest cannabis science that your federal government doesn’t want you to know about.

Frequent cannabis smokers possess no greater lung cancer risk than do either occasional pot smokers or non-smokers

Subjects who regularly inhale cannabis smoke do not possess an increased risk of lung cancer compared to those who either consume it occasionally or not at all, according to data presented in April at the annual meeting of the American Academy for Cancer Research.

Investigators from the University of California, Los Angeles analyzed data from six case-control studies, conducted between 1999 and 2012, involving over 5,000 subjects (2,159 cases and 2,985 controls) from around the world.

They reported, “Our pooled results showed no significant association between the intensity, duration, or cumulative consumption of cannabis smoke and the risk of lung cancer overall or in never smokers.”

Previous case-control studies have also failed to find an association between cannabis smoking and head and neck cancers or cancers of the upper aerodigestive tract.

Nevertheless, the federal Drug Enforcement Administration continues to maintain, “Marijuana smokers increase their risk of cancer of the head, neck, lungs and respiratory track.”

Consistent use of cannabis associated is associated with reduced risk factors for Type 2 diabetes

Will the pot plant one day play a role in staving the ongoing epidemic of Type 2 diabetes? Emerging science indicates that it just might.

According to trial data published this month in the American Journal of Medicine, subjects who regularly consume cannabis possess favorable indices related to diabetic control compared to occasional consumers or non-consumers.

Investigators at the Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Centre in Boston, assessed self-report data from some 5,000 adult onset diabetics patients regarding whether they smoked or had ever smoked marijuana. Researchers reported that those who were current, regular marijuana smokers possessed 16 percent lower fasting insulin levels and reduced insulin resistance compared to those who had never used pot. By contrast, non-users possessed larger waistlines and lower levels of high-density lipoprotein (HDL or ‘good’) cholesterol – both of which are risk factors for type 2 diabetes.

Similar benefits were reported in occasional cannabis consumers, though these changes were less pronounced, “suggesting that the impact of marijuana use on insulin and insulin resistance exists during periods of recent use,” researchers reported.

The recent findings are supportive of the findings of 2012 study by a team of UCLA researchers, published in the British Medical Journal, which reported that adults with a history of marijuana use had a lower prevalence of type 2 diabetes and possess a lower risk of contracting the disease than did those with no history of cannabis consumption, even after researchers adjusted for social variables (ethnicity, level of physical activity, etc.) Concluded the study, “[This] analysis of adults aged 20-59 years … showed that participants who used marijuana had a lower prevalence of DM (Diabetes Mellitus) and lower odds of DM relative to non-marijuana users.”

Diabetes is the third leading cause of death in the United States after heart disease and cancer.

Inhaling cannabis dramatically mitigates symptoms of Crohn’s disease

Smoking cannabis twice daily significantly reduces symptoms of Crohn’s disease, a type of inflammatory bowel disorder that is estimated to impact about half a million Americans. So say the results of the first-ever placebo-controlled trial assessing the use of cannabis for Crohn’s – published online this month in the scientific journal Clinical Gastroenterology and Hepatology.

Researchers at the Meir Medical Center, Department of Gastroenterology and Hepatology in Israel assessed the safety and efficacy of inhaled cannabis versus placebo in 21 subjects with Crohn’s disease who were nonresponsive to conventional treatment regimens. Eleven participants smoked standardized cannabis cigarettes containing 23 percent THC and 0.5 percent cannabidiol – a nonpsychotropic cannabinoid known to possess anti-inflammatory properties -- twice daily over a period of eight weeks. The other ten subjects smoked placebo cigarettes containing no active cannabinoids.

Investigators reported, “Our data show that 8-weeks treatment with THC-rich cannabis, but not placebo, was associated with a significant decrease of 100 points in CDAI (Crohn’s Disease and activity index) scores.”  Five of the eleven patients in the study group reported achieving disease remission (defined as a reduction in patient’s CDAI score by more than 150 points). Participants who smoked marijuana reported decreased pain, improved appetite, and better sleep compared to control subjects. Researchers reported that “no significant side effects” were associated with cannabis inhalation.

The clinical results substantiate decades of anecdotal reports from Crohn’s patients, some one-half of which acknowledge having used cannabis to mitigate symptoms of the disease.

Marijuana-like substances halt HIV infection in white blood cells

The administration of THC has been associated with decreased mortality and ameliorated disease progression in monkeys with simian immunodeficiency virus, a primate model of HIV disease. So could cannabinoids produce similar outcomes in humans? The findings of a newly published preclinical trial indicate that the answer may be ‘yes’ and they reveal the substance’s likely mechanism of action in combating the disease.

Writing in the May edition of the Journal of Leukocyte Biology, investigators at the Temple University School of Medicine in Philadelphia reported that the administration of cannabinoid agonists limits HIV infection in macrophages (white blood cells that aid in the body's immune response). Researchers assessed the impact of three commercially available synthetic cannabis agonists (non-organic compounds that act on the same endogenous receptor sites as do plant cannabinoids) on HIV-infected macrophage cells. Following administration, researchers sampled the cells periodically to measure the activity of an enzyme called reverse transcriptase, which is essential for HIV replication. By day 7, investigators reported that the administration of all three compounds was associated with a significant decrease in HIV replication.

“The results suggest that selective CB2 (cannabinoid 2 receptor) agonists could potentially be used in tandem with existing antiretroviral drugs, opening the door to the generation of new drug therapies for HIV/AIDS,” researchers summarized in a Temple University news release. “The data also support the idea that the human immune system could be leveraged to fight HIV infection."

Cannabinoids offer a likely treatment therapy for PTSD

Post-traumatic stress syndrome is estimated to impact some eight millions American annually and effective treatments for the condition are few and far between. Yet just published research in the May issue of the journal Molecular Psychiatry indicates that cannabinoids hold the potential to successfully treat the condition.

Researchers at the New York School of Medicine reported that subjects diagnosed with PTSD possess elevated quantities of endogenous cannabinoid receptors in regions of the brain associated with fear and anxiety. In addition, authors also reported that these subjects suffer from the decreased production of anandamide, an endogenous cannabinoid neurotransmitter, resulting in an imbalanced endocannibinoid system. (The endogenous cannabinoid receptor system is a regulatory system that is present in living organisms for the purpose of promoting homeostasis).

Authors speculated that increasing the body’s production of cannabinoids would likely restore the body’s natural brain chemistry and psychological balance. They affirmed, “[Our] findings substantiate, at least in part, emerging evidence that … plant-derived cannabinoids such as marijuana may possess some benefits in individuals with PTSD by helping relieve haunting nightmares and other symptoms of PTSD.”

The researchers concluded: “The data reported herein are the first of which we are aware of to demonstrate the critical role of CB1 (cannabinoid) receptors and endocannabinoids in the etiology of PTSD in humans. As such, they provide a foundation upon which to develop and validate informative biomarkers of PTSD vulnerability, as well as to guide the rational development of the next generation of evidence-based treatments for PTSD.”

But don’t expect federal officials to help move this process forward. In 2011 federal administrators blocked investigators at the University of Arizona at Phoenix from conducting an FDA-approved, placebo-controlled clinical trial to evaluate the use of cannabis in 50 patients with PTSD.

Scientific integrity? Not when it comes to marijuana. Not by a long shot.

Paul Armentano is the deputy director of NORML (National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws), and is the co-author of Marijuana Is Safer: So Why Are We Driving People to Drink (2009, Chelsea Green).

How Plants Help Each Other Grow By Near-Telepathic Communication

© Prevent Disease

How Plants Help Each Other Grow By Near-Telepathic Communication
May 10, 2013 | Prevent Disease | Michael Forrester

Plants have scientifically been show to draw alternative sources of energy from other plants. Plants influence each other in many ways and they communicate through "nanomechanical oscillations" vibrations on the tiniest atomic or molecular scale or as close as you can get to telepathic communication.

Members of Professor Dr. Olaf Kruse’s biological research team have previously shown that green algae not only engages in photosynthesis, but also has an alternative source of energy: it can draw it from other plants. His research findings were released in the online journal Nature Communications.

Other research published last year, showed that young corn roots made clicking sounds, and that when suspended in water they would lean towards sounds made in the same frequency range (about 220 Hz). So it seemed that plants do emit and react to sound, and the researchers wanted to delve into this idea further.

Working with chili plants in their most recent study, specifically Capsicum annuum, they first grew chili seeds on their own and then in the presence of other chili plants, basil and fennel, and recorded their rates of germination and growth. Fennel is considered an aggressive plant that hinders the germination of other plants around it, while basil is generally considered to be a beneficial plant for gardening and an ideal companion for chili plants.

Germination rates were fairly low when the seeds were grown on their own, lower when grown in the presence of fennel (as expected). Germination rates were better with other chili plants around, and even better with basil.

Since plants are already known to 'talk' through chemical signals and to react to light, the researchers separated newly planted seeds from the other plants using black plastic, to block any other kind of 'signaling' other than through sound. When fennel was on the other side of the plastic, the chemical effects of its presence, which would have inhibited germination of the chili seeds, were blocked. The chili seeds grew much quicker than normal though, possibly because they still 'knew' the fennel was there, 'knew' it had the potential to have a negative effect on their germination, and so they quickly got past the stage where they were vulnerable.

If even bacteria can signal one another with vibrations, why not plants, said Monica Gagliano, a plant physiologist at the University of Western Australia in Crawley.

Gagliano imagines that root-to-root alerts could transform a forest into an organic switchboard. "Considering that entire forests are all interconnected by networks of fungi, maybe plants are using fungi the way we use the Internet and sending acoustic signals through this Web. From here, who knows," she said.

As with other life, if plants do send messages with sound, it is one of many communication tools. More work is needed to bear out Gagliano's claims, but there are many ways that listening to plants already bears fruit.

According to the study: "This demonstrated that plants were able to sense their neighbours even when all known communication channels are blocked (i.e. light, chemicals and touch) and most importantly, recognize the potential for the interfering presence of a 'bad neighbour' and modify their growth accordingly."

Then, to test if they could see similar effects with a 'good neighbour', they tried the same experiment with other chili plants and then with basil. When there were fully-grown chili plants in their presence blocked by the plastic, the seeds showed some improved germination ("partial response"). When basil was on the other side of the plastic, they found that the seeds grew just as well as when the plastic wasn't there.

"Our results show that plants are able to positively influence growth of seeds by some as yet unknown mechanism," said Dr. Monica Gagliano, an evolutionary biologist at UWA and co-author of the study, according to BioMed Central. "Bad neighbors, such as fennel, prevent chili seed germination in the same way. We believe that the answer may involve acoustic signals generated using nanomechanical oscillations from inside the cell which allow rapid communication between nearby plants."

What Can Humans Learn?

Flowers need water and light to grow and people are no different. Our physical bodies are like sponges, soaking up the environment. "This is exactly why there are certain people who feel uncomfortable in specific group settings where there is a mix of energy and emotions," said psychologist and energy healer Dr. Olivia Bader-Lee.

"When energy studies become more advanced in the coming years, we will eventually see this translated to human beings as well," stated Bader-Lee. "The human organism is very much like a plant, it draws needed energy to feed emotional states and this can essentially energize cells or cause increases in cortisol and catabolize cells depending on the emotional trigger."

Bader-Lee suggests that the field of bioenergy is now ever evolving and that studies on the plant and animal world will soon translate and demonstrate what energy metaphysicians have known all along -- that humans can heal each other simply through energy transfer just as plants do. "Human can absorb and heal through other humans, animals, and any part of nature. That's why being around nature is often uplifting and energizing for so many people," she concluded.


Michael Forrester is a spiritual counselor and is a practicing motivational speaker for corporations in Japan, Canada and the United States.

The Bible's Buried Secrets The Garden of Eden

The Bible's Buried Secrets The Garden of Eden
Apr 10, 2012 | TrollOld

Your Spice Rack as a Medicine Cabinet: 5 Hidden Healers in Your Kitchen

© Natural Society

Your Spice Rack as a Medicine Cabinet: 5 Hidden Healers in Your Kitchen
Mar 3, 2013 | Natural Society | Elizabeth Renter

You don’t have to be a chef to know that some herbs and spices taste good in certain dishes. Likewise, you don’t have to be a professional herbalist to use many of these same spices and herbs to treat and prevent illness and disease. Your kitchen should double as your medicine cabinet, as you’ll often find what you need without having to hit the drug store or the pharmacy.

While we could write a book on healing herbs and spices (many such books have been written), we’ll just give you a brief run-down of some of the more commonly overlooked herbs and spices with healing properties. Here are 5 healers that can be found in your kitchen.

1. Sage 

Common sage is often used in meat dishes and in cooking with root vegetables. But sage has many health benefits. Made in a tea, you can use the herb sage for sore throat relief, to soothe digestion, calm a cough, and even boost memory. One study found consuming sage can improve scores on memory recall tests. Maybe best of all, you can grow your own.

2. Turmeric  

The many benefits of this golden yellow spice are really no secret, unless you haven’t been following natural health news at all in recent months. It’s a powerful antioxidant, can be used to detox the liver, and even relieves pain. There is evidence that turmeric can protect against Alzheimer’s disease and even prevent breast cancer. Perhaps the most documented benefits of turmeric is in its ability to fight cancer cells.

3. Oregano 

You might put it on your pizza or in your pasta dishes, but what you probably didn’t realize is how oregano could be benefiting your health. Oregano and the oil derived from it has been shown to encourage weight loss, promote healthy digestion, treat sinus infections and even sooth toothaches. It is an anti-bacterial, antioxidant, anti-fungal, anti-inflammatory, and anti-histamine herb. And like sage, you can easily grow your own to experience oregano benefits.

4. Cinnamon 

Everyone should be getting some cinnamon in their daily diet. This spice is great on everything from desserts to teas. And it’s good for managing diabetes, promoting a healthy heart, fighting Alzheimer’s disease, arthritis, cancer, and PMS.

5. Basil  

More and more you can find fresh and actually live basil plants in the grocery store produce section. This isn’t only good for your salads and pesto sauce, it’s great for your health. Basil can improve circulation, reduce cholesterol oxidation, reduce inflammation, and boost immunity. It can also treat stomach cramps, nausea, and headaches. Check out some information on sweet basil, one of numerous basil varieties.
There are numerous other herbs and spices in your kitchen right now that are great for your health and can double as medicine. What are your favorite spice-rack healers?

Scientific Paper Argues Against Factory Farms “Feeding the World”

© Natural Society

Scientific Paper Argues Against Factory Farms “Feeding the World”
Jan 19, 2013 | Natural Society | Lisa Garber

The case for small-scale, organic farming is still alive. Lest we yield to cynicism and the belief that Monsanto has managed to buy the professional opinions of every policymaker and scientist in America, a group of researchers led by a distinguished soil expert has published a paper urging the US to rethink its current alliance with Big Ag. In its condensed form in the magazine Science (you can find the extended version here as published by the National Research Council), lead author John P. Reganold from Washington State University claims that the US’s current ag-research policy is flawed and not the vehicle needed to feed the world. Instead, it “[masks] market, social, and environmental factors associated with conventional production systems,” and is “narrowly focused on productivity and efficiency,” even to the detriment of the public and the environment.

The Dangers of Industrial Agriculture 

The sort of detriment we’re talking about here, of course, is the degradation of farmland wrested of their natural nutrients through perpetual growth and harvest of a limited number of genetically modified crops, herbicide usage, and associated environmental devastation like water pollution, resistant insects, and superweeds. Effects on consumers and farmers are no better, as consumption of genetically modified foods—and herbicide residue—are tied to organ disruption, tumors, obesity and metabolic disruption, sterility, reproductive problems, and birth defects.

This is not even to mention the dangers associated with factory farms (on people, the environment, and animals), as instituted by Big Ag, which produce 100 times more waste than the entire U.S. population.
Despite the uncertainty surrounding GMOs, Monsanto investor Bill Gates has repeatedly claimed that the genetically modified creations are the remedy to starvation across the globe.

The Call for Organic Farming 

Reganold, however, disagrees with Gates. His team recommends “organic farming, alternative livestock production (e.g., grass-fed), mixed crop and livestock systems, and perennial grains.”

Reganold’s voice is joined by a chorus of like-minded scientists, like Olivier De Schutter, the UN’s special rapporteur on food, who reviewed recent scientific literature and concluded that Big Ag wasn’t the silver bullet it claimed to be. (You can read his report here.) “Small-scale farmers,” De Schutter proclaims, “can double food production within 10 years in critical regions by using ecological methods.”

The UN posted another report in 2011 pushing for organic food production and other “low-input ag techniques.” Years still earlier, the International Assessment of Agricultural Knowledge, Science, and Technology for Development (IAASTD) released a study involving 400 scientists refuting industrial agriculture’s claim that it could feed the world.

Instead, it is resilient communities focused on health through sustainable-ag techniques—what the scientists in the IAASTD study call “agroecology”—that will answer the cries for an end to global starvation.

Additional Source:

Grist

BusinessWeek

Honey - A top survival food, wound healer and all-purpose health tonic

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Honey - A top survival food, wound healer and all-purpose health tonic
Dec 17, 2012 | Carolanne Wright

(NaturalNews) The humble jar of honey in your cabinet is more than just an exquisite sweetener -- it's also an incredible survival food and medicine chest rolled into one. Known throughout history for its health merits, honey is a broad spectrum healer. Heart disease, high cholesterol, influenza, wounds and infections respond well to this common and seemingly simple golden liquid. Since certain types of honey are more effective than others, choose wisely to enjoy the maximum benefit.

Ultimate survival food and health enhancing wonder

Honey is one of the most outstanding survival foods that can stock a pantry. When stored in an airtight container and kept cool and dry, the shelf life of honey is remarkable -- it does not turn rancid, ever. In fact, archeologists have found jars of honey in ancient Egyptian tombs that are still fit for human consumption. When selecting honey, it is important to focus on raw, organic and unfiltered varieties for the most bioactive properties. Once honey is heated, many of the health promoting characteristics disappear.

Nutrient dense, honey is packed with probiotics, antioxidants, vitamins and minerals. It is also calorie rich and helps to maintain energy levels. High in B vitamins along with vitamin C, honey is also a good source of magnesium, calcium, copper, iron, sulfur and zinc.

Honey helps to boost athletic performance and supports a healthy immune system as well. For those with Type II diabetes or high cholesterol, honey is a good choice. Scientists found that when taken daily, honey actually lowered serum cholesterol and did not spike blood sugar levels like refined sugar.

A word of caution: Babies under the age of one year should not be given honey due to the threat of infantile botulism.

Manuka - The queen of honey

When times are tough and medical care is erratic, manuka honey is a readily available universal medicine. Considered to be five times more potent than standard honey, manuka is a powerful food.

Have a cut or burn to mend? Manuka honey is an excellent salve. Antibacterial features promote wound healing and tissue regeneration. Manuka is also anti-fungal -- a potent treatment for ring worm and athletes foot. Likewise, many claim that manuka honey does not inflame internal fungal disorders like Candida albicans. Gum disease? Surprisingly, research has found that manuka reduces plaque and bacteria in the mouth when rubbed onto the gums. Sick with the flu? Manuka is a superstar here too. A study in Spain discovered compounds in honey that destroy the influenza virus. What's more, manuka has been shown to aid weight loss, heal bladder infections, ease indigestion, soothe a sore throat, relieve arthritis, quiet an upset stomach and foster longevity.

No need to wait for the collapse of civilization or an economic meltdown to enjoy the benefits of this rich liquid gold. With an abundance of healing properties, honey is a delicious medicine that encourages a sweet and healthful life at any time.

Sources for this article include:

"The Many Health Benefits of Raw Honey" Jordan and Kyla Miller, Wake Up World. Retrieved on December 12, 2012 from: http://wakeup-world.com/2012/07/23/the-health-benefits-of-raw-honey/

"Honey" The George Mateijan Foundation. Retrieved on December 12, 2012 from: http://www.whfoods.com/genpage.php?tname=foodspice&dbid=96

"The benefits of manuka honey" Alice Hart-Davis, August 10, 2009, The Telegraph. Retrieved on December 12, 2012 from: http://www.telegraph.co.uk

"2 Ways to Use Honey as Medicine" Bryan Aldeghi, Peak Health Advocate, October 31, 2012. Retrieved on December 12, 2012 from: http://www.peakhealthadvocate.com/2893/honey-health-benefits/

"Honey Could Be Effective at Treating and Preventing Wound Infections" Science Daily, January 30, 2012. Retrieved on December 12, 2012 from: http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/01/120131205919.htm

"Manuka honey improved wound healing in patients with sloughy venous leg ulcers" Evidence Based Medicine for Primary Care and Internal Medicine, 2009; 14:148 doi:10.1136/ebm.14.5.148. Retrieved on December 12, 2012 from: http://ebm.bmj.com/content/14/5/148.extract

"12 Benefits of manuka Honey" Health Diaries. Retrieved on December 12, 2012 from: http://www.healthdiaries.com

"The effects of manuka honey on plaque and gingivitis: a pilot study" English HK, Pack AR, Molan PC, J Int Acad Periodontol. 2004 Apr;6(2):63-7. Retrieved on December 12, 2012 from: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/15125017

"Start Stocking Up on Honey" Urban Alan, Urban Survival Site. Retrieved on December 12, 2012 from: http://urbansurvivalsite.com/start-stocking-up-on-honey/

"Health and Nutrition: 5 Jolt Findings from The Honey Revolution by Ron Fessenden", Benefits of Honey. Retrieved on December 12, 2012 from: http://www.benefits-of-honey.com/health-and-nutrition.html

"10 Health Benefits of Honey" Diana Herrington, Real Food for Life. Retrieved on December 12, 2012 from: http://realfoodforlife.com/health-benefits-of-honey/

"Honey has an antifungal effect against Candida species" Julie Irish, Dee A. Carter, Tahereh Shokohi and Shona E. Blair, Informa Healthcare, 2006, Vol. 44, No. 3 , Pages 289-291. Retrieved on December 12, 2012 from: http://informahealthcare.com/doi/abs/10.1080/13693780500417037

About the author:

Carolanne enthusiastically believes if we want to see change in the world, we need to be the change. As a nutritionist, natural foods chef and wellness coach, Carolanne has encouraged others to embrace a healthy lifestyle of organic living, gratefulness and joyful orientation for over 13 years. Through her website www.Thrive-Living.net she looks forward to connecting with other like-minded people from around the world who share a similar vision.

Follow on Twitter at: www.twitter.com/Thrive_Living

Read her other articles on Natural News here:

http://www.naturalnews.com/Author1183.html