September 30, 2011 at 10:09 pm (Food and drink, Global Events, Health and wellness, News and politics)
Tags: CSA, direct-to-market, food, fresh, produce, small family farms
Farm to Family launches fall D.C. CSA | Washington Times Communities.
Farm to Family launches fall D.C. CSA | Washington Times Communities
September 30, 2011
WASHINGTON, September 23,2011- Farm to Family, a mobile farmers market, is starting their 2011/12 Fall/Winter Washington D.C. CSA (community supported agriculture).
Farm to Family started as a mobile farmers market in a converted school bus in 2009 targeting food deserts. F2F delivers fresh, seasonal produce/products from local farmers to local communities which encourages a local diet of fresh products grown and made right here in our food shed.
The bi- weekly deliveries are on Thursdays from 5-7 p.m., which rotate weeks at the Eastern Market in Capital Hill and the Maret School in NW D.C. The CSA consists of 13 bi weekly shares stretching 26 weeks.
Product choices:
Vegetable and Fruit: Acorn, delecata, or butternut squash • Kale, collards, or creasy greens •Yellow, white, red, or sweet potatoes • Turnips, broccoli, and cauliflower • Greenhouse tomatoes • Fuji, stayman, winesap, red and golden delicious apples (Read more)
For more information on Farm to Family or to contact them for more information please visit their website.
Related Omkara World Stories: ‘FRESH’ Comes to Congress
Lobby Day in D.C. focused on protecting Small Farms
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September 30, 2011 at 7:41 pm (Food and drink, Health and wellness)
Tags: antibiotic, antimicrobials effect, coffee, MRSA, polyphenols, tea
Hot Tea and Coffee Drinkers Less Likely to Have Staph Infections
Coffee and tea already have a large repertoire of health benefits. But now we can add a new talent: Infection fighter. Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) is a dangerous type of bacteria resistant to the antibiotic methicillin and it can cause serious infections. More than 278,000 Americans were hospitalized with MRSA-related infections in 2005. The nose is a common site where a person can harbor the bacteria. In order to prevent and treat MRSA, researchers have been investigating the effects that plants and plant extracts have, with the most promising being tea and coffee showing antimicrobial effects.
Health Poll
Using data from a large nationally representative sample in the U.S., researchers examined the consumption of tea and coffee in relation to whether or not they were carriers of MRSA. The study found that 1.4 percent of the sample group was carriers of MRSA. Those who consumed hot tea had approximately one-half less likelihood of being MRSA carriers. Similar but less strong results were seen with coffee consumption. This protective effect seems to only apply when people drank hot tea and coffee, not iced. Possible explanation to the benefits of hot tea as opposed to cold is that iced tea has lower levels of polyphenols than hot tea; also the antimicrobial compounds of the tea may reach the nose in vapor form, which applies to hot tea and coffee.
More similar studies need to be conducted to draw any firm conclusions about possible antimicrobial effects of tea and coffee, but the findings so far are definitely promising. Time to head to Starbucks! (Read more)
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September 30, 2011 at 7:29 pm (Global Events, Health and wellness, News and politics)
Tags: acid-rain, atmosphere, damage, exposure, fallout, meltdown, radiation, respiratory
Observations Of Fallout From The Fukushima Reactor Accident In San Francisco Bay Area Rainwater.
Medical News Today
Observations Of Fallout From The Fukushima Reactor Accident In San Francisco Bay Area
23 Sep 2011
After the magnitude 9.0 earthquake and resulting tsunami in Japan on March 11, 2011, the Fukushima Dai-ichi power plant was severely compromised and radioactive material was found in the water in many of the surrounding areas, but the extent of this contamination remained unknown. In a study published in the online journal PLoS ONE, researchers report that the reactor accident fallout extended as far as the San Francisco Bay area, resulting in elevated levels of radioactive material that were nonetheless very low and posed no health risk to the public.
The researchers collected rainwater samples in Berkeley, Oakland, and Albany, California from March 16th to March 26th and examined them for the presence of above-normal amounts of radioactivity, measuring levels of radioactive isotopes of cesium, iodine, and tellurium. The first sample that showed elevated radioactivity was collected on March 18th, and levels peaked on March 24th before returning to normal.
Funding: This work was supported by the United States Department of Homeland Security , and by the United States Department of Energy. The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.
Competing Interests: The authors have declared that no competing interests exist.
Article URL: http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/releases/234828.php
Main News Category: Aid / Disasters
Also Appears In: Water – Air Quality / Agriculture,
Any medical information published on this website is not intended as a substitute for informed medical advice and you should not take any action before consulting with a health care professional. For more information, please read our terms and conditions.
(Article Link: Rainwatehttp://www.medicalnewstoday.com/releases/234828.php)
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September 29, 2011 at 8:21 pm (Food and drink, Global Events, Health and wellness, News and politics)
Tags: big-agra, documentary, family farms, FDA, foods, healty, safe, small growers, USDA, usual suspects
Farmageddon: America’s War Against Small Farmers.
Reviewed by Gar Smith
Sunday September 25, 2011 – 11:55:00 AM
The film “Farmageddon” is screening at SF’s Roxie Theatre and the Rafael Theatre in San Rafael–see review
below in “Arts & Events”.
Farmageddon is screening at SF’s Roxie Theatre and the Rafael Theatre in San Rafael
The first-person stories related in Kristin Canty’s new documentary, Farmageddon, may sound like people recounting the post-trauma shock of a drug-raid but these “perps” are not pot-growers or drug-smugglers, they are family farmers and members of organic produce buying clubs.
“I was at the top of the stairs and I saw a man with a gun pointed up at me. All I could see was a black hat and a black jacket. I stood there thinking this was a serial killer.”
“They seized $64,000 worth of food and equipment. They terrorized the children. They took the farmer away in handcuffs.”
“They showed up at 5:30 in the morning in the middle of a blizzard and they had 42 armed federal agents and USDA officials and they cleared out our entire barn.”
Kristin Canty’s well-crafted documentary manages to fit more than 30 interviews into a taut, engaging, and ultimately enraging, 90-minute film. Among those interviewed is David Rana of Berkeley’s Three Stone Hearth food coop, the operators of Organic Pastures, a grass-fed dairy operation in Fresno, and the owner of Rawesome Foods in Venice, California. Farmageddon takes the big-picture message of the award-winning documentary Food Inc. and brings it closer to home — into the lives of small farmers victimized by government raids.
Canty, a first-time filmmaker, says she was driven to tell this story after seeing her four-year-old son’s “untreatable” allergies disappear once she started feeding him glasses of raw milk (rich with healthy natural bacteria and enzymes). This lead to a search for healthier foods — meat, cheese, eggs and produce. In the process of meeting local farmers and food-coop members, Canty began to hear stories about dairy farms and organic-food-buying clubs that had been disrupted by heavy-handed attacks staged by the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) and state enforcers.
Farmageddon explains that there are “two competing food systems” in the US — Big Ag and Small Farms — and the shows how the Federal laws created to help large corporate businesses now are being used to harass and destroy the healthy competition from small sustainable farmers.
Under the banner of “food safety,” burdensome new Federal fees and regulations are being instituted that will drive many small food producers out of business. Proposed laws would give USDA expanded powers to conduct raids on small farms. In chilling detail, Farmageddon documents repeated instances of government agencies resorting to surveillance, intimidation, search warrants, criminal investigations of innocent farmers, confiscations, destruction of property, media distortions and outright lie! (Read more)
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September 28, 2011 at 7:32 pm (Food and drink, Global Events, Health and wellness, News and politics)
Tags: Burnout, coping, Employment, Job Burnout, measure, meditation, Mental Health, relaxation, stress, techniques, work
Job burnout: Spotting it — and taking action – MayoClinic.com.
Discover if you’re at risk of job burnout — and what you can do when your job begins to affect your health and happiness.
By Mayo Clinic staff
Job burnout is a special type of job stress — a state of physical, emotional or mental exhaustion combined with doubts about your competence and the value of your work. If you think you might be experiencing job burnout, take a closer look at the phenomenon. What you learn may help you face the problem and take action before job burnout affects your health.
Could you be experiencing job burnout?
Ask yourself the following questions: (Read more)
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September 28, 2011 at 5:25 pm (Food and drink, Health and wellness, News and politics)
Tags: airway, Allergy, distress, health, honey, natural, obstruction, remedies, upper-respiratory
Honey Does Not Appear to Help Defeat Hay Fever.
Hay fever affects more than 20 percent of the population. Many of those suffering prefer to rely on complementary and alternative remedies rather than take medications. One such alternative remedy that is widely used but hasn’t been proven effective in clinical studies is honey.
Health Poll
Honey for allergies? It has been hypothesized that regularly eating honey may help fight allergies by gradually “vaccinating” the body against allergens like pollen because it contains the same spores that give allergy-sufferers so much trouble. The idea is that over time, the body gets used to the allergens and stops reacting to them. The catch is that it has to be locally produced honey, as pollen spores from another state may not be the same ones causing allergy symptoms where you live.
The other catch is that it hasn’t been proven to work, no matter how ardently honey-lovers swear by it. Most recently, a study conducted at the University of Connecticut Health Center found that neither a daily spoonful of locally collected, unpasteurized, unfiltered honey nor nationally collected, filtered and pasteurized honey improved allergy symptoms.
If you like honey, there’s no reason to stop eating it, but don’t count on it to magically cure your hay fever. Hmmm, we wonder if Winnie the Pooh had less allergies than other bears? (Read more)
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September 28, 2011 at 4:49 pm (Food and drink, Global Events, Health and wellness, News and politics)
Tags: Butcher's Beef, contaminated, E.coli, Recall, tainted, Tyson Fresh Meats
Thousands of Pounds of Beef Recalled for E. coli Scare |
Thousands of Pounds of Beef Recalled for E. coli Scare
After a family in Ohio falls ill, Tyson foods pulls its meat from stores.
Tyson Fresh Meats, Inc. could be more aptly named right about now. The company is pulling approximately 131,300 pounds of potentially tainted beef from stores this week after a family in Ohio fell ill from E. coli contamination, the Huffington Post reports.
The family, whose four children were sickened by the meat, bought the meat at a local Kroger supermarket. One of the children, a nine-year-old, was hospitalized for 10 days with severe diarrhea. Meat in the family’s home tested positive for E. coli bacteria.
Cincinnati-based Kroger spokesman Keith Dailey said that Kroger traced the distribution of the meat and pinpointed three geographic divisions, where stores will now display signs notifying customers of the recall. Kroger customers who purchased the beef from the tainted batch will also receive phone calls and emails notifying them with details of the recall. Most of the meat, however, has likely already been consumed, said Tyson spokesperson Gary Mickelson.
The meat was also distributed through a number of other stores, including Food Lion—which sells the product as Butcher’s Beef brand, in North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, Florida, Virginia and West Virginia—and to Bottom Dollar Food stores in North Carolina, reports the Huffington Post.
The meat was also distributed as a generic beef brand to stores in Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Maryland, Illinois, Indiana, Missouri, New York, Ohio, Tennessee, Texas and Wisconsin.
(Read more)
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September 27, 2011 at 9:41 pm (Global Events, Health and wellness)
Tags: fall prevention, flexability, health, mobility, Physical exercise, Range of motion, Seniors, Stretching, wellbeing
Stretching Makes Walking Easier for Seniors.
today’s health tip
——————————————————————————–
Tuesday, September 27
Find us:
Walk Strong, Stretch Daily
Motorized wheelchairs are not something to look forward to as you age; you’ll probably prefer to walk on your own two feet. Unfortunately, 25 percent of people between the ages of 75 and 84 have difficulty walking. That number increases to a startling 45 percent for all people over the age of 85. In order to keep your legs in great walking shape well into old age, your best bet is to get stretching.
According to a new study , walking is easier for older people who stretch a few times a week. Senior citizens who stretched not only had a significantly larger range of motion in their hips and ankles, but also had longer strides and a faster walking pace.
If you really want to keep those legs limber, don’t wait until you’re old too start stretching. Yoga classes are also a great way to incorporate stretching into your weekly routine.
Did you touch your toes yet today?
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September 27, 2011 at 7:11 pm (Global Events, Health and wellness, News and politics)
Tags: agriculture, devastation, environmental, extraction, farmlands, fracking, Gas flare, natural gas, soiled
In North Dakota, Wasted Natural Gas Flickers Against the Sky – NYTimes.com.
In North Dakota, Flames of Wasted Natural Gas Light the Prairie
Jim Wilson/The New York Times
Thirty percent of the natural gas extracted in North Dakota is flared off, like this gas near Ray. More Photos »
By CLIFFORD KRAUSS
Published: September 26, 2011
NEW TOWN, N.D. — Across western North Dakota, hundreds of fires rise above fields of wheat and sunflowers and bales of hay. At night, they illuminate the prairie skies like giant fireflies.
Every day, more than 100 million cubic feet of natural gas is flared this way — enough energy to heat half a million homes for a day.
The flared gas also spews at least two million tons of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere every year, as much as 384,000 cars or a medium-size coal-fired power plant would emit, alarming some environmentalists. (Read more)
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September 27, 2011 at 5:47 pm (Global Events, Health and wellness, News and politics)
Tags: altered level of consciousness, artificial hormones, cognitive, contraceptives, deficits, dementia, estrogen, left-brain studies, memory, progestoren, the Pill, woman
How Birth Control Affects A Woman’s Memory | Health Freedom Alliance.
How Birth Control Affects A Woman’s Memory
Submitted by Lois Rain on September 25, 2011 – 10:29 pm
A crucial discovery was made when researchers decided to test the effects of contraceptives on memory. Sex hormones like estrogen and progesterone which are linked to left brain cognition are suppressed to prevent pregnancy.
In the study, women using birth control for as little as one month showed difficulties recalling important details in a test. Is it possible that many women on the pill eventually seek Ritalin due to their altered concentration and memory?
~Health Freedoms
How Birth Control Affects A Woman’s Memory
Women who use contraceptives like birth control pills experience memory changes, according to new UC Irvine research. Their ability to remember and retain details is dramatically reduced.
“What’s most exciting about this study is that it shows the use of hormonal contraception alters memory,” UCI graduate researcher Shawn Nielsen said. “There are only a handful of studies examining the cognitive effects of the pill, and more than 100 million women use it worldwide.”
The change makes sense, said Nielsen, who works with neurobiologist Larry Cahill, because contraceptives suppress sex hormones such as estrogen and progesterone to prevent pregnancy. Those hormones were previously linked to women’s strong “left brain” memory by Cahill’s research group.
“This new finding may be surprising to some, but it’s a natural outgrowth of the research we’ve been doing on sex differences for 10 years,” Cahill said.
A neurobiologist not involved in the latest work agreed it was a logical and intriguing next step in the examination of memory differences between the sexes. Like any research, she added, it would be important to validate it further.
“Larry Cahill is already well known for his phenomenal research linking sex to memory,” said Pauline Maki, professor of psychiatry and psychology at the University of Illinois at Chicago, who specializes in memory and brain functioning. “The fact that women on oral contraceptives remembered different elements of a story tells us that estrogen has an influence on how women remember emotional events.” (Read more)
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