Posts Tagged ‘environmental degradation’

“The Ocean Needs Sharks More Than I Need Soup”

Monday, May 14th, 2012

Judy Ki hugs a whale shark at Shark Days in Sacramento, part of the campaign to safeguard real-life sharks being killed for shark fin soup.

Judy Ki Has Retired to a Career of Advocating For Sharks, Chickens, Pigs, and Politically Courageous Candidates

The family meals of Judy Ki’s Hong Kong childhood paved the way for her current whole foods, plant-based diet. She grew up in the Chinese tradition of eating fresh veggie dishes with only small amounts of meat and fish. Judy’s mom taught her to respect animals, including the (more…)

How To Get Animals Out of Our Vegetables

Sunday, April 8th, 2012

Davie Maxwell and his mom in the seedling greenhouse of Hidden Oasis farm. Davie starts his leafy green powerhouse crops out from seeds.

Davie Maxwell Pioneers Compassionate Farming for Delicious Leafy Greens

Whole food, plant-based diets and veganic farming are natural partners. Veganic gardeners grow crops without manure, bone or blood meal, or other animal products. While plant-based nutrition is a blossoming trend, raising cruelty-free crops is evolving more slowly.

Using veganic methods, Davie Maxwell grows the world’s healthiest, tastiest leafy greens on his 5-acre Hidden Oasis farm near Vancouver, Washington, a short drive from Portland. I was deeply impressed with (more…)

The Perfect Formula Diet Top 10 List of Plant-Based Happenings in 2011

Sunday, December 18th, 2011

The Perfect Formula Diet awards for plant-based happenings in 2011. The "top 10" list with 11 awards for an important year for the plant-based world.

Actually Eleven of the Top Good, Bad, and So-What Legacies of 2011

As 2011 speeds to its end, it’s time to reflect on the top events, organizations, trends, and people that will have a lasting impact on American food choices. The Perfect Formula Diet (PFD) 2011 awards point the way to making 2012 a better year for you and the planet.

THE BEST FOOD OF THE YEAR:

Kale – Kale was all over the media in 2011. This vegetable is universally recognized as dense with minerals, vitamins, phytochemicals (beneficial nutrients found only in plants), and fiber – all with barely any calories. WebMD calls kale “the queen of greens” and notes it is growing in popularity.

A recent Huffington Post blogger calls kale “the new beef.” This is way too kind to the beef industry. However, the point is that you can get all the nutrients in animal foods by eating kale, in a way that is infinitely healthier for you and the planet. Kale comes in many varieties and colors, with flat or curly leaves. You can enjoy kale raw or include it in just about anything you cook. Find this easy-to-grow powerhouse in farmers markets and supermarkets all over the country.

MOST FUN WAY TO CONSUME THE BEST FOOD OF THE YEAR:

Green smoothies– In recent years, (more…)

Five Top Sites to Get Toxic Chemicals Out of Your Life

Sunday, November 27th, 2011

It's no coincidence that the aisles of products with chemical ingredients in most drug stores ends at the pharmacy counter

Must-Have Information on Harmful Chemicals in Your Home

Whether you are buying personal care and household products for yourself or as a gift for others, you need to be aware of the toxic substances that lurk in these products. Manufacturers lure you in with sexy ads and bright packaging. Chemical-laden choices promise to (more…)

Fish Contains Worm Larvae

Sunday, October 2nd, 2011

This beautiful fish enjoys her ocean home, just as nature intended

Ten Reasons Seafood Is Not Safe or Appetizing

Government, media, and even health professionals flood you with advice to load up your diet with fish and fish oil. The alleged health benefits of eating fish center on a two nutrients: omega-3 fatty acids and protein.

Don’t be fooled by industry and government hype. Plants are the base of the food chain on planet earth. Plants are nutrient factories, while animals are nutrient consumers. Fish are animals, and as such get all their nutrients from plants or from (more…)

Green Spaces Aren’t Optional

Sunday, September 5th, 2010

Eating for Health with Your Eyes

At 177 foot South Falls, the highest waterfall in Silver Falls State Park, water pounds into a large pool with bone-crushing force and majestic beauty

Oregon’s Silver Falls State Park is a study in green. The forest is thick and welcoming. The sound of water shouts at the park’s ten waterfalls and sings along the steams connecting them. You can smell and feel the freshness in the air, and it’s not because of any canned scent. An amazing hiking trail, with breath-taking scenery at every step, loops around the waterfalls.

Can you feel better simply looking at plants? Thousand of studies show that plant-based nutrition is the healthiest way to eat. But what about just spending time in green spaces, which are open, undeveloped stretches of land with tress and other vegetation? Silver Falls State Park is an excellent example of a green space.

Researchers have found that merely being out in nature, even without exercising, (more…)

Your Skin is Like a Sponge

Friday, July 2nd, 2010

Personal Care Products Really Matter

Is your skin more like a paper towel or a piece of plastic wrap? Learn more in this video.  The personal care and cleaning products you choose are vital to your own health and to the planet.

Barbecue with a Side of Chemicals

Saturday, June 19th, 2010

Killer Reasons to Break Up with Your Grill This Summer

The start of warm summer breezes and promise of the Fourth of July inspire many to drag out their barbecue grill. Charcoal and lighter

Barbeques deliver a double dose of dangerous chemicals. These hazards get into your body through your lungs and your digestive tract.

fluid join the bestseller list. Outdoor cooking sets the stage for traditional get-togethers with family and friends.

This romance with barbecues has a dark side that few know about. After all, information about polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAH) is obscured by millions of dollars of ads and happy images for grilled meat.

As is the case for most toxic chemicals, the long-term health effects of PAH are poorly understood, so easy to ignore. Yet PAH is an insidious public health nightmare that can invade your own life and the next generation.

Truth in labeling would require an explicit warning on bags of charcoal and packs of meat and fish. “Eating grilled or smoked animal foods can cause DNA mutation, cancer, and lower intelligence in your children.” Wide knowledge of these dangers might inspire many to consider alternatives, or at least make informed decisions.

Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons are a product of incomplete combustion of materials that contain carbon. Burn tobacco, wood, oil, gasoline, coal, garbage – or meat and fish – and PAHs will form. Over 100 varieties of PAHs can menace our health and the environment.

A widespread nutrition myth touts that the major harm from (more…)

Toxic Chemicals: How Little Do You Want to Know?

Tuesday, May 11th, 2010

Cancer Panel Critics Portray Ignorance as Bliss

The President’s Cancer Panel, in the April 2010 report Reducing Environmental Cancer Risk, implores the nation’s scientists and policymakers to decisively address the potential harm from over 80,000 manmade chemicals. This call-to-action is dense with

There is no "away." All toxins end up on our planet, polluting air, water, soil, plants, animals, and us.

stunning facts and a willingness to question accepted wisdom. The document is clearly written, immensely readable, and more suspenseful than a mystery or spy thriller.

The Panel directly takes on some of the wealthiest and most powerful lobbies in the US. The chemical, agricultural, pharmaceutical, medical care, and medical research industries all face intense and direct scrutiny. The Panel also highlights the weakness of government “regulatory” agencies, which often do little more than rubber stamp industry requests at the public’s expense. The Panel even takes the military to task for its unchecked role in spreading carcinogens.

Yet the report is not sensational or strident in tone. It doesn’t have to be. The facts speak for themselves, and any extraneous commentary or criticism would only weaken the conclusions. Reducing Environmental Cancer Risk is meticulously researched, with 454 direct references and input from 45 experts from academia, government, industry, and advocacy groups who testified at Panel meetings.

You might think that it’s just common sense that toxic manmade chemicals may cause cancer and other serious health problems. You might believe that major scientific organizations would welcome investigation into this critical and poorly understood topic.

You would be wrong. Critics from the New York Times to the American Cancer Society have bashed the (more…)

Every Bite of Food Pushes Greenhouse Gases Up or Down

Saturday, March 20th, 2010

Bill McKibben and 350.org Can Magnify and Speed Their Impact

Bill McKibben, leading the international climate campaign 350.org, urged an attentive audience at Natural Products Expo West to make a difference for the future of the planet. Over 5200 demonstrations, which circled the globe in 181 countries on October 24, 2009, show grassroots understanding of the need to reduce atmospheric carbon dioxide to no more than 350 parts per million. The current level of 390 parts per million, rising with no end in sight, spells catastrophe for life on earth as we know it.

The most significant part of the talk was McKibben’s answer to an audience question. One woman asked why 350.org does not include a truly sustainable diet as a critical action item in the campaign. She pointed out that a recent analysis by Worldwatch Institute demonstrates that 51% of greenhouse gases are directly traceable to raising animals for food.

The effect of these native ruminants, in an intact ecosystem, on greenhouse gases is in no way like the impact of cows

The effect of these native ruminants, in an intact ecosystem, on greenhouse gases is in no way like the impact of cows

The obvious solution to getting at least halfway to the goal of stopping climate change is simple, rapid, and no cost – eat a plant-based diet.

In his response, McKibben acknowledged that factory farming animals is a huge cause of climate change. However, he was not advocating immediate action to change diet. Instead, he advanced the idea that a carbon tax, once enacted, would make factory farmed animals so expensive that meat would be priced out of the range of most people. This would happen because people in the animal foods business would have to pay the “true cost” of their carbon impact.

McKibben also theorized that “grass fed cattle” could actually be helpful in reducing greenhouse gases. The theory is that, as large animals roam and trample vegetation into the soil, the ground itself stores carbon and keeps it from (more…)