Eco-Nutrition Blog for EatWellBeFit.com

Hello, Happy Spring! Well it’s not spring yet but it sure feels like it in Seattle. We’ve had an unusually warm winter and this week it’s been sunny with blue skies. The flowers are blooming too!
Ok, let’s get down to business. Some government related stories of note: Michelle Obama’s Childhood Obesity Initiative (yay!), the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute’s partnership with Coca-Cola to raise awareness of heart disease (Huh? Go to www.cspinet.org for more details). If you want to get involved with getting BPA out of our foods… check out www.ewg.org and click on “take action”. This site is a great place to learn more about how reduce your exposure to toxins.
Reduce, reuse, buy organic, eat local foods! I’m going outside to play in the sun! later…

Welcoming a new decade…

Here we are in a New Year, I can’t help but look back on what the last year has been for many friends and clients. I’ve seen both positive and negative events for all. Some have lost jobs, had pay cuts, lost loved ones and others have made great strides in employment and in their recovery from health problems. I look forward to the new year to improve upon whatever has happened in the past year. We can all make goals to improve our lives in many ways, without goals we lose direction and motivation. My first goal this year is to continue to hone my skills to help others improve their health, along with lifestyle changes to protect our environment. As for a less lofty goal, I know I’ve been remiss in posting to this eco-nutrition blog, and intend post more often, providing updates on how our lifestyle changes can protect the planet. Let’s work towards positive change for the coming year!

Got things working with Wordpress.   Pictures have been restored to this blog along with more informative titles.  Thanks for your patience.  I’ll still working out a few kinks while learning how to use this tool.  More to come…

Sorry for the long absence, with the closing of Yahoo 360, it took me a while to figure out how to transfer my existing blog posts to Wordpress. After much frustration I’ve transferred the text but not the pictures. Give me some time and I’ll be back with regular posts and hopefully pictures.

Don’t panic, stay healthy!   Beside washing your hands, you can work on staying healthy by investing in yourself.  Get plenty of rest, stay hydrated, eat well and exercise to stay well.  Strengthening your immune system with healthy habits is a good defense.

Happy Spring! The local northwest asparagus has arrived at the farmers market. Tomorrow is Earth Day, what better way to celebrate than to plant something, whether it be in your garden, a community pea patch or a container plant. Flowers are beautiful but my preference is to plant edibles. No petroleum based trips to the store–it is a pleasure to be able to walk outside and shop in your garden for free. Enjoy Earth Day this year. Here’s a website to ponder over our mass impact on the earth. Photographer Chris Jordan Portraits of American Mass Consumption.

On my weekly visit to the Ballard Farmers Market, I was drawn to the Full Circle Farm’s stall by this beautiful bok choy with such slender stalks. The proprietor described how tender the stalks are, he said “they just slip onto your fork.” We then moved on to discuss the arugula and how it’s a favorite of Barak Obama. After I paid for the bok choy, he said “thanks, love.” Another overheard conversation at the Nash’s produce stand, a tip to get your kids to eat carrots. Try pureeing them into homemade mac n’ cheese, the carrots will provide the orange color that we have become accustomed to. The tag around the Full Circle Farms bok choy says “Don’t Panic, It’s Organic!” Visit your local farmers market an experience you won’t get at the grocery store.

Here we go again… to find out if your pistachios may be contaminated go to FDA website: www.accessdata.fda.gov
For a some background on the contamination check out this Seattle Times article : www.seattletimes.nwsource.com
Thankfully, the Trader Joes pistachios in my house are not on the list (at least for now)…

Here’s a cool T-shirt I picked up at last weekend at the Green Festival. It’s made by a company called Green Label www.greenlabel.com The shirts are made w/ organic cotton, sweatshop-free and low-impact dyes.
Last weekend’s Green Festival in Seattle was a blast! I went last year and it seemed like there were fewer well known speakers this year. I picked the few speakers that I recognized and didn’t regret it at all. The first talk was given by Kevin Danaher on Building the Green Economy, a very interesting talk about the state of the current economy and where we can go from here. Kevin is a very dynamic speaker. I thought the topic would be about jobs installing solar panels and so forth. I was surprised to hear that my profession as a nutritionist and personal fitness trainer is considered a “green” job. Preventative health care uses little resources and saves resource in the long run. It shifted my thoughts about “green” jobs. He talked about the need to change the perception of the word “conservative” to a more positive “green” term. Kevin is the co-founder of Global Exchange, a human rights organization that supports social, economic and environmental justice around the world. For more information on Global Exchange go to www.globalexchange.org They have a fair trade store and provide reality tours (trips to various country which immerse you into the culture of that county with guides based in those countries). I went a reality bike tour through Cuba many years ago. One of the most memorable trips I’ve ever taken. I learned about how Cubans do organic farming and grow medicinal herbs with few resources.
But I digress from the Green Festival, the next speaker was Alice Waters of Chez Panisse in Berkeley, know for starting the first locally sourced fresh food movement in the restaurant business. She is more recently known for organic garden projects in the school system. This is a great way to connect children to fresh produce and start them early in developing a preference for fresh fruits and vegetables. The Alice Water’s talk turned out to be a panel discussion with two other people whose names I didn’t get. One of the persons created the film “Food Fight” which sounded like an interesting film about local farmers vs. large food corporations. I will have to catch that later. I was amazed at how many people lined up for the Alice Water’s panel discussion. We were in the largest room and I was surprised we got a seat considering how long the line was. Alice was exactly how she is portrayed in her book “Alice Waters and Chez Panisse”, ethereal in her thoughts; blue sky ideas and surrounded by people who bring her thoughts to fruition. Then saw a film short, “What’s the Economy for, Anyway?” Lots of statistics and history on our economy told with a humorous twist.
The next day was Amy Goodman of “Democracy Now”, co-anchor of the independent news show. We didn’t even make it into the room there was such a crowd, we ended up in an overflow room with large monitor of her talk. Democracy Now is great independent journalism, no holding back and giving the party line. As side note she was arrested at the republican convention this last year, press pass and all!
As for the exhibits, this year there seem to be fewer food exhibitors and fewer samples. This may be a sign of the current economy. Most intriguing was the machine that took moisture out of the air and produced drinking water. I wasn’t clear on its efficiency; how much energy it took or how long it took to pull enough water from the air to get a certain volume of water.
Overall, the speakers are well worth seeing, the exhibits can be very crowded, especially the food exhibits and it’s fun to check out the “green” t-shirt designs. I always feel inspired afterwards. Check out the next Green Festival in your town www.greenfestivals.org

If you’re in Seattle this weekend, don’t miss going to the Green Festival at the convention center.  Today at noon Amy Goodman from Democracy Now! is speaking.  I went yesterday and there were some excellent speakers and exhibits on living green.  This year’s focus seems to be more about moving towards a “green” economy which isn’t just about green jobs but more than that.  I’ll provide a summary of the my experience later.   I highly recommend going if you can!