Monday, June 15, 2009


Modified sugarbeets stir controversy

Some concerned over request to plant crops on Boulder County open space.

By Zak Brown, Thursday, May 28, 2009

Should farmers be allowed to grow genetically modified sugarbeets on Boulder County open space?


BOULDER, Colo. — A group of six farmers said they'll be financially crippled if Boulder County commissioners don't allow them to grow genetically modified sugarbeets on the open space land they lease. But several residents who spoke at a Thursday night meeting said the county shouldn't allow potentially dangerous crops on public land.

"This is risky technology. I don't want us to be the 'oops' guinea pig," said Mary Rogers, of Boulder. "We don't know the consequences, and we're deluding ourselves if we think we do."

The Board of Commissioners will decide on the farmers' request to plant Roundup Ready Sugarbeets, which have been engineered to resist the herbicide Roundup, after hearing recommendations from the county's Parks and Open Space Advisory Committee and the Food and Agriculture Policy Council. The two groups held a joint study session on the issue Thursday night.

The new beets would make weed control far more efficient, the farmers said. They may also soon be the only way forward for a crop that's been a staple of Boulder County agriculture for more than a century, they said.

"We would be at a considerable disadvantage to not have this technology," said Paul Schlagel, part of the six-farmer group that leases nearly 1,000 acres of open space for sugarbeets. "You could see no beets grown on Boulder County Open Space soon."

The farmers belong to the Western Sugar Cooperative, which fines members if they don't meet a beet quota, which could become impossible without the Roundup Ready technology, Schlagel said. In fact, he said, many seed companies will probably stop selling conventional sugarbeet varieties because of the modified crop's popularity.

Since it was approved a year ago, more than 90 percent of the nation's sugarbeet crop has been converted to Roundup Ready, according to a Boulder County staff report.

Staff members recommended approval of the farmers' request, with the stipulation that no beets be planted within 50 feet of open water to protect amphibians from the spraying of Roundup.

They also said farmers -- in an effort to reduce pollen drift of the genetically modified seeds -- should check the plants every two weeks to make sure they aren't flowering. Staff said the problem wouldn't be major because sugarbeets only flower after two years, and they are harvested after a year.

But several residents urged members of the open space committee and food council to ignore the staff's recommendation when they make their own decisions next month.

"Just because genetically modified plants are grown on millions of acres doesn't mean they're safe," said Shirley Jin, of Boulder. "Do Boulder residents want to pay taxes for land that's producing this stuff?"

Sunday, June 14, 2009

15 benefits of Tulsi


15 Benefits of the Holy Basil (Tulsi)

The tulsi or holy basil is an important symbol in the Hindu religious tradition and is worshipped in the morning and evening by Hindus at large. The holy basil is also a herbal remedy for a lot of common ailments. Here're top fifteen medicinal uses of tulsi. Tulsi is also one of the most cherished healing herbs of India, Tulsi (Holy Basil) has been used for centuries to promote immunity and to enhance stress resilience, support strength and stamina and to promote calmness and clarity. Tulsi parallels the actions of: Ginseng (without the stimulant effects), echinacea, garlic, clove, golden seal, ginger, oregano thyme and turmeric.

1. Healing Power: The tulsi plant has many medicinal properties. The leaves are a nerve tonic and also sharpen memory. They promote the removal of the catarrhal matter and phlegm from the bronchial tube. The leaves strengthen the stomach and induce copious perspiration. The seed of the plant are mucilaginous.

2. Fever & Common Cold: The leaves of basil are specific for many fevers. During the rainy season, when malaria and dengue fever are widely prevalent, tender leaves, boiled with tea, act as preventive against theses diseases. In case of acute fevers, a decoction of the leaves boiled with powdered cardamom in half a liter of water and mixed with sugar and milk brings down the temperature. The juice of tulsi leaves can be used to bring down fever. Extract of tulsi leaves in fresh water should be given every 2 to 3 hours. In between one can keep giving sips of cold water. In children, it is every effective in bringing down the temperature.

3. Coughs: Tulsi is an important constituent of many Ayurvedic cough syrups and expectorants. It helps to mobilize mucus in bronchitis and asthma. Chewing tulsi leaves relieves cold and flu.

4. Sore Throat: Water boiled with basil leaves can be taken as drink in case of sore throat. This water can also be used as a gargle.

5. Respiratory Disorder: The herb is useful in the treatment of respiratory system disorder. A decoction of the leaves, with honey and ginger is an effective remedy for bronchitis, asthma, influenza, cough and cold. A decoction of the leaves, cloves and common salt also gives immediate relief in case of influenza. They should be boiled in half a liter of water till only half the water is left and add then taken.

6. Kidney Stone: Basil has strengthening effect on the kidney. In case of renal stone the juice of basil leaves and honey, if taken regularly for 6 months it will expel them via the urinary tract.

7. Heart Disorder: Basil has a beneficial effect in cardiac disease and the weakness resulting from them. It reduces the level of blood cholesterol.

8. Children's Ailments: Common pediatric problems like cough cold, fever, diarrhea and vomiting respond favorably to the juice of basil leaves. If pustules of chicken pox delay their appearance, basil leaves taken with saffron will hasten them.

9. Stress: Basil leaves are regarded as an 'adaptogen' or anti-stress agent. Recent studies have shown that the leaves afford significant protection against stress. Even healthy persons can chew 12 leaves of basil, twice a day, to prevent stress. It purifies blood and helps prevent several common elements.

10. Mouth Infections: The leaves are quit effective for the ulcer and infections in the mouth. A few leaves chewed will cure these conditions.

11. Insect Bites: The herb is a prophylactic or preventive and curative for insect stings or bites. A teaspoonful of the juice of the leaves is taken and is repeated after a few hours. Fresh juice must also be applied to the affected parts. A paste of fresh roots is also effective in case of bites of insects and leeches.

12. Skin Disorders: Applied locally, basil juice is beneficial in the treatment of ringworm and other skin diseases. It has also been tried successfully by some naturopaths in the treatment of leucoderma.

13. Teeth Disorder: The herb is useful in teeth disorders. Its leaves, dried in the sun and powdered, can be used for brushing teeth. It can also be mixed with mustered oil to make a paste and used as toothpaste. This is very good for maintaining dental health, counteracting bad breath and for massaging the gums. It is also useful in pyorrhea and other teeth disorders.

14. Headaches: Basil makes a good medicine for headache. A decoction of the leaves can be given for this disorder. Pounded leaves mixed with sandalwood paste can also be applied on the forehead for getting relief from heat, headache, and for providing coolness in general.

15. Eye Disorders: Basil juice is an effective remedy for sore eyes and night-blindness, which is generally caused by deficiency of vitamin A. Two drops of black basil juice are put into the eyes daily at bedtime.

Holy Basil Tea
(Tulsi Tea)

Holy basil tea, a flavorful hot brew or iced drink, is made from the leaves and blossoms of the Tulsi basil plant.

Tulsi is one of the most cherished healing herbs of India, Tulsi (Holy Basil) has been used for centuries to promote immunity and to enhance stress resilience, support strength and stamina and to promote calmness and clarity. Tulsi parallels the actions of: Ginseng (without the stimulant effects), echinacea, garlic, clove, golden seal, ginger, oregano thyme and turmeric.

Also referred to as Tulsi tea, the beverage originated in India thousands of years ago and is known for its rich antioxidant and adaptogenic properties that promote wellness and longevity.

Since it does not come from the tea bush, Camellia Sinensis, it is not a true tea. Rather, the flavorful brew is a tasty and beneficial herbal infusion, which is prepared in the same way as one would make black, green, oolong (wu-long) or white tea.

tulsi teaHoly basil contains hundreds of compounds known as phyto-chemicals that work together to create strong anti-oxidant, anti-bacterial, anti-viral, and immune-enhancing properties.

These support the body's natural defense against germs, stress and disease. Drinking the tea is also claimed to rejuvenate the soul by balancing metabolism, building stamina and promoting mental clarity.

The Tulsi tea plant is referred to as the "queen of herbs" and has been an integral tonic of India’s holistic health system of Ayurvedic medicines. The benefits of tulsi leaves have been documented since around 5000 BC.

The holy basil brew can be made with any or all of these three types of Tulsi plants:

* Rama
* Krishna
* Vana

It is caffeine free like other herbal infusions and contains vitamins A and C, calcium, zinc, iron and chlorophyll.

Tuesday, June 9, 2009

INTERNATIONAL LIVING FOOD SUMMIT III


INTERNATIONAL LIVING FOOD SUMMIT III

Vibrant Health Through Plant-Based Nutrition



These historic Summits were held at the Hippocrates Health Institute in West Palm Beach Florida on

January 14, 2006, April 28, 2007, and May 2, 2009. The Summits convened to unify the leadership in the

Living Food Movement, establishing scientifically based common standards for optimum health.

Leaders from eight countries (with a combined total of over 500 years following this lifestyle) agreed on

the following standards:


The Optimum Diet for Health/Longevity:

• Vegan (no animal products of any kind, cooked or raw)

• Organic

• Whole Foods

• At least 80% raw (the remaining to be Vegan, whole food, and organic)

• High in nutrition such as vitamins, antioxidants and phytonutrients

• Highly mineralized

• Contains a significant quantity of chlorophyll-rich green foods

• Contains adequate complete protein from plant sources

• Provides excellent hydration with a large proportion of high-water content foods and pure water

• Includes raw vegetable juices

• Contains all essential fatty acids from naturally occurring plant sources

• Has moderate, yet adequate caloric intake

• Contains only low to moderate sugar and exclusively from whole food sources (fruitarianism is strongly

discouraged)

• Contains minimal amounts of unprocessed salts, as needed (depending upon your constitution)

• Is nutritionally optimal for both detoxification and rebuilding


We also agree:

• Eating local, ripe, seasonally available foods as appropriate is adviseable.

• Deficiencies of both Vitamin B-12 and Vitamin D-3 are common issues for mental and physical health, for

anyone on any diet. Plant-based supplementation of Vitamin B-12 is imperative.Adequate Vitamin D levels

can be maintained with sufficient sun exposure. When exposure is inadequate, take appropriate levels of plant –

based Vitamin D-3.

• The addition of enzyme active superfoods and whole food supplements is also advised but does not take the

place of the optimum diet described above.

• Caffeinated and/or addictive substances (even in their raw form), such as cacao/chocolate, coffee, caffeinated

teas, and alcohol are highly discouraged. etc.

• This way of eating can be further optimized by tailoring it based on individual needs (within the principles

stated).

• Benefits derived by following these principles are proportional to how well they are followed.

• We will remain open-minded, and this information will be updated and expanded upon, if necessary, as new

research becomes available.

• Diet is a critical part of a healthy lifestyle, yet not the entire picture. A full spectrum, health supportive

lifestyle is encouraged. This includes physical exercise, exposure to sunshine, as well as psychological health.

Avoiding environmental toxins and toxic products is essential. Paramount is pure water (for consumption and

bathing), the use of natural fiber clothing, and non-toxic personal care products. Also consider healthy options

in home furnishings/building materials and related items.


All participating leaders agree that eating according to the International Living Food Summit Guidelines will

significantly address the urgent issues of health, environmental sustainability, world hunger, and a

compassionate respect for all life.


The following leaders support this Summit Statement:

Fred Bisci, PhD – USA

Tamera Campbell – Vision – USA

Katharine Clark – RN, CMT, CCT - USA

Brenda Cobb – Living Foods Institute - USA

Gabriel Cousens, MD, MD(H) – Diplomat American Board of Holistic Medicine - USA

Anna Maria Clement, CN, NMD, PhD – Hippocrates Health Institute - USA

Brian Clement, CN, NMD, PhD – Hippocrates Health Institute – USA

Karin Dina, DC – RawFoodEducation.com - USA

Rick Dina, DC – RawFoodEducation.com - USA

Dorit – Green Lifestyle Film Festival – USA/Israel

Carole Dougoud – Institute Haute Vitalite - Switzerland

Kare Engstrom – Dietician - Sweden

John Eagle Freedom – Health City USA

Laura Gonzalez – GWAH Healing Institute – USA

Jane Holmes – Living Foods Institute – USA

Elizabeth Kapadia, DN – GWAH Healing Institute – USA

Viktoras Kulvinskas – “Grandfather” of the Living Foods Movement – USA/Costa Rica

Dan Ladermann – Institute for Vibrant Living – USA

Marie Christine Lhermitte – Chemin du mas Magnuel - France

George Malkmus – Hallelujah Acres - USA

Rhonda Malkmus – Hallelujah Acres - USA

Paul Nison – The Raw Life – USA

David Rainoshek, MA – JuiceFeasting.com - USA

Katrina Rainoshek – JuiceFeasting.com - USA

Claudine Richard – Naturopath - France

Michael Saiber – Vision, E3Live - USA

Jameth Sheridan, ND – HealthForce Nutritionals – USA

Cherie Soria – Living Light Culinary Institute – USA

Diana Store – RawSuperfoods.com – UK/The Netherlands

Jill Swyers – Living Foods For Health – UK/Portugal

Walter J. Urban, PhD – USA - Costa Rica

Tuesday, June 2, 2009




The Little Muddy Farm CSA
816-225-7344

Make Checks Payable to:
"Robert Jones"


Sign up for The Little Muddy Summer/Fall Vegetable CSA is now available. Prepayment is accepted by check at this time. The amount for our 2009 Summer CSA Farm Fresh Produce Share is $375 prepaid and consists of a fifteen week period from June 19 through September 25. The Little Muddy works with local family farms to bring freshly harvested organic crops to your table. Our Farm Shares delivery service means you can participate in a CSA and support local farms without having to drive to a pick-up location. You can now enjoy weekly (in spring/summer/fall) or monthly (in winter) deliveries of organic and naturally grown produce from a small local farm directly to your door. With The Little Muddy community supported agriculture (CSA), you become a "member" of the farm for the season and you receive a delivery of your portion of the farm’s harvest. As the season progresses, the harvest changes so you continue to taste and discover new food throughout the season. Members are updated with an email newsletter with information and farm reports. Currently we only deliver in the Johnson County Kansas area. Share Holders outside this area will pickup on Saturdays at 2nd & Douglas between 7:00 am and 10:00 am. Your Farm Share will also include easy-to-follow recipes so that you can learn to cook the food we deliver.

More About Community Supported Agriculture (CSA)

CSA is a unique approach to bringing farms and families together for great food and to support small local farms and sustainable agriculture. Members of the farm pledge in advance to cover the anticipated costs of the farm operation. In return, they receive shares in the farm's bounty throughout the growing season, as well as the satisfaction gained from reconnecting to the land and their food supply. Members also share in the risks of farming, including unfavorable weather or pests. By selling directly to a community of members who have provided the farmer with working capital in advance, farmers gain some financial security in an uncertain time and are relieved of much of the burden of marketing. For the farmer, it means having the resources to buy seed and equipment and the time to do what they love to do – farm! For you, a whole season of great food and a direct connection to its source. We like to think of it as doing good by eating better. What’s in a CSA Share: Shares are designed for 1-2 adults who love vegetables or a family with small children. Vegetarian or larger families often purchase two shares. While quantity depends on what is being harvested on the farm each week, each weekly vegetable share generally includes 6-8 varieties and up to a half bushel of fresh vegetables, with many different delicious varieties including outstanding heirloom types not available in stores. Fruit shares contain 1-3 items each week. Egg shares include 1 dozen pasture-raised, hand-collected organic eggs with each weekly box. Winter shares also contain eggs and other farm-made products in addtional to vegetables.

http://www.localharvest.org/farms/M8812
http://thelittlemuddyfarm.blogspot.com/


Organic Seed Producer Battles over Genetically Modified Beet Contamination

gmobeets



By Bennett Hall, Corvallis Gazette-Times
Democrat Herald [Oregon, USA]
30 May 2009



Organic seed producer Frank Morton has been warning people for years that genetically modified organisms pose a serious threat to the Willamette Valley’s vegetable seed industry. Now he thinks his worst GMO nightmare may be coming true.

Roundup Ready sugarbeets - a patented variety engineered by Monsanto to tolerate the company’s widely used Roundup herbicide - have turned up in a soil mixture being sold to gardeners at a Corvallis landscaping supply business just a few miles from Morton’s fields.

He fears some of those roots may now be sprouting in area gardens. If so, they could soon start to bolt, sending out clouds of pollen that could fertilize his crop of golden chard - a closely related plant - and render it worthless for the organic seed market. It would also negate years of breeding that went into producing an especially cold-hardy line.

Worse still, Morton says, the GMO sugarbeets could cross-pollinate the fields of other chard growers in the area who supply seed to major bagged-salad distributors in California, potentially introducing genetically modified chard into the food system without the approval of federal regulators.

“I’d say we’ve got maybe two weeks to find it before it starts shedding pollen,” Morton said. “I think we’ve got a ticking time bomb on our hands.”

This is exactly the kind of problem Morton was hoping to head off in court.

Last year, at Morton’s instigation, the Center for Food Safety, the Sierra Club, the Organic Seed Alliance and High Mowing Organic Seeds filed suit against the U.S. Department of Agriculture over Roundup Ready sugarbeets. Morton is a member of the Center for Food Safety and sits on the board of the Organic Seed Alliance.

The lawsuit, now before a federal judge in California, contends that USDA officials violated federal law when they deregulated the genetically modified sugarbeets in 2005 and asks for an injunction to halt their planting, sale or distribution.

Commercial cultivation of Roundup Ready beets, the plaintiffs claim, could contaminate organic seed stocks, harm consumers, and damage the environment by encouraging increased use of Roundup herbicide.

The USDA is contesting the suit.

All of this mattered to Morton because he wanted to keep genetically modified beets out of his own back yard.

The Willamette Valley is the source of virtually all of the sugarbeet seed produced in the United States, but until recently, all of that seed was conventionally grown.

Now, however, the big Midwestern growers that dominate the industry are demanding beets that can tolerate Roundup, and Willamette Valley sugarbeet seed producers are acting to oblige their customers.

“Right out of the gate, they screwed up,” Morton said. “All along they’ve been talking about their impeccable seed-protection practices, and the first year they try to go 100 percent Roundup Ready production, they’ve already had an accident.”

Genetically modified crops are a contentious subject in the Willamette Valley, a highly productive farming region where a wide variety of seed crops are grown.

The most important of these is grass seed, a half-billion-dollar industry for the state, but others are big business as well.

Vegetable and flower seeds posted gross sales of $22.5 million in 2007, the most recent year for which statistics are available, and sugarbeet seed generated $3.5 million.

Purity is essential to seed producers because the marketplace demands it. Homeowners don’t want weeds sprouting in a freshly planted lawn, and backyard gardeners don’t want pink radishes growing from a bag of white radish seed.

Pickiest of all are organic gardeners, who pay a premium for seed certified to come from plants grown without chemicals - and without genetic engineering. Even a small amount of GMO content would cost a batch of seeds its organic certification.

“There’s a large portion of the population that wants nothing to do with genetically modified foods,” Morton said. “If we get one in 10,000 (seeds), we consider that contaminated. Our customers will not buy it.”

That sort of contamination, Morton said, could deal a heavy blow to his company, Wild Garden Seeds of Philomath, a small venture that had about $170,000 in sales last year. The business produces about 150 seed varieties, all organic, and employs five full-time workers, plus seasonal help.

In addition to ruining his chard crop, Morton said, GMO contamination could damage his reputation - and could potentially harm the reputation of all organic growers in the Willamette Valley.

“In the organic seed industry, the watchword is integrity,” he said, “and that means zero tolerance for GMO presence in the seed.”

Cross-pollination can be a problem for all seed growers - organic, conventional or genetically modified. To guard against possible tainting of seed crops, the Willamette Valley Specialty Seed Association has devised an elaborate system of isolation zones.

Farmers use stick pins flagged with squares of colored paper to mark the locations of sensitive crops on one of two “pinning maps” - one for the south valley, one for the north - kept at the Linn and Marion County offices of the Oregon State University Extension Service.

The association has established minimum isolation distances between crops. GMO sugarbeets, for instance, can’t be grown within three miles of any related species, including table beets, fodder beets and chard.

Dan McGrath, an Extension agent in the Linn County office, said it’s a good system. The growers respect each other’s isolation zones, work with the association to resolve disputes and take all responsible precautions, sanitizing their fields after harvest and taking care to prevent seed spills during transport.

“It’s pretty well organized,” McGrath said. “The possibility of cross-contamination is pretty low.”

Of course, the system only works as long as the plants stay where they’re put.

On May 6, OSU weed scientist Carol Mallory-Smith was notified that a soil mixture being sold at Pro Bark in west Corvallis contained sugarbeet roots. The next day Mallory-Smith obtained a sample and confirmed the mix included viable sugarbeet roots, some of which tested positive for the Roundup Ready gene.

Because the roots could sprout and produce pollen, they could cross-pollinate related species, introducing the Roundup Ready gene to non-GMO crops that could spread it even further.

“It’s happened in the past with corn (and) it’s happened in the past with canola,” Mallory-Smith said.

Not only does that pose a risk to organic seed producers like Morton, she said, it would also be viewed with alarm by organic gardeners and others opposed to genetic engineering.

“This is an emotional issue in a lot of ways,” Mallory-Smith said. “It’s a scientific issue, but it has a lot of social implications and its has a lot of economic implications.”

Julie Jackson, who owns Pro Bark with her husband, Jeff, said the couple had no idea there was any viable plant material in the mix or they would never have sold it.

She said the soil mixture - a product called Fertile Mix - had been removed from sale but wouldn’t say where it was now or how much was sold to the public. She said the soil that went into the mix came from several sources and she didn’t know which might have been the origin of the beet roots.

“As far as we knew, we were just recycling potting soil,” Jackson said. “We thought we were doing somebody else a favor and they thought they were doing us a favor, and it turns out to have been unwise on somebody’s part.”

There are lots of farmers in the valley who grow sugarbeet seed, but all of the production is under contract to two companies: West Coast Beet Seed Co. in Salem, and Betaseed in Tangent. So far, neither has come forward to take responsibility for the GMO beet roots that got away, even though numbered tags found with the roots could probably be used to identify the source.

One reason for their reticence is the Center for Food Safety suit.

When asked which company was the source of the problem, Greg Loberg of West Coast Beet Seed declined to comment.

“We’re not going to talk about that,” he said. “There’s active litigation.”

Phone calls to Betaseed officials were not returned last week.

Likewise, the Willamette Valley Specialty Seed Association - which counts both organic seed producers like Morton and the two sugarbeet seed companies among its membership - is staying out of the fray for now.

“We’re trying to wait for this litigation to get done so we can talk about it more freely and set up some precautions,” said Craig Armbrust, the association’s president.

But he acknowledged that GMOs are a hot button topic for members and said the group is taking an official stand on another genetically modified crop.

“I can tell you that for the brassicas - cabbage - our position is to keep GMOs out,” Armbrust said.

Lawsuit or no lawsuit, Morton wants somebody to tidy up the biotech mess on his doorstep before his worst fears are realized.

Whoever’s responsible for allowing Roundup Ready sugarbeets to get into gardening soil, Morton believes, needs to track down everybody who bought some and recover the roots before they start shedding genetically altered pollen.

“I just think the GMOs are too difficult to contain,” he said. “Everybody said it couldn’t possibly happen, and I say when mistakes do happen, there has to be a way to clean them up.”

Bennett Hall can be reached at bennett.hall@lee.net or 758-9529.