SESSION 3 OF

3 PART SERIES

GREEN FOOD

GREEN YARD

GREEN FOOD

You Are What You Eat!

Seems simple!

1. Choose food that tastes good to you

2. Eat that food, you satisfy your hunger or thirst

3. Discrete that food. That’s it.

NO. NO. NO.

1. Food enters your system & is INSTANTLY put to use

2. Your body utilizes all of the useful parts

3. discrete the not so useful!

So, you ARE what you eat!

FACTS

• Most of your food has been “infected”

• Bad for the environment; Bad for YOU, too.

• U.S. sales of organic food and beverages keep growing!

• “Natural” does NOT mean organic

• FDA Seal = 95% organic

• Green Seal = 100%

• “Made w/ Organic..” = 70%

• What’s keeping you?

• Habit & Cost

FACTS

Most don’t farm, but forage at Grocery Store

Chemicals from seed to table

3 Groups:

Those that Kill (pesticides, herbicides, fungicides)

Those that Grow (fertilizers, GH, antibiotics)

Those that Beautify (artificial color/flavor, preservatives, additives)

A dead zone the size of New Jersey in the Northern Gulf of Mexico appears every year!

Cause? Conventional farming in the Midwest.

FACTS

Livestock & manure methane alone directly release

greenhouse gases equivalent to what’s produced by

33 MILLION cars

DDT banned in 1973, yet over 3 decades later, still found in humans.

Lead, Mercury, Arsenic & Copper all used as pesticides for over a century

Gov’t limits, but no system for checking!

What about my Strawberries from Chili.. Always summer somewhere!

Fruit Salad = One Heck-of-Accumulation!!

U.S. Organic Market Statistics

Fruits and Vegetables

Growth… 20-25% per year for nearly 10 years

U.S. Sales… $8 billion in 2001

… 1% of sales

Baby Foods• Spice is Nice! – 6-9 times!!

• Turmeric – destroys cancer causing molecules

• Cinnamon – blood sugar/ cholesterol

• Ginger – cancer/digestion/nausea

• Go For Color! = Vitamins/ nutrients

• Organic, Organic .. I’ll say It again.. ORGANIC!

•Birth thru age 3 – brains growing faster than ever

•Top 7: 1. Milk 2. Soy 3. Cereal 4. fruits/veggies 5. Meat 6. Corn 7. Cotton

• Allergies/Sensitivities – Don’t forget about mom’s milk!

• Lose the Juice – AAP even says so!

Pollute water systems shower/bathe/drink/wash/clean

Compare “Apples to Apples”

The Meat in Your Grocery: Like those larger-than-life athletes in professional sports who are on steroids. They don’t come that way naturally. It that what you

want to eat?

Fertilizers

Remember: Additives are NOT food, they only do things TO food.

Common Additives:

~ BHA, BHT, Propyl Gallate

~ Potassium Bromate

~ Nitrates/Nitrites

~ Monosodium Glutamate (MSG)

~ Artificial Sweeteners

~ High Fructose Corn Syrup

~ Hydrogenated Fats/Trans Fats

~ Olestra

~ Dyes

Food, by nature is perishable

Additives

Background• Artificial fertilizers invented 150 yrs. Ago• Fertilizers and pesticides (ie, DDT) were widely used

post WWII• Pesticides: chemicals designed to kill living things • Caused failing soil health• 60’s, 70’s and 80’s and keeps going!• Growers must be certified by state &/or national • Organic landscape including lawns, trees, shrubs,

and other landscape plants.

Health Benefits• Phytonutrients (pronounced “fight-o-nutrients”), also called

phytochemicals, are natural bioactive compounds found in fruits and vegetables that works together with vitamins, minerals, and fiber to promote

good health. • Organic produce can contain 10-50% more phytonutrients.• Hawaiian research: conventional fresh fruits and juices raises

the risk of Parkinson’s disease.• Intake of pesticides can cause symptoms• Reduces exposure• Many approved before research linked to cancer• Now: EPA considers 60% of all herbicides, 90% of all

fungicides and 30% of all insecticides as potentially cancer

causing.

• More susceptible • Children consume more food per kilo of body

weight • Effects their mental and motor skills

as well as aggressive behavior• Preservatives and additives can

lead to hyperactivity in children

Health Benefits for Children

• More expensive to produce

•More manual labor (w/o “suicides”)

• Demand exceeds supply

• Not always local organic!.. Not cheap!

• Farm subsidies;

•billions = lower costs in markets

•pay out on April 15th!

Cost

• Become a Peripheral Shopper

• Real Labels

• can’t pronounce = don’t buy

• > 4 syllables = don’t buy

• # in the name = don’t buy

• Buy Organic

• Farmers Markets

What To Do

Budget• Buy Smart: see handout

• Shop Around

• Buy Local

• Invest in a farm

• Buy in Bulk (with friends)

• Join a Co-Op

• Store brand organics

• Grow your own!

GREEN GARDEN

• Organic Seeds

• online sources: seedsofchange.com, wildgardenseed.com

Start

• Provides Oxygen = ONLY plus

• Not natural

• Where pesticides are used 60-90% earthworms are poisoned.

Lawn

30% of water consumed on East Coast goes to watering lawns; rises to 60% on the West Coast.

Why would I put this stuff on the grass then

encourage my children… to play, run, and even roll

all over it?

• Choose locally adapted grass• Keep length slightly long (2.5 to 3.5 inches)• Water deeply• Use push mower• Leave grass clipping on the lawn• Use corn gluten as a natural weed killer• Spot-treat weeds with common full-strength vinegar on a sunny day

Lawn

LAWN ALTERNATIVES:

~ Irish Moss, Blue Star Creeper, Baby’s Tears: Ground Cover

Lawn

LAWN ALTERNATIVES:

~ Irish Moss, Blue Star Creeper, Baby’s Tears

~ Buffalo Grass

~ Eco Lawn

• Choose locally adapted grass• Keep length slightly long (2.5 to 3.5 inches)• Water deeply• Use push mower• Leave grass clipping on the lawn• Use corn gluten as a natural weed killer• Spot-treat weeds with common full-strength vinegar on a sunny day

GardeningSustainable Approach

• Each plant is part of a whole system• Starts with soil health and management• Choose the right plant for the site and climate• Control weeds, insects, diseases• Use correct cultural practices

– Variety selection, mulching, planting dates, etc.

• May take several years to amendment soils, control weeds• Not an “overnight fix”, but will show improvement over time• See what methods work best for you and the areas you

are gardening

1. Build Healthy Soil• Compost – make it!• Fertilizer – leaves, branches, roots, weeds, lawn clippings• Worms – raise as a family; “Can-o-worms” magicworms

2. Timing of Seeding (Johnny’s Selected Seeds; Gardeners Supply Catalog) & Planting

3. Variety selection & crop rotation

4. Pest Control• Biodiversity – many different types of plants• Natural pesticides – eartheasy.com

5. Weed Control• Mulching• Pull

6. Plant a Tree• Trees eat CO2 & clean up the air• Family trees

Gardening

• A NASA study found that the following indoor plants were most effective in removing formaldehyde, benzene, and carbon monoxide from the air:

• Bamboo palm• Chinese evergreen• English ivy• Gerbera daisy• Janet Craig • Marginata• Mass cane/corn plant• Mother-in-law’s tongue• Pot mum• Peace Lily

Gardening

•Organic Pesticides --- if you must!• gardensalive.com; cleanairgardening.com, extremelygreen.com

• PVC-free hoses•Water plants early in the day so foliage has time to dry; don’t promote diseases

Garden Care

Homeowners use proportionately 3-6 times more pesticides in their

yards than farmers do on their crops.

H.D.R.A. Organic Guidelines

• Henry Doubleday Research Assoc. • No legal standing, just guidelines for

organic gardening methods• Closely match European Union Guidelines

for organic production in the U.K

H.D.R.A. Categories

• Best Practice, Acceptable, Qualified Acceptance, Not Recommended

• Soil, manures and waste plant materials, fertilizers, rotation, pest management, etc.

Advantages

• No residues in food; less in human blood and fatty tissue

• Fresher- no long distance shipping• Studies show organic produce is higher in

some vitamins, especially Vitamin C• Washington State University study compared

conventionally grown and organically grown apples; organic had a higher sugar content: acidity. Verified by a taste test panel.

Why Grow Organic

• Safer for the environment (air, water, soil)– No unwanted nitrates and salts– Reduces groundwater contamination– Residues in soil

• Safer for wildlife and animals– Birds (encourage wildlife to control pests) robins/cutworms– Insects (no disruption of beneficial insects) lady bugs/aphids– Pets – may carry in chemicals on their paws; breakdown is slower

when no water or sunlight

THANK YOU

Please

• Fill Out Questionnaire• ENJOY your food from

PIZZA FUSION!!