http://www.natural-healers.com Organic Health, Master Herbalist, Alternative Medicine Fri, 14 Mar 2008 14:32:00 +0000 http://backend.userland.com/rss092 en A NaturalNews Special Report by Mike Adams http://www.naturalnews.com/Report_HPV_Vaccine_0.html (NaturalNews) For the last several years, HPV vaccines have been marketed to the public and mandated in compulsory injections for young girls in several states based on the idea that they prevent cervical cancer. Now, NaturalNews has obtained documents from the FDA and other sources (see below) which ... http://www.natural-healers.com/2008/03/14/the-great-hpv-vaccine-hoax-exposed/ The Slow Cook has a provocative post on what the collapse of the Soviet Union did to Cuba: it improved the diet, according to a study in the American Journal of Epidemiology. The Cuban economy had become highly dependent on the financial support as well as fuel, fertilizers and pesticides provided ... http://www.natural-healers.com/2007/10/15/embargo-weight-loss-and-the-cuban-sandwich/ There’s an interesting interview with Michael Pollan over at Grist. Gives a preview of his new book and tidbits on food, farming and politics. Retail Retail RetailOriginal post by Samuel Fromartz and software by Elliott Back http://www.natural-healers.com/2007/10/15/interview-with-pollan/ I’ll be speaking at a local foods panel at Todd Gray’s Equinox Restaurant in Washington on Sunday at 4 p.m. Tracey Ryder, co-founder, Edible Communities publications, will also be on hand. If you’re interested click on the link for a ticket, which includes a tasting too. Organic Organic Original post ... http://www.natural-healers.com/2007/10/12/if-youre-curious-and-hungry-in-dc/ Where do organic consumers live? Primarily in the West, according to a recent survey by Scarborough Research. Here are the top regions for organic food purchases (percentage of consumers buying organic food at least once a month in brackets). San Francisco/Oakland/San Jose (35 percent) Seattle/Tacoma (32 percent) Portland (27 percent) Washington, D.C. (26 percent) Denver ... http://www.natural-healers.com/2007/10/12/behind-the-o-market/ Grist has launched a farming and food series, with a lead-off piece by Tom Philpott looking at the Mars and Venus of industrial and sustainable agriculture in Iowa. Highly recommended. Food and Drink Food and Drink Original post by Samuel Fromartz and software by Elliott Back http://www.natural-healers.com/2007/10/11/a-tale-of-two-counties/ Today’s Times had a piece on pesto that got me hungry, so I decided to make some myself. (Click the image for a slide show of the process, which begins in the garden). Contrary to the article, I think the key to good pesto is a mortar and pestle. Why? ... http://www.natural-healers.com/2007/10/10/unrepentant-foodie-makes-lunch/ Here’s one of the earliest recorded discussions of organic food by regulators in the state of California. Ray Green, manager of the organic program for the state department of agriculture, tells me he saved it on the way to the shredder. Click image to enlarge: Media Media Original post by ... http://www.natural-healers.com/2007/10/10/organic-history-circa-1963/ The Wedge Co-Op in Minneapolis, one of the oldest and largest natural food co-ops in the nation, inks a deal to buy Gardens of Eagan organic farm. The farm’s owners, Martin and Atina Diffley, have farmed organically for 35 years. "Martin and I knew we didn’t want to keep farming ... http://www.natural-healers.com/2007/10/09/bought-the-farm-and-other-news-bites/ I’m often asked if "organic is better." Big question. But here’s part of the answer from Harold McGee in the Times. In a novel study, he writes, Swiss researchers offered rats identical biscuits made from organic and conventional wheat. The rats ate significantly more of the former. The authors call this result ... http://www.natural-healers.com/2007/10/03/taste-stress-and-the-rats-choice/ The following was written by an organic dairy farmer in Truxton, N.Y., who is also active in the Northeast Organic Dairy Farmers Association. ChewsWise welcomes comments from other organic producers or industry participants with varying points of view. By Kathie Arnold What makes a cow organic?  The answer has certainly been controversial over the last ... http://www.natural-healers.com/2007/09/28/what-makes-a-cow-organic/ Here’s what I’m reading lately: China Bound. Jim Harkness, the president of the Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy (who is also fluent in Mandarin), is blogging about organic food and farming from China, including a fledgling organic store with its own farm and CSA-like business in Beijing. Speaking to a ... http://www.natural-healers.com/2007/09/27/organics-in-china-other-blog-rants/ The Federation of Organic Dairy Farmers (FOOD Farmers) issued a blistering attack (pdf) on the USDA and Aurora Organic Dairy (AOD) Tuesday, criticizing the plea bargain they had reached settling 14 alleged violations of the organic regulations by Aurora. The charges were made in a publicly released letter to Acting ... http://www.natural-healers.com/2007/09/25/organic-diary-farmers-blast-usda-aurora/ In a rebuttal to my Op-Ed in the Rocky Mountain News, Aurora Organic Dairy President Mark Retzloff would have us believe that he has the best interests of organic agriculture and consumers in mind. He does not.  This dispute started because organic dairy farmers around the nation were alarmed at Aurora’s ... http://www.natural-healers.com/2007/09/25/a-few-inconvenient-truths-about-aurora-organic/ By Samuel Fromartz The dust up over Aurora Organic Dairy’s alleged misdeeds in the organic dairy business has kicked into full gear. The latest missive flew out Tuesday, as one of  Aurora’s certifiers, Quality Assurance International (QAI), said it did nothing wrong even though a farm and milk it certified ... http://www.natural-healers.com/2007/09/19/big-organic-bull/ Here’s the short film of the flooded Midwest farmers by Madison filmmaker Gretta Wing Miller. No TagsOriginal post by Samuel Fromartz and software by Elliott Back http://www.natural-healers.com/2007/09/13/grettas-film-on-flooded-organic-farms/ By Samuel Fromartz You probably saw the pictures of flooded farms, overflowing rivers, and the rain that swamped the Upper Midwest last month. What you might not know is that organic vegetable farmers in the region had severe losses. I knew one of them, Jack Hedin, who owns Featherstone Farm, in southeastern ... http://www.natural-healers.com/2007/09/12/farmers-flooding-and-whole-foods-mea-culpa/ Here’s a an op-ed published I wrote for the Rocky Mountain News focusing on the recent agreement between Aurora Organic Dairy and the USDA.       By Samuel Fromartz September 8, 2007 After years of complaints and aggressive public advocacy, the U.S. Department of Agriculture last week did what it should have done ... http://www.natural-healers.com/2007/09/10/certifiers-usda-dropped-ball/ The Rochester Democrat and Chronicle has an in-depth look at Wegmans’ organic research farm in upstate New York. "The farm’s mission … is to provide locally grown fruits, vegetables and honey to nearby Wegmans stores and, eventually, to serve as an educational model for local growers, employees and consumers who want to learn ... http://www.natural-healers.com/2007/09/04/wegmans-launches-organic-research-farm-in-ny/ Whole Foods, confounding regulators who argued the retailer would do otherwise, announced it was lowering prices at Wild Oats stores in the Rocky Mountain region. While this might be seen as a way to calm anxious customers (or thumb its nose at regulators), it is also informed by something else: ... http://www.natural-healers.com/2007/08/31/supermarket-wars-part-deux/