Comments natureguru has made

  • The purest of intentions

    Thank you so much, April! Although I do use soy margarine and silken tofu for things like cookies and puddings, I am dying to try your recipe. Do you have others? Keep on writing!On A decadent chocolate cake for your sweetie, minus the animal products posted 9 months, 2 weeks ago 11 Responses

  • A Bottom-Up Approach

    Great ideas, Tom. We just can't afford to ignore our nation's food crisis. Everyone has to eat, and our food choices are reflected in the number of health problems we've developed, thus increasing healthcare spending, etc. It's all interconnected.

    Change can also happen from the bottom up. With the help of the economic stimulus, funding for research and development of more sustainable farming and distribution methods should be a priority. In addition, local co-ops and CSA's would benefit from assistance, as large supermarket chains make it more difficult for them to compete. How about tax breaks for smaller, private food companies to provide more coupons to consumers? Healthier food is often more expensive, but coupons are hard to come by. I love your idea about bringing real kitchens and real cooks back to public schools. Funding programs that also educate parents and children on the whys and wherefores of healthy eating are also needed, however, if we're to expect them to actually eat healthier. Old habits die hard.

    We can't count on the USDA or the Farm Bill to save us from undernourishment. The forces of evil agribusiness and chemical companies are very strong. Although we should never stop writing letters and signing petitions, we can do our part by returning to a simpler, healthier way of life. By growing our own food, supporting local co-ops, recycling, and learning how to cook and eat seasonally, we can live a life more in balance with nature, and still eat well. On Think locally, act infrastructurally posted 10 months, 3 weeks ago 15 Responses

  • A Bottom-Up Approach

    Great ideas, Tom. We just can't afford to ignore our nation's food crisis. Everyone has to eat, and our food choices are reflected in the number of health problems we've developed, thus increasing healthcare spending, etc. It's all interconnected.

    Change can also happen from the bottom up. With the help of the economic stimulus, funding for research and development of more sustainable farming and distribution methods should be a priority. In addition, local co-ops and CSA's would benefit from assistance, as large supermarket chains make it more difficult for them to compete. How about tax breaks for smaller, private food companies to provide more coupons to consumers? Healthier food is often more expensive, but coupons are hard to come by. I love your idea about bringing real kitchens and real cooks back to public schools. Funding programs that also educate parents and children on the whys and wherefores of healthy eating are also needed, however, if we're to expect them to actually eat healthier. Old habits die hard.

    We can't count on the USDA or the Farm Bill to save us from undernourishment. The forces of evil agribusiness and chemical companies are very strong. Although we should never stop writing letters and signing petitions, we can do our part by returning to a simpler, healthier way of life. By growing our own food, supporting local co-ops, recycling, and learning how to cook and eat seasonally, we can live a life more in balance with nature, and still eat well. On Think Locally, Act Infrastructurally posted 10 months, 3 weeks ago 14 Responses

  • Yummy!

    I own cookbooks by Madison and Moskowitz, and I find every one of these recipes to be simple, fresh, and emminently doable. Kudos!On Monica Segovia-Welsh's Chocolate Panforte posted 11 months, 1 week ago 2 Responses

  • We've started something here

    What a great conversation we've got going. Thanks, Umbra, for getting it started. It's important to get people thinking about where there food is coming from. As a former meat-eater, I can understand the resistance to totally eliminating meat. Although I'm vegan, I say that any steps you take to eat healthier and live better are steps in the right direction. Small farmers aside, commercial enterprises are not interested in treating their animals with respect and dignity. They are interested in "processing" as much flesh as possible as quickly as possible. How can the product be good for you? I stopped eating meat and dairy for many reasons - health (too much saturated fat and cholesterol), ethical (I love animals - you wouldn't eat your dog, would you?), and environmental. We grow much of our food, and what we don't grow we pick up at our local co-op. Many believe that going "veg" means that they eat alot of soy. That's not the case. My boyfriend and I eat soy maybe twice/week. We make our own soymilk or rice milk (easy!) from organic beans, and do our own cooking, eating out only rarely. Is it difficult? Yes! Do family members treat us differently? Yes. Do we regret it? No. Having lost 25 pounds, and feeling and looking better than ever, I know that I've made the right choice for me. Find your path, ChickenedOut, and stick with it!On Umbra on homegrown meat posted 11 months, 1 week ago 33 Responses

  • Why stop at one?

    I take it, Sarah, that you enjoy chocolate (almost) as much as I do...I, too, have tasted Theo chocolates, and liked them enough to include them on my site (http://www.organic-nature-news.com/organic-chocolate.html ...). A few others that I have sampled, including Ithaca Fine Chocolates, are organic and fair trade, as well. They may not summon biodiesel vehicles to transport their wares, but nobody's perfect. Perhaps, chocolate-lover that you are, you've already given them a try. And let's not forget the health benefits to be derived from dark chocolate - magnesium and other trace minerals, and more antioxidant "kick" than blueberries, pound for pound. On Theo Chocolate is the country's first organic and fair-trade chocolate-maker posted 11 months, 1 week ago 10 Responses

  • Great article

    Thanks for the plug for organic beers. With spring here, it seems like a good time to think about stocking up on great organic "brews." I enjoyed your comments enough to add a link on my website: http://www.organic-nature-news.com/organic-beer.html.On A tasting of seven organic beers posted 1 year, 7 months ago 22 Responses

  • The time to act is now

    These are great ideas, guys. I, too, intend to write to these giants of industry - the very ones that do not care what we're being made to eat, as long as they make money. Monsanto is the biggest offender, and what they are doing to our food is nothing short of criminal. I wish I could join in the lawsuit against the USDA, who is in bed with Monsanto, Cargill, and other companies.

    In the meantime, we can boycott these companies as a way of saying "I'm a consumer who happens to care about what I eat, especially if it's gm food." It is possible to avoid gm crops (by eating more organic), to buy foods that don't contain high fructose corn syrup, to avoid meat and dairy, and to stick to "real" foods - unprocessed, whole and raw foods. I know, because I'm doing it. I feel better than ever, and my grocery bill has gone down, as well.On Seed-savers and greens unite to challenge Monsanto's latest cash cow posted 1 year, 10 months ago 3 Responses

  • It's all connected

    Unfortunately, many people don't realize that the factory farms and agribusiness are intimately connected. Iowa is becoming a state of mega-farms that produce only two things - corn and beef. They are big business. They are not producing food for consumption - at least 80% of the Iowa corn grown is fed to animals! - and I won't even mention the horrible conditions under which these animals (cows, pigs, etc.) live or how they are slaughtered daily. Driving through Orange County, NY, I have been assailed with the stench of concentrated manure from a nearby dairy farm. Who wants to live near that?

    I response to my disgust over the turn our food supply has taken, I have gone vegan (to protect the environment, the animals, and my health), and I buy organic as much as possible. When people start going against nature the way we have with our factory farms and agribusinesses, we will certainly suffer the consequences.On Conservation title schemes, youth flee CAFO country, and a side of E. coli beef posted 1 year, 10 months ago 6 Responses

  • The writing on the wall

    So now we're allowing multinational corporations that sell chemicals to dictate what types of foods farmers grow and how? Do consumers realize to what extent our food supply system has been corrupted by greedy businesses? Surely not the USDA or the FDA. Boycotts are a great idea; so is writing letters to these government entities, voicing our concerns. Thank goodness we can still avoid ingesting these products, by choosing non-gmo soy, by going vegan, by avoiding processed corn by-products, and by growing our own food. Agribusiness and factory farms are not good for consumers. Unless we take responsibility for our food choices, we will become unwitting guinea pigs in the ongoing experiment to industrialize our food supply for the benefit of big business. I feel for the farmers, but they need to organize and stay away from these corporations. These monopolies should not be allowed to exist unchecked. (For more, read Michael Pollan's book "The Omnivore's Dilemma", or go to http://www.organic-nature-news.com.)On Monsanto's latest court triumph cloaks massive market power posted 1 year, 10 months ago 18 Responses

  • Hurray for green chefs!

    Great list, especially the first two. Might I suggest Restaurant Nora in Washington, DC, the first certified organic restaurant in the U.S.?On 15 Green Chefs posted 2 years, 3 months ago 25 Responses

  • Great article

    It's great to see increasing interest in CSA's and farmer's markets. Thanks for spreading the good word, Umbra! I hope you'll check out my webpage at http://www.organic-nature-news.com/organic-fruits-and-veg ...  which includes other organic food resources.On Umbra on community-supported agriculture posted 2 years, 3 months ago 9 Responses

  • The inmates are truly running the asylum now

    Don't tell me -- Republicans from Oklahoma pandering to the tobacco industry? Any other reason would be insane. I'm only relieved that Ms. Carson did not live long enough to see her name dragged across the coals. I loved her book, applaud her forward-thinking, solid science, and choose to ignore the tripe that's being spread by wingnuts like Bailey, et. al. No thinking person would give them a second thought.On I shall speak now and then forever hold my peace posted 2 years, 6 months ago 20 Responses

  • Thanks, Ron, for the Euro perspective

    Fortunately, by addressing and solving enough of our "small" problems, we can hopefully effect a "big" change in our world. I do agree that both paper and plastic bags are poor choices. I, too, prefer to bring my own canvas bags to the grocery store.

    It's important to look at the reasons for resistance to any issue. It's easy enough to cut down on the use of grocery bags; getting companies to change their packaging, reducing the cost of organics, etc. -- that's harder. We must do what we can.On The paper vs. plastic question must die posted 2 years, 6 months ago 20 Responses

  • Organic and fair trade are the way to go

    Like so many products that the FDA has "endorsed", chocolate will be no different. Consumers who care need to educate themselves, as there are companies out there that engage in slave-free, sustainable practices. For a partial list, visit organic  chocolate weblink.On ADM gets its filthy paws on an immaculate confection posted 2 years, 7 months ago 23 Responses