Day 113 - Local Harvest

Local Harvest is America's #1 organic and local foods website. They provide a definitive and reliable network of local small farms, farmer's markets, and other local food sources. The purpose of the website is to help individuals locate products from family farms, to find local sources of sustainably grown foods, and to encourage contact with small farms in the local area.

The organization was founded in 1998 and is now the number one resource for information for the Buy Local Movement. Local Harvest was started by software engineer Guillermo Payet in order to create a way to generate positive social change through the internet. The organization encourages you to help out by encouraging your local farms, market managers, and restaurateurs to sign up on their website.

I encourage you to check out Local Harvest's Official Website to learn more about the organization as well as to find small farms in your area! When I searched for farms in my area, I was able to find producers of organic, free-range eggs as well as of beef. It is a great way to locate places to buy your food local in order to enjoy better products as well as help out the farms in your community! You can also find farms that allow you to sign up for CSA subscriptions (where you get a box of fresh veggies each week). These are a great way to get the freshest produce in the right seasons.

Exercise: This week I am starting out my days by waking up earlier (which also means I am going to bed earlier) so I can do a morning run outside. Since I don’t get outside a whole bunch right now, I figured this would be a nice way to wake up, get some fresh air, and get a warm up exercise in for the day. Today I did a quick mile run when I got up, around the neighborhood. Then I did some stretching and was ready to go for the day. Then tonight I went to my usual hour long yoga class. It was especially nice to get some deep stretching in after my morning run today.

Eat: Now I would like to go through different kinds of bread products and talk about them individually. Today is all about bagels. When buying bagels, remember to take a look at the calorie content. Large bagels should have about 250 calories or less per bagel, and mini's should have 75 calories or less. In terms of fiber, large bagels should have 5 or more grams of fiber, and minis should have 2 or more grams. (Remember, 1 mini bagel = 1 serving, 1 large bagel = 4 servings) While it is fine to buy and eat large bagels from the supermarket, it is important to remember that these count for more toward the daily recommendation of your grains - large bagels can count for 4 or 5 servings out of the recommended 5 to 8 per day. (More on bagels tomorrow)

Relax: After my morning run, I was happy to get outside before the rain came in order to read a chapter of my book while sitting on the back deck. I absolutely love reading outside!!

Day 111 - "Plant Disease Raises Questions on Modified Crops"

In an article from the L.A. Times, P.J. Huffstutter writes about an epidemic that is sweeping genetically engineered soybean crops, called "Sudden Death Syndrome". The disease was first spotted in Arkansas in 1971, but it was blamed on damp weather and a fungus that rots the plants' roots.

Recently Don M. Huber, a professor at Purdue University, has done research  for Monsanto on chemical herbicides and has found a possible link between genetically engineered crops and crop diseases, along with animal infertility. Huber has written a letter to the USDA, asking them to look into this issue. The letter, however, has further sparked the tension between people who think industrial and bio-technology is the only way to feed the world, and those who are cautious of it and believe it results in foods that are nutritionally lacking and environmentally dangerous.

Monsanto has released a response in which they challenge the letter's claims but said that they would not ignore the letter - they want to look into allegations involving their products. In the meantime, Huber and his fellow researchers have decided to take his findings to the media, rather than to other scientists in the hopes of reaching the hearts, and guts, of the American public.

According to the Times, even if Huber's claims turn out to be false, his attention to GMOs and challenges to them are not out of place, especially after the government approved the growing of genetically modified alfalfa without doing much research on long-term effects on the environment. With over 75% of our processed foods containing GMOs, it is an important issue to be aware of and to challenge.

Huber concludes with the remarks, "If I'm wrong, OK. What's the worst that can happen? If I'm not, then we find out what it is."

Exercise: Happy Easter! So today I took a "holiday" day off of working out. If you want a good workout today, however, then try doing either a swim workout or some yoga practice. Better yet, do a little of both!

Eat: A final thing to really watch out for when buying bread products is bleached flour. Bleaching flour adds chemicals into the bread products while it also destroys the pigments in the flour; such as beta-carotene, which your body converts to vitamin A.

Relax: To celebrate Easter, I went with my family over to my Grandpa's house. We ate a delicious dinner and then enjoyed some food naps while watching Tangled. Super cute movie, by the way!