Day 114 - Mother Earth News "Building Community Food Security"

In an article from the April/May 2011 edition of Mother Nature News, Mary Lou Shaw writes about her experiences in connecting with a non-profit organization called Local Matters and their collaborative work on building community food security.

Local Matters is a non-profit food advocacy group that is based in Columbus, Ohio. It was founded in 2002, when "a collaboration among several local organizations created community gardens and a nutrition education program with a food security grant from the USDA". The group began by starting some of the gardens at Head Start schools ("Head Start is a nonprofit organization that provides comprehensive education, health, nutrition, and parent involvement services to low-income children and their families").

When asked about their success, Local Matters believes that success lies in listening to the communities about their wants and needs. For example, when one school asked for help in created green areas in the recess area of their school grounds, Local Matters helped them recruit "volunteers to plant green areas, add pathways through them and incorporate running water, small statues, and a small vegetable garden".  The school was then able to grow food in the gardens, serve some of the food in the cafeteria, teach the students about whole foods, and to start up classes for children and parents about sustainable living and eating healthy meals.

The executive director of Local Matters, Michael Jones, believes that educating people on food and nutrition begins with the education of children. By teaching them at young ages, we can "develop an audience that will be willing to eat healthier foods in the school cafeterias and make healthier food choices in general", he says. The Head Start program begins teaching children from the ages of 3-5, or in the second grade. "Volunteers and teachers spend one lively hour each week familiarizing children with the nutritional value of healthy foods that the students then help prepare and eat." Local Matters also offers classes on food ecology; on topics such as composting, water harvesting, and growing an organic school garden. They hope to empower these kids to find and grow their own local foods outside of school.

In order to help make local food more available, Local Matters has helped to create a new kind of grocery store: The Greener Grocer. These are local hubs for "farm-to-fork program[s], in which local farmers sell their produce at a price that supports their labors and farms". While these foods can often come at a higher price, "people who shop at The Greener Grocer know their money helps support nutrition programs in local schools". Additionally, the store also offers a "Weekly Fresh Market Bag", which mimics a Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) program by providing inexpensive produce when it is most in season and most abundant. The group has also worked with community partners to help encourage store owners to include fresh, local produce in their stores.

Local Matters has claimed that their success long-term is twofold: because they listen to the community needs and they synergistically weave residents into their efforts. Local Matters says, "It is our job to build honest, long-term relationships, work with others, and have complete respect for them and their knowledge of their community. We work with communities who invite us to work with them to build healthy food systems." While you may have big ideas on changes you would like to make to your own community, it is important to remember that it is difficult to do alone - you will need the help and support of your local community. However, Shaw reminds us that "If you listen to what the community wants, you'll find that nutrition and wellness can become the driving force behind many positive changes."

Before concluding this blog about Shaw's article, here are some tips she gives us on how to best do something in your community:

1. Ask teachers and school leaders how they think food education, cooking, gardening or farm-to-fork lunch programs could best be incorporated into local schools.
2. Ask parents what school programs they'd most like to see their children participate in, and ask how the parents themselves would like to be involved.
3. Check whether children in the community could visit a local farm to learn about food production firsthand.
4. Locate local organizations that work with children to see whether food-system goals could be incorporated into their existing programs.
5. Ask market and convenience store managers to consider adding locally grown produce to their selections. Try to foster connections between stores and farmers in the community, and set up a CSA program if one doesn't already exist.
6. Encourage chefs and restaurants to use more produce, meat and dairy products from local farmers, and support the businesses that support the local food system.

For more information on Local Matters, please visit the Local Matters Official Website.

For more information on Head Start, please visit the National Head Start Association Official Website.

Exercise: I started out this morning with another early morning run… lasting about 20 minutes and going about 1.5 miles, plus stretching. Then this afternoon I did my usual swim workout. Here's the workout:

300 warm up freestyle (100 swim, 100 kick, 100 swim)

6x25 drill (2xfingertip drag, 2xcatch-up arms, 2xevery three breathing)

1x100

2x50

1x200

2x100

1x400

2x200

14x25 (alternate easy-fast)

200 cool down (easy)

TOTAL: 2400 meters (1.5 miles)

Eat: When buying bagels at the bakery, there are a lot of healthy choices but the bagels generally do not come with nutrition information. If this is the case, here are two things to look for: First, check the ingredients list. The first ingredient should be whole grains. Other ingredients that are good in bagels are seeds, flax, and wheat germ. They may make the bagel higher in calories, but they will also increase the vitamins, minerals, fiber, and healthy fats. If your bakery does not have ingredients lists, just ask the baker! Also, watch out for portion size… bakery bagels can sometimes be supersized! While you are shopping for your bagels, some flavored bagels (cinnamon, raisin, blueberry, poppy seed, etc) can be nutritious too. Just be sure to watch the sugar content when buying these bagels. (One more thing on bagels tomorrow!)

Relax: When I got home from my morning run, I was able to sit down and read a chapter of Food Inc. while eating my breakfast. Since it was so gloomy outside, I just felt incredibly sleepy. SO… I ended up taking a bit of a nap. I need some sunny weather to get here already!!

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!

Day 106 - Experience Life March - "To the Gulf Stream Waters"

In an article from the March 2011 edition of Experience Life, Laurel Kallenbach explores ways that you can get involved and help out the communities surrounding the tragedies of Hurricane Katrina and the Gulf Oil Spill. Kallenbach talks about many different ways that you can help out based on your interests.

Beach enthusiasts can clear up the sandy areas of garbage and debris, animal lovers can care for injured sea turtles, bird watchers can help by observing the coastal birds. You can even help out by doing things you love activity-wise; such as kayaking  and documenting water quality and animal life, diving or snorkeling and documenting the numbers of each species of fish you see, or by just visiting and vacationing in the area. This helps the community especially who make their lives by tourism and fishing and who have been hit hard ever since the oil spill. Whatever you passion, find ways to get involved in making our world, and the Gulf Stream Waters, a better and more beautiful place.

Exercise: It's a swim workout day today! I did just a tiny bit of I.M. stuff, but mostly focused on freestyle. Here's my workout:

400 freestyle warm up

2x75 (fly-back-breast, back-breast-free)

2x100 I.M.

2x200 freestyle

3x100 freestyle

3x50 freestyle

TOTAL = 1600 meters (1 mile)

Eat: So how do we choose the healthiest breads? Cooking light gives us three tips to choosing the best breads while in the supermarket. Their first tip is: "When deciding between two similar bread products, look at the calories and fiber". They tell us that a low fiber content is a sign that the processing of the bread has stripped away the fiber nutrients, which means that other nutrients could be stripped away as well!

Relax: This morning I was able to relax a bit by finishing up some blog stuff and then playing a few minutes of Harvest Moon. The game really is my guilty pleasure...