Diana Dyer, MS, RD

Passing the Torch

noreply@blogger.com (Diana Dyer) — Sat, 23 Nov 2019 00:00:00 +0000

All good things, even great things, come to an end.

You can see that it's been over 3-1/2 years since I last posted on my blog.

A LOT has happened. That's an understatement.

To be as succinct as possible, I was hit by a car that drove through our farmer's market booth at high speed in June 2016. To also be as succinct as possible, it is NOT an understatement to say that I have come a long way since that horrific day. I've been healing from broken bones, a battered body, and a brain injury since that time. I'm not done improving yet, but just a few weeks ago, I finally put all my therapy "on pause".

I repeat that I have come a long way, for which I am deeply, deeply grateful, but I also still have significant challenges. It's time to see just what exactly is my "new normal" without the toll that therapy itself takes on a weekly basis. It's time to see just what I can do, what I can work on improving by myself, where my weaknesses still are, what do I want to do, and if I can keep improving by myself. Pause .......... breathe ......... take stock ........ breathe again .......... pick myself up ........... again ......... and express daily gratitude for the abilities that I do have.

Without going into all the details, it's enough to say that this was a "big hit". We needed to stop farming at the scale we were doing (we still live on our farm, other young farmers have been using our land), my husband (and friends and family) became a daily caregiver, I never got the 20th anniversary edition of my book published, I declined or pulled out of nearly everything (and at one point my doctor told me to STOP trying to keep up with my responsibilities), therapy was late getting started, therapy was interrupted, and we found out the hard way that we needed to wrestle with the tangled web of medical care, insurance companies, and the legal system. Enough!

Perhaps more than my doctor telling me to stop trying to do so much after I was hit, perhaps the Universe was telling me (the hard way) to slow down. To slow down! To stop trying to do so much. To change focus. To change direction. Who can say?

To bring you all up to date since 2016, here are some of the important updates, changes I've made, decisions I've made, a new direction or two as I figure out just what I can do, what my husband and I want to do, and more.

• My book A Dietitian's Cancer Story is now officially out of print. I have seen it available on various book re-seller websites. All books that I still had in my garage (both English and Spanish editions) have now been donated to various cancer efforts where they will be put to good use. As you can imagine, taking my book out of print after first writing and publishing it in 1997, continuing to update, improve, and reprint it, was a big big big (HARD) decision.

• My website CancerRD.com (first put up on the web in 1997, even before the American Cancer Society or even the National Cancer Institute had websites) will be removed from the web very soon if it has not already disappeared. Besides pointing people to various places where my book could be purchased, I had already shifted the substantial and very popular Q&A section of my website over to the professional website for oncology dietitians at https://www.oncologynutrition.org, so that important content is still available to the public.

• My blogs 365DaysofKale and CancerVictoryGardens will also disappear soon. For the time being, I'll keep my DianaDyer.com blog, although I'm not sure what I'll do with it at this juncture.

• I am still a registered dietitian (RD). I won't go into detail regarding what I had to do, and how hard it was, to finish up my outstanding CEUs to maintain my registration roughly 2 years after I was hit. It is enough to say that doing so was a BIG DEAL. My Speech and Language therapist cried with happiness and pride at my accomplishment.

• I still love writing. It is something I can do, and again, doing so is a major accomplishment after a brain injury. Currently my writing is over on our farm's Instagram site. It focuses on what is happening on our farm, the wild birds and other animals we see on our farm, plus comments and helpful resources regarding the current climate emergency our planet is experiencing. (Tips: 1) buy organic food, locally grown when possible, 2) don't waste any food. 3) plant only native plants on your land that are meant to grow in your eco-zone, not just your hardiness zone. These are the easy steps, the low-hanging fruit.)

• If you are reading this while still a dietetic student or dietetic intern, know that I just loved, loved, loved being a small part of the education for the students who came to live or work with us on our certified organic farm. Sadly, I simply cannot continue to offer this experience. Of all the different things I have done as an RD, I will miss this the most of all. Bottom lines: Health starts in the soil. "We are what - and how - we grow" is the starting point for personal health and a healthy food system. Dietitians have a responsibility to advocate for systems that lead to public health, not corporate wealth.

• For current and future RDs, know that you will have impact during your career. Decide where you want that impact to be and how big you want that impact to be. Be the BEST you can be. Always seek out new skills and further develop the skills and knowledge you already have. Be BRAVE. Don't be afraid to sell yourself as an RD to an organization that does not know yet how the skills and knowledge you bring as an RD will benefit both the organization and the people they serve. In addition, don't be afraid to do something alone like I have done, finding like-minded partners along the way!

For anyone who has read my book either as a person with a cancer diagnosis or as a cancer caregiver, thank you for putting your trust in me. The endowment I established at The American Institute for Cancer Research (AICR) in the late 1990's has funded numerous important research projects over the past 20 years that will continue to benefit cancer survivors. I am no longer donating proceeds from the sale of my books to this endowment, but individual donations (link above) are always welcome and will be used to fund ongoing research focused on defining optimal nutritional strategies to enhance cancer survivorship.

Thank you for reading my blog since 2007! I send all my readers best wishes for health, healing, and hope as you continue to "cultivate your life - you are what you grow - inch by inch, row by row".

Love, Diana Dyer, MS, RD

2016 National Dietitian Day – Full Circle

noreply@blogger.com (Diana Dyer) — Wed, 06 Apr 2016 17:46:00 +0000

What can I say? I'm (very, very) late to the party, again! However, tonight as I was searching for one file on my computer, I found another file, which is called "serendipity". I took that as a nudge from the Universe that I finally needed to put other things aside and dedicate the time to do my annual Dietitian Day post, which officially was March 9th. :)

Back in 2012, I was interviewed for a very nice article in Today's Dietitian called "Get to Know Diana Dyer, MS, RD". Many articles published in Today's Dietitian Magazine have links so that they can be read on-line, but not this one. I have a copy, but I was not able to easily share the article with my on-line readers or my students. However, bingo! I actually found a copy of the article in a computer file, so in honor of a late post for National Dietitian Day 2016, I thought I would share the article on my blog. As I read through the questions and my answers, it actually covered a lot of ground, the many ways I have worked as a Registered Dietitian.

I hope you enjoy reading it, and I hope that dietetic students and new RDs find some words of wisdom as they embark on an interesting, fulfilling, and hopefully, fun career! The world urgently needs your knowledge, your skills, and your passion as you share your love of food and its impact on health in the widest sense possible with the widest audience possible, from the soil to the planet and everything and everyone in between.

Get to Know….Today's Dietitian, July 2012, written by Juliann Schaeffer

Diana Dyer

From Cancer Dietitian to Garlic Goddess

Diana Dyer, MS, RD, describes her current vocation as “CEO of tractor repair and weeding to bottle washer and barn sweeper,” yet looking back to her dietetics beginnings, you may never have guessed this one-time critical care specialist would end up trading in daily TPN feedings for a reign as “garlic goddess” (as named by one of her customers) overlooking a field of green.

Dyer started out her nutrition career in the late ‘70s as a renal dietitian, then quickly took on critical care, at hospitals in Ohio, Illinois, Wisconsin, and Michigan. After two decades of caring for patients in ICU's, she mustered up the courage to make her first (certainly not her last) unconventional work choice “to leave behind my comfortable and rather insulated world as a well-respected critical care specialist for the complete unknown world in real life,” to instead focus on serving the cancer survivorship community. Having survived neuroblastoma as a child and two later bouts of breast cancer, Dyer felt the message of nutrition’s role in cancer prevention and survivorship wasn’t being heard by the masses—so she became that voice.

Through writing A Dietitian’s Cancer Story, developing the website www.CancerRD.com, and speaking to audiences nationwide after her book received widespread praise by The New York Times, for roughly a decade Dyer brought her positive message of how nutrition and other complementary therapies can optimize cancer outcomes to Americans of all shapes and sizes.

In 2009, Dyer decided to mix it up yet again, with her husband this time. The team left behind their regular paychecks and returned to their roots, quite literally, to fulfill a longtime dream to become organic farmers, establishing The Dyer Family Organic Farm just outside Ann Arbor, Michigan, where today they specialize in all things garlic.

For someone who has been through so much hardship, you might think her life outlook would be a bit (understandably) hardened; this couldn’t be further from the truth. Instead of bitterness and bite, Dyer takes from her tribulations a good helping of graciousness and gratitude—and passes it on to whoever will listen.

“I know for sure that neither cancer nor life is fair,” she says from what she’s learned from her three bouts with cancer. “So you have to figure out that in spite of the bad set of cards you have been dealt, you want to go on, you want to play this hand and do the best that you can, and that you can help write the script to your life—grabbing life, giving life everything we have, noticing everything, living everything, loving everything.”

For a taste of Dyer’s enthusiasm for nutrition and life itself, check out www.dianadyer.com, www.365daysofKale.com, or www.CancerVictoryGardens.com.

TD: What’s your best advice for those new to the nutrition field?

Words of wisdom I have hoped to leave with new undergrads/interns:

"The larger the island of knowledge, the longer the shore of wonder."

–Ralph Sockman.

I used this quote on my last day teaching dietetic undergrads at Eastern Michigan University. I took time in class to let them tell me what it meant to them. One student found me years later to tell me that meant a lot to her.

TD: What book has most positively impacted your professional life?

Dyer: Diet for a Small Planet by Frances Moore Lappé, which I read in 1974. This book opened my eyes to so many new ideas, vegetarianism of course, but also so many ways that food, nutrition, and social issues are related.

TD: If you could offer clients/patients only one piece of advice, what would it be?

Dyer: Please do not view cooking as ‘drudgery’; it is the deepest expression of love because it is creating a healthy body, a healthy family, a healthy home. Create and honor the time needed to cook simple meals, from whole foods, not convenience mixes or from ‘food in a box,’ and then sit down to eat a meal with friends or family on a daily basis.

TD: What five items are always in your refrigerator/cupboard?

Dyer: Only five? Here are eight, and I could easily list 20. Soymilk, tofu/tempeh, flaxseeds, kale, garlic, red wine, chocolate, green tea (all organic if possible).

TD: How important do you believe having a basic knowledge of farming and ‘where food comes from’ is in the battle to get Americans eating healthy?

Dyer: My ‘reaching for the stars’ wish for a new Farm Bill would be the inclusion of funding designated to have every single school in the country have a school garden with an RD—a master gardener coordinator who would lead and coordinate a grade-appropriate curriculum and activities for each school’s students that includes gardening, how good food is important (vital) for energy, learning, good health, skills for cooking, the enjoyment of eating food raised and prepared at school in groups together, and even selling the food raised by the school children to parents, local neighborhoods, etc.

In addition, I believe all gardening, but particularly vegetable gardening, is the most all-encompassing ‘alternative or complementary strategy’ for achieving health after cancer. This awareness led me to develop my www.CancerVictoryGardens.com blog, but the concept is probably equally applicable to the treatment of all chronic diseases such as diabetes, heart disease, hypertension, etc.

TD: Local or organic?

Dyer: Local AND organic is the gold standard. In addition, knowing the practices of your farmers/beekeeper/animal raiser/etc is even an higher standard, platinum perhaps? Know your farmer, know your food.

TD: What foods do you crave?

Dyer: Would you believe kale and other, even more bitter, greens? Yes, I do.

TD: How has cancer changed your outlook on eating?

Dyer: Oh I love eating, I love food, but food is so much more than nutrients. Because of food, I also love life. I knew all of this before my 1995 cancer diagnosis, but only on the surface. Now I know all of this viscerally, even more deeply, because I believe it, I live it, I grow it, and I teach it. When we sell our garlic at the local farmers’ markets, we sell a food grown for flavor and grown with love. We sell a story of happiness and all ‘food with a story tastes better’ (Wendell Berry).

TD: Your best farming tip that can also be applied to life?

Dyer: Our farm’s mission or ‘tagline’ is “shaping our future from the ground up.” Take care of your roots, your soil, and your foundation and you will grow healthy food, a healthy body and spirit, and be part of a healthy community. The word “our” in our tagline is meant to be very large and continuous, from our soil to our community and everything in between.

*****************************

I enjoyed re-reading this article. In fact I found myself smiling so many times, realizing that even though this was written 4 years ago, I can hear myself saying many of the same things today!

One aspect of what I do on our farm not mentioned in the article is my enjoyment from having dietetic students and dietetic interns work on our farm as part of the School to Farm Program that I wrote for the Hunger & Environmental Nutrition Dietetic Practice Group of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics. These future dietitians learn first hand (with their hands in the soil) not only where food comes from (and the challenges) but that the starting point for health is "We are what (and how) we grow" versus the more typical "We are what we eat".

I would like to share a few of their words as they have reflected on this experience:

• It was not until I began working on the Dyer's farm during my dietetic internship that I realized I do not often think about where my food comes from. I now urge my patients to know where their food comes from, to ask questions, to get to know their local farmers, with farmers' market shopping being a great first step.

• I learned the importance of dietitians being advocates for a fair and healthy food system along with viewing food, nutrition, agriculture, and health in a connected, holistic way.

• "Lessons learned"........Where to begin? I learned so much, about taking care of the land's health plus the importance of being very connected with the local food community and constantly nurturing that relationship.

• My experience on the farm opened my eyes to the "big picture" of health which I will apply during my career as a Registered Dietitian.

• I left the farm with many bricks in my career's foundation plus the courage and inspiration to be a leader.

• I learned the critical elements of a healthy and sustainable food system and left with the desire to promote diets for my patients that contribute to human health and well-being plus ecological and planetary health.

• My time spent at your farm shaped my career and the path I am taking in more ways than I think I even know. I reflect on our conversations almost daily! I am now confident about my professional choices and excited about the changes I can make in the communities I serve.

And these words from a dietetic intern coming to our farm this summer:

• When I started the search for an enrichment site, I was looking for a unique experience that would challenge me and broaden my understanding of and perspective on the field of dietetics. As our world continues to change, a sustainable diet for both our planet and our bodies will become more and more crucial. I feel strongly that it is the responsibility of the dietetics field to be the leaders in this movement, and I intend to focus my career efforts on this goal. Farmer-poet Wendell Berry once said "Don't think you can fix all the problems. Learn as much as you can and then work with it to increase the chance that you will make a good example." During these upcoming two weeks, I am eager to learn as much as I can and hopefully, someday, use this new knowledge to create a good example of my own.

I am very humbled as I read through the full "lessons learned" from these students, some are short, some are essays, all are heart-felt. I have only taken snippets from what they wrote me.

I am also very hopeful as these young people embark on their careers, sharing their passions by connecting the dots in all possible ways between food and health. Quoting Wendell Berry again "To be interested in food, but not food production, is clearly absurd". My students have clearly learned that individual health begins with healthy soil, teeming with helpful microbes as the foundation of a healthy soil food-web in order that the food we eat is both nutrient-dense and healthy for us, our community, and the planet.

I look forward to hearing what interesting, challenging, and meaningful work they are doing as they go forward in the years and even decades to come!

I hope it is not another full year before I post again on this blog, but that is possible and likely.

Feel free to keep up to date with our farm via our farm's website, including information about our farm's new book Get Going with Great Garlic: Recipes from your garlic farmers' kitchen (ordering info is at the link) and our farm's email newsletter. Recent shorter updates (with photos) about what is going on at our farm are regularly posted up on our farm's Facebook page and Instagram. So in the meantime, feel free to check us out there, too.

Lastly, to come full circle, most of my readers likely follow me because of my advocacy work (that began back in 1997 with the publication of my book A Dietitian's Cancer Story) to include nutrition assessments and information from a Registered Dietitian who is an oncology nutrition specialist (CSO) as a proactive and individualized professional service of true comprehensive cancer care, from the day of diagnosis forward to optimize treatment efficacy, survivorship health, and overall quality of life.

Short story, I (and many others) am still working on that goal. It is a long road, but the need for and benefits from this goal have been given some long-overdue national attention at a recent workshop held at the Institute of Medicine in Washington, DC on March 14, 2016. All of the presentations from the full day-long workshop are available to the public to view on-line along with the slides.

Although I was not involved with the planning committee for this workshop, I was involved in other ways behind the scenes. In addition, I was deeply honored to be invited to speak at this important workshop as an advocate, representing everyone who has had a cancer diagnosis along with all Registered Dietitians working with this patient population. My remarks were brief (less than 10 minutes) and can be viewed within the Session on Models of Care, moderated by Kim Robien, PhD, RD. They start at approximately 57 minutes into this video.

This workshop is a step, an important first step. If you are at a point in your life where you can speak up (with your oncologist, the medical director of your cancer center, your insurance company, your place of employment), please ask when the professional services by a Registered Dietitian are going to be included as a component of comprehensive outpatient cancer care along with payment coverage that professional care. Feel free to be the squeaky wheel......we need all voices, all hands on deck, and don't take "no" for the final answer! :)

So yes, while I am now farming full time, I am still involved with cancer, right where I started back in the 90's, working now with more of a focus on prevention of cancer and other food-related diseases (versus my previous focus on cancer survivorship) by growing healthy food to nourish and educate my community.

My message to my students: no matter how different our various paths and efforts as dietitians look, or the places where we work, my vision is that we are all working toward the same goal, which is the creation of healthy communities. I will end my 2016 Registered Dietitian Day post with a Swahili word that I (try to remember to) teach my students and have surely used in past blog posts:

Ujima - a Swahili word meaning "collective work and responsibility"

To build and maintain our community, to make our brothers' and sisters' problems our own, and to solve them together.

Two thumbs up for healthy communities, shaping our future literally from the ground up!

Cultivate your life - you are what you grow - inch by inch, row by row,

Diana Dyer, MS, RD

Organic vs. Conventional - Which is better?

noreply@blogger.com (Diana Dyer) — Tue, 14 Apr 2015 00:25:00 +0000

I was recently interviewed for an article recently published in Today's Dietitian about organic foods. Each person interviewed was asked the same questions with selected responses included. The full article is viewable here.

All the questions were good ones. Each of my responses was as short as I could make it and keep my thoughts coherent. I knew that most of the content would hit the cutting room floor so that their resulting article was also coherent when combining the responses from each person. So I add my full responses here in case my readers would appreciate reading the wider view of my thoughts about each question.

Of course each of these questions could merit a full blog post, a full essay, and I could easily have a conversation around each one. However, it will be of interest to see how others also answered the same question.

I apologize in advance for the formatting and font, which always seems to be odd when I cut and paste into this blog. There seems to be nothing between small and LARGE - arghhh. So I change the font to make it a bit easier on the eyes, but again, I deeply apologize if you need to put on your reading glasses, or worse, actually get out a magnifying glass!

QUESTIONS:

(1) How would you summarize the nutritional differences between conventionally grown versus organically grown foods, and what complicates this comparison?

Most individual research studies evaluating nutritional differences as a primary outcome when comparing foods grown conventionally (i.e., with synthetic chemical inputs - fertilizer and/or herbicides and pesticides) versus organic farming practices (i.e., biological inputs - agroecological methods) will typically show variation from year to year, crop to crop, field to field and thus are very difficult to interpret.

The most recent meta-analysis (see reference below) does show significantly increased anti-oxidant content in organically grown produce. What is as important for public health, if not more so, is that this meta-analysis also showed that overall the organically-raised produce had reduced pesticide levels plus reduced levels of the toxic heavy metal cadmium.

However, by focusing attention only on possible nutrient differences between organically-grown and conventionally-grown foods, Registered Dietitians miss the opportunity to learn about our profession’s much larger and critically important role as advocates for the development of healthy sustainable agriculture and food systems that promote healthy soil, healthy food, healthy people, and healthy communities. Focusing only on nutrient differences is a distraction away from issues of deeper concern that are even more important for the protection of our public and environmental health.

Higher antioxidant and lower cadmium concentrations and lower incidence of pesticide residues in organically grown crops: a systematic literature review and meta-analyses. Baranski, M., D. Srednicka-Tober, N. Volakakis, C. Seal, R. Sanderson, G. B. Stewart, C. Benbrook, B. Biavati, E. Markellou, C. Giotis, J. Gromadzka-Ostrowska, E. Rembiałkowska, K. Skwarło-Son, R. Tahvonen, D. Janovska, U. Niggli, P. Nicot and C. Leifert. http://csanr.wsu.edu/significant-benefits-organic-plant-based-foods/

(2) Are there significant health risks of the pesticides, technologies (such as genetic engineering) and/or additives used in conventional food production?

I focus my attention and advocacy on our farm’s soil health and ecosystem’s vast and interconnected biodiversity and the community that it creates (both above and below ground). Conventional (i.e. industrial agriculture) consists of practices (including the use of GMO seeds) that are intentionally depleting our planet’s vast biodiversity, which includes the incredibly diverse, complex, and extensive microbial life in our soil that is only beginning to be discovered and is only barely understood for its role in overall health (from the soil to the planet, including human health).

The population of the monarch butterfly has dropped precipitously in recent years, related to the use of pesticides directly and indirectly to the herbicides that are killing its main source of food, the milkweed plant, growing in among the vast acres of mono-crops planted in soy and corn. In fact, the monarch population in North America has decreased to the point of it potentially adding it to the list of endangered species. http://monarchwatch.org/blog/2014/09/02/commentary-recent-petition-to-protect-the-monarch-butterfly/

What is a significant health risk from the use of these synthetic chemicals, and to whom? We know SO little about this community of life, this diverse ecosystem to which we belong and are connected. Think of the monarch butterfly (along with the recent increase in honey bee colony collapse) as “canaries in the corn field”.

It’s time that RDNs learn about and incorporate The Precautionary Principle into their thinking and professional food recommendations in order to protect both the public’s health and the environmental health of our communities and planet. http://www.sehn.org/precaution.html

(3) There’s been debate about the healthfulness of organic pesticides. Some people use this as an argument against organics. Are organic pesticides healthier than conventional pesticides? If so, how so? If not, why not?

This “debate” is another distraction for a variety of reasons.

The organic farming community has been saying for years that it needs (and wants to participate in) more research into best practices so that organic farmers can continue to reduce the need to use any herbicide or pesticide, even if it has been approved for use in USDA certified organic products (OMRI). Research dollars have consistently been disproportionally awarded to study conventional (industrial, synthetic) agriculture. The 2014 Farm Bill has increased the dollar amount, and fully funded this section, for research dedicated to “specialty crops” (not necessarily organically-grown, but this is a start), the term given to fruits and vegetables. http://sustainableagriculture.net/blog/2014-farm-bill-outcomes/

Several studies have shown in both adults and children that eating only organic foods for a relatively short period of time significantly reduces the body levels of potentially harmful pesticides: (a) Cynthia L. Curl, CL , RA Fenske and K Elgethun. 2003. Organophosphorus pesticide exposure of urban and suburban pre-school children with organic and conventional diets. Environmental Health Perspectives doi:10.1289/ehp.5754 (b) http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S001393511400067X Reduction in urinary organophosphate pesticide metabolites in adults after a week-long organic diet, Liza Oates, et al.

The President’s 2008-2009 Cancer Panel Report - Reducing Environmental Cancer Risk: What we can do now (published April 2010) recommends “choosing, to the extent possible, foods grown without pesticides or chemical fertilizers, antibiotics, and growth hormones…….” (page 112) to reduce the effects from environmental exposure on cancer risk. http://deainfo.nci.nih.gov/advisory/pcp/annualReports/pcp08-09rpt/PCP_Report_08-09_508.pdf

(4) How might age or genetic differences of people impact the body’s response to pesticide contamination or technologies used in conventionally-grown foods?

Our children are the future of our country and society at large. The American Association of Pediatrics has developed a policy statement calling for reduction of prenatal and early childhood exposure to pesticides, being associated with pediatric cancers, cognitive function, and behavioral problems. http://www.aap.org/en-us/about-the-aap/aap-press-room/Pages/AAP-Makes-Recommendations-to-Reduce-Children's-Exposure-to-Pesticides.aspx

(5) Many consumers are familiar with the Environmental Working Group’s “Dirty Dozen” and “Clean Fifteen” as shopping guides for produce. What is your opinion about the “Dirty Dozen” and how much of an impact has this guide made on consumer shopping decisions?

I was thrilled when this list first came out in the mid-90’s. I personally used it and have included it as a resource in each edition of my book A Dietitian’s Cancer Story. However, now I personally don’t use it all, and only recommend it as the proverbial great first step. Why not? It limits one’s thinking to only “me”, i.e., what’s in it for me?

Buying organically-grown food is about so much more than just nutritional benefits, i.e., just “me”. People are becoming aware and choosing to purchase food grown organically, particularly grown by farmers within their own foodshed (i.e. a regional food system), because doing so promotes:

- healthy soil,

- biodiversity,

- clean water,

- reduced soil erosion plus regeneration of productive topsoil,

- clean air,

- reduced production of atmospheric gases causing global climate change along with being an effective sink for capturing (reducing) atmospheric CO2,

- increases and stabilizes a local economy,

- helps to define and maintain a local food culture and community,

- reducing the personal intake of hormones, antibiotics and other drugs,

- prevention of the development of antibiotic resistance,

- choosing animal protein foods from farms focused on animal welfare which includes appropriate food for an animals specific anatomy and physiology,

- reducing risk of pesticide/herbicide exposure to farm workers,

- increased nutrients (polyphenols, other antioxidants, healthy fatty acids),

- increased flavor (and what is food without delicious flavor?),

- reduced risk of an increasing variety of illnesses (including autism, Parkinson’s, diabetes, cancer, heart disease) and lastly,

- recognizing and celebrating the culture in agriculture.

RDNs need more education about their important role in the development of sustainable regional agriculture and food systems that truly can deliver “good food and good health for all” (my email sign-off).

(6) What about food categories not included in the Dirty Dozen, such as organic animal products and grains—how should consumers approach these?

Buy organically every place possible. However, buying organic animal products is not that easy because some organic animals are still fed organic food (i.e., organic corn in CAFO feedlots) that is not appropriate for their anatomy and physiology or welfare.

(7) Some experts contend that people may skip certain foods altogether (such as fruits and vegetables) if they can’t afford organic, thus lowering nutritional quality of the diet. Is that a real concern?

“Experts” are often journalists or headline writers who love to (and need to) stir up controversy without offering meaningful suggestions for change to their readers. As an RD, I would help a client look at their time and total food dollar spending for a week (including all food eaten away from home, processed convenience foods plus expensive JUNK, which I do not give the dignity of being called “food”) and help them make goals and a plan to negotiate choices in order to have the money for healthy organic foods and time for food prep. And I would add that grabbing organic energy bars, organic cookies, organic JUNK would not make it into my professional recommendations or my own grocery cart.

(8) What are the pros and cons of organic farming practices versus conventional farming practices on the environment?

See Question 5 above.

In addition, I subscribe to the tenents and practices of the field of Agro-ecology: http://www.agroecology.org

• The application of ecology to the design and management of sustainable agroecosystems.

• A whole-systems approach to agriculture and food systems development based on traditional knowledge, alternative agriculture, and local food system experiences.

• Linking ecology, culture, economics, and society to sustain agricultural production, healthy environments, and viable food and farming communities.

(9) If organic farming were the norm, would organic food cost the consumer less? And, if so, how would we support a move in this direction?

Organic foods from small local farmers will not and should not cost less. The real question is not “Why is organic food so expensive and when is the cost going to come down? Instead, the real question is “Why is cheap food cheap and what are the hidden costs to our communities of the cheap, processed food that is the norm?” It is critical that we as society start to address the multiple costs of cheap food to each of us personally and to society at large.

I know several small organic farmers who qualify for SNAP (food assistance program). I don’t know any single small organic farmers who are making so much money that they need an off-shore banking account.

Communites and individual organic farmers together need to continue to increase awareness and appreciation (value) of the three pillars of sustainable regional food systems, which are economic, environmental, and social benefits, all of which together create vital, thriving, and desirable places to live. (these pillars are also often described as the 3-P's = Profit, Place, and People)

(10) For a consumer who wants to eat more organic foods, what are strategies dietitians should recommend to make them more affordable?

See my response above (#7) about working with the client for planning the total time/food bought. In addition, it is important to help the client (an individual or institution) make change in small steps with achievable and measurable goals - I use “A Good Food Checklist for Eaters”, developed by Angie Tagtow, MS, RD at http://www.extension.umn.edu/food/farm-to-school/docs/good-food-checklist-for-eaters.pdf)

I also suggest that RDNs use Angie Tagtow’s Good Food Checklist for Dietitians first in order to see what they need to learn and put into practice themselves (i.e., walk the talk) before they can be effective community leaders and teachers for their clients. http://www.iatp.org/files/143_2_102827.pdf

(11) What trends do you foresee in production and consumer interest in organically-grown foods over the next 15 years, and how would you recommend supporting or reversing these trends?

The consistent recent and projected growth of the organic food production and purchases compared to the rest of the food industry is important. http://www.foodnavigator-usa.com/Markets/US-organic-food-market-to-grow-14-from-2013-18 As a relatively new farmer who has chosen to pursue both organic production and marketing via the USDA Organic certification program, I obviously support this growth. The most important point for RDNs to understand is that this growth is resulting from many larger societal concerns than just individual nutrient differences, as important as that is.

I suggest that all RDNs (in addition to the dietetic students and interns who come to my farm or Mary Jo Forbord’s farm when participating in the Hunger & Environmental Nutrition Dietetic Practice Group’s School to Farm Program) read the following resources provided by the HEN DPG and AND:

Organic Foods Talking Points (September 2014) http://www.hendpg.org/docs/Resources%20-%20public/organictalkingpoints_digital.pdf

Healthy Land, Healthy Food, Healthy Eaters, Sustainable Food Systems: Opportunities for Dietitians, A. Tagtow and A. Harmon, http://www.eatright.org/HealthProfessionals/content.aspx?id=8632#.UHh7ZY7sfnY

ADA Position Statement: Food and Nutrition Professionals Can Implement Practices to Conserve Natural Resources and Support Ecological Sustainability (June 2007). http://www.eatright.org/About/Content.aspx?id=8360 (compare and contrast to 2013 practice paper)

AND Practice Paper: Promoting Ecological Sustainability within the Food System (March 2013). http://www.eatright.org/Members/content.aspx?id=6442475081

Standards of Professional Performance for Sustainable, Resilient, and Healthy Food and Water Systems – JAND 2014;114:475-488

Some additional resources:

Beyond Eating Right: The Emergence of Civic Dietetics to Foster Health and Sustainability Through Food System Change, J Wilkins et al, JHEN 5(1) 2010 - http://www.informaworld.com/smpp/section?content=a919883004&fulltext=713240928#references

The Food-Climate Relationship: The Registered Dietitians’ Balanced Approach to Positive Change - http://www.noharm.org/lib/downloads/food/Balanced_Menus_Reg_Dietitians.pdf

2010 State of the Evidence: The Connection Between Breast Cancer and the Environment - http://www.breastcancerfund.org/assets/pdfs/publications/state-of-the-evidence-2010.pdf

The President’s Cancer Panel Report 2010 Reducing Environmental Cancer Risk: What We Can Do Now – has a section on agriculture, food, and water -

http://deainfo.nci.nih.gov/advisory/pcp/annualReports/pcp08-09rpt/PCP_Report_08-09_508.pdf

A Generation in Jeopardy: How pesticides are undermining our children’s health and intelligence – Pesticide Action Network of North America, October 2012

http://www.panna.org/sites/default/files/KidsHealthReportOct2012.pdf

Fair Food: Growing a Healthy, Sustainable Food System for All, Oran B. Hesterman, PhD, Public Affairs, 2011. http://www.fairfoodbook.org/

Eat Local: Simple Steps to Enjoy Real, Healthy, and Affordable Food, Jasia Steinmetz, PhD, RD, New World Publishing, 2011.

I know this post is another long one, so I will not continue except to say that as an RD, I have clearly attached our collective future to developing healthy, sustainable regional food systems (with the occasional luxury of buying food not grown in the Upper Midwest like orange juice, avocados, olive oil, salt, black pepper, turmeric, etc etc etc - you get the idea). In fact, the visions statement for our farm is "Shaping our future from the ground up" where the word "our" is intentionally very wide and inclusive starting with building a healthy soil-food web for optimal nutrient content of the food we grow all the way to a healthy planet, and everyone and everything in-between.

Lastly, I will also just add that our organic certification is our public promise and gift to our local community demonstrating our farm's commitment to both nourishing and nurturing our community's health. As I mentioned above, "Good food and good health for all" is my email sign-off. Working for and advocating for anything less is a compromise I am not willing to make as a true front-line health care provider proudly practicing both as a Registered Dietitian and an organic farmer feeding my own community. :)

Please feel free to read the full article, then decide for yourself "Which is better?". There are many valuable responses. Hopefully you will find one bit of information that helps you see and commit to a better, healthier, organic, sustainable future for all of us, our common good.

Cultivate your life, you are what you grow – inch by inch, row by row,

Diana Dyer, MS, RD – your Radical Dietitian blogger :)

2015 National Dietitian Day - Should "Radical" be the New Normal?

noreply@blogger.com (Diana Dyer) — Wed, 11 Mar 2015 13:12:00 +0000

Blogging "rules" tell you to limit blog postings to 300 words or your readers won't get the message. Sorry. I don't subscribe to the "fast food", "grab-n-go" mentality of our society that is constantly pushed on us. So, I am just giving my readers a heads-up. This blog posting will be much longer than 300 words, so if you are still interested in reading what I have to say, I suggest you wait until you have time to read my full posting, that you have the time and mental space to think, and perhaps even savor what I have written. I would like to envision you having made a pot of organic, fair trade tea before reading this. :)

Ok - enough lead in. Good news! Another year has gone by, and I'm still "healthy enough"! So here we go for National Dietitian Day 2015. :)

Forty years ago at this time in 1975, I was finally applying for a coveted spot (even then) in a dietetic internship. Once I had finally made the decision to become a registered dietitian (RD), I then worked so hard to fulfill the prerequisites and had been so focused on this path during the previous two years that I honestly never thought about what I would do if not accepted. So surprise! shock! when I learned I had been rejected. I was able to learn that I was rejected not because I didn't meet the rigorous academic requirements, but because I was a childhood cancer survivor. Pause ……. Yes, you read that right.

I'm going to make a long story short here. I got in, that year, to the same internship that had first rejected me, in fact discriminated against me based solely on my medical history. This was not the first time I had found myself going against the grain, needing to advocate for myself, doing something differently than the usual path, speaking up, speaking out to solve a problem. Nor would it be the last.

The simplest way to explain my thinking and subsequent actions is to say that having survived an illness in which doctors involved did not even offer my parents any treatment ("just take her home and make her comfortable"), let alone offer hope, I was not going to let anyone easily tell me "no" for anything. Having survived what was considered hopeless, my modus operandi very simply had become "finding a way to yes". And finding a way to yes to find a solution for a problem I decided to tackle has often involved seeing things differently, asking different questions, being persistent, and simply not giving up!

So, again to make a long story short, I finished that lengthy and rigorous internship combined with a Masters degree, which included a complicated research project and thesis, presented my research (which actually changed best practice for children born with the inborn error of metabolism called PKU) at an international conference, had my first child (with a complicated pregnancy, delivery, birth, and my baby's stay in a neonatal intensive care unit), and then passed the national registration exam (to permit me to use RD after my name) on the first opportunity after my graduation with a MS in Nutritional Sciences. The only thing I didn't get done during this 5-year period - which I still regret - was to actually walk to get my MS diploma, which I had worked so hard and long to achieve.

Whew!

But I was just getting started. :) I have written about all the meaningful work I have done as a Registered Dietitian (RD) in my previous National RD Day posts starting in 2008. (here is the link to last year's post, which also includes the links to all previous posts I have written for National RD Day).

In a nutshell, I am SO glad I spoke up and didn't just walk away, accepting that initial rejection.

However, here is the most important lesson that I learned with that initial rejection. In order to solve a problem, rather than just patch it up, or hope it would somehow solve itself, you must first identify and understand the cause or the root of the problem.

Which leads me to the title of this post. "Should 'Radical' be the New Normal"?

Huh? Here is the connection.

Was what I did, challenging the initial rejection into my dietetic internship based on a decision that was clearly discrimination, considered radical? Maybe yes, maybe no, but in either case I don't know that I would have worn that word comfortably back in the 70's as my husband and I had arrived at the University of Wisconsin campus shortly after an anti-war bombing of one of the campus buildings, an action that was clearly radical to the extreme in my mind.

Indeed, looking up the word radical, the first definition typically includes the emphasis on "extreme":

– Advocating or based on thorough or complete political or social reform:

representing or supporting an extreme section of a political party.

However, as I have been thinking about what I am doing now as a Registered Dietitian who is also a certified organic farmer, in addition to many things I have done over the past decades that I have been an RD, I have been thinking about this word "radical" more and more.

Synonyms for the word radical include revolutionary, reformer, revisionist, progressive (among other less appealing words like die-hard, bigot, militant, etc).

Digging further (oh, I like that pun!), two additional definitions I found for the word radical that ring true and deep with me are the following:

– Adjective: Coming from the Latin radix, of or going to the root or origin; fundamental

– Adjective: Forming a basis or foundation

Thus, I have come to use the word radical in a meaningful, positive, and powerful way, taking the word radical back to its roots, literally and figuratively, i.e., radical meaning "going to the root" of a problem to find solutions, back to the fundamentals in order to actually understand the cause of problems and then work toward solutions or reform in a thorough and complete manner, rather than a quick, easy, short-term fix, just putting on band-aids, or kicking the can down the road, over and over and over again.

And thinking of the word radical in terms of the word root leads me as an organic farmer to first think about healthy, organic soil as the "root" requirement (i.e., the absolute basis and foundation) for growing healthy, nutrient-dense food as the starting point that leads to solutions for nourishing personal, public, and planetary health. With that awareness, I realize that I am a "radical dietitian" because I am committed to this "radical vision" of a food system that starts with healthy, organic soil as my touchstone, my roots, the basis for defining my professional responsibilities, which then guide my professional influence and actions.

Should "radical" in that sense be the new normal? Should all RDs be "radical" dietitians, no matter what area of practice they choose? In my opinion, yes, if "radical" means that everywhere possible RDs are making food and nutrition recommendations and/or even direct purchases that lead forward to the development of healthy communities and a healthy planet and also go backward to start a healthy food system with healthy soil.

I often tell my dietetic students that the basis, the starting point, for health is not "we are what we eat" but is instead "we are what we grow", because striving toward health should be larger than just personal health. No matter what narrow focus each of us may choose within the many opportunities our profession offers to apply the appropriate medical nutrition therapy (MNT) learned to become an RD (i.e., diabetes, cancer, sports, eating disorders, GI, intensive care, long-term care, wound care, food services, managing, consulting, research, policy, business ownership, education, and on and on and on and on!!), also using our expertise to work toward the larger picture of healthy environments and healthy communities should be the fundamental, underlying, root reason for choosing to become an RD.

In my view of our professional expertise and responsibility (and yes, it took me a while to see and appreciate this wider and deeper view), this larger picture of healthy environments and healthy communities is a goal that all RDs should support and pursue (where possible) by advocating for healthy food, healthy soils, water, and air as the starting point for health, i.e., back to the starting point "we are what we grow".

Is my thinking "radical"? Is it "too radical"? What could possibly be "too radical" (in the negative sense that the word is often used) about envisioning and working for solutions that lead to healthy soil, healthy food, healthy people, healthy communities, and a healthy planet, i.e., true sustainability for all?

What could possibly be "too radical" about directing our professional influence and recommendations to the promotion and support of systems, policies, and practices that preserve, protect, and regenerate healthy soils in addition to clean water, genetic biodiversity (both above and below ground), pollinators, intact diverse ecosystems, and promote carbon sequestration in our soils that can mitigate (even reverse) climate change?

Maybe I'll trade in my "Eat More Kale" bumper sticker for one that says "I LOVE Soil" :)

Before I end this blog post, I will just pause to mention that I am grateful beyond words that my parents challenged the first medical opinion (and even a second) and that they shared my earliest story with me (which I was too young to actually remember). As I grew into young adulthood, trying to piece the world together, I slowly appreciated the significance of their actions, which showed me the importance of thinking clearly when faced with a problem, looking for solutions outside the norm, finding courage, speaking up, creating a way to yes, going against the grain when necessary, being atypical, even being radical (at the extreme) when that was the only possible solution, as my parents were by challenging the authority of a medical system that first said "no", at a time when questioning a doctor's recommendation was never done.

I am also grateful beyond measure for the one person on that internship selection committee who saw things differently and helped to move the Universe in ways that ultimately got me back on to the acceptance list.

Just a few more thoughts before I sign off this year's blog post for the 2015 National RD Day. Maybe RD can also be a professional abbreviation for "Radical Dietitian". :) Probably not, but I am quite comfortable wearing that word now. In fact, I like to envision all future registered dietitians (RD) also thinking of themselves as being "Radical Dietitians", making "radical" professional food and nutrition recommendations that seek to address root causes of problems wherever they can in order to promote effective solutions within every component of the health care spectrum, solutions that support healthy, microbe and humus-rich organic soil as the non-negotiable beginning, the foundation, the root of healthy food systems, healthy communities, and a healthy planet.

I like thinking of that training and commitment being the "new normal" for my profession, and I am happy thinking about and working toward that along with other RDs who share the same vision and values.

If you're already an RD or an RD2B (still doing an undergrad program, already in a dietetic internship, or just starting to think about becoming a registered dietitian) and you'd like to jump on board to help shape the future in this "radical" direction, my best and most enthusiastic advice is to join the Hunger & Environmental Nutrition Dietetic Practice Group (under the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics - AND). You'll be in good company with the values held by other HEN members along with HEN's mission to empower its members to be leaders in sustainable and accessible food and water systems, which is the foundation of our professional responsibility no matter where you apply your expertise and passions about food and nutrition. (Note: student members of AND can join HEN DPG for a reduced fee!)

One last thought - I have just turned age 65. With that milestone, I also just received my Welcome to Medicare card, which is no small feat for a childhood cancer survivor who was first given zero chance of survival at age 6 months in 1950 and has had multiple additional cancer diagnoses and significant medical problems secondary to cancer therapies since then. Although age 65 and Medicare are often still synonymous with "retirement" in this country, I have not even looked at the criteria for continuing membership in my professional organization in a retired capacity.

I am still "healthy enough", and I think I still have some work to do for my profession as long as I am able, perhaps mostly planting seeds and nurturing others' careers through my opportunity to touch the future via the dietetic students and interns who participate in HEN's School to Farm Program.

I am both happy and grateful thinking about that, too, as that work means that I am also still able to carry the torch forward representing and advocating for both cancer prevention and a healthy life for all cancer survivors.

Paraphrasing the title of an inspirational book I just read, Good Morning, Beautiful Business by Judy Wicks, every morning I say:

"Good Morning, Beautiful Life!"

Yes, adding an exclamation mark. :) I hope all of my readers (whether you are an RD or an aspiring RD, cancer survivor, or one of my many general readers) also have a way to greet your new day, every morning, thinking about or creating some part of your day, some part of your life, where perhaps wearing the word "radical" is comfortable and also a beautiful part of your own new normal. :)

Cultivate your life - you are what you grow - inch by inch, row by row,

Diana Dyer, MS, RD (radical dietitian) :)

PS - This blog post (the last time I checked) is 2,202 words. Might be more by now. Thanks for reading this far. :)

A+ – Lentil Patties that do not fall apart!

noreply@blogger.com (Diana Dyer) — Tue, 10 Feb 2015 21:44:00 +0000

Maybe I just got lucky this time but yes, the post title says it all. The important feature about these lentil patties that I made for my daughter-in-law is that they formed beautiful patties and did not fall apart during assembly or cooking! Oh yes, they tasted great, too, and didn't have any ingredients to which she has allergies. Bingo! I needed to write this down so I can find it easily for the next time I want to make them.

I wanted to use ingredients I had on hand (no surprise there), and ultimately developed (fused together) a recipe that is modified from several bean patties that I reviewed on the internet. Here we go:

Ingredients:
• 1 cup black lentils + brown lentils (I had about 3/4 cup of the black lentils and topped off the cup with the typical brown lentils)
• 2 cups water for cooking the lentils
• 1-2 Tbsp. olive oil
• 1/2 cup red onion, finely chopped
• 3-5 cloves garlic, finely chopped
• 1/2 small jalapeño pepper, finely chopped
• 1 cup pumpkin (about 1/2 of a 15-ounce can of pumpkin without spices, ie., not pumpkin pie filling)
• 1/2 Tbsp. soy sauce
• 1/2 Tbsp. mustard (I used Dijon mustard)
• 1 cup oat bran
• 1/2 cup rolled oats
• 1 teaspoon dried oregano
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon pepper, freshly ground
• Water as needed

Directions:
1) Cook lentils in the 2 cups of water until soft but not mushy (about 20-25 minutes) - drain any extra water and allow lentils to cool to room temperature
2) Peel and chop onions and garlic, heat olive oil in small skillet and sauté onions first then add garlic for about 5 minutes total over medium heat. Take off heat and allow to cool.
3) In a large food processor, combine the drained lentils, onion and garlic, pumpkin, oat bran and oatmeal, jalapeño pepper, soy sauce, mustard, oregano, salt and pepper.
4) Mixture should be mostly smooth but not completely blended. Add water by the tablespoon if needed (I added 2 Tbsp. water).
5) Form patties (I made 6 that were quite large and about 1 inch thick). I used a 3/4 cup measuring cup to scoop up the mixture and drop onto a piece of waxed paper, then used my hands to form a patty from the mixture.
6) I baked the patties on a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper for 35 minutes at 350ºF.
7) Allow to cool then freeze if not eating right away.

These make beautiful patties ("burgers") that will hold up well inside a bun. Top with all your favorite toppings and condiments. Yum, yum!!

A+ – Lentil Patties that do not fall apart not baked yet

So what does the A+ mean? Are they that good? Yes, they are, but that is not what A+ means on labels in our freezer. Here is our code. Our daughter in law's name begins with the letter A, so anything labeled with A+ in our freezer is food that she can eat. It is doubtful she would ever just drop in because she and our son live so far away, but when I know they are coming, I can quickly take stock by looking for anything labeled with A+ to see what I have for quick eats when I am starting to plan food for their visit.

Go ahead and make these for yourself, even if you don't have to work around some food allergies, because they are that good. In fact, I have to resist pulling them out of the freezer for just us! I think it will be a good idea for me to actually go through all of the recipes on this blog to label which ones can be called A+, for my own quick reference! :)

Cultivate your life - you are what you grow - inch by inch, row by row,

Diana Dyer, MS, RD

Sweet Potato Enchilada Casserole

noreply@blogger.com (Diana Dyer) — Wed, 24 Dec 2014 21:35:00 +0000

Oh Yummy! Here is an easy recipe to feed a crowd, like when our sons and their wives are home for the holidays. One of our daughters-in-law has food allergies so making delicious food for the group with her needs in mind keeps my mind active. When I make food ahead and put it in the freezer, some are tagged as "A+", which translates to "Anna-Friendly". :) Here is a winner!

Bonus with this recipe, which I modified from several I found on the web. I learned about the Ro*Tel brand of foods, a long-time family-owned company in Texas, of course now owned by a series of "big food" acquisitions, but there it was, right in my regular locally-owned grocery store (albeit on the tippy top shelf). With our summer abundance of tomatoes and hot peppers, I will likely play with this combination to freeze my own "Ro*Tel" items in the future, but that is for another day!

Here is what is now made and ready for the arrival of the "fam", (no photo yet), complete with my notes for making it next time.

Sweet Potato Enchilada Casserole

Ingredients (I buy seasonal, organically and locally grown foods where available):
• 2# sweet potatoes (makes 2 cups of sweet mashed sweet potatoes)
• 2 cups cooked black beans
• 10 ounce can Ro*Tel diced tomatoes w/green chilis, drained (save the liquid for soup stock later)
• 2 cups frozen corn, drain if needed (again, save any liquid for using in soup stock later) - my frozen corn comes from a local company called Locavorius that purchases locally-grown produce in the summer, does all the prep work, freezes it to sell during the winter months
• 1 bunch scallions, slice the whites and also slice the green tops to use in different parts of the recipe
• 1 chipotle pepper, chopped from a jar of them in adobo sauce (left over from one of our summer interns - adding 1 pepper to most dishes is "just right")
• 4-5 cloves of garlic, peeled and chopped
• 1/2 cup salsa
• 6 Tbsp lime juice - or juice 2 limes and zest if they are organic limes
• 1 teaspoon chili powder - or to taste depending on how hot your chili powder is and of course how spicy your family likes its food!
• 18 corn tortillas - whole - I use an organic brand I find a Whole Foods Market
• 1 1/2 cup salsa
• 1 cup sliced pitted black olives (I buy pitted black Kalamata olives at a deli and then slice them - I stopped buying canned black olives years and years ago, which have no flavor, except salt!)

Directions:
1) Preheat oven to 350ºF. (or make this dish ahead, cover with foil, and heat later)
2) Cook sweet potatoes (I washed them and then just put them in my slow cooker overnight on low - they were perfectly done the next morning)
3) Peel sweet potatoes (cut in half, scoop out the potato, giving the peels to your dog or chickens - both are ecstatic recipients in our family)
4) Mash sweet potatoes, mix with lime juice, salt, pepper, and chili powder
5) In another bowl, mix together the drained beans, tomatoes/chili peppers, corn, chopped garlic, white section of the scallions, and 1/2 cup of the salsa
6) Spread a few tablespoons of salsa or other taco sauce on the bottom of a 9x13 baking dish.
7) Layer 6 overlapping corn tortillas over the bottom of the baking dish.
8) Layer 1/2 of the sweet potato mixture, then layer 1/2 of the bean mixture, in each case spreading to cover the tortillas.
9) Cover with another layer of 6 corn tortillas then repeat #8.
10) Top with 6 more corn tortillas.
11) Now spread the final 1-1/2 cup of salsa over the top layer of tortillas, sprinkle the sliced green onions and olives over the salsa (of course you may add some shredded cheese here if you wish - we do not so my daughter in law can eat it)
12) Cover with foil, heat 20 minutes at 350ºF. or so (longer if this has been held in the refrigerator until needed) until fully heated through and bubbling on the edges.

Note: I bought one of those deep 9x13 aluminum baking dishes at the grocery store so I could make this ahead and still have our baking dishes to use for food tomorrow. The pan I bought was deep enough that I could easily have had a 4th layer, which I will do next time, increasing the filling ingredients by 50%.

Serve with a green vegetable, salad, and home-made guacamole (yes plan ahead to have avocados on hand and ready to make your own, which is easy, delicious, and so much cheaper than buying it ready made.

Note: No photo yet. I'll try to take one and post it up later this week (don't hold your breath). You can all imagine how beautiful this dish is, so colorful with several yellow, green, red, white, and black foods combined, and with so many textures, too. Delicious! The word "healthy" does not even need to be mentioned, but yes yes yes, it is. :)

PS - I suppose I should change the photo at the top of my blog, too, but on a cold, rainy Christmas Eve, it is actually nice to look at those gorgeous sunflowers!

Happy Holidays, Everyone!

Diana Dyer, MS, RD
"Cultivate your life: You are what you grow, inch by inch, and row by row"

Catching up!

noreply@blogger.com (Diana Dyer) — Mon, 08 Sep 2014 03:33:00 +0000

As tomorrow is September 8th and I have not posted anything since late April, I want you to know I am still here, still standing, still doing well, still overcommitted (again, LOL, what else is new?), and thus going to share just a very brief update.

Highlights since my last posting?

(1) Actually going through the organic certification process and coming out the other side with that USDA Organic Certification!! Finally!! It is not an exaggeration to say that we are still very excited about finally having our farm officially certified. We chose our farm name (Dyer Family Organic Farm) very intentionally back in 2009. We never dreamed that our process would take so much time (for so many reasons), but here we are, five years later. We proudly hang the USDA Organic symbol from our market tent. At some point over the winter months, we'll do a better job of having it inserted into our farm website, market banner, business cards, and other materials.

(2) Having the pleasure and privilege of both sons and their wives live with us for many weeks during this past summer, as they were between chapters in their life, between leases, and we welcomed them with both open arms and an open heart. We put them to work on our farm, of course, and we were busy beyond busy, but having them here was enormously helpful and enjoyable for us (and I believe for them, too). Again, I repeat, having our grown sons and their wives live with us was both a pleasure and privilege that I could not have seen in my future as I struggled through the various times I was undergoing chemotherapy and/or recovering to rebuild my life after all cancer therapy was completed.

Gratitude. Pure. And. Simple.

(3) Although I don't have time to post on any of my blogs at the present time, I am still writing our farm's newsletter, which is weekly when we are in the marketing season. If you wish to subscribe, that is easy to do on our farm's website, and if you only wish to browse previous archived newsletters (there are lots of photos), you may do so at this link. In addition, if you want to follow daily updates for our farm, you may do so two ways via Facebook: a) Facebook feeds are visible at the bottom of our farm website's homepage without joining Facebook, and b) on Facebook itself (find and Like The Dyer Family Organic Farm/Dick's Pretty Good Garlic). Many customers stop by our table at the markets to say how much they enjoy reading the newsletter, even if they do not need garlic or honey that day! Awww…….I confess that I enjoy hearing how much they enjoy the newsletter. I look forward to writing it, just as I always have looked forward to writing on my blogs! :)

I don't know that there is any one photo that captures the summer perfectly. So I will include one of the first sunflowers we have had on the farm (planted by one of our summer interns). I have enjoyed looking forward to seeing them finally bloom, which only happened this week. And only this week did I first read a quote by Helen Keller that fits with my happy sunflowers:

"Keep your face to the sunshine, and you cannot see the shadows.

It's what the sunflowers do."

I know that each of us has challenges, and shadows, but I hope your summer has had some healing R&R, some happiness, and some sunflowers. I hope you are looking forward to fall. And I also hope that you can keep life's shadows behind you. Addendum: The wind during a recent ferocious storm flattened these sunflowers after I took this photo but before I got it posted. A few days later, they are now doing their best to stand back up, with their faces still facing the sun. I'll just bet that the vast majority of my blog readers can relate. :)

Cultivate your life - you are what you grow - inch by inch, row by row,

Diana Dyer, MS, RD

Morning Memories

noreply@blogger.com (Diana Dyer) — Sun, 27 Apr 2014 14:30:00 +0000

It's almost time for me to give up reading what I follow on Facebook (I'll still be posting up on the farm's Facebook page) with even less frequent blogging, too, until we are done planting garlic in November. My long-time readers know to expect this by now! However, I don't know if I can give up my morning visit to The Writer's Almanac. I would miss hearing Garrison Keillor read Mary Oliver, and other poets, and really miss learning that today is the anniversary of the the publication of Roger Tory Peterson's Field Guide to Birds.

Hearing Roger Tory Peterson speak at the University of Wisconsin during the mid-70's has been one of the highlights of my life. I was too naive at the time to know I should have brought my first copy of his book Field Guide to Birds of Eastern North America (bought in the early 60's) to have him autograph it. In any case, I can still recall much from that evening, just as he remembers his experience of having a flicker explode into life with his touch.

One of my friends and I were recently talking about how much we love our professional work (she's a physician, close to my age, with no plans for retiring), and wondering if either of the two of us had 'hobbies'. I'm not sure if my love for birds is a hobby, as I cannot really 'set it down', versus a foundation that drives my passion and advocacy for healthy food systems because healthy food systems and healthy ecosystems that support diverse and thriving bird populations are mutually dependent.

Lovely morning memories of my past that have shaped who I am today - plus a bonus gift, a male wood duck on our pond this morning (photo and comment on our farm's FB page).

The blessings in my life as a multiple-time cancer survivor are simply uncountable, but I give thanks every morning for what I have and what I can share. As Mary Oliver finishes her poem The Place I Want To Get Back To, "I live in the house near the corner, which I have named Gratitude." :)

Cultivate your life - you are what you grow - inch by inch, row by row,

Diana Dyer, MS, RD

Winter is over, really!

noreply@blogger.com (Diana Dyer) — Fri, 25 Apr 2014 22:40:00 +0000

Because my last post about headlines has gone a little 'viral', I thought I should finally change the upper photo on my blog which showed Phoebe walking the paths in our snowy garlic fields last December, with her ears blowing up and back from the strong wind. Yes, it nearly the end of April and our snow is finally gone, frogs are singing, and the garlic is coming up through the mulch in all the fields. So spring is clearly here, even if we may still get one more quick snow storm before spring fully settles in.

However, sorting through photos, I saw one I could not resist sharing. Instead of a spring fling, it is like Phoebe's final winter fling as she is throwing herself into the air to chase something, which surely seems like a better way to chase a critter than plowing or trudging through the snow (we all got tired of doing that this winter!).

This photo won't stay up there long. I'll get some spring photos taken and share one at the top of the blog soon. But in the meantime, here is one photo that shows it's hard to keep a good dog down (I got lucky with this shot)!

One of those exceptional, gorgeous mornings when the hoarfrost covers everything.

Ok, now it's time to download the camera of recent photos and take some more new ones, showing spring. That would include showing our chicks now full-grown, our rooster also being full-grown but with a modified comb due to frostbite (still quite handsome, just different), our garlic on its way up through the mulch, asparagus peeking up, spring beauties and other wild flowers, our thriving bee hives that (shock of shock) made it through this past winter (with uncountable polar vortexes and a record amount of snow), geese and ducks on the pond, bluebirds flitting through the farm, and on and on.

I hope you all have an enjoyable weekend, with your hands in the soil, helping spring along as you get something cleaned up or planted.

Cultivate your life - you are what you grow - inch by inch, row by row,

Diana Dyer, MS, RD

Don't always believe the headline or the bottom line

noreply@blogger.com (Diana Dyer) — Wed, 23 Apr 2014 16:23:00 +0000

I was thrust into the world of "the media" when the Detroit Free Press wrote an article about my cancer recovery way back in 1997, an article that was well written overall but contained a deliberately constructed "headline" within the article that was a "hook" to create interest and controversy (i.e. readership) about the content and path of my recovery. (The internal headline was "No time for chemotherapy". Yes, I probably said that, as an off-hand comment, like who does???, but yes, I underwent both chemo and surgery. I did not 'cure' myself only with diet, etc.)

Sigh……..welcome to the real world……...

Recently an article has been published in the New York Times (link below) that essentially says "diet doesn't matter" for cancer prevention. This article is now making the rounds within other newspapers and all over the internet.

Sigh………don't believe everything you read, anywhere, not just the New York Times, not just "the internet".

I have asked a colleague for permission to add her comments to my blog, for my readers to see a well-reasoned response to this article and the reactions you may be seeing or reading (thank you, Karen). Please also read the links she has included, both the original article and the response from The American Institute for Cancer Research, where I donate proceeds from my book.)

*************

Colleagues,

I want to give you a head's-up about a column appearing today in the New York Times Science section.

In giving a commentary on the recent Amer. Assoc. for Cancer Research conference, the article, "An Apple a Day, and Other Myths" provides a limited quote from a presentation there by Walter Willett (distinguished researcher from Harvard involved in the Nurses' Health Study and many others; and one of the panel of scientists on the panel responsible for the AICR Expert Report that is the source of the AICR Recommendations to Reduce Cancer Risk).

Headlines, as this article is shooting all over the media, are referring to diet and cancer as a "mess". You may be getting questions about it (or hearing from patients or colleagues repeating this article's findings as fact without asking you a question).

So you may want to read the NY Times column yourself:

http://www.nytimes.com/2014/04/22/science/an-apple-a-day-and-other-myths.html?ref=science&_r=0

I also strongly encourage you to read a post from AICR that attempts to put the article in perspective:

http://blog.aicr.org/2014/04/22/fact-check-for-cancer-risk-diet-matters/

We all know the research on diet and cancer is becoming more and more complex -- but it's unfortunate if that gets misinterpreted as meaning that the two are unrelated, rather than what is actually happening, as we are finding that the complexity means that cancer is not all the same, people are not all the same (genetic differences may make some more vulnerable to certain aspects of diet than others), and foods are not all the same (different forms of fiber have different effects, carotenoids differ from each other, grains differ from each other, etc., etc.). The emphasis in recent years on eating pattern rather than specific foods or nutrients, and diet's interaction with physical activity and body composition, indeed make this complex. But that's very different than the message portrayed in the NY Times article.

I hope this is of help to you all in being ready to respond to your patients and colleagues.

Karen Collins, MS, RDN, CDN

Taking nutrition from daunting to doable SM

Speaker, Writer, Consultant

Nutrition Advisor, American Institute for Cancer Research

Co-Director, Wellness and Cardiovascular Nutrition subunit, SCAN dietetic practice group

http://www.karencollinsnutrition.com

********************

In addition, I would also add that most diet and cancer studies have many major short-comings, not the least of which but maybe one of the most important, is that most people are likely not eating enough fruits and vegetables to see potential benefits (i.e., even the "high" intakes in these studies are still low, which is why I have set my personal goal of eating 9+ servings/day, every day, every week, rain or shine, winter or summer, traveling or home, etc, etc).

Please don't fall for the conclusion in this article that diet does not matter, for either cancer prevention (or cancer survival). This article appears to be throwing the baby out with the bathwater, I can only guess for the sake of "readership" (i.e. advertising dollars).

I once had an oncologist (not my own) ask me if I really thought all the work involved with my cancer recovery journey (as I describe in my book) was really worth it if I only increased my odds for survival by 2% (a number he pulled out of the air). I was standing in front of 600+ people as the invited keynote speaker at a huge cancer survivor day event when he asked me that question.

I let the question sink in, for both me and the audience. I am serious when I say I could have heard a pin drop in that auditorium during that moment.

Here is how I responded. "Let's see. Let's play with those hypothetical numbers a bit. Only 2%……….let's say I increased my odds from 1% survival to 3% survival. Those are not great odds, either way, but one way to look at that change is it being a 200% increase. Another example, let's say I increased my odds of survival from 49% to 51%. Again, on the surface, the increase does not look like much, but now I have taken myself out of the minority and put myself into the majority odds for long-term survival, which is where I much prefer to be."

There was another full moment of silence in the room. I suppose people were digesting what I had just said or maybe they were waiting for either that oncologist to say something else or maybe for me to follow-up with additional thoughts. When neither of us spoke, the audience jumped to their feet and roared with applause. I was stunned and embarrassed by all the hooting and hollering and foot stamping. I guess what I said (totally unplanned) sank in and resonated with this group of survivors.

Afterward, both cancer survivors and other health care professional came up to me to thank me for "standing up for patients".

I guess what I am reacting to in this New York Times article is the negativity that is being projected on to people (both those concerned enough about their health to make changes and the health care professionals trying to guide them).

Believe me, I am not tossing my diet changes out the window, but I may stop reading the New York Times, let alone counting on it for "news".

Ok - enough disgruntlement from me. Now let's all go out and enjoy spring! It's that time of year when we should all smell like soil at the end of a day, :) :) and oh yes, enjoy eating your vegetables knowing you are nourishing health in your body and soul, and hopefully also nourishing your local farmers. :) :)

Cultivate your life - you are what you grow - inch by inch, row by row,

Diana Dyer, MS, RD

PS - the formatting may look weird, at least it does for me with a preview version. I don't know why (something to do with cut and paste I suppose) but I don't have time to sort this out. Apologies for the vagaries of blogging. :)

Backing up finds loss and happiness

noreply@blogger.com (Diana Dyer) — Sun, 16 Mar 2014 16:47:00 +0000

I have wondered if I am blogging less because I have less to say, at least less to say that is 'new'. I think that might be true.

I am finally backing up my years of blog posts, working backwards by starting in 2014, one by one, re-reading them and enjoying the photos I posted. I just spent an hour backing up and re-reading all my posts from March 2012. Oh my, oh my. I think it would hard to top the range of feelings I had that month and clearly felt were beneficial (at least to me) to put into words. Only one post that month was a great recipe. The rest were either deep epic emotional outpourings or short posts about happiness, gratitude, and joy.

I have not read the April 2012 posts yet, but seriously, after reading the March 2012 posts, I cannot imagine what I could add that would be new. However, it is informative to re-read a bit of one's life to both remember and reflect on how yesterday has shaped where you are today. Moving forward feels good. :)

I have a young friend struggling within a very difficult phase of her own cancer survivorship journey, finished with therapy but still trying to find a peaceful path forward with her young, vitally important life. I have always disliked the term "new normal" that is commonly used by oncology professionals. I have also been uncomfortable with the term "survivor", as each conveys to me a reminder of significant loss and struggle and a sense of unfairness.

I don't have a better substitute, however maybe some of my readers do. I would like to hear what words you choose. Some use the term "cancer thriver" which perhaps shows more optimism, more determination than the more commonly-used term "survivor".

I do know that I flat-out reject the term "remission" because of the near-expectation of "reappearance" that is associated with that word remission. So if someone asks if my cancer is "in remission", I politely tell them that instead, I prefer to consider myself "cancer-free" until I'm told otherwise. :)

I know one thing I have learned, truly viscerally learned, from my last cancer experience and its recovery journey is that words are powerful, i.e., "the pen is mightier than the sword" type of powerful. I also learned that I find it helpful to me to find words that may be helpful to others in their own life's journey for recovery and growth. The phrase "your new normal" can only be meaningful if somehow your new life after cancer (or after ___________ - fill in the blank) is even better than before.

Somehow, somewhere, I realized first that helping others with their cancer recovery would help me be better than before cancer and secondly, helping others never have cancer in the first place led to starting our organic farm. Thus re-reading a phrase I found in a Feb 2012 post was a lovely 'find'.

"Your calling is found where your deepest joy(s) and

the world's desperate need(s)

meet."

~ Melinda Hemmelgarn, MS, RD at the 2012 MOSES Organic Farming Conference

(paraphrasing theologian Frederich Buechner)

All of us struggle with something. No one escapes life's unfairnesses and losses. However, I hope that each of us finds a calling, something that keeps us going forward in spite of cancer (or even because of our cancer), in spite of sadness, in spite of loss. To do that, I also hope that each of us finds something that consistently gives us joy and happiness each day, sometimes in unexpected places, at unexpected times, like re-reading old blog posts, knowing that we have moved forward within our lives, "tasting the sweetness where we each had the chance" (~Diana, paraphrasing author Louise Erdrich from another of my March 2012 posts). :)

Cultivate your life - you are what you grow - inch by inch, row by row,

Diana Dyer, MS, RD

National Dietitian Day - 2014 - the future is now

noreply@blogger.com (Diana Dyer) — Wed, 12 Mar 2014 23:37:00 +0000

Another year has rolled by, and as hard as it is to believe, I have now been a Registered Dietitian (RD) for 36 years.

If you are new to my blog (especially if you are a new or aspiring RD), you may be interested in reading the blog posts that I have written for the past National Dietitian Days (links included below). Some are quite reflective, so set aside some dedicated time and make yourself a cup of tea to enjoy while reading. They might be interesting to read from 2008 - forward. I re-read them that way last year myself!

2013 National Dietitian Day #6

2012 National Dietitian Day #5

2011 I'm Late Again

2010 It's All About Change

2009 There and Back Again

2008 Celebrate National Dietitian's Day (the first!)

I confess that I think a lot about the future, the future of my profession, the future of our communities, the future of our planet, and how these all intersect. This blog post is just a very short attempt to tie these concepts together for the students who are now taking up the torch for my profession.

I am proud of everything I have done during my career, which has spanned the spectrum of health care, from being one of the first dietitians to work in the intensive care units to now educating and feeding my community the healthy, delicious food grown on the organic farm that my husband and I established in 2009. In other words, I started my professional career at one far extreme end of health care where we worked to "salvage" our patients after some type of catastrophic event (or slow deterioration) to their health. However, after working in the ICU's for several decades, for a wide variety of reasons that I do discuss in previous blog posts, I slowly and intentionally began transitioning to the far other end of the health care spectrum to focus on wellness and health creation with organic farming, foods, and cooking.

So, when people ask me if I have now retired from being a registered dietitian (RD) because I became a farmer, I tell them that nothing could be further from the truth! Not only do I see all organic farmers who grow food to sell locally as the true front-line health care providers in their own communities (and I am very proud to be among them in this role), as an organic farmer growing food for my community who is also a registered dietitian, I see an additional role for myself as (and ENJOY the opportunity to be) a food, cooking, and health educator, for which I have the additional education, credentials, and skill sets to do.

Thus, I just had to smile when reading (and want to share) the following article published in the February 2014 issue of the Journal of Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics entitled "Bringing Cooking Back: Food and Culinary Expertise as a Key to Dietitians' Future Success", the Lenna Frances Cooper Memorial Award Lecture delivered by Ellie Krieger, MS, RD, host of the Food Network's show Healthy Appetite and one of my profession's 'super-stars'. (Regrettably, it is likely that this article is not accessible by the public, but only available to AND members who have access to the on-line version of our professional journal.)

"Bringing cooking back"………..what a shame that an emphasis on cooking ever left our profession, but yes it did. It is still rare that student dietitians get extensive experience, training, and confidence for doing cooking demonstrations (I got none of this and still have a lack of confidence here). Yes, it is past time to bring back the pleasures of cooking, to bring back the practice and pleasures of eating together again (versus the grab-n-go and/or eating solo in the car or your desk habit), to bring back the pleasure and skills for growing some of our own food (in fact, I tell my students that "we are what we grow!" is a more appropriate starting point for health than the more traditional phrase "we are what we eat").

One line from the article stood out for me:

"We work in nutrition and our currency is food. We have to have a passion for food if we want to be successful," Chef Todd Seyfarth, MS, RD, CSSD, the department Chair and Program Director at Johnson and Wales University

And what better way to express a love and passion for food than with an apron (versus emphasizing nutrients with a lab coat)? Ellie shows her favorite apron during this presentation and talks about how meaningful and enjoyable wearing that apron is for her. As she so eloquently states in this article (and Michael Pollan has also written about), cooking should not be just a spectator sport, and as I have written about in several previous blog posts, cooking certainly should not be viewed as drudgery.

It's time to dedicate time to cooking, it's time to get dusted up a bit, to knead the dough, to find a little spray of fresh beet or lemon juice on your glasses, to get some dirt under your fingernails, in fact, it's time to get your apron dirty! It's also time to eat together, to express gratitude for our food and those people who grow, raise, or catch our food, and to enjoy the flavors of a delicious meal that you have prepared!

So my wish for all RDs (and RDs2B, i.e., students and interns) on this 2014 National Registered Dietitian Day? Share your passion for food with your patients, your clients, your customers, your friends, neighbors, and relatives, indeed the world. Look around, find an opportunity to put on your apron (or your gardening gloves) in order to share that passion, your vision, and your tools for creating and nourishing a healthy community. The opportunities are endless - due warning here, you may need to create them yourself - but, I repeat, the opportunities are endless, and the need is urgent.

In addition, and maybe most important, all RDs are now needed to help educate the public to become food and health literate, to think beyond and behind our plates (quoting another super-star RD, my friend Melinda Hemmelgarn, MS, RD, aka Food Sleuth) so together we all can connect the dots between the food we eat (and recommend), how that food was grown or processed, plus our collective soil, water, and air qualities to our personal, community, and planetary health.

This is no small charge for our profession's future.

Indeed, our profession's knowledge and skills are needed more than ever, and the time is now to make sure we get in the game and then step up to the plate to create healthy communities that are based on sustainable food and agriculture systems. We cannot wait for someone else to hit a grand slam home-run in the bottom of the 9th inning to win this game. Society urgently needs each member of our profession to hit a single, catch the pop-up, stop a passed ball, tag the runner, etc. etc. You get the idea. Jump in!

Here is where I want to reassure you. I know you are excited about becoming/being an RD or you would not have read this far. However, if you look around and are beginning to see the overwhelming number of ways that our current agriculture and food systems are creating unhealthy people and unhealthy communities, know that you have both good eyes and a good heart. If you look around and feel like the odds are long against winning, i.e., creating healthy, sustainable communities, please don't give up now. Instead, know that you can join up with the growing team of registered dietitians within the Hunger & Environmental Dietetic Practice Group who are committed to going the distance within our professional organization and will be very willing to help you along your professional path of helping to create healthy and sustainable food systems.

Nothing that you have done to become an RD has been easy. I know that. Nothing you ever do as an RD will be easy. I know that, too. In fact, anything meaningful is almost always both difficult and time-consuming to accomplish. However, and this is important, I want you to know that your career can also be fun in addition to being meaningful. I'm certainly having fun and find enjoyment being a dietitian who is also an organic farmer and food educator. Find the fun (no matter what specialty area of practice you choose), find your enjoyment, and share it within the various sectors of your community.

And here are my words of wisdom, after 36 years as an RD, I have finally learned that fun comes from real food, not nutrients. :)

Thank you for choosing to become an RD. The world needs you, and the world needs you now. I send you all my best wishes for a long, meaningful, and yes, fun career. :)

Cultivate your life - you are what you grow - inch by inch, row by row,

Diana Dyer, MS, RD

Crows or Eagles: Which Will You Choose?

noreply@blogger.com (Diana Dyer) — Fri, 21 Feb 2014 00:13:00 +0000

While (finally) starting the process of backing up my blog entries for the past 7 years (my bad, I know, but I am getting it done), I found an essay on my computer that I had submitted to the book Chicken Soup for the Survivor's Soul. It was not chosen for inclusion (I never heard back), but as I re-read what I wrote, I could still see everything about that moment, along with remembering my subsequent thoughts and feelings. I also remember the enjoyment of writing the article. I enjoyed reading it again last night, and I think it deserves 'flight', so to speak.

So I hope my blog readers also enjoy reading it, if you are a cancer survivor or not. The experience can be had anywhere by anyone, and the insight is applicable to each and every one of us.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

Crows or Eagles: Which Will You Choose?

Sitting in a Utah canyon during January 2003, I saw a magnificent and memorable sight, a mixed flock of approximately 50 crows and three Bald eagles flying in a thermal updraft from the warm canyon rocks. As i viewed the swirling acrobatic birds through my binoculars, I could see individual crows pestering the eagles, who put up with this annoyance for a while. Eventually, however, each eagle turned as if to say to the crows, "You are only a crow. I am an eagle!" Each eagle then flew on its own separate way.

I was struck by how this real-life observation in nature resembles not only our own real-life patterns, but also our opportunities. How often do we find ourselves staying within the comfort of the group or the ease of the updraft without moving on to new experiences or opportunities? How often do we find ourselves slowed down, bothered by, or worse, resigned to the myriad of life's distractions, or our own poor choices, when we really do have the desire, strength, or ability within us to follow the better path? Healing our own cancer-weary spirit or helping someone else are just two examples of the better path; a path with more happiness, more joy, or a more meaningful purpose.

This recent experience also has given me a new perspective about my own cancer recovery journey. I have always called myself an "accidental" author since writing the first edition of my book, A Dietitian's Cancer Story, in 1997. Writing and oral presentations were very difficult for me during my high school and college years, and I truly doubt that any of my past teachers would have selected me as a potential future author or public speaker. However, after viewing these eagles purposely fly away from the crows, I no longer see this aspect of my cancer recovery journey as accidental. Instead, I realize I made a choice to fly with the eagles; a choice to share my professional knowledge about nutrition and cancer along with my personal experiences through a book.

I did much more soul-searching after my most recent cancer diagnosis than I had done previously. I finally understood that my heart was being pulled to help others have an easier cancer recovery journey than I have had. I took a deep breath and chose to say "yes" to that pull in my heart' "yes" to leaving the comfort of a job I loved; "yes" to sharing my personal experience and professional knowledge with the hope that I could provide "information and inspiration" for other cancer survivors.

It was a risky choice, indeed I was terrified to know I would need to fly into new territory. I could have let the fact that I knew nothing about using a computer or nothing about the internet keep my flying inside my comfort circle with the crows. In addition to knowing nothing doubt writing a book, I knew nothing about book publishing or methods of book promotion, let alone how to run a home-based business. It certainly would have been easier to hang back with the crows, even with their occasional annoying pestering!

However, the Chinese proverb "When the student is ready, the teacher appears" immediately became true for me. As soon as I said, "Yes, I will write a book", people appeared to help me with every aspect of this daunting project. I now envision their teaching and helping to be just like the updraft that kept those eagles afloat until they were ready to fly alone. Writing, self-publishing, and marketing my book, creating my web site www.CancerRD.com, and public speaking are all examples of ways that I broke away from my group of crows to soar with the eagles.

Is flying with the eagles always smooth or easy? In a word, no. Do I have days when I am back with the crows, days when I do not feel like I can reach out to help other cancer survivors by soaring on my own? Yes, of course. However, I have two favorite verses that I keep close to me at all times for both comfort and inspiration. For those days when I just don't feel like I can keep soaring with the eagles, I take comfort in this verse:

"He will cover you with his feathers, and under his wings you will find refuge." (Psalm 91:4)

For days when I am ready to try soaring again:

"They shall mount up with wings like eagles, they shall run and not be weary, they shall walk and not faint." (Isaiah 40:31)

Over time, many details from my recent trip certainly will fade. However, I know I will hold the gift and power of this sign forever. Anytime I ever see a crow or Bald eagle in the future, I will remember that I have choices in life; a choice to either hang out with the crowd of crows or a choice to soar with the eagles. In addition, I frequently find myself visualizing the crows and eagles swirling together in that updraft; seeing the eagles in my mind as I choose how to spend my precious time and energy on a daily basis.

My wish is that you will also find the courage to choose a risk; the courage to say "yes" to some meaningful aspect of your life where you can help make a difference. It does not need to be cancer-related or even something "big" like writing a book or running a marathon. It just should be something uniquely important to you; something that will bring meaning, happiness, or joy into your life.

If you are not yet ready to soar by yourself, look for teachers to help you first stay aloft and then move outside your current comfort zone. You also can rise above the "I can't….." and the "If only………." type of statements so common when we surround ourselves with the crows in life to "I did it!" when we risk flying with the eagles.

I hope you experience the joy of soaring with the eagles during your life's journey!

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

My computer file says my final draft was 2.28.2003, nearly 11 years ago, and I don't think I have re-read that article since then, as life moves along quickly.

However, I can still clearly see those crows and 3 eagles in the blue sky, the rock outcroppings where I was sitting plus the general terrain of winter in the southwest desert canyons, along with feeling both the wind and sun on my face that day.

I can also clearly remember the shaky feeling of risk as I took flight on a journey in which I became an advocate, a spokesperson, for cancer survivors on many fronts.

Life is not easy, and it certainly is not fair (whatever that might be), but we do have choices, and we will have support. The Universe is abundant, and yes, "When the student is ready, the teacher will appear". Teachers have come to me over and over and over again since my cancer experience in 1995.

So I will dedicate this blog post to all my teachers during the past 19 years, some of whom are now dear friends, others flew with me for a short time within my flight path and then kept going. I would not be here, and I would not be who I am today, without all of you. Very simply, I thank you all.

And to all of my blog readers, I'll end this post exactly where I ended that article.

I hope you also experience the joy of soaring with the eagles during your life's journey!

Cultivate your life - You are what you grow (and who you choose to fly with) - Inch by inch, row by row,

Diana Dyer, MS, RD

PS - Please don't think I don't like crows. I do! In fact, I love them, look for them, and even count them twice each day as they fly over our farm in their flock (called a murder). Besides actually counting their numbers, I count them as friends and was as tickled as could be to actually see one close-up, really close-up for the first time, while it was scooping up scattered sunflower seeds under our bird feeders one day last week.

PPS - Guess what I am going to do right now. Back up this post? Yes……… :)

Yes! It's Official!

noreply@blogger.com (Diana Dyer) — Tue, 11 Feb 2014 15:46:00 +0000

Life begins the day one plants a garden.

~~ Chinese Proverb

I have waited almost six months to be able to share this exciting news with my blog readers. Good things often take time to work, to emerge, or to fully develop, rather like rising bread, planting seeds, etc., and are well worth the wait.

The brief backstory. A friend visited our farm last summer, telling me of her recent research focused on gardening therapy for cancer survivors. As I listened, I had one of those proverbial "light bulb" moments with racing thoughts that translated to:

1. Wow - What a great project!

2. Why didn't I think of that?

3. How can I help her get as much data as possible from this study?

We talked a bit, I made some inquiries, and long story short, the 2014 distribution from my endowment at The American Institute for Cancer Research (AICR) will be able to provide the additional funds this researcher needs to do the critical biochemical analyses that were included with the original grant proposal but left unfunded. (Note: My endowment at AICR is funded by individual donations - thank you! - plus the amount I annually contribute from the sale of my book A Dietitian's Cancer Story.)

For this study (called "Harvest for Health"), University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB) cancer researchers plan to introduce 100 breast cancer survivors in a 5-county area in Alabama (see below) to a new kind of therapy — gardening, while pairing the breast cancer survivors with a Master Gardener from the Alabama Cooperative Extension System.

“Studies have shown a link between diet and cancer, and between physical activity and cancer. We want to see how cancer survivors respond to this gardening intervention, how it affects their diet and exercise behaviors, and their health-related quality of life and physical health status,” said Wendy Demark-Wahnefried, Ph.D., R.D., professor in the Department of Nutrition Sciences and associate director for Cancer Prevention and Control at the UAB Comprehensive Cancer Center.

“Harvest for Health” builds on a successful pilot study conducted by Dr. Demark-Wahnefried at UAB where Master Gardeners worked with a smaller group of cancer survivors over the course of a year to establish a vegetable garden. At the end of that study, the published results showed that many survivors not only improved their diet and exercise behaviors, but 90% of the participants also demonstrated significant improvement in objective measures of their strength, agility, and endurance.

This larger study had hoped to expand those findings by not only having a larger study group, but also by measuring several biochemical parameters that are frequently used as biomarkers of successful aging, i.e., telomerase, sVCAM, and d-dimer, at baseline, the 1-year mark, and the 2-year mark after the start of the study. While The Women’s Breast Health Fund of the Community Foundation of Greater Birmingham has generously provided the bulk of the Harvest for Health research grant, my endowment at AICR will fund the last piece to complete the study with as much data collection and analysis as possible.

Dr. Demark-Wahnefried (who has led several previous pioneering research studies on cancer survivorship) has noted, "With advances in early detection and treatment, many cancers are now being cured; however, it is the side effects of cancer and its treatment that are often more of a problem than the cancer itself. Thus these biomarkers are important to measure because they tie into longevity and improved physical functioning much more so than cancer itself."

UAB provides tools and seedlings and will either prepare a raised bed in the yard of a survivor’s home or provide EarthBoxes® — large gardening containers on wheels — that can be kept on a porch or patio. Master Gardeners visit with the survivors twice a month for one year, offering advice, expertise and suggestions, while answering the questions new gardeners have.

The Master Gardeners, who have completed a rigorous certification process from the Alabama Cooperative Extension System, are all volunteers. “They are very excited to be making a difference in the lives of cancer survivors and their families,” Demark-Wahnefried said.

If the larger study shows the same improvements in healthy eating, increased exercise, and physical functioning, plus the biochemical signs of successful aging, it is hoped that the program can be offered to cancer survivors throughout Alabama.

Special Note: The Harvest for Health study is still actively recruiting participants. If any of my readers are breast cancer survivors from (or know someone from) the following five Alabama counties (Cullman, Mobile, Blount, St. Clair or Walker) and are interested in participating in this study, you may call the following telephone # 205.996.7367 for more information.

Dr. Demark-Wahnefried is a gardener herself. I asked when she had her original inspiration for this innovative research approach for cancer survivors. She told me it happened a while ago during her previous years as a researcher at Duke University's Cancer Center while she was conducting research - the Black Churches United for Better Health Project - in which Master Gardeners helped the churches establish Victory Gardens as a way to increase fruit and vegetable consumption among their members.

That project was successful, so fast forward to 2014, hoping the same will be true for cancer survivors. I'm not sure if my friend's great idea happened in a "flash" like mine did during our talk this past summer, but in any case, here is another example of a great idea that needed time to develop, to be nurtured, to grow, before finally blossoming.

Thank you, Wendy, for your decades of high quality, pioneering nutrition and cancer research, for your dedication to the needs of cancer survivors, looking for nutritional and lifestyle strategies that will optimize their odds for both the extension and quality of life after cancer.

I have been honored to contribute to each research project that my endowment at AICR has funded since 2001. However, I must confess that funding Harvest for Health in 2014 also gives me deep happiness, I suppose because this study brings together so many of my long-standing professional interests, friendships, and deeply-held personal values.

As a long-time gardener myself, I have always loved the following quotation:

A garden is the best alternative therapy.

~~ Germaine Greer

Now here's another great idea - let's change the quote above to simply say that a garden is the best therapy period, without being "alternative", providing multiple, far-reaching benefits for all cancer survivors, no matter the individual diagnosis, no matter where one lives, in fact for everyone, cancer diagnosis or not. :)

And another great idea, i.e., words of advice, which my long-time blog readers have heard me say many times before - don't wait, don't wait, don't wait for this study to be done to _________________ (fill in the blank); in this case, don't wait to get your garden started. Why? I'll repeat the quote I used to open up this blog post:

Life begins the day one plants a garden.

~~ Chinese Proverb

Ready to start? It's not too early to start dreaming, planning, or even planting some seeds indoors. Need help? Find a gardening friend, find a Master Gardener in your county (yes, they are everywhere, not just in Alabama), find, cultivate, and begin a new life. Yes, you are what you grow. :)

Cultivate your life - you are what you grow - inch by inch, row by row,

Diana Dyer, MS, RD

Book News

noreply@blogger.com (Diana Dyer) — Mon, 16 Dec 2013 01:00:00 +0000

In yesterday's post I promised another update. Long-time followers of my blog, which I began in 2007 (along with my website www.CancerRD.com beginning in 1998), know that my frequency of posting has been gradually decreasing, and this year I found myself more behind than ever in everything. My hope is that I am learning to handle this reality of being chronically so behind in ways that are helpful.

Being behind means that I am always looking at various aspects of my life in order to prioritize, reduce, and also eliminate some things, even those things that are meaningful to me.

The biggest (and difficult) change that I am going to make in 2014 is to phase out the print copy of my book A Dietitian's Cancer Story, which I first published in 1997 and has been in print continuously since then. Nearly 100,000 copies have been sold (no small feat for a self-published book), with all copies having been managed by me, hauled in my mini-van, stored in my garage, shipped out by me to individuals, book warehouses, and bookstores around the country and world with the help of my friendly and supportive UPS, FedEx, and USPS drivers over the past 17 years. I have also done all the book-keeping on this book (there was a time when I had three employees to help me manage everything I was doing, too!), all the updates (I did a major update and re-write in 2010), and marketing (including speaking all over the country since 1997), arrange for and approve the editing, printing, cover art, etc, etc, etc.

Everything I have done has been an amazing adventure that I could not have predicted nor have given any credence to if someone had been able to see into the future back in 1995 and told me that this book would become my life while I was undergoing chemo the second time and so weak and ill that I could not feed myself. Nope, I would not even have had the energy to laugh at such a preposterous thought! :)

I am my own best case example when I have told people over the years that "cancer can take you places that are both unimaginable and wonderful". I also have told people to "never, never, never define your future by only looking at your past". Again, I am a perfect example of that picture. No one from my past, and I mean no one, would have ever picked me as 'future author'. My book found me (somehow I found the courage to say 'yes') and helped me grow immensely as a person.

I hope I have met some of my blog readers over the years and that I have been able to inspire you and others (cancer survivor or not) to take the leap of faith and both dig in and spread your wings as you move forward in life facing challenges known and unknown with a wildly beating heart. I have used the phrase "Active Hope" for years to describe what I have done by taking my poor odds into my own two hands to add maybe only a few percentage points to the outcome.

I am so completely busy with my farming now that I do not know if I'll get around to ultimately putting my book into an "e-book" format. I have not ruled that idea out, but it is not on the front burner at the moment.

In the meantime, A Dietitian's Cancer Story is still available from:

The American Institute for Cancer (AICR) where I have donated proceeds from the sale of my book (English and Spanish editions) since 1999. You may order on-line or by calling 1-800-843-8114. There are discounts available for orders of 10 books or more.
Amazon.com (of course, both English and Spanish editions are available there, search by the book title or my name)
All bookstores may special order it for you, although I have stopped filling orders to their 'middle-man', so hurry if you want to order from your local independent bookstore
Nicola's Books in Ann Arbor, MI has personally autographed copies that she will mail out to you or to anyone you specify as a gift. Just call the bookstore and Nicola's friendly staff will take your order over the phone. (734-662-0600)

If you have enjoyed reading my book in the past, please consider ordering a copy to donate to your local library or even your own cancer center's patient resource library. Proceeds will continue to be donated to AICR to fund research focused on identifying nutritional strategies to increase the odds for long-term survival and/or improve quality of life after cancer. I already know which project I am funding in 2014, and I can't wait to tell you about it when I can officially spill the beans. It is my favorite project of all the great research I have funded since 2000.

Although I will not stop blogging, I want to end this post with the same short quotation I used on my blog's first post back in June 2007. It is still one of my favorite quotes, precisely because it conjures up a blended sense of responsibility, caring, and wonder in my heart.

"No one could make a greater mistake than he who

did nothing because he could only do a little."

~ Edmund Burke (1729-1797)

If our paths cross in the future, please introduce yourself. I am inspired by my readers, the challenges you've gone through, your accomplishments, and what you are doing today to cultivate your life, to grow. While I am a full-time (plus) farmer now, I arrived there while traveling a cancer survivorship journey along with you. We have so much in common as fellow Earth travelers, and I enjoy feeling and thinking about that. :)

Cultivate your life - you are what you grow - inch by inch, row by row,

Diana Dyer, MS, RD

Happy Holidays 2013!

noreply@blogger.com (Diana Dyer) — Sun, 15 Dec 2013 00:42:00 +0000

Winter has finally come to our south-eastern corner of Michigan, with a full snow cover today, covering up our garlic field with its white, fluffy, and warm winter blanket. The roots of our nearly 25,000 garlic cloves planted during October and November will keep growing, deep into our healthy soil, even during the winter giving us the best possible start to a great harvest during July of 2014.

Phoebe LOVES the snow and could stay outside forever. Here she is in our main garlic field where ~20,000 cloves are planted for this coming season (the overflow of ~5,000 unexpected cloves is planted back in the 2009 field). Her ears are blowing in the wind, and the snow is flying into her face and eyes as I captured this photo. What is far more fun for her is simply racing, racing, racing back and forth, up and down the paths, through the underbrush coming back with masses of burrs of all sizes and shapes, chasing a frisbee, following tracks and smells, dashing at the birds at the bird feeders, and on and on and on. Although not obvious in this 'still life' photo, her zest for life is a joy to watch and feel. :)

"Dog in winter garlic field" at The Dyer Family Organic Farm

I have just written and sent the final Garlic Friends Newsletter for 2013, which gives you more of an update on our farm plus our warmest wishes for the holidays and 2014. Feel free to sign up for our farm's newsletter at our farm's website (www.dyerfamilyorganicfarm.com). It's easy, free, and of course your email address is never shared with anyone for any reason.

Tomorrow I will make another post here with some additional updates. In the meantime, I hope you are enjoying the holiday season, choosing your gifts carefully, and spending as much as possible as locally as possible. :)

I want to end with a lovely quote that is new to me, seen in a newsletter from some friends' local company in the Ann Arbor area called Nature and Nurture Seeds:

As you hold loving thoughts toward every person and animal and even towards plants, stars, oceans, rivers, and hills (along with soil - I added this),

and as you are helpful and of service to the world, so you will find yourself growing more happy each day.

~~ Luther Burbank

I'm smiling as I type this, and I hope you are too after reading those wise and thoughtful words. :)

Cultivate your life - you are what you grow - inch by inch, row by row,

Diana Dyer, MS, RD

Recent Nutrition & Cancer Articles

noreply@blogger.com (Diana Dyer) — Sun, 24 Nov 2013 19:53:00 +0000

It is not often that Medscape.com has a series of articles focused on the nuances of nutrition and cancer during treatments. Here are two articles that will be informative as a good overview of the complexities of the topic.

Foods to Fight Cancer

Extreme Nutrition: Can it beat cancer?

These articles will not answer every question you might have, but they will certainly help get you moving on the path to help yourself, and that just might be the path of asking for a referral to the Registered Dietitian (RD) at your cancer treatment facility, and particularly asking if your center has been forward-thinking enough to provide true comprehensive cancer care by hiring an RD (and better yet hiring an RD who is also a CSO - Certified Oncology Specialist).

These articles clearly point out that "cancer is not cancer is not cancer". Just as your tumor has been analyzed for its individual characteristics, your conventional cancer treatment plan has been individualized for you. So why have your nutritional status and your nutrition care plan not been individualized for you?

Do not pay attention to the comments after the articles asking for more specific and individualized advice in the articles (I admit that I both grimaced and laughed at the comment asking for just that from a psychologist). These two articles are written well, tapping the extensive wisdom of two highly-regarded sources, Suzanne Dixon, MPH, MS, RD and Rebecca Katz, author of The Cancer-Fighting Kitchen. You will certainly learn something from either of their words of experience, advice, and deeply-held compassion for people who have had a cancer diagnosis.

As we enter Thanksgiving Week, I am thankful that some cancer centers have stepped up to the plate by including RDs on their multi-disciplinary team of support and care for their patients. Certainly it is a better picture in 2013 than it was in 1984 with my first breast cancer diagnosis and again in 1995 with my second breast cancer diagnosis.

I am also thankful for my readers and hope you all have a bountiful Thanksgiving Day, surrounded by delicious food plus family and friends who give you the support and love you need to enjoy the day and life in general.

Cultivate your life - you are what you grow - inch by inch, row by row,

Diana Dyer, MS, RD

Saturday's R&R

noreply@blogger.com (Diana Dyer) — Sun, 04 Aug 2013 03:06:00 +0000

Short and sweet..........just a half day of getting away from the work on our farm to attend and celebrate a local farmer friend's wedding with other friends. It was a mad rush getting there (we worked on the farm this morning) but we made it across the county to the ceremony at 1:30, spent the afternoon and evening with friends, met new friends, even met someone new who has professionally collaborated with my daughter-in-law in Seattle (wow-what a small world!).

I have been so tired, even my hands and my feet have felt tired from the non-stop and difficult garlic harvesting this year. When I finally realized yesterday that my brain was tired, I mean really slow on both hearing and comprehending, I set down all the multiple balls I have been juggling and took a nap in the afternoon. A real nap, right in the middle of the day! Not a 10 minute power nap, but a 2-hour nap. My word, this is unheard of! It did not rejuvenate me, but I was able to get up and do what still needed to be done.

I worked on the farm until nightfall last night, got up to get farm work done this morning, and as I said, then we dashed to the wedding. However, the time it took us to drive to our friend's beautiful farm plus being able to step out of our car into a place where I was not in charge of anything were two short and sweet events that allowed me to decompress, much like we did last year after we completed the garlic harvesting and then took time to enjoy being with our family over on Lake Michigan.

Wow - I was surprised. This afternoon was good for me, very good. Seriously! I'm somewhat stunned that such a short time has allowed my brain to calm down, clear, and reboot. We are not yet done with the garlic harvesting, but now I can see clear through to the end of harvesting, marketing, and planting (which is well into November). Before this afternoon, I was not sure I could make it that far or (true confession) even wanted to.

Lesson(s)???

"Diana, it's the Universe speaking to you again. Please slow down, but please, please, please remember it's also ok (in fact it's important!) to take a break once in a while, even on a regular basis. I'm so glad you noticed how good attending that wedding felt this afternoon. Please don't let today be the last break you take before the season is finally done." :) :)

"Ok, Universe. Diana here. You have my attention. I'm listening, and I'm feeling my strength and purpose flowing back to me. I can "do breaks". I think what made the difference today were the following: (1) a break with friends, (2) a break off the farm, and (3) a break with no responsibilities, which is maybe the same thing as a (4) break for fun. Maybe adding one more thing to the list would be (5) a break out of my dirty farmer clothes!" :) :)

I now have my 'home goal' (versus a farm goal) set for the winter. I want to get space finally unpacked and cleared out so I can have a room set aside for getting back to meditation and either tai chi or yoga.

Hello world, I'm back. Maybe you didn't realize I was 'gone' for a while. That's ok, as I'm not sure I realized it either until today. I may not blog any more often during the ultra-busy months ahead, but I'm ok.

Maybe I'm a slow learner, maybe I just want to do too much, maybe I just afraid of wasting the good fortune I have being a cancer survivor, I'm not sure really. However I'm back, back from a short and sweet break this afternoon, with a smile on my face that comes from a deep spot, a feeling of happiness and gratitude.

To my readers, please take breaks! I hope you learn from my mistakes, my mindlessness in contrast to mindfulness.

Onward and forward to the second half of the garlic season!

Cultivate your life - you are what you grow - inch by inch, row by row,

Diana Dyer, MS, RD

Recipe: Chicken Fricassee with New Garlic

noreply@blogger.com (Diana Dyer) — Sun, 28 Jul 2013 03:57:00 +0000

Yum, yum, oh my it was really hard to wait until this recipe was ready to eat because the kitchen (indeed the entire house!) smelled SO good. In addition, this recipe is delicious, so easy, and the main star ingredient, new garlic, is available at your local farmers markets right now!

New garlic, also called fresh garlic or wet garlic, is commonly eaten in Europe at this stage of harvest. The garlic is harvested when fully developed, but not yet hung and dried or cured, so the wrappers surrounding the cloves are not dry but still wet and actually edible, somewhat softer than an apple peel. The garlic itself is crisp, crunchy, and while not completely sweet like an apple, the texture and some residual sweetness in the flavor profile lends itself to frequently being eaten raw.

However, here is an easy recipe using new garlic heads in a delicious cooked dish. It's a modification of a recipe I recently saw in the New York Times.

Ingredients:
1 package boneless chicken thighs (6-8 thighs)
salt and pepper
1 Tbsp. butter + 1 Tbsp. olive oil
1 very large onion chopped, about 2 cups
8-12 heads of garlic (depending on size and also how 'garlicky' you and your guests enjoy being)
Several large sprigs of fresh thyme (from our herb garden)
1 large sprig of rosemary (from our herb garden)
1 cup white wine (I used a dry riesling)
Fresh parsley as garnish (optional, but beautiful, easy, tasty, and also easy if you have some growing in a pot on your windowsill or herb garden)

Directions:
Generously season the chicken thighs with salt and freshly ground pepper.

Heat oven to 375 degrees. In your Dutch oven on the stove-top, heat the butter and olive oil, add onions and cook on medium heat until browned but not overcooked (5-8 minutes). (Special Note: I used my 6 quart Dutch oven but a smaller one could also be used ok.)

Cut roots and top/stalk from garlic head, peel any tough outer wrappers from the garlic heads. Cut each in half from top to bottom. (Special Note: If the garlic bulbs are hard-neck varieties, easily slip out the hard stalk from the center of each half.) Add garlic halves to onions, season with a bit more salt and pepper, stir to coat completely. Place herb sprigs on top of onion and garlic mixture then add chicken thighs in one layer.

Add wine and 1 cup of water. Bring to a simmer on the stove top and then cover the Dutch oven and transfer to the oven. Bake for 35 minutes, covered. Remove lid, bake for an additional 10 minutes or until chicken has browned and juices run clear. Let it rest out of the oven for 10 minutes if you can wait that long!

Serve 1-2 pieces of chicken with juices, onion, garlic halves on top of cooked pasta (I used lightly pan-fried polenta pieces but I almost cooked up some lasagna noodles I had on hand).

Serve with any fresh vegetable as a side. I actually added some left-over braised summer squash and tomato mixture to the Dutch oven mixture while the chicken dish was 'resting'.

Seriously, this recipe is delicious. Don't be afraid of all this garlic. I'm going to make this recipe weekly as long as we are harvesting garlic and have 'new garlic' in spades. :)

I'm going to try the recipe using some thick fish filets, too.

Now for a few photos so you don't have to just take my word on this:

Garlic cloves cleaned and cut in half. You can see where I removed the center core (hard neck) from some of the garlic halves.

Garlic halves and onions in Dutch oven on stove top

Garlic halves, onions, and herb sprigs in Dutch oven on stove top

Adding chicken thighs to the garlic halves, onions, and herb sprigs, with wine and water added to the Dutch oven

Cooked Chicken Fricassee with summer squash and tomatoes added while resting in Dutch oven

Chicken Fricassee plated over polenta rounds.

Chicken Fricassee close up of the garlic half - eat it all! The garlic is now soft and mellow.

What a great way to enjoy life, with great-tasting food, behind or not. :)

Here's an idea for those of my readers who have a favorite local farmer, no matter where you live. "Love your farmer? Feed your farmer!" Really, I confess that I would LOVE it. Even being 'fed' just one day a month by someone who loves us, to not be quite so far behind as we grow great food for our community, would be deeply appreciated. Yes, you can still offer to volunteer at your local farm by helping to weed or harvest, but don't be shy about asking if your farmers would welcome having someone bring them a meal. I'll bet my bottom dollar that most farmers who are scrambling to squeeze 36 hours of work into 24 hour days would appreciate your offer. Some might just burst into tears of gratitude. :)

Go down to your local farmers market and look for some new garlic! Ask if you don't see it. We're saving some garlic that's in the ground to harvest as new garlic right before we come back to markets so we can hand out this recipe.

I'll end exactly how I started - Yum, yum! :)

Cultivate your life - you are what you grow - inch by inch, row by row,

Diana Dyer, MS, RD

Friday night posts

noreply@blogger.com (Diana Dyer) — Sat, 27 Jul 2013 03:07:00 +0000

Last Friday night, I put up a post that I took down almost immediately. I really hope no one had a chance to read it. I actually hit the delete button, which I am pretty sure I have never done before since I started this blog in 2007. Re-reading it when the post was actually live (not just the preview version) gave me quite a start, as 1) it sounded like I was whining, and 2) it gave me chills remembering how 'behind' I was, how overwhelmed I felt two years ago, ending up in the ER which I blogged about in four different posts once things settled down, after I got my thoughts together and had time to share them (here #1, here #2, here #3, here #4).

Yes, I am 'behind', but I am not in the ER.........life is busy, but the vast majority of things not getting done are really not all that important in the big scheme of life. Yes, we look disorganized, the front of the house is still a frightening overgrown mess because our basement still floods (sigh.......) which means we really do need work done on the front foundation of our home (sigh........), but I am not in the ER. :)

So with that realization and relief, I quickly took my post down, decided that the best antidote to being behind was taking the time to cook and letting the Universe send us help if we really need it. :)

It's too late to post up the delicious easy recipe I made last night (I'll do that tomorrow night), but here are few pictures of our chickens. They are just so much fun to watch.

I think there are 8 chickens here in some high grass between our house and the barn.

I guess our chickens prefer dry feet!

One lone red hen in the coop. She may be the one who prefers to come home at night instead of spending the night roosting in the oak trees behind the coop!

Here are all 8 chickens dashing from under the oak tree to the apple tree in the rain (for some reason unknown to us!).

Remember, a great recipe is coming tomorrow night!

Cultivate your life - you are what you grow - inch by inch, row by row,

Diana Dyer, MS, RD

Cultivating, inch by inch, row by row

noreply@blogger.com (Diana Dyer) — Wed, 03 Jul 2013 13:47:00 +0000

I changed the photo at the top of my blog today to that of one single organically-grown strawberry in our new garden on our farm. It looks pristine and perfect, and it is, but not without an enormous effort. :) This new strawberry bed has been prepped (cultivated) over and over, weeded over and over, the blossoms picked off these 50 first year plants over and over with a few that still escaped my attention and went on to actually become this one gorgeous berry, giving us a preview of our hopes for a huge harvest next year!

Now we need to finish the fencing around this bed, which also contains our 50 rhubarb plants, 50 asparagus plants, and the additional tomatoes, peppers, eggplants, and corn that could not fit into our other family garden (because of rotational space needs). We have already found turtles, which love strawberries, and if the deer find this garden and chow down on everything before we get that fence up and electrified, that will be a very sad day. We have been stopped by rain, rain, rain and the need to finish the first attempt at a chicken coop in order to get our chicks out of the garage.

Time to get outside (now, since more rain and thunderstorms are predicted for this afternoon) so here are just a few photos of the chicks and Phoebe, their guard dog:

The coop with the 8 chicks (1 rooster and 7 little red hens) all nestled in a pile together underneath their nighttime roosting spot.

The chicks exploring their new home. After they have had a few days to get used to their home, when they start putting themselves 'to bed' each night in their coop, then they will be able to become free-range again.

The chicks free-ranging in one of their favorite spots, kicking the leaves underneath an oak tree.

All 8 chicks are there somewhere, with the white rooster clearly visible.

Phoebe on break from guarding the chicks, hopping in my car while getting its first inside cleaning since we bought the farm

Phoebe doing guard duty. The chicken coop is just to the left out of sight in this photo. She comes running if she hears a bit of a distress call from a chick. She frightens them herself with her exuberance and herding instincts, but she is 'on guard!' She throws herself into the air if a hawk or vulture flies over our farm. I don't expect she will ever catch one, but she lets them know this is a 'no-fly zone' in her view.

PS - I started a new tag with this post - Chickens!

Cultivate your life (even the same spot, over and over) - you are what you grow - inch by inch, row by row,

Diana Dyer, MS, RD

The first frenzy is done! and easy lasagna recipe

noreply@blogger.com (Diana Dyer) — Mon, 24 Jun 2013 18:08:00 +0000

It's a mad-dash time between the days that (1) the green (early) garlic is harvested and marketed during late April to early May and (2) the garlic scapes are done emerging.

During those 4-6 weeks when we are in full-motion-mode, my husband and/or I have been writing weekly newsletters, contacting and/or delivering to chefs almost daily, finalizing all details for our Garlic CSA members with them coming out to the farm for their early pick-ups, finishing all details for the applications for the four farmers' markets that we attend, actually getting to our markets fully-stocked with a smile on our faces and the ability to stand up for four hours and multi-task 3rd-grade math, questions about garlic scapes, and catching up with friends (even if we only had 4-5 hours of sleep), held our CSA potluck at the farm, held a U-pick day for the garlic scapes, trying to get our own garden in (in between late frosts and freezes), getting our chicks, mentoring a dietetic student, and a gazillion other things I have already forgotten because they got done or didn't or are still in progress (like a chicken coop, more electric fencing, cutting/raking/baling the hay from our cover crops). Oh, did I mention weeding?

The last newsletter for a month or so went out last night. If you are interested, here is the link. It does have a photo of our 7 week-old hens and the 1 rooster still remaining with us.

I made a very simple lasagna for our CSA potluck dinner this past weekend. Here is a photo (below) before it was cooked. There was no time to get a photo after it came out of the oven, because it was eaten that quickly at the potluck, with people standing around it asking "Who made the lasagna?"

On a day with lots of time (not during the summer), I would make my own super-sauce, but this time I simply used a jar of the sauce that we make ourselves from our home-grown tomatoes, garlic, and herbs. Use your own favorite store-bought or home-made sauce.

Ingredients (brands mentioned for helpfulness, I get no payments of any kind from anyone):
1-16 ounce jar pasta sauce (our own)
1-15 ounce can roasted tomato chunks (I used Muir Glen)
1-1# container of whole milk ricotta cheese (I forget)
2 eggs (from our friends at Bridgewater Barns Farm - in a few months we'll be using our own!)
6 ounce pre-shredded mozzarella cheese (I used Organic Valley)
smidgeon of salt
box of baked (ready to use) organic whole wheat lasagna noodles (Delallo - I used the whole box)
5-8 garlic scapes

Directions: (this is so easy, I almost felt like I was making 'Dump Cake', a processed-food recipe using 'boxes' and 'cans' of ingredients - I've only heard about this, never made it)

1) pour about 1/2 cup of sauce in an 9x13 glass baking dish
2) combine ricotta cheese and eggs in a bowl, mix well, add a smidgeon of salt and mix again
3) layer about 5-6 pasta noodles in dish over that first little bit of sauce
4) spread about 1/2 of the ricotta mixture over the noodles
5) spread about 1/2 of the remaining sauce over the ricotta
6) layer another 5-6 pasta noodles
7) repeat 4-6
8) over the top layer of pasta, drain the entire can of roasted tomato chunks and liquid, spread to even out
9) sprinkle the package of shredded cheese over the tomatoes
10) if you are fancy and flush in garlic scapes like we are, layer several garlic scapes over the cheese before covering with foil and baking 45 minutes at 350 degrees.

I know all recipes say to let the lasagna sit for 10 minutes or so before eating. Nope, we did not do that at the potluck. It came out of the oven, I ran it out to the barn, people dove in, and then the comments started coming. That was that! Really, I'm thankful I took a photo when I assembled it early in the morning.

Our food blessing at the CSA potluck dinner was our short and sweet one, without me needing to dash back to the house (again) for our book of food blessings plus my reading glasses:

We thank all hands and hearts that brought us this meal.

~~ Diana Dyer

So much else to do. :) Today I am taking a break (kind of) from farming and am going to clean out my car for the first time since we bought the farm. It's been four years. Kaya's nose-prints on the inside windows have been obliterated by Phoebe's and the general amount of dust, but I am going to try to vacuum and wipe off at least the top layer of everything.

No promises about when I can blog next. I still try to post short up-dates on our farm's Facebook page, so look for me there and in our farm's newsletter when it gets going again (sign up is on our farm's website at www.dyerfamilyorganicfarm.com).

Cultivate your life - you are what you grow - inch by inch, row by row,

Diana Dyer, MS, RD

Diana Dyer - LIVE!

noreply@blogger.com (Diana Dyer) — Sun, 16 Jun 2013 00:14:00 +0000

Well, please don't get too excited (haha, just kidding here!) because it's not really "LIVE!" but a pre-recorded phone interview (conversation) with me by another dietitian-cancer survivor-author, Jean LaMantia, RD from Toronto, Ontario, Canada.

Here is the link so that you can download the conversation and listen at your convenience. I think it might be 20-30 minutes and covers a lot of ground about cancer survivorship, food, nutrition, and life after cancer. To be completely honest here, I have not had time to listen to the link (and likely will not until next winter) and oh dear, true confession here, I have not had time to even skim through Jean's book The Essential Cancer Treatment Nutrition Guide and Cookbook, and I know I won't have time to do that until after the garlic is planted late fall.

I met Jean when speaking in Toronto several years ago. I have spoken there twice in the past for various cancer survivor events and loved my time in Toronto, and I should add that I loved my time in Toronto once I got there because there were snafus with the border crossing both times, plus I can still remember the cab ride from the airport to the hotel on the first trip, honestly thinking I might die because the cabbie was driving so scary fast. At least I would have died wearing my beautiful new coat. And why do I remember that? Because when standing in line at the airport while waiting for this taxi, a kind young man in uniform for one of the Canadian armed services politely told me that he liked my new coat, and then with a sweet smile on his face, he asked if he could help me remove the tags that were still on the back of my coat. :) :)

What can I say? I hope that I have raised my sons to be as kind as that young man was to me (and in recognition of Father's Day tomorrow, I think my husband and I together have raised two kind-hearted sons who would be as helpful as that young man was for me).

So enjoy the interview/conversation, and if you ever do see me LIVE! (even at the farmers' markets), please don't hesitate to check me for tags that need to come off. I try, but obviously I need (and appreciate) help with everyday details like that. :)

Cultivate your life - you are what you grow - inch by inch, row by row,

Diana Dyer, MS, RD

Green Heron and Green Garlic Dip

noreply@blogger.com (Diana Dyer) — Thu, 13 Jun 2013 00:52:00 +0000

I stayed home this afternoon instead of taking our garlic scapes to our Wednesday farmers' market with my husband since we didn't really know when/if the severe storm sweeping through the country this afternoon would really hit our area in SE Michigan. If it was just the two of us to worry about, I would have gone as usual. However, with a dog that trembles, shakes, pants, and downright quivers when thunder is 100 miles away (let alone sirens for tornado warnings), we decided that one of us could stay home because the market might be slow today due to the impending storm plus one of us should stay home to be able to reassure Phoebe (since the potential storm is supposed to be particularly severe).

So what to do when I am so far behind that I'll never catch up? First Phoebe and I made the rounds of the farm and battened down the hatches so to speak outside, making sure anything that could fly away in the wind was in the garage or barn. Then I decided to download photos that were backlogged and even look at and label them (while keeping an eye on the weather outside and on the TV channel).

I finally changed the photo on the top of my blog today, showing our latest and best new bird on the farm. It is a green heron, patiently waiting for its breakfast to appear on the edge of our pond. I don't have a great camera, and I take many photos through windows, using the zoom, always just hoping for the best, meaning that the photo is not too blurry. I have seen green herons many times over the years, but this was the first sighting on our farm, so it was a special day!

In addition, here is an easy spring-time bean dip recipe using lovely green garlic, if you're lucky enough to find some at your local farmers markets. Ingredients are easy, readily available (other than the green garlic), flexible, and healthy.

Green Garlic Bean Dip

~1 can (2 cups, 15-oz) drained northern white beans

~2-3 Tbps. lemon juice

8-10 trimmed stalks of green garlic so that you are using mainly the bulb end (trim off the roots - they are edible, wash them well and save for a salad - trim off any brown tips of the leaves and then cut off most of the leaves to use later in pesto)

Cut green garlic into ~1-inch pieces, add all ingredients to a large food processor, and blend until beans are smooth and there are small flecks of green stems. Taste and add more lemon juice if desired. If it is still too thick, add just a small amount of water to thin it down a bit. Add a bit of salt and pepper if desired.

This recipe freezes well as most bean recipes do.

Yum, yum! When green garlic is no longer available, the garlic scapes come next (which is right now in our area of the country this year - their emergence is always variable!), and they can also be used easily in this recipe! Enjoy!

Cultivate your life - you are what you grow - inch by inch, row by row,

Diana Dyer, MS, RD

Happiness, continued!

noreply@blogger.com (Diana Dyer) — Tue, 04 Jun 2013 18:09:00 +0000

Our wood thrush is still singing from the woods behind our house. Oh happy day!! Honestly, I had a near melt-down of disappointment when I had the thought that maybe what I heard on Sunday was someone playing that song on an Ipod to try to attract the bird from their section of the woods. The thought and worry lasted only a nano-second or two, but I confess that I was relieved to hear it again last night in the early evening (while planting tomatoes) and again this morning (while weeding garlic) from roughly the same area. In each case, the song was 'less than perfect', not what would be chosen for a bird song 'app'. Whew! :)

As if that wasn't enough happiness, today I finally can announce that my friends and colleagues at The Farm at St. Joe's have won a major award for establishing a working farm on the grounds of St. Joseph Mercy Hospital in Ann Arbor, MI. Being a member of the Advisory Committee for The Farm is one of the happiest and most meaningful lines on my very eclectic resumé. I have moved from working in the Medical Intensive Care Unit at St. Joe's (the far, far end of the health care spectrum where individuals need extreme medical interventions to be brought back from the edge) to now working my own organic farm plus working collaboratively with St. Joe's on their farm (the far, far other end of the health care spectrum) where our collective focus is now on disease prevention, wellness, and creating healthy and thriving communities.

For the upcoming award ceremony, a short documentary has been produced to show The Farm and its vital work. My friend and fellow farmer Dan Bair says it best at the very end: "Health care is happening here." Yes it is, in the very best sense of those words. Thank you, Dan, thank you St. Joe's, for leading by example, for showing other health care institutions how to truly create a healthy community by nurturing, nourishing, and being stewards of all the resources entrusted to your care.

PS - I'm in the video, but I'm awfully glad that 90%+ of footage ends up on the cutting room floor, because in at least one spot of the filming, I got all misty-eyed about something they asked me which I was trying to answer. :) And an additional full disclosure here, even though my hands are certainly dirty, I did decide to quickly press the front of my shirt just for the filming. I did not want to embarrass my other good friend, Lisa McDowell, MS, RD, who is also in the film and has been so instrumental with helping to establish St. Joe's Farm and to help it put down deep roots.

So for only the second time ever on this blog, I urge my readers to go look at a video. You'll be glad you did, and who knows just how the ripples of good health and happiness will spread? :) :)

Cultivate your life - you are what you grow - inch by inch, row by row,

Diana Dyer, MS, RD