As I am sure you know, health insurance in the U.S. is not secure, being tied to one’s employer, if it is even offered.  I can attest to that.  As I move toward massage therapy as my primary occupation, I am faced with losing mine, which I currently have through  a retail employer.  Most massage therapists are responsible for their own health care.  The nature of the job just does not lend itself easily to traditional models for health insurance.   The last time I purchased my own health insurance, it was around $220/month.  Above and beyond that price are are deductables, copays and exceptions. Things like alternative medicine are not even covered.  For example, I paid my Naturopath out of my pocket.  As a result, I have not been able to afford much follow-up.  Still, she gave me answers where conventional medicine came up empty. 

As I plan to switch insurance providers, I think twice about going to the doctor.  I don’t want to find any new  issues, because those might later be considered pre-existing and therefore not covered.  Or it could prevent me from finding coverage at all.  Here’s an example:  Today, I went to see a DO (Doctor of Osteopathy) and didn’t give my insurance card to the office manager until after I read the report.  It didn’t seem to show anything I think will harm my chances to get good coverage at decent rates, so I paid the $200 fee for service and agreed to have the report submitted so that I might get some of that back. 

I happen to have $200 right now because I am working 6 days/week, 40+ hours/week.  That schedule seems reasonable until you consider that these are literally all “on the feet” hours doing massage and retail.  Not sustainable!!!!  Still, I am holding on to that retail job.  I like seeing ends meet for a change and the debt from the winter being payed down.  Also, only time will tell if my massage job alone will be able to cover my bills.  Finally, just how much I will have to put aside on my own to equal the benefits I have enjoyed through my retail employer?  So you can see how, in calculating my next move, the equation can get drawn out and complicated. 

How long can I keep up with my current schedule?   All I know is I have to have an action plan for managing my helath.  As the Holidays approach, the pace at both jobs ramps up considerably.  Something is going to give if I don’t make changes now.  And what did I go see this doctor for today?  Aches and pains from working too hard of course!!!!!!! 

When I think about what I could do if I didn’t have to worry about the cost of health insurance, I feel sad for all the other people whose unrealized talents are latent, postponed, and dulled for the sake of survival.  I am sure I would feel more free to move on with my life’s goals rather than clinging to a job I’ve outgrown.  Perhaps some of us would create more jobs in turn.  I feel sad for all of us for loosing those contributions to society.  That is the true cost of healthcare.

What is healthcare in Australia like, by the way?

It was such a good idea to make it a social activity.  I admit to having previously been intimidated by the extensive pounding recommended in Nourishing Traditions.  I appreciated the availability of a nice food processor and a more spacious kitchen than my own, as well as the great company.  The other attendees had a bit more fermenting experience than I, which was great for me.  It didn’t seem like work, though I was tired at the end of the day.  We must have worked for three to four hours.  When we lined up all the colorful jars on the dining room table, we were all pretty darned pleased with ourselves.  Besides the beautiful cortido with purple cabbage and lemony peppers, we had gingery kimchee, and emerald dill pickles.  We tasted the mustard before jarring it and it is super potent, almost like a cross between Dijon and hot Chinese mustard.  I made a batch of plain sauerkraut at the end with the leftover cabbage.  I definitely got over my fear of pounding!  Some leftover daikon radish from our kimchee recipe was subject to shredding and pickling, too.  Finally, some impromptu hot dilly beans were packed in little jelly jars.  I had wanted to adapt the vinegar-pickled ones I’d had recently, but I have no idea if they will lend themselves gracefully to a fermented format.  Harriet’s husband, the hot-pepper aficionado, convinced me to put a couple slivers of the mighty ghost pepper in my jar.  They’re much hotter than habaneros, maybe the hottest peppers in the world!  We’ll see if the beans turn out edible.

I have been experimenting on my own a little lately too.  I made my first batch of beet kvass, which is tasty.  (My kombucha culture is on vacation right now in a jar in the fridge.  I need to fruit-fly proof my rig before starting up again. )  I pickled the rind of a farm watermelon in the leftover brine from my very first pickles.  I haven’t tried them yet.  It’s easy to be experimental when you are using leftovers!  Looking back on yesterday, though, I am especially grateful for the shared labor and cost that yielded such a variety of finished products in a single afternoon.  It was a fun party, with unbeatable party-favors.

The sweet tooth is back!  It kind of snuck up on me.  I was so vigilant, I didn’t realize how vulnerable I was.  One day I am  sugar-free and the next thing I know, I am addicted to my daily handfull of chocoalte covered almonds.  I ran out the other day and am literally scouring the house for something sweet that isn’t there. 

Overall, I know I am better off than before I initiated my dietary changes, cutting way back on carbs and following Nourishing Traditions.  I am learning to be adaptable and not to stress too critically over not being able to do things the way I know they could ideally be done. 

On a fun note, as it is summer where I live, I have been able to harvest some cucumbers and make fermented pickles!  It was a fun project for my mom and I.  It will be hard to wait for the flavors to deveolp before chomping down on them.  (I hope the whey I used was OK: It had started to get a little tangy….)

In our last session, I realized how far I have come.  I don’t stress over food the same way I used to about 6 months ago when I started out on this journey.  I don’t get hung up on perfect nutrition as much.  Something like phytates might have put me in a defeatist frame of mind if I couldn’t add the extra soaking and toasting to my already upset routine.  Now, I am in a better position to choose to do that (or not).  I have my quick fixes in place:  Organic cheese sticks, half an apple with peanut butter, hard boiled eggs, fermented pickles, some nuts….if I have to, I can make a lunch with these things alone.  It’s *almost* as easy as a sandwich.  Last night, I went out for some frozen custard as a treat.  I feel OK this morning.  Is it possible that I have regulated my system enough so that an occasional treat doesn’t hurt later?  I think so. 

The most challenging thing for me to change has been one of my latest pieces of “homework.”  I was challenged to honor the act of eating by taking the time to be present and create the table ritual.  I never thought of setting the table as honoring food.  But when we eat while preoccupied or rushed we are not acknowledging the food as worthy of attention. How can we be nourished if we aren’t present when we eat?  I didn’t realize how often I eat standing up or in the car, for instance.  I don’t even have a proper table in my apartment.  I get half an hour lunch break at work and have taken to eating very quickly.  I have no desk, and the breakroom is tiny.  I usually head to my car to recline in peace.  A week or two ago, I was at a wedding and realized, even though I had as much time to eat as I wished, I still rushed through, finishing each course well ahead of my table companions.  It is apparently a habit and now that I know, I can begin to change it.

I ended up grazing on a lot of greens that week, simply to use what I had.  I included the spring onions and radishes from the share whenever possible.  I had so much lettuce, I used it as a bed for everything, even under eggs for breakfast.  Perhaps my favorite was a BLT salad dressed with mayo, Greek yogurt, black pepper, and a dash of balsamic vinegar.  

Almost a week later and we hadn’t used the mushrooms, but they were in great shape.  I made a salad from a cookbook that has mushrooms, celery, shaved parmesan and a lemon juice/olive oil dressing.  It was a good combination of earthy, tangy, crunchy, and salty.

As for the parsley, my neighbor made a tilapia dish with a parsley sauce on the top.  The sauce is a variation on gremolata.  Besides parsley, it has lemon juice, olive oil, lemon rind, salt pepper, and garlic. 

I tried beet kvass from the farm.  I enjoy my homemade kombucha and thought it would be fun to have something else to drink.  The beet kvass seems a little expensive, but I have found that a little goes a long way.  It is a really refreshing sip to have out of the fridge, just watch that you don’t drip on your clothes.  With my adrenal fatigue, the saltiness is so refreshing! 

If you eat low carb or Nourishing Traditions, you may both appreciate eggs and long for a break from the usual preparations.  I do rely heavily on eggs in my diet.  I got some Auracana eggs from the farm for the sheer noverly of it.  They are from an old breed of chicken that wasn’t bread for egg size, so the eggs are all a little differently sized and shaped.  They have a hint of blue green in the shell.  They supposedly taste a little richer.  I am not sure if this is so, but I am expecting my second dozen in this week’s order.  I was reminded by readers of the “grab-and-go”convenience of hard boiled eggs, so I did prepare some of those (thank you very much). 

I find I am really drawn to mixing up savory and sweet these days so I made a sweet coconut omlette.  It is my day off and I have nothing much in my fridge.  But I did have the time to get creative with what remained.  I scrambled 2 eggs with two big tablespoons of ricotta cheese, a drop of vanilla extract and a drop of almond extract, and a pinch of stevia, a pinch of salt and a dash of black pepper.  I lightly browned some coconut shreds in cocnut oil, then removed them to a plate.  I scrambled and fried my egg mixture in some coconut oil and a little butter and placed it on the bed of coconut.   The ricotta makes it light.  The tiny drop of almond extract gives it a real coconut cake flavor. 

I pick up a brand new share and farm order today, so check back for my reviews.  I am especially excited to try the fermented mustard!

I don’t know about you, but when I changed my diet, I soon got tired of returning to the same  ”go-to” staples that were my original life-savers.  Something new is very welcome.  My favorite new lunch recipe is something I adapted from a recent O Magazine I saw in a waiting room.  It involves a can of oil-packed tuna, fresh basil, paprika, lemon juice, lemon zest, salt, pepper, and jarred red peppers.  I don’t use the jarred peppers becuase they have sugar added.  I roast some red or yellow ones in my flavorwave oven for 15 minutes until they collapse.  They turn out plenty sweet without adding sugar!  Then I put them in the fridge and pull them out as needed.  When you combine all the above ingredients, you get a nice, easy, packable lunch that is a refreshing change from the usual tuna salad.  Speaking of salad, try adding a bed of greens to this recipe for a complete meal. 

If you can have carbs, unlike myself, another good tuna recipe involves canned lima beans, balsamic vinegar, olive oil, 1 can oil packed tuna, salt and black pepper, and finally, some greens or crackers in a seperate container.  ( By the way, I tried substituting fresh or frozen limas and they were NOT good.  The canned are soft and creamy in texture, which makes this recipe work. ) The small, pull-top single serving sized cans are perfect for one can of tuna. 

Anyone have any quick breakfast or lunch solutions?  Especially welcome are those that can be made sugar and grain-free?

You are all aware of the dire warnings about swine flu, the outbreak that started in the Mexican village of La Gloria and which local residents blame on infection and/or toxins coming from local confinement hog operations.

The internet is abuzz with warnings bordering on hysteria (conventional media) to a variety of conspiracy theories, and even to allegations that the pandemic is a government fabrication designed to sell stockpiles of anti-viral medications.

Conventional medical advice ranges from wearing face masks to taking the anti-viral drug called tamiflu (which can have many serious side effects.)

It is interesting to note that not once in all the media broadcasts have we heard any mention of building natural immunity

Natural Immunity

Fortunately, we do not have to sit back and listen to the news about swine flu feeling helpless and anxious.  We can be proactive by simply nourishing ourselves and our families.

Vitamins A and D in cod liver oil offer strong protection against infection of all types, as well as against environmental toxins.

Vitamin C is important-either from vitamin C-rich foods like sauerkraut, or from one of the natural vitamin C supplements recommended in our Shopping Guide.

Healthy gut flora provide 85 percent of our protection against disease.  Be sure to consume healthy lacto-fermented foods and beverages every day and avoid the foods that disrupt gut flora, especially refined carbohydrates.

Bone broth plays a double role of supporting the immune system and helping the body detoxify.

Coconut Oil

We are grateful to Beth Beisel, registered dietitian and WAPF member for reminding us about the protective factors in coconut oil. Swine flu is a lipid coated virus, and thus is inactivated by sufficient amounts of monolaurin.   (Our bodies convert lauric acid, found in coconut oil, to monolaurin).

According to our own Dr. Mary Enig, two to three tablespoons of coconut oil per day appears to be an adequate dosage to fight infection, even from virulent antibiotic-resistant organisms such as MSRA.

There are lots of ways to get coconut oil into the diet: stir coconut oil in some tea; make macaroons; replace some of the butter in baking with coconut oil; and use it in cooking/sauteing. Mary’s oil blend (see below) is a good way to incorporate coconut oil in cooking and salad dressings.

Mary’s Oil Blend

1/3 melted coconut oil
1/3 sesame oil - expeller pressed
1/3 100% olive oil

Combine oils, store in a tight container, in an area free from sunlight, and use in cooking or on salads.

Coconut Smoothie

Beth has shared this great smoothie recipe with us.

1 banana
1 cup frozen mango
1 cup frozen pineapple
1 cup orange juice
1/2 cup pomegranate/blueberry juice
1/2 cup natural yogurt or kefir, preferably homemade from raw milk
1/2 can coconut milk

Whirl in blender and drink to your health!

The eggs are great.  They are more expensive than the cage-free organic ones at the grocery, but their shells are thick and I know what they are fed: they actually came with a little note.

The yogurt is good, too.  It’s made from raw milk, but it isn’t as thick and creamy as my favorite organic yogurt is.  I started out draining it to make Greek style yogurt, but quickly learned that I need the whey fraction included to digest it comfortably.  Lesson learned!

Next, I got cream.  Now this is kind of funny, but I don’t know quite what to make of the cream.  It is super thick, tan in color and more than a little bitter.  It has a funkiness that is more like an aftertaste.  It’s like inhaling deeply in the elephant house at the zoo.  Grassy and beast-ey.  I had plans for an alfredo sauce, but so far I am mixing a spoonful into the yogurt with some frozen blueberries and a pinch of stevia.  I may just be used to processed food, but I miss the grocery store cream that I could sip straight upwith my berries for dessert. 

Last time the order was due, I told my neighbor that I would like to try the butter and she advised against it, saying it is very “cow-ey.”  I think I know what she’s talking about, based on my cream experience.  I have passed on the butter so far because you have to commit to a whole pound for $11.  If it’s bitter, it’ll just sit next to the cream in the fridge making me feel guilty.  (Don’t even try googling to find out what makes butter bitter.  You’ll get nothing but tongue twisters!)

Last order, I got a farm chicken!  It came frozen but I had to conjure up some chicken plans fast because it had partially thawed by the time I took it in.  I was a little sad because it didn’t have the liver included.  About a month ago, I got an organic chicken at the grocery and saw the little bag o’ giblets.  For the first time, because of the little Nourishing Traditions angel sitting on my shoulder, I thought I would try cooking them.   I surprised myself with the liver: I actually liked it!  Maybe my blood sugar was low, but I would eat it again.  Sadly, I find, my farm chicken doesn’t come with one.  I looked at the order form and saw that you can buy a pound and a half of chicken livers for $7.00.  Now, I remember liking the liver, but I am not sure I am ready to commit to a whole meal of them!  Hmmm….  Anyhow, back to the farm chicken.  I overcooked it in my flavorwave oven.  It was simply smaller than the usual ckicken and I didn’t adjust the time appropriately.  Also, it didn’t have as much fat.  When trying to eat it, G noticed a flavor he didn’t like, and he’s Asian and eats some funky things!  Indeed, it was a little more turkey-like, and bitter than the typical battery chicken, especially the dark meat.  I had about given up on buying another one when I checked it out the next night.  The broth, once refrigerated, had completely gelled.  That was a first in my three times making bone broth.  Pretty cool.  Right now, I am adding canned fire-roasted tomatoes and green chiles, ground cumin, and fresh cilantro for a New Mexico style soup.  As I’m doing this, I’m wondering why Sally Fallon doesn’t recommend roasting the chicken before making soup.  I think this deepens the flavor.  Other chicken triumphs include (tortilla-free) enchiladas with green sauce from the Nourishing Traditions cookbook.  So the jury is still out on the farm chicken.  I have become pretty comfortable with chicken in general so what I really need now is to broaden my horizons. 

To that end, I got beef short ribs at the farmers market last weekend, but I didn’t manage to make the best use of them.  I roasted them for 15 minutes then put them in the crock pot with some organic chicken broth, thyme, and a clove-studded onion.  After that, I ran out of ideas.  I ate them with vegetables and some broth and they made two servings.  That was one meal.  (I haven’t yet mentioned that a certain Asian guy, whose initial is G, has been staying at my house while his is remodeled.  I have basically been doing the same amount of cooking but getting half the mileage out of it!!!!! ) As for the short ribs, the only leftover is a lonely half a quart of broth sitting in the fridge waiting for inspiration.  All told, it wasn’t worth the work.  I am not sure I’d try short ribs again unless I could come up with a low-carb barbecue sauce, but that sounds wrong somehow.  I would like to experiment with beef more, but I am a little timid.  I really need to make sure I stretch the money and have leftovers too. 

The other things I’ve ordered so far are ground beef and aged raw-milk cheddar cheese.  Both are pretty good and made excellent components for taco salad.  I am wondering if the fact that the meat all comes frozen detracts in any way from it’s nutritional value?

As I prepare to fill out my next order form, I can’t help wonder if it is worth the extra money to get the items from the farm.  I have access to pretty good grocery items like organic, free-range, no hormones added, etc..  I can even get some varieties of raw milk cheese.  Though the conventional dairy I find is pasteurized, I haven’t enjoyed the taste of the farm cream.  (I don’t drink milk anyhow, because of it’s higher glycemic index. )  It’s probably time for me to crack the Nourishing Traditions cookbook again for a pep talk.  Either way, the farm experiment continues.  Stay tuned, because its Spring and the fruit and veggies are on their way:  I split a share with my neighbor and I am going to have salad coming out of my ears!

How well you know a person has little relationship with how understanding or open they will be to your food choices.  Food is so primal, many of us rarely acknowledge our beliefs about it or its place in our social lives unless forced to by health concerns.  We prefer to keep these things in our subconscious.  If we brought them up to consciousness, we might spoil the good thing we have going, namely, doing whatever we want.  That, I believe, is why even a good friend might clam up and shut down when I share my food experience.  It is an open challenge to their own relationship with food.  Even if you take pains to remove any tone that might be read as self-righteous, it can happen.  Some who think of themselves as open-minded will just cut the conversations short with a “hey, whatever works for you” line.  All of this posturing happens because we human beings like to relate to one another.  It makes us feel safe.  Sometimes, we would rather accept someone into the fold based on a common dysfunction than hear how they cured it.  Their cure might make us responsible for our own change.  It is much easier to stay in the dark than step out of the fold. 

When I divulge my abstinence from sugar and grains, people assume that I have violated the “Everything in Moderation” rule.  This rule is a tool for denial, a way of shirking responsibility and clinging to popular dietary wisdom for safety.  It doesn’t make sense: You can have whatever you want as long as you  diversify?  I hope that good health is more than just building up a variety of bad metabolic byproducts so that you are a little sick in a lot of ways, rather than really sick in one!  The implication of “EIM” is that someone like myself must have done something wrong to get these unfortunate results.  I call this “Chutes and Ladders thinking” like the children’s’ board game. It’s OK for a kid, but an adult needs to find more mature, centered motivation than approval or punishment.  It really promotes suffering to adhere to the notion that the universe works this way.  All bad deeds are not directly punished and all good ones do not ensure entitlements in this world.  Leaving this belief system behind means entering a world where everyone is vulnerable.  I must face the knowledge that there’s no free pass for simply sticking with the herd.  It’s no surprise that some still assume I must have habitually OD’d on something to get this disturbing result.  If there is a simple answer to the question of what I “OD’d” on, it is stress, not chocolate.  In other words, it is energy management, not food, that precipitated my illness.  My dietary issues represent both symptoms and keys to healing. 

As I continue healing, I am slowly learning to curb my expectations for understanding.  I don’t have to take people’s responses personally.  I have learned to be more responsible for my own side of things.  For instance, I am more careful about who I talk to and what I say.  I happen to work around food, and tasting is expected.  I can refuse a sample more casually now since I have had some practice.  As I gain some measure of acceptance over my situation, I feel a little less need for understanding or acceptance from others.  I am also selective about where I invest my grace:  I avoid sharing my experience with unreceptive people. 

Still there are those I’ve known perhaps the longest or best who rely on the wealth of old information they have about me.  It is hardest for them to remember or accept what’s “new.”  Because of shared history, I am more in tuned with their feelings, too.  It hurts to disappoint them by not tasting their new recipe.  It stinks when you can’t sincerely compliment them on a gift of homemade jam or revisit favorite holiday traditions with them.  Summer is coming and accepting a beer on their porch is not the same as BYOKombucha.  And is my sister self-conscious about feeding herself and her kids in front of me now?  Even if I do my best to be authentic without being preachy, people have a right to their own reactions.  I guess I am still somewhat uncomfortable in the role I have unwittingly taken on.

Perimenopause is not a word I wanted to hear at age 35.  In my case, it means I am not producing enough progesterone.  This is also known as estrogen dominance.  Before I went to the naturopath, all I knew was that I had unmanageable cramps.  My regular doctor did a sonogram a couple years ago and found nothing of note, so she gave me a prescription non-steroidal anti-inflammatory (NSAID).  It’s basically a kind of souped-up Advil.  It wasn’t long before even that wasn’t enough.  The times I had breakthrough pain and felt the full force of my symptoms were very scary.  I routinely missed work days.  A few times, I went over the recommended dose to control the pain and stay at work and vowed not to do this harm to my body again.  These medicines, even the over the counter ones, are powerful toxins.  Popular athletes have come out recently linking their kidney failure to overuse of NSAIDs, including popular store brands.  It was time for a new perspective, so I chose a naturopathic physician.  Her approach involves not only reproductive hormone support, but support for my entire endocrine system.  For now, this includes progesterone supplementation.

After one month on this new regimen, I decided to try going through my period without drugs.  I have to say my situation is much improved.  It seems odd to express how much pain I still xperienced, and yet how happy I was about it!  I was spared the dripping sweats and violent intestinal cramping.  The lower back ache, intense uterine cramping, digestive upset, were all there, but much less intense in relative terms. Though I basically stayed in bed for two days, I did manage a visit to the acupuncturist, which helped calm and comfort me.  All told, I consider my “experiment” a great success. 

From the naturopathic standpoint, the raw materials for building progesterone in my body were being used up by the over production of corticosteroids by my adrenals.   I call this “robbing Peter to pay Paul.”  It is not a sustainable practice.  The painful symptoms were warnings, but for too long, I had been able to ignore them with medication.  Though not completely healed, I am at least aware of exactly where I stand. Besides and end to pain, the ultimate goal is to regain endocrine balance and discontinue the supplementation.

About a year ago, I had to have an emergency wisdom tooth extraction.  I had gone from my dentist, who pried and pulled, but could not extract the impacted tooth, to an emergency appointment with the oral surgeon across town.  By the time I reached my destination, the anesthesia had worn off and my anxiety and pain levels were high.  I was crying and jumpy.  They gave me another shot of anesthetic, but it wasn’t enough and I kept needing more.  I felt humiliated for crying uncontrollably and being in pain when I should have been well-anesthetized.  I didn’t realize until later that I had gone into shock. 

In present time, I remained a little anxious about being in a dentist’s chair again.  This new dentist told me that when a dental patient experiences shock, it is usually precipitated by hypoglycemia (low blood sugar)!  Another factor is that the typical local anesthetic comes with a dose of adrenaline!  It doesn’t take an expert to realize that this is a metabolic nightmare for anyone with fatigued adrenals or unstable blood sugar.  The relationship between blood sugar and adrenal function is so exquisite.  When a person becomes anxious, native adrenaline is already pumping and the body is burning though its sugar reserves at an accelerated rate.  Extra adrenaline is just going to make it worse. 

Most people have heard that adrenaline is what kicks in our “fight-or-flight response” to a threatening situation. The reason they add it to anesthesia is  because it plays a role in masking the pain.  Evolutionarily speaking, this was so that we could continue to fight or escape the cause of the pain without fully feeling the consequences in the short term.  I am grateful that this mechanism allowed our ancestors to survive, but manipulating it for pain relief is not necessary.  Anesthetics can be successfully administered without adrenaline.  It’s a worthwhile topic of discussion to take up with your dentist or oral surgeon. 

My recent appointment turned out fine: No cavities, but some tooth sensitivity.  I will need my last two wisdom teeth out soon.  When I am ready for that, I will be sure to ask that the anesthesia be administered without adrenaline, thank you!  I will also make a point to eat a good low-carbohydrate meal before hand.

Update:  I went to www.adrenalfatigue.com and found out that the nightmare/adrenal fatigue/food craving connection is well documented.  Here is an excerpt from Dr. James Wilson:

Waking between 1:00 and 3:00 AM, may indicate that your liver is lacking the glycogen reserves needed by your adrenals to keep blood glucose levels high enough during the night.

Blood sugar is normally low during the early morning hours but if Adrenal function is low, blood glucose levels may sometimes fall so low that hypoglycemic (low blood sugar) symptoms disrupt sleep during the night.

This is often the case when there are also panic or anxiety attacks, nightmares, or sleep is fitful between 1:00 and 4:00 AM.

It feels like my life is consumed by food:  Thoughts of food, researching food, shopping for food, preparing food, packing food, and cleaning up after eating food.  I can’t help but talk about food.  And I can’t get it out of my system and still maintain good social boundaries, so I have to WRITE about food too.  I look forward to feeling better and having food retreat into the background of my life.  Right now it seems poised to change my life at every level!  Recently I have been feeling dissatisfied with my apartment because my food habits have changed.  I am really lamenting the lack of a dishwasher.  The ¾ sized fridge I share with my roommate is way too small for my expanded perishables.  I cook more breakfast and have to tiptoe around if he’s still asleep.  He’s recently insisted that I open the window and turn on a tiny portable fan every time I cook since there’s not a vent.  It never seemed to be a problem before.  (I wish he would open the window when he
sprays his cologne.)  If it sounds like I am whining, it is because I am going through an uncomfortable change.  I am grieving the loss of convenience and the comfort of eating like “everybody else.”  I have started something and it has ramifications that I am not even aware of yet.  This is both exciting and terrifying.

Farmers markets. Local farmers. Real milk. Fresh eggs. Vegetable stands.
Those are things we not only all want, but things we are actively getting involved in, and things we very much need. And where they are truly good, they are growing
The international financial corporations which have wreaked havoc around the world with astounding nonsensical “solutions” that are destructive of everyone but them, are brothers to the international agribusiness giants (Monsanto, Cargill, Tysons, ADM, etc.) which are just as aggressively after their own form of “taking.” Just seeds, animals, water, land.
And freedom.
Because human beings are by in large good and by in large incredibly resilient and clever, and left to their own devices - that is, free - they would handle this gargantuan financial stupidity the corporations brought us with NAFTA, CAFTA, GATT and all other globalized schemes (which they hope to eventually top off with CODEX). How? By being productive in real ways and locally. And farming is the solid ground under that. Farmers produce something of real value (something we used to take for granted), and from that base, businesses grow up. Local markets, local food processors, local seed companies, local tool and supply companies, local stores … and an economy based on reality and something truly good for us, too, begins to grow.
So, look again at what has been exciting us - Farmers markets. Local farmers. Real milk. Fresh eggs. Vegetable stands. - and realize that they are not only wonderfully healthy but fun and naturally community building. And more, they are a real economy and deeply democratic - and just at a time we need something that works economically, that supports our democratic rebirth, and that protects food itself and our easy access to it.
And it is all those things that threaten the corporations… which is why we now have these massive “fake food safety” bills in Congress. Everything is going under thanks to these fools, and they wish to be there like vultures to make sure that every drop of blood that can be sucked out of our resources and us, is theirs. To wit, they must get rid of such good and innocent things and yet truly powerful things as:
Farmers markets. Local farmers. Real milk. Fresh eggs. Vegetable stands.
And how will those who contaminate our country’s food with pesticides, hormones, antibiotics and more, do that? Why, by setting standards for “food safety” that are so grotesquely and inappropriately and even cruelly applied to a local, independent farmers and ranchers that there is no way they can manage. Imagine your being faced with a 100 page IRS form and facing a million dollar a day penalty for screwing up. That would be in the ball park of the impossible complexity mixed with threat facing our farmers. Imagine having the government and corporations deciding every single thing you can do and must do in your kitchen and backing that up with the threat of 10 years in prison for screwing up - though you have never made anyone sick, and those corporations have. Imagine being surveilled 24 hours a day by GPS tracking devices that feed into … a corporate data bank, one they have now moved out of the country so no one here can have legal access to see what is in it.

Imagine the devil himself - or a whole boardrooms of them, dressed in suits - defining the only safe and healthy food in this country as dangerous and burdening hard working farmers with more work then anyone could bear, while his own, their own, food is so dangerous at this point that in the last 10 years alone, diabetes has gone up 90%
And how did they get this far with such a scheme to apply insane industrial standards to every farm in the country? Through fear of diseases and of outbreaks of food borne illnesses, both of which they cause themselves.
How it works: Tyson helps Bill Clinton get into office. Bill Clinton immediately and significantly lowers contamination standards for poultry as a thank you. And it is such contaminated waste from transnational poultry factories which is now implicated as the source of bird flu. - Then fortunes on made on that fear. And then poultry industry uses the crisis they created to push out small farmers and take greater control than ever. Their mantra? Biodiversity not only be damned but be eliminated. And get rid of those damn farmers who protect it while we’re at it.

The bills would require such a burdensome complexity of rules, inspections, licensing, fees, and penalties for each farmer who wishes to sell locally - a fruit stand, at a farmers market - no one could manage it . And THAT is the point. The whole dirty tricks point. The whole “be in tight control of everything needed for survival because it’ll be worth a fortune” point.
So, if you like farmers markets, local farmers, fresh milk, fresh eggs, vegetables stands, and freedom, let your friends know that it’s all on the line right now with those “fake food safety” bills brought to us with well-planned evil and more of it to come, by Monsanto, Cargill, Tysons, ADM, etc.
Slow Food reminds us of just where we need to be (and notice how much would help any local economy):
Forming and sustaining seed banks to preserve heirloom varieties in cooperation with local food systems;
Developing an ” Ark of Taste ” for each ecoregion , where local culinary traditions and foods are celebrated;
Preserving and promoting local and traditional food products, along with their lore and preparation;
Organizing small-scale processing (including facilities for slaughtering and short run products);
Organizing celebrations of local cuisine within regions (for example, the Feast of Fields held in some cities in Canada );
Promoting ” taste education ;”
Educating consumers about the risks of fast food ;
Educating citizens about the drawbacks of commercial agribusiness and factory farms ;
Educating citizens about the risks of monoculture and reliance on too few genomes or varieties;
Developing various political programs to preserve family farms ;
Lobbying for the inclusion of organic farming concerns within agricultural policy ;
Lobbying against government funding of genetic engineering ;
Lobbying against the use of pesticides ;
Teaching gardening skills to students and prisoners ;
Encouraging ethical buying in local marketplaces.
To truly make a difference; we recommend a direct person to person contact, such as phone calls, faxing and paying personal visit to their offices and see how they are ruining our lives. - We need to stop these bills first, or we are left with no money from the financial bail-out and no food from the food steal-out.

President, Barack Obama
The White House
1600 Pennsylvania Ave NW
Washington, DC 20500
Phone: (202) 456-1414
Comments: (202) 456-1111
Fax: (202) 456-2461
http://www.whitehouse.gov/

U.S. Congress: (202) 224-3121
http://www.house.gov/

U.S. Senate: (202) 224-6221
http://www.senate.gov/

Send a message to Congress.
We need millions to be fighting this. Contact Eli Pariser at MoveOn moveon-help@list.moveon.org to tell him MoveOn is badly needed.
Take action — click here to contact your local newspaper or congress people: Stop HR 875, HR 814, SR 425, and soon, HR 759

Click here to see the most recent messages sent to Congressional Representatives and local newspapers
Linn Cohen-Cole

A company that connects Brisbane and Gold Coast city folks with farmers who live and farm within 500km of Brisbane.

Food Connect delivers boxes of organic fruit and vegetables to drop-off points throughout Brisbane and the Gold Coast once a week.  The prices are extremely competitive with supermarket and farmer market prices.  I subscribe and many others who subscribe have declared they find it cheaper to order the boxes.

This is a service I highly recommend not only for service, but for the quality, price and freshness of the organic produce.  Some people hesitate with such services with the notion of not always getting the produce they wish to buy each week.  To this I say… these boxes come with new and wonderful produce for us to try.  Why not make your week more interesting by using the produce you receive to create new taste sensations for you and your family?  The produce in the boxes is also seasonal.  I believe this is a preferred way of eating.  Not only can you align your body, mind and soul with the current season, but also provide your body with what nature believes it requires for that time of year. 

Food Connect I believe supports positive determinants by decreasing the negative determinants within a Socio-ecological model of health for us all. In other words, they support farmers who farm in an environmentally sustainable way, decrease food miles and provide food that not only nourishes us but also helps our community members connect…

http://www.foodconnect.com.au/

Kind regards

Rebecca

Just prior to Christmas we were guests of biodynamic dairy farmers and Weston A Price Foundation Chapter Leaders in the country.  We had a wonderful time and an education, not just about how the raw milk we drink is produced but how the future of farming and food production could, and should, be.  By the second day I was convinced we needed to move there - yesterday!  I found them to be like-minded, generous and wise… they opened their home and their hearts to us as if we had always known them.  John particularly took to them, he has always been quite good with strangers but one could be forgiven for thinking he’d known them and their children all his life.  We had many interesting discussions about many things; John enjoyed picking berries and seeing the cows milked (and realized that actually cows don’t say ‘moo’!) and wandering to his heart’s content barefoot in the verdant grass; I was encouraged and edified and educated.  Significantly, John ate some homemade icecream containing raw egg, something the Children’s Hospital had told us would be highly dangerous and should not be attempted until after he’s been re-tested for allergies at age 3, making me so fearful of him coming into contact with egg… until now.  The berries showed that he still has an intolerance to salicylates, but this was no surprise because he was eating the white-green and pale-red berries that we have learnt are incredibly high in salicylates prior to vine-ripening which sucks them back into the plant leaving them darkened and safe for consumption.

Ian returned from nearly 3 weeks away to celebrate Christmas at home with us, it was just the three of us but it was a special time as we celebrated another birthday, that of an ancient babe who is often forgotten at this time of year.  New Year was also quiet but we looked forward to what this year will bring; we were reminded of how 3 years ago we celebrated New Year anticipating starting a family, not knowing the trials and treasures that this would bring into our life; this year my heart echoes the anticipatory sentiment but beats resoundingly with even deeper knowledge and greater hope.

I got a bit carefree with egg, and gave some egg white (left over from a smoothie I’d made with the yolk) to my dogs who dripped it on the floor which John walked on… well he reacted to that, welts and itches, but it was over within a minute of wiping with a wet washer.  It makes me think, how on earth can ‘specialists’ think that a skin prick test for allergies has the link to eczema they say it has, or that it’s the only relevant test?  John’s skin has been incredibly clear, before and after this incident, and his diet is so fine-tuned at the moment.  I am assured we have found the truth.

I had an appointment with our GP to sign a ‘Conscientious Objection Form’ regarding immunization for Medicare, and also asked him to order blood tests for both Kenzie and I as our dietician requested.  He made his objection known, not argumentatively but clearly, however as I thought about his comments I realized how ironic they were.  He asked me why John hadn’t had his 18-month Chicken Pox and when I explained that he’d been quite sick that week and then I’d heard about egg-allergy dangers (unconfirmed) and mercury-vaccination risks (confirmed) he said John could get more sick from having Chicken Pox… well I remember very well having chicken pox as a kid and although it was nasty it was NOTHING next to John’s eczema.  Then he was horrified at the idea of the blood tests and said he thought that would cause needless suffering… well I remember how much John suffered with eczema when we didn’t know what was going on, a blood test to help us know what’s going on is NOTHING next to this; and then I really smiled inwardly, he was ok to administer the immunization needles.  How ironic.

I began preparations for pregnancy, such as making ginger drinks, stocking up on recommended foods, collating recipes and documenting household instructions and (in a wishful mood) going through my maternity clothes!  I tested out how serious my gluten intolerance is with a variety of foods, some sourdough, some alternate grains, but basically found pasta and bread are pretty much out for me.  Wish I had more time to try out the many treatments I’ve read about for gluten-intolerance.  I made the mistake of treating myself with a few things at Christmas (still careful, but with fruit or sugar or other things which I will now avoid) and regretted doing it (got pimples, headaches, cravings, you name it).  Used a few methods to detox including soaking in bath salts and weaning myself off tea.  On the whole my diet and health to start the year was good, following all the information I’ve gleaned in the past months.  Now that I’m living this way and it seems second-nature, I occasionally think to myself “Oh I hope the next baby is healthier” with a tinge of worry – but then I realise when I go out to other people’s houses or to shopping centres that I have changed SO MANY THINGS that it has just got to make a difference.  I don’t like thinking of a baby as a science experiment but my curious and questioning nature has got me excited about seeing what happens.

I am SO fired up about teaching people about good nutrition.  I get so horrified when I hear or see bad example of it!  I ordered some business-card-sized cards with a couple of thought provoking comments (e.g. “You are what you eat” but actually you are what your mother ate…) and questions (e.g. Allergies, ADHD, Cancer… is our food killing us and our kids?) and my email address on them to give to anyone who ever asks me anything about nutrition or health.  I joined WAPF as a Chapter Leader, and decided I’d like to hold a general information session for anyone who knows me to learn and understand why I do what I do.  I was sharply reminded how ‘strange’ what I am doing is when Ian asked at dinner one night when is John going to be able to eat ‘normal’ food… without getting my back up, I told him of my plans to start John eating most of our meals and pointed out how healthy we all are and isn’t that ‘normal’ enough?  Apparently not enough for him and we had an argument about it, but objective analysis would show that if John is now eating fish and chips with us and I am no longer watching him like a hawk in public, things are better than they used to be.  The word ‘normal’ reminds me of the analogy to a frog in hot water – what we see going on around us (normal behaviour for boys, or normal symptoms in babies, or normal food consumption) is only normal because it’s so prevalent, we are completely surrounded by it and like a frog in hot water that never notices the degrees of temperature change until it’s too late and it’s cooked, our society is paying a cost for they-know-not-what… but we do, and so I press on.

I came across another example of TERRIBLE dietary advice in a book called something like Skinny Girl Preggers (forget the exact title, part of a series which purports to inspire women to live clean, healthy, pure and skinny lives) and in its wisdom (or lack thereof) it reminds its readers that pregnant women should not be skinny but that healthy pregnancy (and assumedly a quick return to skinny-ness afterwards) requires lots of healthy food but meat and dairy are off-limits… their reason?  Hormones and chemicals!  The only good thing I had to say about this one was they advocate breastfeeding, but one wonders at the quality of the milk on their diet!  Then there was the item on the news about some Hollywood actress breastfeeding another woman’s baby, and it being filmed and circulated on the internet… outcry and outrage.  Yet zoologists think nothing of cross-species surrogate feeding let alone same-species… when did we get so ‘dignified’?!

I told a few close friends that I was planning to try for a baby in February.  I had some who know my history of miscarriage and trying to conceive caution me not to get my hopes up, either that conception may not happen first time, or if it does that I may not carry… I appreciate their concern and support but I am not only incredibly hopeful (in their eyes unjustifiably) but actually the more I read about natural conception and pregnancy I am assured I’m on the right track.  I know there are no guarantees in life – not with anything in life – but I figure I’ll find out soon enough what a difference all of these measures makes.

So came February… it turned out to be a very stressful month.  I had lots going on with work and other commitments, as did Ian, and John was quite grumpy and difficult at times, his eczema flared up again as well, our state suffered devastating bushfires which seemed to affect everyone either directly or indirectly (in my case both), we had my parents staying with us as well and then I lost a very close friend after a long battle with cancer… and in the midst of that we were watching the calendar and using the ovulation kit and trying to get pregnant.  There were moments when I doubted my sanity, but as always my conviction and commitment win out over doubts and despondency.

Well, to cut a long story short, I am now pregnant, up the duff, with child, bun in the oven…

Hallelujah!

Selective or fussy eating on behalf of the child most often can be addressed with behaviour modification on behalf of the whole family.  In most cases, a child and their fussy eating habit can be attributed to role modelling particular family members.  Carers frequently witness their children imitating them in various instances such as talking on pretend mobile phones or repeating word-for-word statements heard from the carer.  However, carers may rarely make the connection between this imitating behaviour of their own eating habits and the child’s eating habits.

Sometimes a carer may have a child, who from the early stages of infancy, have found it difficult to have the child eat a healthy amount of food and gain the expected weight for their age.  This experience in itself can cause anxiety for the carer particularly at meal times which can also filter down to the child.  A constant repeat of negative experiences and battles at meal times can lead to the eradication of structured meal times and the carer finding themselves subscribing to the mind set of ‘ I don’t care where/when or what he/she eats, as long as she eats.’

One could understand the psychology behind the slow development of such a habit establishing itself. The carer may reach such a stage within their frustration when they no longer care how the child eats….just as long as he/she eats.  This in itself however can be a catch-twenty-two if trying to establish good eating habits.  To elaborate on this point, it can be taken back to the carer-child imitation.  Quite often it can be observed within a household, a child being placed at a table to eat.  Although a carer may or may not be sitting at the table with the child, more often than not, the carer usually is not eating with the child.  This is where the connection between imitation and eating habits become evident.  If a child is not willing to eat and or acts particularly fussy then it is not always a case of necessarily trying to correct the child.  It is could more likely to be a case of changing the behaviour of the carer.  Questions a carer may ask themselves are…

o   Do I eat regular meals? – breakfast, lunch, dinner

o   Where do I eat meals? – at a counter/ in front of the television

o   Does my family sit and enjoy the majority of breakfast/evening meals together?

o   Do I share the same meal as the child or do I expect the child to eat a different meal?

A carer requires addressing such questions before entering into battle every meal time.  Developing the mind set of ‘I don’t care where/when or what the child eats as long as he/she eats’ and allowing the disarray of meal times to continue, will, in the long term prevent the carer from developing healthy eating patterns within the child and the family. 

The key point being made here is…set the example.  Falling into the trap of letting a child eat how he/she chooses does not usually help the situation. In fact it is this type of behaviour that will perpetuate the original problem.  The early years of the child is the prime time for helping the child develop deep rooted eating behaviours. If meal times become stressful and the child becomes difficult to feed, instead of entering in to conflict negotiations with the toddler (and they are experts at it!) and allowing each meal time become too painful to even contemplate, keep this in mind.  More often than not…children like their carers’ to be involved.  Develop structured meal times where the carer is able to sit with the child and eat the same meal as the child. Instead of repeatedly telling the child to eat, involve the child in conversation about how good the food is. Create discussion about the types of food on their plate and ask questions like…’where do you think this grows?’, How long do you think it takes to grow and how long do you think it will take to eat it?’, ‘What do you think this food can do for us?’ Make yummy food noises, and make a positive fuss over even the smallest attempts of effort the child makes at trying food they would not normally eat.

In summary, the main concept of dealing with the issue of children who will not eat is this.  Before agonising over what is wrong with the child, the carer must reflect upon themselves. Avoiding structured meal times will not help the child develop good eating habits.  Although it is understandable how the sporadic eating habits can be allowed to develop, it is not the answer for long term improvements. Find foods the child and carer will enjoy and avoid allowing snacks and establish meal times as the only time for eating.  Although it may take a while to establish the child into a pattern of eating well, it is with persistence, patience, fun and the structuring of meal times that will be the winning recipe to a child who will not only eventually begin to eat properly but establish a healthy habit.

Forgive me readers for it has been many months since my last post. I’ve been busy having babies (well, baby) and dealing with family dramas. Life has been all consuming but it’s all good and many wonderful things have been happening. Now I’m living a blissful life at home with my child and baby and dreaming of my maternity leave lasting forever!

Here in the land of ecovillage, it is swelteringly humidly hot. The garden is looking pretty lush though rather neglected as I’ve discovered young babies and gardening are not all that compatible. Hopefully when bubs gets to crawling stage and the weather is not so much like a sauna, we will be able to spend more time in the garden and make some inroads on the weeds. Sheet mulching is the way to go they say though sometimes I think a lawnmower and no garden beds would have been the easiest! But hey, we can’t feed ourselves on grass. Food Forest is our motto.

Pearl, Amber, Ruby and Opal are happy in their luxurious coop especially as I learn more about what tidbits they like to eat (like organic pet mince!). We still only get about 2 eggs a day from them though. I ponder adding some chickens but not sure I want to see the bullying as they establish a new pecking order.

We had our solar panels installed last week so now our metre is officially going backwards as we feed the grid on sunny days and draw off it on cloudy days. They cost us next to nothing thanks to a company that bulk buys from China and does 50 households at a time in one area – called a solar neighbourhood… and the government rebate of course.

John Palmer (see my previous post) continues to visit on a weekly basis and never judges or criticises me for my as yet undeveloped green thumb. I either forget to water the garden or leave the sprinkler on and waterlog it. Lucky we’re on a recycled water system here so I don’t feel guilty about using water, just about drowning the poor plants. Trouble is, the amnesia over the sprinkler always seems to occur just before a big rain spell.

John Palmer doesn’t like to fill up landfill so he returns things to nature as much as possible. If I’m out when he comes, I often return home to find little pagodas of coconut shells dotted throughout the garden – refuse from the resort where he is resident green man and tour guide. He mulches our garden beds with grass collected from the side of the road and plants discarded spring onions from the resort kitchens.

Well I can hear the weeds in the Mandala Garden sneering at me as they emerge almost as quickly as I pull them out. My recent weeding efforts have markedly improved the beds but a friend told me that sheet mulching is going to give me more mileage on the mulch. There’s a cloudy spell outside and a friend has just dropped off a pile of newspapers so off I go to attack the ever invading nutgrass, kikuyu and other pesky weeds that steal the nutrients from our vegies and herbs.