I went to a presentation last night on summer air quality in my city. Apparently, we have failed federal air standards for the past three years due to our high amounts of ozone (carbon monoxide, lead, particulate matter, nitrogen oxide and other pollutants were in compliance). Ozone is produced when volatile organic compounds (VOCs) mix [...]
Filed under: Air quality, Environment, VOC on July 28th, 2009 | No Comments »
My husband just shared this article with me about places in the world where people longer and healthier than in most areas–called blue zones. There are five blue zones in the world–Okinawa, Japan, a penninsula on Costa Rice, an island in Italy, an island in Greece, and Loma Linda, CA. That last one surprises you [...]
Filed under: Random on July 24th, 2009 | No Comments »
I read the book Disease-Proof Your Child in late 2006 and liked it so much, that I recommended it to several friends. The first few chapters have a lot of great information about how diet affects health and disease. However, the recipe section at the end of the book was never a big hit with [...]
Filed under: Book recommendation, Children, Food and Nutrition, Vegetarian/Vegan on July 22nd, 2009 | No Comments »
There’s an interesting commentary on The Huffington Post about the film Food, Inc. called Vote Now, Eat Later. Food, Inc. told viewers that we vote three times a day, implying that the food we buy for each meal has a strong impact on the food industry. For the most part, I agree with that, but [...]
Filed under: Random on July 17th, 2009 | No Comments »
I just saw the 2004 documentary The Future of Food, all about biotechnology and genetic engineering of crops. It was really wonderful, with a moving final scene showing how we can avoid the direction we’re headed in. Here are some startling facts from the film:
97% of the vegetables grown at the beginning of the 20th [...]
Filed under: Food and Nutrition, Genetic Modification on July 12th, 2009 | No Comments »
This is my favorite bean tip. For some reason, I love it much more than hummus. The crunchiness of fresh onions on top is delicious.
Ingredients:
9 oz yellow split peas (fava)
2 small onions, 1 chopped coarsely, 1 fine
1 garlic clove, chopped
6 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
1 tbsp fresh oregano
salt and pepper
pita bread, chips, or veggies to [...]
Filed under: Recipe on July 8th, 2009 | No Comments »
Those of you following my blog will know that my family has recently re-evaluated our meat eating ways. We are trying to eat much fewer animal products, including dairy and eggs. We aren’t completely vegan, but we’re giving it a fairly good try this summer, only eating animal products when they meet the following criteria:
Organic
Pastured
Local
And [...]
Filed under: Food and Nutrition, Vegetarian/Vegan on July 5th, 2009 | 1 Comment »
The Environmental Working Group (EWG) has published its list of 10 best beach and sport sunscreens. Of the 10 on that list, we’ve only personally used one–Badger SPF 30. Other than a slight white film it leaves on your skin, we’ve been happy with it. If you’d like to find a safe, stable sunscreen, check [...]
Filed under: Personal Care Products on July 2nd, 2009 | 2 Comments »