I mentioned it in passing on my green birthdays post but on her birthday Paige got a new tee from Fly High Joy. She wore it to her party the following weekend in fact.

I like it because it is 100% organic cotton and thus earth friendly and it has a good message on it while still being cute. The organic factor is no small one since nearly half of the most commonly used pesticides used to grow conventional cotton have been labeled “probable” carcinogens by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

My daughter likes it because it is soft and comfy and because she loves the adorable heart character and the slogan. Her shirts says “I like Being a Kid Just for the JOY of It”. Other shirts say “Fly High With JOY” or “Jumping with JOY”. To her the message is like a motto to make sure the day is a joyful one when that shirt is on.

I love the message because in this day and age when kids get stressed so easily I think they need to concentrate on being joyful and playing. They seem to grow up too fast nowadays. They need to feel that joyful abandon that the heart figure in the shirt seems to have perfected. Adult concerns and stresses will come but right now preserving childhood is one of my main concerns.

Sharing JOY seems to be the key reason why this company was started to:

We make t-shirts with your JOY-Heart figure on them and share the JOY with others. I thought that was a great idea, so we proceeded to create a line of high quality, ultra-soft & comfy designer clothing and plush toys, along with other products (still in the works), all bearing the message of JOY. – Fly High Joy

And they don’t just make tees for kids either. They have some for men and women too. I want the one that says “Live JOY Every Day.” Mom needs to be joyful too right?

If you are looking for cute organic tees make sure to stop by Fly High Joy…

The first is Green Apple Baby. Not only do they sell gorgeous 100% organic tees with a natural cotton/green apple print color scheme that I love…they adorn their tees with messages of love and inspiration. They are for conscious parents that want to send a positive and earth friendly message. They use water based inks and they are grown and sewn in the good ol USA. Seeing the tiny baby clothes from Green Apple Baby really made me heartsick for another youngin. Like any other mom I suppose, I was enthralled with cute baby clothes but add organic, natural, earth friendly fibers and the wow factor is even greater.

I have a Green Apple Baby tee to giveaway, size 6-12 months. It says “I am a Genius” in green water based ink and it has their signature apple on it. It is perfect for baby boys and baby girls and has a lap shoulder neckline for easy dressing. It is made of soft, jersey knit and 100% organic cotton.

Another great company is Cool Green Attitudes. This company is great for older kids and they make a really great line of “cool” kids clothing with great messages of self worth. Not only are they organic cotton they have really neat messages like “I am Unique”, “I am Kind & Caring”, “I am Intelligent”, and “I Am Fair and Honest”. Just like adults do, children can suffer from negative thoughts about themselves, by accepting the negative opinions, fears and superstitions of others around them. These shirts are organic cotton Confidence t shirts, to encourage and enable children to affirm a positive sense of self and attitude.

They come in white, pink, and blue and they all have the Cool Green Attitudes signature green guy on them…”Buddy” The Organic Cotton Bud Man.

To give away I have a size 18 months, white tee that says “I am Infinate Potential”. I also have a pink 2T tee that says “I am Creative”.

Winners are

#10 Thea
#19 Karen
#58 Sap

They have some adorable t-shirt design for children including one that says “Be Green” and my personal favorite, “I’m Organic”, with the “O” in organic being a smiling toddler face. They are soft and comfy too. :)

Eco Ike also has some gorgeous animal designs t-shirts and resusable bags. I just LOVE the fact that they are a triple threat – stylish, sustainable, and fair trade. What more could an ethical and green mom ask for?

The packaging is another awesome feature. They use 100% recyled paper and 100% biodegradeable ribbon for all their packaging. Plus 5% of their proceeds is donated to American Forests.

I love supporting these smaller, ethical companies, so in celebration of Earth Week I have a great Eco Ike giveaway for you. Special thanks to Eco Ike for donating the prizes!

I have two natural colored ”I’m Organic” t-shirts to giveaway. One is a standard jersey t-shirt in 3T. The other is a 3T fitted t-shirt for girls. The size actually says 1 (european sizing) on the latter shirt but is is equvilent to a size 3 US. 

To Win: Just comment! And let me know which t you want. There will be two winners.

It is important to me that I only clean my home with products that are safe, natural, and green. Conventional cleaners might be effective in cutting through dirt and grime but they do so at the expense of our health and the environment. While many might use cleaning products like Windex or 409 with very little prior thought or concern….I actually like to know what I am spraying all over my home. These cleaners contain many chemicals that can be toxic, reactive, corrosive, or flammable. There is also the potential that they can cause serious health issues and environmental damage. Technological advances allow us to do things faster, easier and more efficient than ever before but those advances and products have to be safe!

Remember my story awhile back about how my son reacted to chemicals in toilet cleaner? All he did was sit down at a toilet that had toilet cleaning chemicals in it and I ended up calling 911. I don’t want my children to be exposed to harmful chemicals day in day out and I get hives at the drop of a hat so I avoid conventional cleaners all together.

Usually this means I make my own with simple and natural ingredients like baking soda, vinegar, pure castile soap, vegetable oil, lemons. etc. They work so well and they are so easy to make I usually won’t bother with buying any of the green cleaners on the market. I have tried many of them and they just don’t live up to the hype or they won’t disclose their ingredients like a certain company that Oprah endorses…ahem.

That said though, I was REALLY impressed with the BabyGanics line of cleaners. So much so that a few of these products are going to have a permanent home in my cleaning cabinet. These products are specifically formulated for the safety of children, pets and growing families, and they are environmentally safe. The BabyGanics line of cleaners is:

And a big plus for mommy…they work! Below I have given my thoughts on each of the BabyGanics products. I tried the unscented and the lavender scent versions alike.

BabyGanics All Purpose Household Cleaner - You just can’t beat and all purpose cleaner that cleans a multitude of surfaces through out the house. Instead of petroleum-based ingredients, or added dyes that are common triggers for respiratory and skin irritation, BabyGanics created an all-natural cleaning blend that is based upon natural soybean and palm kernel oils. I used it on kitchen and bathroom counters, on my stove and range, on my hardwood dining table, on walls decorated with crayon, and probably dozens of other places. I LOVE this cleaner and the lavender scented version is scrumptious. I am not big on fragrance so my kids noticed the yummy scent immediately and they liked it.

BabyGanics Tub & Tile Cleaner - Normally I use baking soda and vinegar to clean my tubs and showers. It works well but it I have to admit that the BabyGanics tub and tile cleaner is more more simple and just as effective. And of course it has none of the harsh chemicals and harsh acids in conventional tub cleaners that can be corrosive and toxic. The BabyGanics version is a special formula that is based upon a naturally derived urea salt which provides tremendously effective cleaning without the negative corrosive aspects many other products can leave behind. I used it extensively in my home recently and it works pretty darn good. I have been keeping a bottle in the shower to do a quick clean-up every week…otherwise it might be a once a month job in my house. ;)

BabyGanics Glass and Surface Cleaner - This product contains a unique, naturally derived biodegradable surfactant system that eliminates the need for solvents, glycol ethers and ammonia. I usually use a vinegar and water solution but I have to admit the BabyGanic glass cleaner is less streaky. It did a good job getting my car windows clean too and they were pretty grimy from all the salt spray on the roads this winter. I will likely just stick to plain old vinegar and water for indoor jobs but if you don’t like to make your cleaners or you hate the smell of vinegar this could be what you are looking for. I might keep some of this on hand for outdoor windows on my home and car.

BabyGanics Floor Cleaner Concentrate - This was my favorite BabyGanics product and I think it deserves a permanent place in my home cleaning repertoire. Its unique formula includes a combination of all-natural soybean and palm kernel oils and it is designed for use on tiles, laminates, and hard floors. I used it on the tile in my bathrooms, the linoleum in my kitchen and hall, the stone in my dining and foyer areas, the wood laminate in my family room, and get this…my carpet! When I was reading the back of the bottle I was super surprised to see a mention that it could also be used on carpet in addition to hard floor surfaces. So I diluted it according to the instructions and put it in my carpet cleaner and I cleaned some carpet in the bedrooms and in my kids play room. In the playroom the white carpet was starting to look gray and it had some stains from strawberry smoothie. The BabyGanics floor cleaner worked wonders. In fact I think it is one of the best carpet cleaners I have ever used. I have always tried to use soap nuts for my carpet but I find that harsh chemical cleaners are the only ones that can usually lift stains. Well not anymore…I will be using BabyGanics exclusively. Woot! I was very pleased. :)

So overall I REALLY like these cleaning products. They are safe and natural and they work good…a winning combo. I know I will definitely be keeping some of the All Purpose Cleaner and the Floor Cleaner on hand in my own home.

[tags]BabyGanics, organic, natural cleaning, green cleaning[/tags]

I ran across a contest at Crazy Hip Blog Mamas and it turns out that I have something to say in regards to the topic….flowers. So I decided to enter with the following article. No doubt it may be too political but fun to write nonetheless.

If a Flower is a Promise for the Future – What Future Do We Want?

When I think of flowers I think of beauty, happiness, and good times. Some of the most exciting times of the year are those seasonal moments when a new flower blooms and we get to bask in its glory for a short time. It is no wonder that we like to send flowers to our loved ones and special friends hoping that they too might bask in that glorious feeling and promise the feelings and promises that only flowers bring. All the special moments in our lives weddings, anniversaries, birthdays, graduations may well have been touched by and commemorated by flowers. Even the sad times in our lives, when a loved one passes away, bring flowers to us with a promise for the future. On all these occasions flowers say what words struggle to do. That is the power behind each beautiful petal.

In the sonnet Flowers, Love’s Truest Language, Park Benjamin states Flowers are Love’s truest language; they betray, Like the divining rods of Magi old, Where precious wealth lies buried, not of gold, But love–strong love, that never can decay!

The flower represents so many things love, joy, promise, grief, and remorse a tall order for any object but a flower fulfills its destiny beautifully and with grace. I am sure that everyone would seek to preserve the very essence of flowers but sadly their essence is losing some of its luster and the meaning. Would a flower grown under conditions that do not preserve their very nature and essence be regarded as highly?

What I do not like to think about of in regards to flowers is chemicals, toxic work conditions, and global warming but these are things that should come to mind when we think of flowers. The fact is most flowers are imported from other countries where they are doused in toxic chemicals to preserve them, cared for by workers who are shrouded in toxic fumes all day, and they are transported thousands of miles emitting many tons of greenhouses gases into the air. How can flowers hold promise when their method of growth and delivery is in direct contradiction?

The next Fields of the World arrangement should come direct from the United States and from rich, organic soil. We can curb a flowers contribution to global warming by selecting flowers that grow locally and by growing them organically they are safe and they retain their essence as Mother Nature intended. It does not matter if the arrangement is comprised of roses, lilies, baby’s breath, or carnations they all have a lovely story to tell and as long as they are locally grown and organic in nature then they will have a special place in all my life events that require the beauty and promise of a flower.

Well, the science is on our side too. Two recent studies show that organic food is healthier.

The first study was conducted by The Journal of Agriculture and Food Chemistry and the outcome after 10 years of research and comparing organic and conventional tomatoes was that organic tomatoes are twice as high in flavanoids then conventially grown. Woohoo! This study joins others that recently found organic tomatoes to have higher levels of vitamins and minerals. This is attributed to healthier soils found on organic farms.

Another study from the British Journal of Nutrition showed that organic dairy and meat products in a mother’s diet positively affect the nutritional quality of her breast milk—markedly increasing beneficial fatty acids. These fatty acids are important as they are believed to have anti-carcinogenic, anti-atherosclerotic, anti-diabetic and immune-enhancing effects, as well as a favorable influence on body fat composition. The immune development properties are especially important for newborns. This study just shows how important breastfeeding is AND how important an organic diet is.

[tags]organics, tomatoes, breastmilk, cancer, health[/tags]

My first goal was to start replacing conventional foods that we used the most and had the most danger of accelerating our cumulative exposure to chemicals. Milk and eggs topped the list. By starting with these two items I saw only a small increase in my monthly grocery bill. When I found an organic supplier of raw milk the cost did go up significantly as the price tag was $8.00 a gallon. The cost, coupled with the fact that I was now actually able to drink milk for the first time in my life, prompted me to give up other household beverages I would normally buy to offset the cost. Soda went on the chopping block and good riddance. I was now buying organic, raw milk and organic eggs every week and there was no additional cost to me.  I could do this. :)

I slowly made similar changes to my grocery list without dramatically affecting my bill. I was also becoming a savvier shopper.

I joined a local CSA or Community Supported Agriculture program that delivered fresh organic produce to my door every week. The fee was very reasonable and I ended up eating healthier and trying many new things. This arrangement was what spurred me to start putting Kale in smoothies since I had so much of it every week and few ideas on how to prepare it. Now my kids benefit from getting a Kale infused berry smoothie a couple times a week. I also started going to my local farmers market where the food is fresh and delicious and competitive with conventional foods because you are eliminating the middle man. And in my area the Amish are abundant so I make sure to frequent their homes often for their organic offerings. I just love driving through Amish country, passing horse drawn buggies, looking for signs boasting of farm fresh eggs or homemade noodles. It is an adventure.

Buying in bulk was the next step and this is still my favorite money saving tip. I buy organics in bulk from co-ops for wholesale prices. I also shop at Costco, which has a wonderful selection of organic foods and products. I can get frozen fruit, veggies, peanut butter, jam, crackers, soups, chocolate milk, soy milk, eggs, edaname, yogurt, maple syrup, tea, etc….all organic of course and at killer prices. And while it is not organic I love to buy wild caught salmon there too. It is beautiful and pink without the coloring added to farmed salmon and it is out of this world delicious.

Amazon also has a great selection of organic groceries and shipping costs are no obstacle since it is usually free if you spend over $25.00. Think of the gas money you save by having your groceries delivered to your door.

Coupons for organics were hard to find but I quickly found that if I visited the web sites for organic products that I liked and joined their mailing list I would get free coupons in the mail. Many of the sites also had printable coupons you could get immediately. I joined the advisory panel for Kiwi Magazine and got free magazines (which have coupons) and I also got coupons from affiliated companies. Mambo Sprouts is another source of coupons for organics. And don’t forget other discounts you can get at places like Whole Foods where they will give you a 5 cent credit for each bag that you bring in for your purchases. All these little savings can add up or at least equal a free organic chocolate bar!

The biggest change I made to my shopping regimen began with a change of attitude. You see I grew up in a household that was pretty green but one area that definately wasn’t was the amount of meat that was consumed. My dad was a meat and potatoes man. If the meal didn’t have meat (usually beef) then it just wasn’t a meal…it was more like a snack. It is no wonder that a large portion of my grocery bill was spent on meat and meat is expensive.

Around that time I read an article promoting vegetarianism. The article cited numerous reasons why meat consumption was harmful to the planet and I had to agree. Vegetarianism was not for me personally as I had already tried it for two years when I was a teenager and it did not seem to me the healthiest way for me to eat. I am a true omnivore and dare I say I found myself with an Omnivore’s Dilemma? :) It was then that I decided that my meat consumption needed to be reduced and I had to change my ideal of what a meal should be. Why must EVERY meal have a meat portion? Well, it no longer has a special place in every meal in our household anymore. Last week our favorite meatless meal was simple and delicious.

* Fresh raspberries, blackberries, and strawberries (local and organic)

* Smoked Gouda (organic from Whole Foods and one variety was local)

* Flax and rye crackers (organic from Costco)

* Cooked yellow beats (organic from Whole Foods)

* 4 types of raw radishes including my personal favorite Daikon (mostly organic and local)

The meal was delicious and my kids loved it. I don’t feel as though I was missing out on anything in the least. In fact the smoked Gouda is so good I feel as decadent eating it as I would caviar. And all things considered the meal was very affordable.

Since organic meat and beef in particular are so expensive I find that I often end up buying more fish now. Wild caught salmon and catfish are big hits in our household and the abundance of healthy oils in fish makes them a better choice too. I make 2-3 fish meals a week and the price tag is much more kind.

I also incorporate more veggies into our meals as fillers. There is a great book called The Sneaky Chef with great recipes for hiding veggies in other foods so picky eaters don’t know the difference. There is even a recipe for hiding veggies in chocolate chip cookies.

All of these changes have been small and gradual but they have made a big impact on our lives, including better health, a more sustainable way of eating, and an AFFORDABLE organic diet.

[tags]organic, food, groceries, shopping, budget, frugal, meat, vegetarian[/tags]

The World You Want is at the End of Your Fork

This article is frought with misinformation about how safe and wonderful rBST is. I am not sure how anyone can overlok the fact that synthetic hormones have no place in our food AND the cruelty on using this hormone within cows is just shocking. Read the article here.

[tags]Milk, rBST, organic[/tags]

“A wide cross section of the organic industry has repeatedly petitioned the USDA to crack down on an increasing number of industrial-scale factory-farms that are producing ‘organic’ milk,” said Mark Kastel, senior farm policy analyst at the Wisconsin-based Cornucopia Institute. Small Business Times

Whole Foods to acquire rival Wild Oats: Natural-foods grocer Whole Foods Markets Inc. on Wednesday said that it agreed to acquire smaller rival Wild Oats Markets Inc. for about $565 million, beefing up its store base as it grapples with competition from larger conventional supermarkets. CBS Marketwatch

There’s nothing like a tender steak from a free-range, grass-fed, hormone-free, antibiotic-free, organic and — oh, yes — cloned cow.

Or is there?

That’s a question being raised by scientists, activists and government bureaucrats since the Food and Drug Administration concluded in December that meat and milk from cloned animals should be allowed on the market.

In the opinion of some in the biotechnology arena, the federal definition of organic food would allow them to label food from clones as organic, as long as those clones were raised organically.

“My interpretation is that it’s not excluded at this time,” said Barbara Glenn, chief of animal biotechnology at the Washington-based Biotechnology Industry Organization.

But the mere thought that a clone might earn the coveted organic label makes even the most mild-mannered foodies rabid.

“Over my dead body,” said Margaret Mellon, director of the food and environment program at the Union of Concerned Scientists, an advocacy organization in Washington.

“I think it’s unbelievable,” said restaurateur Nora Pouillon, proprietress of the Nora and Asia Nora restaurants and Washington’s doyenne of organic cookery.

“It’s like putting artificial apples in an apple pie,” said Joseph Mendelson III, legal director of the Center for Food Safety, a consumer group in Washington that has petitioned the government to more strictly regulate the sale of clone products for human consumption. “People would consider that a downright violation of the American way.”

Officials at the Agriculture Department, which oversees the definition and certification of organic food, say the question will not be fully settled until it is considered by an advisory panel, perhaps by this spring. At that meeting, they predict, opponents will probably win, and the term “organic clone” will join the ranks of word pairs that simply do not belong together.

But nothing is ever certain in the federal rulemaking process. And a look at the USDA’s legal definition of “organic” shows how tough it can be to regulate a science that is changing almost as fast as ink dries in the Federal Register.

The Agriculture Department spent years crafting a definition of “organic,” integrating the advice of a record-breaking 50,000-plus public comments. But even after all that, said USDA spokesman Jerry Redding, the issue of clones “really never came up internally or externally until the FDA made its announcement about cloned animals being safe.”

Read more…

Contact: Aimee Sands, Annie’s Homegrown, 707.254.3700 x103, asands@annies.com
Erica Priggen

Free Range Studios, 510.981.0353, erica@freerangestudios.com

NAPA, Calif., January 23, 2007 /Natural Newswire/ — Mouths of the world are uniting to take a stand against trans fats, artificial ingredients, GMOs and pesticides in a new short film by the director of the most-watched internet films of all time. Annie’s Homegrown, makers of delicious alternatives to traditional comfort foods, and Free Range Studios, creators of the Meatrix and Store Wars, have partnered to produce the Mouth Revolution, a new short film that touts the benefits of choosing organic foods, now screening at www.MouthRevolution.com.

The Mouth Revolution is a humorous 4.5-minute live-action film that parodies history and contemporary culture while informing viewers about the vital importance of eating real, organic foods. Narrated by revolutionary mouths who take it upon themselves to decide what they will and will not eat, personalities like “Sojourner Tooth” and “Captain Mouth” unveil their “Mouthifesto” — a Declaration of Indigestion that details their objectives and demands: No Trans Fats, No GMOs, No Pesticides, and No Artificial Ingredients.

“At Annie’s, we’re committed to offering delicious snacks and macaroni & cheese meals that don’t contain “weird stuff” like artificial ingredients, Trans fats or GMOs. We’re also dedicated to teaching people why they should choose natural and organic foods,” said John Foraker, CEO, Annie’s Homegrown. “The Mouth Revolution is a fun, lighthearted way to spread this message. We urge mouths everywhere to join the Mouth Revolution and take a stand in favor of eating Real Food!”

“Our on-line viral work is all about making complicated issues ‘digestible.’ Our first smash hit, the Meatrix, exposed the horrors of factory farming. Now we’re using live action video to show people how they can take control and eat healthy. If they don’t, their mouths will do it for them,” said Jonah Sachs, Co-founder and President, Free Range Studios.

Louis Fox, director of the video and Free Range Co-founder, adds, “we took that child’s game where you make a puppet out of your mouth by drawing eyes on your chin to and then amped it up all the way. We’re quite confident that the Mouth Revolution is the best upside-down mouth movie in cinema history!”

At the end of the film, viewers are invited to take action by learning more about each Moutifesto article. They’ll have the opportunity to learn more about Trans fats, GMOs, pesticides and artificial ingredients, and can connect with organizations who are working to change current legislation around these issues. Non-profit partners include Trans Free America, Campaign to Label GMOs, Pesticide Action Network and the Organic Consumers Association.

Viewers can also use Web 2.0 “Upload Your Mouth” technology to interact and join the Mouth Revolution community in their own creative way.

About Annie’s Homegrown
Napa, Calif.-based Annie’s Homegrown offers delicious, all-natural and organic alternatives to traditional comfort foods. Since Annie Withey founded the company in 1989, Annie’s has been dedicated to delivering great-tasting, easy-to-prepare products made with the highest-quality ingredients that are healthy for people and the planet. The company was the first to create and introduce organic macaroni & cheese, and now is the nation’s leading natural and organic macaroni & cheese brand. Annie’s Homegrown is a wholly owned subsidiary of Homegrown Naturals, Inc., a growing family of natural and organic brands that includes Annie’s Naturals, Fantastic World Foods and Consorzio. Annie’s Homegrown products are available nationwide at major grocery stores, natural food stores and club stores. For more information, visit www.Annies.com.

About Free Range Studios
Free Range is a 20-person company with offices in Washington, D.C. and Berkeley, CA. The company enables its clients, progressive non-profits and socially responsible businesses, to communicate key messages and empowers individuals to transform society through the innovative use of digital media, storytelling, graphic design and strategy.

The firm is guided by the co-founders Jonah Sachs and Louis Fox, two lifelong friends, along with McArthur, Free Range’s Vice President. Under their leadership, Free Range has become known for top-notch design, ground-breaking contributions to Internet viral marketing and interactive, educational web design, creative communication strategies and stellar customer service. Free Range’s work has been showcased at scores of film festivals including Sundance and South by Southwest, and has won numerous awards including a 2005 Webby.

Over the past seven years, Free Range has worked for hundreds of clients, representing the premier change-makers in the progressive social space including Heifer International, ACLU, Environmental Defense, Amnesty International, International Campaign For Tibet, Stonyfield Farms and Clif Bar.

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Organic baby food has been around for decades and fairtrade baby food has only recently been launched. Why feed your baby with chemicals, additives and possibly genetically modified ingredients when you can feed them fresh, organic and healthier food? By buying fairtrade it also enables you to put something back into local communities where the ingredients originated from, so that they can look after their families better due to being paid a fair price for their food and hence they are able to reinvest the funds into their community and families.

Organic and Eco Friendly Baby Care

Babies have extremely sensitive skin that requires a mild and gentle touch – which is why it makes sense to treat them with products made from the purest ingredients. The skin is the largest part of the babies body and is often prone to sores and nappy rash in the early days. Minimise the amount of chemicals coming into contact with the babies skin by buying organic or natural baby care products.

Organic and Fairtrade Baby Clothing

A babys skin is thinner than that of an adult, so make sure the clothes against their bodies are free from harmful pesticides and chemicals by buying clothing which are made from organic or hemp fibres which are made with the minimum or no chemicals in the production and processing. By buying Fairtrade or ethical baby clothes from companies such as HUG ensures that other babies in developing countries may benefit as well from the clothes that you buy. Cheap, brand new clothes from supermarkets etc. are often made in China in low cost production facilities where workers are paid the minimum wage and where the term sweatshops originated from. Buying second hand or using donated clothes is the ultimate form of recycling and is cheaper too at this expensive time of life.

Environmentally Friendly Cloth Nappies

Cloth nappies can be washed and reused hundreds of times. Millions of disposable nappies are used throughout your country and you can imagine what size of landfill is needed to bury them all! Cloth nappies can reduce nappy rash and have no suspect chemicals. By washing them with your normal clothes, you again minimise your babies impact on the environment.

Breast feeding

Breast milk is very economical, constantly available at the right temperature and if your diet is organic then so is your milk which is therefore better for your baby. If you have to buy formula we wary of buying Nestle as an International Nestle Boycott is in effect in 20 countries. The boycott will continue until Nestle ends its irresponsible marketing of breast milk substitutes world-wide and abides by the International Code of Marketing of Breast-milk Substitutes and subsequent Resolutions in policy and practice.

About the Author:

Davinos Greeno works for the organic and ethical directory that lists 100s of Organic and Ethical Companies and we also have Organic Articles for you to read or publish.

Coming in October is an organic garden encompassing 5,280 square feet and featuring eight elevated planter-box areas separated by a flowing water feature. Lettuce, tomatoes, carrots, celery, herbs, and edible flowers will thrive in the garden, along with the orange, grapefruit, lemon, and lime trees that will line its perimeter.

In addition to tours led by the Boulders’ chief gardener, the resort will offer cooking demonstrations and interactive classes in the Golden Door Spa’s chef demonstration kitchen.

Yippee. I think I need to make vacation plans right about now. :)

Article

This store has some awesome organic, clay dyed, T-shirts.

You can get the Green Guide publications online for $10.00 and the print pubs for $12.00. This is more tham 50% off! I get the online version because my email address never changes but my physical address is known to change  quite often.

Just follow my link in this post and then on the right side of the page you will see a graphic that says subscribe now. If you follow the link on the left side of their page it will show you the regular prices.

Besides getting the guides for a year you will also get their top picks publication and access to their exclusive online content for 14 months! Get the Green Guide now!

This was a something new for me to learn because I am not generally a buyer of processed foods. I much prefer whole foods and cooking from scratch. I guess I should have guessed when I started seeing so many organic processed foods in the store that they contained synthetic additives. But not being a big buyer of these foods I never really looked at their ingredient listings. I am going to have read those lists much more carefully now. The word “organic” is slowly losing its meaning. We need a new word to replace the ideals of the original organic movement which have now been watered down by big business. We need to raise the bar once again.

Check out this site for some great tips and ideas to help you save some money!

Easy Organic Solutions

Legal Complaint Filed by The Cornucopia Institute at USDA

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Mark Kastel, 608.625.2042

WASHINGTON: One of the nation’s most aggressive organic watchdogs filed a formal legal complaint today (8/10/06) against the country’s leading organic brand, Horizon, alleging a well-financed campaign to greenwash milk produced at factory farms that fail to meet USDA regulatory standards. The complaint and call for a thorough investigation was filed with the USDA’s Office of Compliance.

The crux of the controversy, which has smoldered within the organic industry for over six years, stems from a small handful of industrial-scale dairies, managing 2000-10,000 cows, that are allegedly producing milk in feedlot conditions without adequately grazing their cattle as required by law.

These large factory farms, mostly operated in desert-like conditions in the arid West, have allegedly been doing more talking about pasturing their cows than the hard work required to truly produce organic milk, said Mark Kastel, Senior Farm Policy Analyst for The Cornucopia Institute, which filed a complaint. What is even more repugnant to ethical farmers and consumers alike is that large corporations like Dean Foods, the world’s largest dairy concern with almost $11 billion in annual sales, are apparently trying to use their power to deceive loyal organic supporters, Kastel added.

The current legal complaint alleges that Dean’s Idaho farm, now managing approximately 8000 head of cattle, has carefully created the illusion of pasturing, by putting their cows out on green fields temporarily for VIP visitors, but do not routinely offer pasture that has any feed value.

I had the opportunity to visit, at the invitation of Dean Foods officers, their Idaho drylot dairy earlier this year, said Kastel. The majority of their cattle were in what they called their winter housing, which amounted to a confinement feedlot. They did constantly rotate cattle, during my visit, out to what they referred to as pasture but in actuality, it was just for show.

The Wisconsin-based Cornucopia contends that the unusual pasture crop that they were offering their cows mature oats, which had gone to seed and was about 2 1/2 feet tall was not palatable or digestible by cattle and did not legally constitute pasture as defined by the federal regulations governing organic livestock production. All the animals were doing was trampling down this tall crop and not consuming any nutrition. Instead, what they were really eating was highly refined feed from troughs in their feedlot, forcing them into a very high production and stressful existence, Kastel lamented. Photographs of the Idaho farm can be viewed in Cornucopia’s photo gallery.

The complaint also cited, as evidence, the fact that they were putting cattle out on to what they call pasture in conditions of extreme heat, well into the 90s, without affording livestock any access to water. If this is what Horizon is doing, their management doesn’t cut it under any valid definition of managed grazing, says Joel McNair, publisher of Graze, a magazine that reports on dairy grazing. Humane farming standards and common sense dictate that cattle have access to shade and water if they are going to be spending more than a few minutes in very hot and sunny conditions. At best cattle will graze very little under such conditions. At worst they will die.

In prior interviews with employees at Dean’s Idaho facility, their technique was referred to as a, dog and pony show to impress visitors. Through these interviews, Cornucopia staff learned that Whole Foods CEO, John Mackey, and upper management from the nation’s leading natural foods grocer, were exposed, on May 15, to the same kind of illusionary farming practices that Kastel experienced during his visit in late June. In addition, a number of journalists were given the same make believe pasture show earlier in June.

The Cornucopia Institute’s legal complaint also included allegations that proper pasturing was not occurring on the corporation’s other large farm on the eastern shore of Maryland. We have received expert testimony from a number of current and former employees, and outside contractors, who have told us that pasture had been eliminated this year as a primary feed source, stated Will Fantle, the Research Director for the Institute. In addition to first-hand testimony, we received photographic evidence of all cattle in confinement when pasture conditions and weather were ideally suited for grazing.

Along with requiring access to pasture, the federal organic regulations very specifically outline when cattle can be temporarily kept in confinement due to concerns about the animals’ health or environmental factors.

Our customers expressed skepticism that they were not getting what they thought they were when they bought a Horizon product, said Goldie Caughlan, a former member of the USDA’s National Organic Standards Board and Nutrition Education Manager at the country’s largest natural foods cooperative, PCC Natural Markets in Seattle. They said they felt misled by the Company’s corporate spin because organic milk by definition should be from cows grazed on pastures. She stated the co-op agreed with their 40,000 members and recently dropped all Horizon products in their eight stores.

With the pasture controversy growing too hot to handle, Horizon announced last December a number of modifications to their factory farms that would make them more acceptable in the eyes of the organic consumers. Officers of Dean Foods and Horizon officials have since been hopscotching the country by corporate jet in an attempt to stem the exodus of consumers and retailers from the brand. In addition to actions by retailers, the largest organic consumers group in the country, the Organic Consumers Association, called for a boycott of Horizon products earlier this year.

If that’s not enough bad news for the country’s largest marketer of organic dairy products, Dean was forced to face off with concerned investors at their annual shareholder meeting, and spent at least a third of the meeting time attempting to refute the concerns articulated by the consumer and farm advocacy groups.

It is important for Dean Foods to recognize that the concerns of investors focusing on corporate responsibility are aligned with their customers in the organic marketplace, stated Margaret Weber, Coordinator of Corporate Responsibility for the Adrian Dominican Sisters.

We have a saying out in the country, You can’t make a silk purse out of a sow’s ear, said Kastel. We had been in discussions with Dean Foods for months trying to help them understand that no matter how much they spend on attempting to greenwash their factory farms, that scale of production will never be ethically acceptable to organic consumers.� While the company does buy organic milk from three hundred small farmers, some estimates place the firm’s reliance on factory farm milk at nearly 50% of its total supply.

The Cornucopia Institute stated that they still hold out hope that Dean Foods will shift their strategic direction, selling their holdings in corporate-owned factory-dairies, and shifting production, like the majority of their competitors, exclusively to family-scale dairy farms. �We stand ready to assist them if they decide to make that change to their business model, Kastel said in closing.

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A copy of the legal complaint filed with the USDA can be viewed at www.cornucopia.org/HorizonComplaint8-06.pdf.