No, I’m not renaming it to “Lessons from H1N1 flu, Mexican Virus, North American influenza or novel flu virus”.  Changing the name removes us from responding to the issue properly.  It is clear that the flu outbreak was caused by conditions in hog CAFO (confined animal feeding operation).  CAFO is another nice acronym removing us from the reality of the operation.

Back to the topic of the blog.  I was living in Northern Westchester, NY in the early 90′s and was in desperate need of organic foods.  I had become convinced [...]]]> Rethinking Food Sources – Lessons from Swine Flu Outbreak

No, I’m not renaming it to “Lessons from H1N1 flu, Mexican Virus, North American influenza or novel flu virus”.  Changing the name removes us from responding to the issue properly.  It is clear that the flu outbreak was caused by conditions in hog CAFO (confined animal feeding operation).  CAFO is another nice acronym removing us from the reality of the operation.

Back to the topic of the blog.  I was living in Northern Westchester, NY in the early 90′s and was in desperate need of organic foods.  I had become convinced that organic foods would help maintain and improve my health. Unfortunately at the time it was very difficult to find organic foods outside of the “city” or in “enlightened” places.  Some of the health food stores carried organics but they were extremely expensive and the selection of fresh foods were almost non-existent.  This was before places like Wild Oats and Whole Foods were popular.

Photo by Daniel Morrison

I joined a group that would go around and petition grocery stores to carry organic foods.  Occasionally people would sign a petition but mostly we got friends and family to speak to the managers of the stores.  We said to them, we like shopping in your store but you are not serving our needs.  We would like organics here and we promise to continue shopping and telling our friends.  At first the managers thought we were nuts but eventually one or two of them listened and started buying a few organic products.  They realized that they could get a premium price for the food and the food would fly off the shelves.  We voted with our wallets and loyalty.

The smaller health food stores started to clean up their stores to attract more customers as well.   They could service their clientele with excellent customer service and health expertise.  Today almost every large grocery store chain has an organic section and so do the big box stores.  You, as a consumer knows that there is some sort of standard when you find a label that has an official seal saying its organic.  You have control over what you eat, if you buy organics and if you read your labels.

Unfortunately labels have become inadequate.  Certain industries  and companies (Monsanto) have used their money and connections to excuse Bovine Growth Hormones (RgBh) and genetically modified foods (GMO’s). Many people have gluten allergies which are which exempt from labeling.  Glutens are just as dangerous to people with Celiac disease as are sugars to a diabetic.

A recent food hazard of melanin in our food system came from China killing off our pets & sickening our children.  Now we are seeing deaths from unhealthy raising of animals and unhealthy/unclean processing of foods.

You have choices.

1. You can raise your own food.
2. Go organic and buy from only trusted local sources.  These solutions are not comprehensive, as we are learning from this swine flu epidemic that you can be as organic as you want and still catch the flu because your friend went to Mexico on spring break. The concept of “All is One” is becoming very real and you can no longer isolate yourself.

Become Pro-Active

1. You can go to your grocery store and ask for labeling of the produce and meat for country or state of origin.
2. Put your money to work buy choosing foods that you know exactly where they came from and what’s inside them, not just based on fats calories and cost.

This is only part of the solution, our world is so intertwined that our companies go to other countries to raise and process foods in countries that don’t have the same standards of regulations that we have.  Some processed food ingredients come from so many different countries you could get frequent flier miles off them.

Go Global

1. Use your network.  Do you have family in Mexico, Latin America, Asia, Africa and Europe? Talk to them.  Have your family vote with their wallets in other countries, demand proper labeling, so they can make choices about what they put into your body.  If you are reading this you are a member of the largest consumer group ever with more buying power than the largest corporation.  It may take time but the supermarkets will listen.

Rethink your food choices, right now it takes effort but in the future it will be effortless.

Get into the habit of checking your tires every time you put gas in your car.  This habit will not only save you gas but will also spare you the [...]]]> Tip #10 Check your tires

Make sure your tires are properly inflated - Proper inflation can improve gas mileage by more than 3%. Since every gallon of gasoline saves money and keeps 20 pounds of carbon dioxide out of the atmosphere, every increase in fuel efficiency makes a difference! Keep the tires on your car adequately inflated. Check them monthly. Save 250 lbs. of carbon dioxide and $840 per year.

Get into the habit of checking your tires every time you put gas in your car.  This habit will not only save you gas but will also spare you the inconvenience of being stranded with a flat tire. It can also provide you with vital information about your steering and suspension so problems can be addressed before major damage occurs.

Drive Less, Drive Smart Almost one third of the carbon dioxide produced in the United States comes from our cars, trucks and airplanes. Here are some more simple, practical things you can do to reduce the amount of carbon dioxide you produce when driving:

• Make sure your car is well-maintained - Regular maintenance helps improve fuel efficiency, reduces emissions, and helps keep your car running at its best. When just 1% of car owners properly maintain their cars, nearly a billion pounds of carbon dioxide are kept out of the atmosphere.

• Start a carpool with your coworkers or classmates – Sharing a ride with someone just 2 days a week will reduce your carbon dioxide emissions by 1,590 pounds a year. eRideShare.com runs a free national service connecting commuters and travelers.
• Walk, run or ride your bicycle – If you avoid just 10 miles of driving every week would eliminate about 500 pounds of carbon dioxide emissions a year! And your body will also become more fuel efficient and healthier.



• Try car sharing – Need a car but don’t want to buy one? Community car sharing organizations provide access to a car and your membership fee covers gas, maintenance and insurance. Check out ZipCar for more information about car sharing.

• Try telecommuting from home – Telecommuting can help you drastically reduce the number of miles you drive every week. Just as important, no sitting in rush hour traffic and more time at home with your family.

• If it is time for a new car, choose a more fuel efficient vehicle – If we could all get an average of 35 mpg instead of the 27 mpg on average we get now, we could end U.S. dependency on mid-east oil by 2025.  You personally can save 3,000 pounds of carbon dioxide every year if your new car gets only 3 miles per gallon more than your current one. Visit these web sites for information that will help you identify clean and fuel efficient vehicles in any part of the country: EPA’s Green Vehicle Guide, or The DOE/EPA Fuel Economy Guide, or The U.S. Department of Energy Clean Cities Site

You can change small things and create big changes.  Join me for the next 10 days leading up to Earth Day April 22, 2009, in doing one thing different each day to make a world of difference for all.  Some of these things cost nothing at all and some will even save money.

The following is written by Senator Gaylord Nelson, Founder of Earth Day

How the First Earth Day Came About

The idea for Earth Day evolved over a period of seven years starting in [...]]]> What are the top 10 things you can do to create a better world?

You can change small things and create big changes.  Join me for the next 10 days leading up to Earth Day April 22, 2009, in doing one thing different each day to make a world of difference for all.  Some of these things cost nothing at all and some will even save money.

The following is written by Senator Gaylord Nelson, Founder of Earth Day

How the First Earth Day Came About

The idea for Earth Day evolved over a period of seven years starting in 1962. For several years, it had been troubling me that the state of our environment was simply a non-issue in the politics of the country. Finally, in November 1962, an idea occurred to me that was, I thought, a virtual cinch to put the environment into the political “limelight” once and for all. The idea was to persuade President Kennedy to give visibility to this issue by going on a national conservation tour. I flew to Washington to discuss the proposal with Attorney General Robert Kennedy, who liked the idea. So did the President. The President began his five-day, eleven-state conservation tour in September 1963. For many reasons the tour did not succeed in putting the issue onto the national political agenda. However, it was the germ of the idea that ultimately flowered into Earth Day.

Gaylord Nelson

I continued to speak on environmental issues to a variety of audiences in some twenty-five states. All across the country, evidence of environmental degradation was appearing everywhere, and everyone noticed except the political establishment. The environmental issue simply was not to be found on the nation’s political agenda. The people were concerned, but the politicians were not.

After President Kennedy’s tour, I still hoped for some idea that would thrust the environment into the political mainstream. Six years would pass before the idea that became Earth Day occurred to me while on a conservation speaking tour out West in the summer of 1969. At the time, anti-Vietnam War demonstrations, called “teach-ins,” had spread to college campuses all across the nation. Suddenly, the idea occurred to me – why not organize a huge grassroots protest over what was happening to our environment?

I was satisfied that if we could tap into the environmental concerns of the general public and infuse the student anti-war energy into the environmental cause, we could generate a demonstration that would force this issue onto the political agenda. It was a big gamble, but worth a try.

At a conference in Seattle in September 1969, I announced that in the spring of 1970 there would be a nationwide grassroots demonstration on behalf of the environment and invited everyone to participate. The wire services carried the story from coast to coast. The response was electric. It took off like gangbusters. Telegrams, letters, and telephone inquiries poured in from all across the country. The American people finally had a forum to express its concern about what was happening to the land, rivers, lakes, and air – and they did so with spectacular exuberance. For the next four months, two members of my Senate staff, Linda Billings and John Heritage, managed Earth Day affairs out of my Senate office.

Five months before Earth Day, on Sunday, November 30, 1969, The New York Times carried a lengthy article by Gladwin Hill reporting on the astonishing proliferation of environmental events:

“Rising concern about the environmental crisis is sweeping the nation’s campuses with an intensity that may be on its way to eclipsing student discontent over the war in Vietnam…a national day of observance of environmental problems…is being planned for next spring…when a nationwide environmental ‘teach-in’…coordinated from the office of Senator Gaylord Nelson is planned….”

It was obvious that we were headed for a spectacular success on Earth Day. It was also obvious that grassroots activities had ballooned beyond the capacity of my U.S. Senate office staff to keep up with the telephone calls, paper work, inquiries, etc. In mid-January, three months before Earth Day, John Gardner, Founder of Common Cause, provided temporary space for a Washington, D.C. headquarters. I staffed the office with college students and selected Denis Hayes as coordinator of activities.

Earth Day worked because of the spontaneous response at the grassroots level. We had neither the time nor resources to organize 20 million demonstrators and the thousands of schools and local communities that participated. That was the remarkable thing about Earth Day. It organized itself.

The first EarthDay was held in 1970.  Some people cite this as the birth of the modern environmental movement.

In truth everyday is EarthDay.  So each day let’s celebrate the Earth by making one small change in our personal environment and encouraging two other people to do the same.