This is a very important video, to watch and pass along. Do we want to lose all rights to choose the food that we eat?  Mom

So many great projects

I’ve gardened for a number of years now and have had chickens for three years as well. We are always looking for projects to make things nicer on our little suburban homestead.

Mr. Gleason’s book is a wealth of great ideas and has twenty-one different building projects that you can make to use around your yard and garden.

I thought the variety of projects was wonderful, everything from a simple raised bed, to a green house using recycled windows. You can also make a worm bin, a potato planter, and there are a number of different types of trellises for peas, squash, grapes and a really cool tiered lettuce rack, that will be my first project!  There are also instructions for building a green house, top bar beehive and a rabbit hutch.

The instructions are step-by-step, including photographs and material lists.  The author also includes some profiles of his local backyard gardeners and farmers, telling about what they are doing, which was really interesting.

I do not have much building experience but I would feel comfortable trying many of these project – and plan to do just that over the next few years.

A great book if you’re looking to make some handmade additions for your backyard homestead. Highly recommended!

Click the image below to go to the Amazon page (affiliate link)

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Gluten Free Low Carb Chocolate Lava Cake

I found this recipe on a low carb site and switched it up to use almond flour and liquid stevia. It’s SO good and is very satisfying for both a chocolate and sweet craving. I served it with just a little bit of whipped raw cream (also stevia sweetened) Yum!

Ingredients:
4 oz. unsweetened baking chocolate
1/2 Cup butter, I use Kerry Gold

1 and 1/4 Cup sweetener (I used stevia equivalent, you could use organic sugar or swerve or erythritol)

4 organic pastured eggs

½  tsp. Vanilla Extract

One pinch Celtic Sea Salt (1/8 tsp)

6 Tbsp.  Almond Flour (ground almonds)

Whipped Cream to top

Preheat oven to 425. Butter 4 custard cups (3/4 cup) and place on baking sheet
In large microwavable bowl, cook butter and chocolate squares on high 1 minute or until butter is completely melted. Remove from microwave and stir with wire whisk until chocolate is completely melted. (You can alternately melt butter and chocolate in a double boiler.) Stir in sweetener until well blended. Whisk in eggs until well blended. Stir in Almond Flour until well blended. Divide batter evenly between custard cups.

Bake 11-14 minutes, or until sides are firm, but center is soft. Let stand 1 minute. Carefully run knife around cakes to loosen and then turn out onto plate. Top with whipped cream.
These were incredibly easy to make and delicious. Enjoy!

Read more great Monday Mania posts here: http://www.thehealthyhomeeconomist.com/monday-mania-3122012/

Read more great Fat Tuesday posts here: http://realfoodforager.com/fat-tuesday-march-13-2012/

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We at Moms for Safe Food are busy this month and next, working with thousands of volunteers across the state, getting signature on the Label Genetically Engineered Food ballot initiative.

If you live in CA and have even a few hours please come join us.  If you don’t live in CA – please pass this along to your friends who do and donate a few dollars through our website, http://www.LabelGMOs.org

Join us to educate about, and Label GMOs – (for a start! 🙂

Here are some great links to learn more about GMOs – Genetically Engineered Food and our initiative.

http://www.responsibletechnology.org/

http://www.organicconsumers.org/monsanto/index.cfm

Some wonderful videos:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rixyrCNVVGA

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F7Id9caYw-Y&feature=relmfu

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wx79jzrRdyg

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M3AXlCc4lZA

Thanks!

Mom

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Homemade Chocolate – version 3

This is a wonderful recipe for chocolate. I made a batch up during the holidays. They come out perfectly beautiful – the picture of mine was after I flung them into a Tupperware in the freezer, so they were a little scratched up.  They were delicious and nice enough to give as gifts.

The Ingredients

• 4 oz by weight cup cocoa butter
• 4 oz by weight virgin coconut oil
• 4 oz by weight) organic cocoa powder
• ½   – ¾ cup Organic Sugar, Rapadura or Stevia equivalent
• ¼ – ½ cup raw organic cream

Step 2.
Place cocoa butter and coconut oil in a small, heat safe cup or bowl. Then place the cup or bowl in a shallow pan containing a small amount of warm (not boiling, but nearly) water. Stir the oil and butter occasionally until it’s smooth.  I have a little chocolate double boiler I use.

Step 3.
Measure 4 oz cocoa powder. I have a little scale I use for ingredients (and mailing letters).

Step 4.
Pour the dry ingredients in the bowl with melted oil and butter. Stir continuously until smooth. You can add Vanilla and other flavorings as well

Step 5.
If you want to sweeten your chocolate, use ½ to ¾ cup Organic Sugar or I use Stevia equivalent to that much sugar (varies by brand).  Mix in the cream. I used somewhere between ¼ and ½ of a cup.

Step 6.
Have someone check the quality   Meaning… go ahead and check if the chocolate is sweet enough. You can also add the rest of the additions at this point – like chili/cayenne, dried fruit, nuts etc.

Step 7.

Pour the melted chocolate on a pan / plate / ice cube tray. You can get really pretty chocolate molds at Michaels or any cooking supply store for only a few dollars each. You can also throw some of the additions on top of the chocolate, it looks nice. Place the chocolate for 30 minutes in the freezer or 60 minutes in the refrigerator.

Ideas For Additions

Now, the basics above form the foundation of your recipe.  However, if you want to jazz it up a bit, here are some ideas for what you can add:

Cocoa nibs, Dried berries, Raisins, Chopped Dates, Chili Powder, Curry Powder, Nuts, etc.  Enjoy!

Read more great Monday Mania posts here: http://www.thehealthyhomeeconomist.com/monday-mania-2202012/

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We are busy this week, getting ready to start gathering signatures in California to get Mandatatory Labeling of GMOs on the Ballot for the November election.

Please join us!  If you’re not in CA, you can pass the info along to friends and family who are, or give a donation.

Together we can make a difference!  Mom

Here’s the Grassroots site. You can learn more, volunteer or donate at the link below.

LabelGMOs.org

We’re on Facebook too:

https://www.facebook.com/labelgmos

Read more great Monday Mania posts here:  http://www.thehealthyhomeeconomist.com/monday-mania-2132012/

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I had a pound of lamb kabob meat and wanted to make kabobs, this is a version of a wonderful Jamie Oliver recipe and was delicious!

Lamb kebabs
Makes 6–8 kebabs

• 1lb grassfed lamb trimmed and cut into 1 inch cubes
• 6–8 skewers, either wood or metal. (wood should be soaked so it doesn’t burn)
• 2 organic red onions, peeled and quartered
• 2 organic red peppers, deseeded and cut into 1 inch pieces

• 2 small, organic zucchinis, cut into 1 inch pieces

for the marinade
• 1 tablespoon smoked paprika
• 2 cloves organic garlic
• ½ teaspoon cumin seeds
• 2 teaspoons coriander seeds
• Celtic or sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
• olive oil

First bash up all the spices in a pestle and mortar until fine, then mix with the oil to make a thick marinade paste. Put the lamb pieces into a bowl and cover with the marinade.

Let them sit there for half an hour to an hour.

Then, using the skewers, spike each piece of meat alternately with red onion, zucchini and peppers.

Grill for around 5 minutes, turning regularly, to give you nicely charred meat on the outside with juicy pink on the inside.

Allow to rest for a few minutes before eating. Enjoy!

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Some interesting articles this week, from major news sources.  Good to see! Mom

Grist investigation finds GMO-free bourbon is a rare spirit

By DEAN KUIPERS

Los Angeles Times

With the explosion of artisanal spirits in California and all over the U.S., as well documented by my colleagues here at the L.A. Times, one would think we’d be drowning in organic bourbon, GMO-free this and heritage that. But … no. Getting a snort of organic corn liquor is actually impossible, and drinking without supporting genetically modified maize (to be organic, it has to be GMO-free) proves to be a very, very limited affair.

An investigation by Grist, written by the delightfully named food editor Twilight Greenaway, finds that only the brands Wild Turkey and Four Roses are actually GMO-free. Well, at least there are two. Neither brand is certified organic, but you can be happy you’re not drinking organic corn off the face of the Earth.

About 85 percent of the corn grown in the U.S. is now genetically modified, and this has forced some distillers to cave. Jack Daniels (note: not a bourbon) had committed to using non-GMO corn until lately, when it became too hard to source their corn. Four Roses escapes this quandary because its former owner, Seagrams, grew its own grains and those sources are still available.

Wild Turkey? It’s GMO-free because it’s so cool. No, wait. Actually it’s because its distillers are prudent. Grist explains that they don’t want to put the bourbon on oak for 15 years and then find out there’s a problem with the GMO corn and have to dump it. Smart. These are people who are assuming what very few other food giants do: We don’t know what GMOs do to the body yet. They create their own insecticides and make plants impervious to massive doses of herbicides. Who knows what else that genetic structure does over time? The distillers figure it’s a risky business decision to use them.

And you know how you pour whiskey on stuff and it’s supposed to just kill everything, sterilizing it? Well, if your whiskey maker is saying he’s concerned about GMOs, what are we supposed to think about the other, decidedly less-robust stuff we eat all day?

Nah, it’s probably fine.
Read more here: http://www.miamiherald.com/2012/01/23/2603382/grist-investigation-finds-gmo.html#storylink=cpy

Effort gets underway to require GMO food labeling

By Jamie Hansen
ARGUS-COURIER STAFF

Published: Friday, January 20, 2012 at 2:15 p.m.

Last Modified: Friday, January 20, 2012 at 2:15 p.m.

The Petaluma Seed Bank bustled on Monday night as more than 20 people munched on organic ice cream and cookies and talked about what they saw as the dangers of genetically modified food. The reason for the meeting: A 2012 ballot initiative that would require labeling of genetically modified organisms, or GMOs, when they are sold in grocery stores.

Concern over GMOs — food whose DNA has been altered by humans — has increased in recent years. Many say that the dangers of such food haven’t been adequately tested, while consumers continue to unknowingly buy products containing GMOs.

In 2005, GMOs became a heated issue on the county ballot, when opponents proposed a measure that would have imposed a 10-year ban on growing or selling genetically-altered crops within the county.

Farm, ranch and grape grower organizations fought back, arguing that the ban would unfairly impact local agriculture, and the measure failed.

Now, a statewide group has sprung up to tackle the issue once again, but with a different strategy. The California Committee for the Right to Know is hoping to gather the 800,000 signatures necessary to place an initiative on the state ballot.

It’s called The California Right to Know Genetically Engineered Food Act. Rather than banning GMOs, it would require food sold in grocery stores to be labeled if it contained genetically altered products. It would also prohibit such food from being advertised as “natural.”

“We feel people have the right to know what they’re feeding their families,” said Karen Hudson, who is co-coordinating signature gathering for Sonoma County.

The Sonoma County Farm Bureau, which opposed the 2005 measure, couldn’t be reached for comment on the new initiative Wednesday.

Read the rest here: http://www.petaluma360.com/article/20120120/COMMUNITY/120129960/1362/community?Title=Effort-gets-underway-to-require-GMO-food-labeling

Monsanto Attempts to Lockout Socially Responsible Shareholder at Annual Meeting

ST. LOUIS, Jan. 20, 2012 /PRNewswire via COMTEX/ — Shareholder’s Resolution Would Require Chemical Giant to Study Risks of its Genetically Engineered Crops

Protests Outside Monsanto 2012 Annual Meeting Planned

On Tuesday, January 24 at 1:30 PM, Monsanto officers and shareholders will vote on a shareholder proposal to create a study of “material financial risks or operational impacts” associated with its chemical products and genetically modified organisms (GMOs).

The proposal represents one of the strongest signals to date that the biotech food conglomerate is facing growing consumer, legal, and regulatory uncertainties. As of today, however Monsanto has told John Harrington that they will not recognize his proxy who would speak on behalf of the resolution for only three minutes under normal circumstances.

The meeting itself is only open to shareholders but concerned citizens will be demonstrating outside the northeast entrance to Monsanto’s Lindberg campus beginning at 12:00 noon. Monsanto Headquarters is located at 800 North Lindberg Boulevard in St. Louis, MO.

Adam Eidinger, an organic food activist who recently led a walk from NY to Washington DC on behalf of honest food labeling, will present the shareholder resolution on behalf of Napa, California based Harrington Investments (HII) with help from the Pesticide Action Network of North America (PANNA).

Eidinger will be available for interview before and after the shareholder meeting, which he will drive a “Label GMO” art car to attend. Representatives from HII and PANNA will be also available for interview before and after the shareholder meeting. Eidinger’s written testimony is available by request.

In its statement recommending shareholders to vote against the HII resolution, Monsanto management stated that, “Farmers should have the freedom to choose which production method is best suited for their needs, whether organic, non-GM conventional or biotechnology traits. All of these systems can and do work effectively side by side…”

John Harrington, CEO of Harrington Investments questions the veracity of Monsanto’s statement: “While I am heartened by Monsanto’s sudden concern for the freedom of farmers, the unfortunate reality facing American farmers right now, is that genetic drift from GMO crops is contaminating their conventional and organic crops. This can be disastrous because many GMO crops cannot be sold to important markets, such as Europe, China and Japan. The potential legal implications for Monsanto are staggering.”

Eidinger, who organized last October’s a 100 person, 313 mile “Right2Know March” from New York City to the White House for federally mandated GMO food labeling says: “With the rise or Round-Up resistant ‘superweeds’ the company is simply telling farmers to spray even more toxic herbicides including 2,4 D, the main ingredient in Agent Orange. Many people are struggling to avoid GMOs and chemicals used on them in the food they eat due to serious health and environmental concerns yet Americans have no right to know what we are eating largely due to the close ties Monsanto has to President Obama’s USDA and FDA which has ignored more than 500,000 Americans who have signed on to the JustLabelIt.org petition to the FDA.”

More information about the protest may be found at http://www.facebook.com/events/340545799304131/

From: http://www.marketwatch.com/story/monsanto-attempts-to-lockout-socially-responsible-shareholder-at-annual-meeting-2012-01-20

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Here’s just one more reason that it seems like GMOs are a problem.  All the pesticides being used seem to be causing problems  for all of us.  Mom

Honeybee populations have been in serious decline for years, and Purdue University scientists may have identified one of the factors that cause bee deaths around agricultural fields.

Analyses of bees found dead in and around hives from several apiaries over two years in Indiana showed the presence of neonicotinoid insecticides, which are commonly used to coat corn and soybean seeds before planting. The research showed that those insecticides were present at high concentrations in waste talc that is exhausted from farm machinery during planting.

The insecticides clothianidin and thiamethoxam were also consistently found at low levels in soil – up to two years after treated seed was planted – on nearby dandelion flowers and in corn pollen gathered by the bees, according to the findings released in the journal PLoS One this month.

“We know that these insecticides are highly toxic to bees; we found them in each sample of dead and dying bees,” said Christian Krupke, associate professor of entomology and a co-author of the findings.

The United States is losing about one-third of its honeybee hives each year, according to Greg Hunt, a Purdue professor of behavioral genetics, honeybee specialist and co-author of the findings. Hunt said no one factor is to blame, though scientists believe that others such as mites and insecticides are all working against the bees, which are important for pollinating food crops and wild plants.

“It’s like death by a thousand cuts for these bees,” Hunt said.

Krupke and Hunt received reports that bee deaths in 2010 and 2011 were occurring at planting time in hives near agricultural fields. Toxicological screenings performed by Brian Eitzer, a co-author of the study from the Connecticut Agricultural Experiment Station, for an array of pesticides showed that the neonicotinoids used to treat corn and soybean seed were present in each sample of affected bees. Krupke said other bees at those hives exhibited tremors, uncoordinated movement and convulsions, all signs of insecticide poisoning.

Seeds of most annual crops are coated in neonicotinoid insecticides for protection after planting. All corn seed and about half of all soybean seed is treated. The coatings are sticky, and in order to keep seeds flowing freely in the vacuum systems used in planters, they are mixed with talc. Excess talc used in the process is released during planting and routine planter cleaning procedures.

“Given the rates of corn planting and talc usage, we are blowing large amounts of contaminated talc into the environment. The dust is quite light and appears to be quite mobile,” Krupke said.

Krupke said the corn pollen that bees were bringing back to hives later in the year tested positive for neonicotinoids at levels roughly below 100 parts per billion.

“That’s enough to kill bees if sufficient amounts are consumed, but it is not acutely toxic,” he said.

On the other hand, the exhausted talc showed extremely high levels of the insecticides – up to about 700,000 times the lethal contact dose for a bee.

“Whatever was on the seed was being exhausted into the environment,” Krupke said. “This material is so concentrated that even small amounts landing on flowering plants around a field can kill foragers or be transported to the hive in contaminated pollen. This might be why we found these insecticides in pollen that the bees had collected and brought back to their hives.”

Krupke suggested that efforts could be made to limit or eliminate talc emissions during planting.

“That’s the first target for corrective action,” he said. “It stands out as being an enormous source of potential environmental contamination, not just for honeybees, but for any insects living in or near these fields. The fact that these compounds can persist for months or years means that plants growing in these soils can take up these compounds in leaf tissue or pollen.”

Although corn and soybean production does not require insect pollinators, that is not the case for most plants that provide food. Krupke said protecting bees benefits agriculture since most fruit, nut and vegetable crop plants depend upon honeybees for pollination. The U.S. Department of Agriculture estimates the value of honeybees to commercial agriculture at $15 billion to $20 billion annually.

Hunt said he would continue to study the sublethal effects of neonicotinoids. He said for bees that do not die from the insecticide there could be other effects, such as loss of homing ability or less resistance to disease or mites.

“I think we need to stop and try to understand the risks associated with these insecticides,” Hunt said.

ABSTRACT

Christian H. Krupke, Greg J. Hunt, Brian D. Eitzer, Gladys Andino, Krispn Given

Populations of honeybees and other pollinators have declined worldwide in recent years. A variety of stressors have been implicated as potential causes, including agricultural pesticides. Neonicotinoid insecticides, which are widely used and highly toxic to honeybees, have been found in previous analyses of honeybee pollen and comb material. However, the routes of exposure have remained largely undefined. We used LC/MS-MS to analyze samples of honeybees, pollen stored in the hive and several potential exposure routes associated with plantings of neonicotinoid treated maize. Our results demonstrate that bees are exposed to these compounds and several other agricultural pesticides in several ways throughout the foraging period. During spring, extremely high levels of clothianidin and thiamethoxam were found in planter exhaust material produced during the planting of treated maize seed. We also found neonicotinoids in the soil of each field we sampled, including unplanted fields. Plants visited by foraging bees (dandelions) growing near these fields were found to contain neonicotinoids as well. This indicates deposition of neonicotinoids on the flowers, uptake by the root system, or both. Dead bees collected near hive entrances during the spring sampling period were found to contain clothianidin as well, although whether exposure was oral (consuming pollen) or by contact (soil/planter dust) is unclear. We also detected the insecticide clothianidin in pollen collected by bees and stored in the hive. When maize plants in our field reached anthesis, maize pollen from treated seed was found to contain clothianidin and other pesticides; and honeybees in our study readily collected maize pollen. These findings clarify some of the mechanisms by which honeybees may be exposed to agricultural pesticides throughout the growing season. These results have implications for a wide range of large-scale annual cropping systems that utilize neonicotinoid seed treatments.

Provided by Purdue University

“Honeybee deaths linked to seed insecticide exposure.” January 12th, 2012. http://www.physorg.com/news/2012-01-honeybee-deaths-linked-seed-insecticide.html

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