Shut Off the Siren Song of the Supermarket

From the Examiner (FL).

"Beginning Thursday, January 27, CNBC is airing a special report, Supermarkets, Inc., which takes viewers on a tour through the latest innovations and technology available to grocery stores, and discusses the behind-the-scenes work that goes into luring consumers into shopping longer and buying more. The report even featured an expert, who claimed that shoppers are not as smart about grocery shopping as they would like to think.

How about you? If you've seen the show, would you be convinced to shop at the Pittsburgh store where opera singers perform? Or would that sound send you out the door, hands over your ears and minus your groceries? Do the cooking demonstrations make you stop and drop your list and buy what they're pushing, or do you see those kiosks as a pause for a quick snack?

If you are spending more at the grocery store, don't blame the stores. Supermarkets are a $500 billion a year business, according the CNBC's report, and the profit margins really are as small as advertised, about one-and-one-half to two percent. That means grocers are fighting harder for your money, and they are spending time and money to do it. From moving bakery departments to the front of the store (so the smell of fresh bread tempts you), to installing coffee bars, to hiring piano players, they are getting your attention, and your money. Manufacturers spend millions on product packaging, and just as much on product placement, delving into the minute details of the meaning of "eye level," promotional display design and how to get their product somewhere among the average supermarket's 48,000 items, all so it can end up on your home shelf.

With all the enticements of the new "super" supermarket, does the frugal shopper stand a chance? Yes, by using common sense and some new battle tactics:

* Know your store(s): Store loyalty can be as much of a budget-buster as brand loyalty, but it makes sense to know the places you shop. Wandering aimlessly through a store's aisles means exposing yourself to excess temptation. Keep in mind that all stores in a chain are not laid out the same, nor are all chain's stores in a city or district.

* Know which stores create the most needless temptation for you, and stay out of them. In Palm Beach Gardens, the Publix Greenwise market has its bakery, pizza ovens and coffee bar at the store entrance. Whole Foods' elaborately staged produce section is at the entrance of their store. Know your triggers and avoid them.

* Regular basket vs. small basket vs. carry basket vs. your hands: The expert featured on CNBC suggested buying only what you can carry, but realistically, can you shop for a family that way? South Florida Winn Dixie has small push baskets, but most chains offer only the large ones and the carry baskets. If you want to buy less, put a cardboard box upside-down in the basket to take up space.

* Know your prices and keep a price book. The weekly sales flyer is a great place to start, but just because there are a few things on sale, does not mean the whole store is on sale. Saved money becomes a blown opportunity if you spend what you save on things you didn't plan to buy.

* The no-kids-when-shopping rule is a good one, if sometimes impossible to follow. Kids will ask, plead, whine and cry when they want what they want. Ideally, you will shop when they are occupied elsewhere. If you have neighbors with kids, get together and coordinate with each other; while some parents shop, the other parents watch their kids.

* Cash vs. credit vs. debit: Cash is ideal, because you have only so much to spend, and when it's gone, that's it. Plastic can be a money pit, unless you are disciplined enough to track and record your spending. If you have a credit card that offers reward points, grocery shopping is a nice way to rack up points. But watching what you spend and paying the card in full each month is essential, or the late fees wind up making the groceries even more expensive and the rewards moot.

Grocery store as three-ring circus? Supermarket as sideshow? Not for the frugal shopper, who goes in with a purpose and a list in hand and comes out with what they planned."

Remember when all we had to fear was the popcorn machine right inside the door?

It's nice to hear West Palm Beach, otherwise known as "Martha's Vineyard South" to the rich, start yelling about prices and absurdities when it comes to food shopping. I have yet to see or hear a piano in a store, unless it was from the overhead Musak system, or a grocery store flogging credit card use, but hey--I shop at a warehouse store (bad enough for the credit card flogging) and a health food store (no flogging at all but what I do to myself mentally).

Maybe if they actually shopped OUTSIDE their wealthy enclave, they could escape this misery...

Vegetable Gardens Teaches Kids Responsibility

From the Las Cruces Sun-News (NM).

"Denise Corrales is in the middle of her first year teaching pre-school at Booker T. Washington Elementary School. She is already planning class activities for a new garden and outdoor classroom the school is building in the courtyard. Corrales said she wants to teach her class the basics of gardening and get them excited about growing things on their own.

"I'm looking forward to the engagement of the kids in putting the garden together, and being able to watch it grow," she said.

Corrales said teachers at Booker T. Washington encourage hands-on learning, and the garden and outdoor classroom will be another way in which the kids will be able to learn through experience.

Of course, not every elementary school gets to have its own garden and outdoor classroom, but Booker T. Washington Elementary School has earned it through a 2010-11 Lowe's Toolbox for Education grant of $4,220, which the school was able to get through the Lowe's Charitable and Educational Foundation.

The school was selected based on a first-need basis, and with many schools cutting funds, Booker T. Washington is just one of the many schools trying to provide a good education for their students on a tight budget. In fact Booker T. Washington is a year-round, low income, Title I elementary school, in which 100 percent of its students receive free or reduced lunch, because they are at or below the poverty level based on family size and income.

Many of the students also come from Spanish-speaking families and are learning English for the first time.

Principal Terry Romano said many of these students do not get the opportunity to grow a garden at home. Many students also do not get the opportunity to try different varieties of fruits an vegetables at home, either, because their families cannot afford to buy them, or because it is not part of their family's lifestyle.

"It's a known fact that students in low social-economic areas don't eat vegetables, or fruits for that matter, because they are expensive," Romano said.

Romano said she hopes parents will help with the building process of the garden alongside their kids and the employees of Lowe's, who will help the school build the garden until it is complete.

Lowe's Home Improvement warehouse manager Larry Marta said he is excited about the project, and that he and his employees at Lowe's plan to help as much as they can throughout the entire process. He also said Lowe's will donate a few plants and other materials to the school to get them started.

"It's definitely not just about the grant," Marta said. "It's about the community involvement as well."

Nancy Sanders, family school liaison with federal programs, who wrote the grant for Booker T. Washington, said she was happy to do something that would contribute to the climate of the school.

"If you teach children how to care for a garden, then you are teaching them something that applies to the rest of the world," Sanders said.

She said the hands-on teaching in growing plants and vegetables is also very practical and applicable to other areas in life.

Romano said some of her plans for the garden include a gazebo where classes will be able to sit and be instructed in a shaded area.

"I thought we could have a gazebo, so that the teachers and students could talk about things before they start out, and go onto plant things and tend to them," she said.

Romano said building a garden at the school has been a plan of hers for a long time, and that she is excited to see it finally become a reality. She said the idea for a garden and outdoor classroom came about through another grant the school had received, in which the kids were able to taste fresh fruits and vegetables. When she saw how the kids reacted to certain vegetables they learned about, she thought a garden would be the best way for the kids to get real-world experience in what it takes to grow fruits and vegetables.

"I thought, wouldn't it be just wonderful if we could go outside and plant things on our own, and not only help the community, but help those kids in need," Romano said, "because our own community has that need."

Romano said they plan to get started on building the garden as soon as possible, after plans are made for materials needed, and they are able to find out exactly who will be involved in the process.

"If we have enough help, we'll just go for it," Romano said.

Marta said as soon as the project is under way, he expects it to only take about two or three weeks to complete.

Romano said once the students begin growing fruits and vegetables, if there is enough to go around, she would like to make it a community garden, in which the school could donate some of what they grow to the local food bank. This way, the students will also be able to learn what it means to give to others and be involved in the community. Plans to invite speakers to the school to talk about the benefits of locally grown fruits and vegetables and share skills in growing in a particular climate at the school garden are also a possibility in the near future.

Romano said she is extremely thankful for all the help Lowe's plans to give to the school not only in the creation of the garden, but all they plan to donate for the garden as well.

"I just want to thank our business partners, because without them, this wouldn't take place," Romano said."

That's one problem with apartment life--nowhere that the landlord will give permission to grow.

More Kids Can Work a Smart Phone Than Tie Their Own Shoes

From Time.

"A study conducted by AVG found that 19 percent of 2-5 year-olds could play with a smart phone app, but only 9 percent of those same children could tie their shoes. Yikes!

And not being able to dress themselves isn't the only problem facing these tech-savvy little ones. According to Mobilized, "Tech skills are outpacing life skills in other areas as well. For example, more of the kids can open a Web browser than swim on their own, and more can play computer games than ride a bike."

Sure, you could argue that tech skills are completely necessary for today's kids. But then again, so are shoes.

But imagine if they could make apps that tied your shoes for you and simulated the joy of swimming or bike-riding--all problems would be solved, right?"

It all started back in the digital clock era--kids were growing up not being able to read a clock face, and got to fasten their shoes with Velcro. Or, if you go back even further than that, when calculators came out, all of a sudden nobody could add or subtract any more.

Remember the movie The Matrix, where people existed in bathtubs and lived their lives through computer programs and 3-D holographic imaging? We aren't far away from that now!

Clip and Save--Really?

From Tampa Bay Online.

"I like saving money as much as anyone. I watch for sales, buy extra when I find a bargain, and sometimes drive farther to get two-for-one, as long as I'm saving more than the cost of gas to get there. But there's one supposedly money-saving tactic I'm giving up for good . . . clipping coupons.

It's such a waste of time and effort. The only thing I hate more is the nuisance of trying to find the right coupon when I need it from among the hundreds I've saved.

All too often, when I finally locate the right coupon, I discover it expired . . . yesterday. Worst of all is when I manage to find the right coupon, take it to the store, present it to the checkout clerk, and she notices it's expired. Or, that it requires I buy three of the danged things. That's when I just want to give up.

All this fooling around is making me crazy, and for what? To save 50 cents on something I probably wouldn't buy at all without the coupon? It's absurd.

Most manufacturer coupons are for new products they're trying to rope us into buying. And most of them are over-processed, over-packaged snack foods that no one should be eating, let alone someone like me, struggling to manage my expanding waistline and survive to retirement age.

The other most popular coupon item is anything scented. From air fresheners to toilet tissue, and from detergent to insoles, everything these days has to be perfumed.

If you listen to the manufacturers, you'd think the average family home is the stinkiest place on earth. And the only way to conquer the stench, of course, is with their fancy, expensive, scented products, which (aren't we lucky) all come with money-saving coupons.

I don't know about you, but I'd rather just enjoy the good, old-fashioned, fresh smell of clean. Then I can skip the nuisance of clipping coupons and keep my money for something a whole lot more fun than air freshener.

The latest craze, of course, is online coupons. Stores and products all have their own websites offering coupons and there are literally dozens of websites for nothing but coupons. You simply search for what you want to buy and the site finds all the right coupons. Then you print them out and trot off to the store to save money. But, wait a minute; there's a catch. Actually there are several.

Most online coupons will only print one to a page; that wastes a lot of paper, your paper. And, you still have the nuisance of cutting them out after you print them. In addition, have you checked the price of printer ink lately? The only substance on the planet with a higher price tag is human blood!

Sounds to me like the only people truly saving money with online coupons are the merchants and manufacturers. They save by passing on to you and me the cost of printing and distributing their coupons. And all the while, they look like heroes doing us a favor. How stupid do they think we are?

Several books have been written about how to find and use coupons so efficiently you never have to pay for groceries again. But, to me, that's like offering to teach me how to spend my life with my nose to the ground cutting my grass with scissors, one blade at a time, so I never have to start up the lawn mower.

I can think of a thousand better uses of my time than clipping coupons. Until they offer one coupon that gives me free groceries for life, delivered to my door, I'm not interested. Period!"

I've been observing the coupons that come to my house, and the vast majority of them are for non-food items, like pet food (which I make myself), cosmetics (please!), shampoos/conditioners (Sally Beauty Supply and baking soda have me covered), hair dye (please!), shaving items (the dollar store has me covered for blades), candy (please!), clothing items (if you can call them that), or plumbing, HVAC, and/or window replacement.

I did manage to find one--count 'em, ONE--coupon for chicken breasts, but this particular company sells high-sodium products. I'll pass, thank you. I may get a buck off the chicken, but how much will I have to make up for it in doctor bills, hospital ER costs, and added medication/supplement bills? Certainly more than that $1.00!

Cost per serving and cost per unit are where it's at, gang, and one day these self-titled Coupon Queens, who are destroying our country (in my opinion) will realize it and end up being late to the game--just as they were in the Coupon Craze (which actually began about a decade ago). I guess the math involved is what drives these people away.

Before You Throw It Away, Try an UPCYCLE Instead

From GoErie (PA). I remember these guys--they take junk and make it into other junk. Go from useless to more useless in minutes! If they made anything I could use, I'd support them.

"One man's garbage is another man's treasure. While the concept is as old as the hills, it's taken on a new, greener meaning this decade. And it even has a new name: upcycling.

"Upcycling is finding value in the material as it exists now, retaining that value or increasing it by turning it into a new creation," explained Stacey Cusack, 26, public relations manager for a company born from the upcycle theory called Terracycle, Inc. based in Trenton, N.J.

The term "upcycle" is attributed to William McDonough, one of the co-authors of the book "Cradle to Cradle," published in 2002.

What's the difference between recycling and upcycling? Simply put, according to McDonough, recycling involves a chemical process that transforms or breaks down a material and uses other resources, such as energy, in order to do so. Upcycling uses the material as is or with little alteration, and the use of additional resources, and creates a new, longer life product from it.

"Our founder, Tom Szaky, considers (McDonough) his mentor," Cusack said. Szaky, according to Cusack, dropped out of Princeton University almost 10 years ago at age 19 to start what would become Terracycle, a global upcycling company that converts trash (snack bags, cookie wrappers, and drink pouches) into a variety of products, such as Frito Lay messenger bags, Skittle kites and Capri Sun totes.

To create those end products, the company needs material, namely, garbage. And will pay for it. Penn State Behrend has signed up to become a collection center.

"We don't really look at this as garbage," said Ann Bolla Quinn, 51, a lecturer in the School of Science and director of Greener Behrend. "If we're getting paid 2 cents a bag, it's not garbage. We are very excited about setting this program up. We have gotten big boxes from Terracycle for the students and faculty to discard their wrappers."

Those wrappers and empty chip bags at 2 cents a pop, multiplied by the 4700 students who inhabit the campus, could potentially net the university hefty sums over time, with the money earmarked for green initiatives, she said. The idea, however, didn't come from the university. It came from a hungry student.

"I was eating a bag of Keebler cookies and was reading the package, which said turn this wrapper in to a good cause," said Amanda Stetz, a 20-year old sophomore. "There was a website on the wrapper, and so I went to it, and they had this whole upcycling company."

While Stetz admits that she had heard the phrase, it wasn't until she found the company that she understood the concept.

Growing up in a reuse-sensitive family, Stetz's mindset was already programmed to reuse such things as plastic water bottles and even empty margarine and butter tubs.

"I believe you should always reuse before you recycle," she said.

Reuse is nothing new to the arts community, as waste is something that most artists don't do well. Neither is reinvention.

"My husband, Steve, is a bass player, and I didn't like to see him throwing his old bass strings away," said Elena Logvena, 35, who two years ago started using the strings to create ornaments that eventually morphed into creating one-of-a-kind jewelry.

At a recent show at Glass Growers Gallery -- which features the works of several artists who upcycle -- Logvena presented a colorful canvas of her eclectic jewelry depicting Van Gogh's "Starry Night" made entirely from guitar-string necklaces, earrings and bracelets.

"I love that music was made with these pieces at some point in their lives," said the Erie entrepreneur and mother of two. "I love that I have given them second life."

Musical instrument strings have also inspired Elisa Guida, owner of La Petite Jeweler, in Erie, who started using them three years ago to create jewelry with a cause: to help those with breast cancer.

Guida is a two-time breast cancer survivor and uses her talents of 34 years as a custom jeweler to help others. She has collected donated, discarded guitar strings from notable regional, national and international musicians, bringing an atypical fan base for her jewelry creations.

But she wants to go bigger.

"I realized that if the big-time musicians would come on board, it would really get things going," said Guida, 56. "Fans who love certain musicians want to own one-of-a-kind pieces made from their guitar strings, and in addition, they are helping those touched by cancer."

Her foundation's website, www.strings foracure.com, boasts an assortment of jewelry, from pendants to rings to bracelets, made from donated used strings from guitarists.

The money raised from jewelry sales for the StringsforaCure foundation is used to purchase grocery, pharmacy and gas gift cards, as well as educational materials for people with breast cancer.

Funds are also used to help defray the cost of wigs. Guida's mission is to get more notable musicians to donate, which, of course, would mean larger donations to her foundation.

"I have my sights set on Bruce Springsteen, Sheryl Crow, Chris Daughtry, Melissa Etheridge and Paul McCartney," she said, adding, "And of course, Pat Monahan."

But not every artist is vested in famous garbage. Some will take just about anybody's throwaways.

"We collect everything with the attitude that we can use it all. It's artistic Dumpster diving," said Kelly Armor.

Armor has combined her passion with her study of folk instruments and built it into a career as director of education and folk arts at the Erie Art Museum.

"I have always been this way. It goes back to when I was five years old and was more into my sock puppet than my socks," said Armor, 46. "I am not really conscious about it. I make stuff out of other stuff. It's called imagination."

Her ideas are endless: using PVC pipe to make African flutes, stitching old discarded bottle caps to a cutoff sock for an ankle tambourine and affixing bobby pins on scrap wood to make a kalimba, or thumb piano.

"Basically, we are committed to helping kids and adults think creatively," she said, referring to the educational component of her job at the museum where she also teaches classes.

While Sister Linda Romey, of the Order of St. Benedict, is hardly one to rifle through a garbage can, she never turns down a ripped or well-used pair of old jeans.

Romey gives new function to the fabric with the help of her loom.

"I take old jeans, rip them into strips and I use the strips to weave into the loom. Basically I am making a new fabric to make computer bags, my latest inspiration," said Romey, 51. She sells her wares at the monastery gift shop in Harborcreek. Like Armor, she's a pack rat.

"I hate to throw things away that have another use. I am always looking for things that can be used for something different," she said. "I love thrift stores, flea markets, antique malls. I am forever picking up old handkerchiefs, pieces of lace and bits of fabric, old sweaters."

It's what she does with all of it that perhaps is at the heart of upcycling.

"I don't know what I am going to do," she said. "I don't know what it's going to turn into when I start. But I do know, inspiration always comes."

How to Paralyze a Green Cheapskate

From the Minneapolis Star-Tribune. Lemme guess--break his neck?

"I get a little irritated with people who spend a lot of time saving pennies here and there, but don't also save in bigger ways--mortgage rates, insurance premiums, car buying, investments. We cheapskates sometimes can't see the forest for the trees.

But I can be guilty of this too, especially because I try to be a green cheapskate. I re-use and recycle a lot of stuff not necessarily because I want to save money but because I want to reduce my environmental footprint."

I don't know. I think the hard plastic clamshell must be worse for the environment than the plastic bag. But I can't confirm that. I called Ami Voeltz at "Do it Green" and Lynn Hoffman at Eureka Recycling. Each of them said that both choices are bad. Neither could say which type of plastic is the lesser of two evils.

Hoffman brought up a good alternative--shop the open salad bins at Rainbow. Then I suppose I could bring my own compostable bags. Or I could just wait until summer when I can buy greens from the farmer's market.

Anyone else had a struggle between being cheap or green? Is there a solution that I'm not considering, assuming that I want to eat organic without paying the high price at a Whole Foods open salad bin?

Starting a Community Garden

From the Seattle Times. First, you need land, or permission to use an empty lot...

"Whether you want to save money on food, relax and get some exercise or simply enjoy the flavor and freshness of homegrown produce, a community garden may be just the ticket. But what if you don't have one in your area? Then start one. Yes, there's work involved in creating one, but they're a great way to bring neighbors together, reduce crime, build bridges between different cultures and beautify the neighborhood.

If you want to start such a garden, there are a number of items to consider.

First, share the idea with neighbors. It takes about 10 interested families to participate. Hold a meeting and solicit ideas. Form a garden club to organize, make decisions and divide up the work efficiently. The club can help establish rules, accept and review applications and assign plots, collect dues, pay the bills and resolve problems.

Although signing up for a garden plot sounds like a great idea to most people, not everyone will stick with it, especially once the bugs and heat of summer kick into full force. Be prepared to have rules spelling out the nature of a plot owner's participation, as well as providing consequences, such as plot forfeiture, if they don't stick with it. There are usually plenty of gardeners anxiously waiting to fill that spot.

Next, find some land located in a community that won't mind a neighborhood garden. Select three or four potential sites. If one isn't available, you'll have a couple of other options. In urban areas, vacant lots are often used, but I've even seen raised bed plots built on top of parking lots. Ideally, the land should be flat, with exposure to full sunlight six to eight hours each day. Convenience is key to an active garden. Ideally, the site should be close to the interested neighbors.

Next, identify the landowner to seek permission to use the property. Look through county assessor's plat-map books or land-ownership lists. You should also contact the water department for a "site investigation"to establish if the land has water service. If not, adding water to the site may be cost-prohibitive. Be prepared to highlight the value of a garden to the area; assure the owner that the gardeners will improve the space and that the community supports the idea. Establish terms of use for the site, how long you can use it, how many plots, maintenance standards, etc., and draw up a lease.

To protect the owner from liability, it needs a "save and hold harmless"waiver. Every gardener will have to agree to this before getting a garden plot. The owner may also require your club to get liability insurance.

When you finally start planning the garden, you should test the soil for nutrients, texture, pH and any heavy metals. This is especially important if you plan to plant into existing soil. The local extension service can recommend a lab to do it for a reasonable fee.

Accurately measure the site and make a to-scale site map. You'll also need to consider the garden's components: pathways, beds, compost bins, arbors, etc.

Place growing beds in the sunniest area and make pathways 3 feet wide or more to accommodate equipment. Cover the paths with gravel or mulch to keep down weeds and beautify the garden. And remember to consider the location of spigots and irrigation lines. Placing a hose bib for every four plots or so is a good target to shoot for.

A shed for supplies and tools is important, as is a shady spot with chairs and tables for gardeners to relax out of the sun. And by all means, make sure to have compost bins or piles. Train every gardener in how to sort recyclables, and to know what to trash and what to compost. Schedule workdays to deal with weeds and maintain the whole lot — part of your agreement with the owner and an important factor in any healthy garden.

You can learn a lot more on starting and managing a community garden at the American Community Gardening Association's website, www.communitygarden.org. A community garden offers some challenges, but the sense of partnership and camaraderie, and the terrific homegrown produce, make it worth the effort."

Lunch Time Begins in Your Garden

From the Monterey County Herald (CA).

"At the time Benjamin Eichorn was growing up in the Palo Colorado area north of Big Sur, he didn't exactly appreciate the fact that he was eating good, nourishing, organic produce, courtesy of his family farm.

"I really didn't like gardening when I was a kid," remembers the Stevenson School alumnus. "I hated it. It was a chore."

But time and maturity can work wonders. Now Eichorn is spreading the word that everyone needs a vegetable garden, no matter what their life circumstances are. His goal is to see schools, nursing homes and even prisons with their own gardens.

His business, Grow Your Lunch, is now doing just that — designing institutional gardens that can raise not only fresh produce, but also the spirits of the people who nurture them.

"I'm now really proud of the way I grew up," said Eichorn, who today lives in the Bay Area. "It fueled my passion, and for that I'm incredibly grateful."

Eichorn will be sharing that passion with Monterey Peninsula residents on Tuesday, when he'll speak at a meeting of Sustainable Pacific Grove on the importance of backyard and institutional gardens. He'll also share a short film with the audience, "Nourish: Food + Community."

How he came to cherish vegetable gardens after having a love/hate relationship with them took several life-changing events, one in the States and the other abroad.

When Eichorn was in his junior year at Whitman College, he visited the Hilton Bialek Habitat at Carmel Middle School.

His close friend, Tanja Roos, is the program director for the habitat, and her duties include managing and teaching in its large organic garden.

"I had an epiphany there," recalls Eichorn, who really saw for the first time how special an organic garden could be, and how it enhanced the school environment. He also began appreciating his unique upbringing on the farm in Big Sur.

In 2003, he had the opportunity to study in Cuba, and saw firsthand how garden plots can be integrated into a variety of settings.

"There are so many models of urban agriculture in Cuba. There are gardens adjacent to many institutions. Anywhere people live or work, there's a garden," recalls Eichorn.

The mix of gardens among buildings fascinated Eichorn. He also saw how these gardens enhanced peoples' lives, aside from the fact that growing your own food in a Third World country is usually an economic necessity.

One in particular stuck with him. A convalescent hospital on the outskirts of Havana included a seven-acre farm where all the crops were grown by hand — not even tractors were available. "It was on the cheap, but super, super productive," said Eichorn.

The crops grown there were used to feed the people who lived in the hospital, but it was also a place where residents could go and help out if they chose to.

"I was seeing residents with dementia, residents that were 100 years old, spending time in the garden," said Eichorn. "Some of them would just clean tools or bring out a snack for everyone."

But being a part of the farm made the residents happy and gave them something to look forward to each day.

"There was meaning that it brought to every single person in this community," said Eichorn. "You could feel their happiness and their life satisfaction."

He also observed garden plots near schools and government offices where people would grow their own food, giving them a sense of purpose and pleasure while feeding themselves at the same time.

The healing potential of the garden is also a vital factor. Eichorn points out that education and rehabilitation can all be encouraged by working among the vegetables — even prisoners who do this have exhibited lower rates of recidivism. Vegetable gardens could be a force for good in the world.

This was reinforced by his four years at the Edible Schoolyard in Berkeley, where he spent four years as a gardening teacher and co-manager, helping to develop its gardening and culinary arts curriculum.

The Edible Schoolyard, a unique garden at Berkeley's largest public middle school, was inspired by the philosophy of chef Alice Waters of Chez Panisse and provides hands-on learning, a sense of community, and the enjoyment of growing and eating healthy food for young people.

This past summer, Eichorn struck out on his own with his Grow Your Lunch enterprise. The vision of Grow Your Lunch is to raise awareness about food and the environment through the creation of educational and production gardens.

He's now working on projects in the Bay Area and the Central Valley, and has been hired to design and integrate a garden into a Bakersfield elementary school that is being underwritten by carrot-growing giant Grimmway Farms. His website is www.growyourlunch.com.

At the Sustainable Pacific Grove meeting, Eichorn will talk about the social and environmental advantages of backyard, community and institutional gardens. He'll also have seasonal gardening tips and handouts for those who attend.

Living sustainably isn't hard — it just takes a little effort, Eichorn said. "There are small things you can do each day. It can be significant if you just make one change each day," said Eichorn."

Monetary Disorder and Global Fragilities

From Prudent Bear. Here are the important bits from the article---the rest you can ignore. It's just market roundup.

Commodities and Food Watch:

January 27 – Bloomberg: “ China may expand its range of state commodity stockpiles, possibly adding reserves of meat and sugar, to help stabilize expectations for inflation, Caijing magazine reported, citing the nation’s commerce minister. The country may start reserves for more ‘important’ commodities… citing an interview with Chen Deming. China may boost imports of goods that are rare locally, and also make it easier for companies to buy bulk goods from overseas, including grains and cotton, Chen said…”

January 24 – Bloomberg (Rudy Ruitenberg): “Speculation and price swings in agricultural markets may threaten food security, 48 farm ministers meeting in Berlin said a month after a United Nations gauge of global costs reached a record. There is a risk of more food riots unless the surge in prices is contained, including through trading regulations, French Agriculture Minister Bruno Le Maire told reporters… ‘Food markets may not be the object of gamblers,’ German Agriculture Minister Ilse Aigner said… Food and agricultural commodities are not like anything else. Sometimes it’s about pure survival.’”

January 27 – Bloomberg (Luzi Ann Javier): “Bangladesh, South Asia’s biggest rice buyer, doubled its import target for this year to cool domestic prices that surged to a record in December as consumers and farmers hoarded supplies… The import target was raised to 1.2 million metric tons… That’s triple the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s estimate of 400,000 tons.”

January 28 – Bloomberg (Elizabeth Campbell): “Hog futures extended a rally to the highest in at least 24 years on speculation that U.S. pork exports will climb amid tightening supplies. Cattle also rose. South Korea, the sixth-largest buyer of U.S. pork in 2009, will cull 2.9 million animals to deal with the country’s worst outbreak of foot-and-mouth disease… Before today, hogs rose 31% in the past year.”

January 27 – Financial Times (Jack Farchy): “Sugar prices approached a fresh 30-year high on Thursday as the European Union said it could boost imports of the sweetener in order to address a regional scarcity. Any additional European sugar imports could put further strain on global supplies at what was seasonally their tightest point of the year, traders said. Global sugar inventories have fallen to their lowest levels in decades, helping push raw sugar futures up 145% from June to a 30-year high of 34.77 cents a pound in December.”

January 24 – Bloomberg (Jae Hur and Debarati Roy): “Cotton futures soared to a record on speculation that global supplies will fail to keep pace with rising demand in China, the world’s largest user. Chinese imports in 2010 surged 86% from a year earlier as economic growth lifted demand from textile mills and adverse weather hurt the domestic crop.”

...

"Monetary Disorder and Global Fragilities:

January 27 – Bloomberg (Mary Childs): “Rising food prices that are causing riots in developing nations from Tunisia to Yemen are sending credit-default swaps soaring on Campbell Soup Co., General Mills Inc. and Darden Restaurants Inc. The cost of protecting bonds from... Campbell Soup reached a record last week…”

January 27 – Financial Times (Javier Blas and Chris Giles): “Governments across the developing world are stockpiling food staples in an attempt to contain panic buying, inflation and social unrest. But the hoarding is driving agricultural commodity prices even higher. The cost of wheat, the world’s most important staple, reached a fresh two-and-a-half-year high on Thursday, after countries from Algeria to Saudi Arabia announced extraordinary purchases. High food prices have been a contributing factor to the recent wave of social unrest across North Africa and the Middle East. In Algeria earlier this month, young rioters chanted ‘Bring us sugar!’ The cost of the sweetener in the wholesale market is at its highest in 30 years. Earlier this week, Algeria bought 800,000 tonnes of wheat – much more than usual – and Saudi Arabia announced plans to double the size of its wheat stockpile. Bangladesh and Indonesia joined the rush on Thursday, placing extraordinary on rice orders.”

There’s been this festering dichotomy. Sentiment within the U.S. stock market has moved to bullish extremes. With the Fed still early in its QE2 program, participants perceive that the favorable market liquidity backdrop is safe for at least the near-term. As for the economy, the combination of some “animal spirit” green shoots and the massive $1.5 TN federal deficit seems to ensure that there is minimal downside risk to growth this year. Aggressive fiscal and monetary policies have bolstered the perception of systemic stability.

In reality, the world is an extraordinarily unstable place: unwieldy finance, extreme economic imbalances and related wealth disparities – along with acute inflation - have created a geopolitical tinderbox.

The unprecedented – and ongoing - global expansion of debt has created myriad risks and vulnerabilities. The ballooning of central bank balance sheets has over-liquefied markets and distorted risk perceptions worldwide. This liquidity backstop has also rejuvenated and emboldened the leveraged speculating community. Ignoring risk has been a fruitful tactic throughout the global market landscape.

The combination of massive debt growth and central bank monetization has nurtured an enormous pool of speculative finance that fuels boom and bust dynamics across virtually all risk markets and economies. This backdrop has created what I have often referred to as “Monetary Disorder.” One current facet of this monetary phenomenon is acute price pressures globally for food and energy. This inflation exacerbates unrest and social instability. Today’s developments in Egypt demonstrate how social instability has engendered political instability in a most volatile region of the world.

Today, crude oil surged $3.70 and gold jumped $23. Emerging equities, in particular, were under pressure. While unimpressive, the dollar did enjoy somewhat of a safe haven bid. For the week, sugar and cotton gained about 5%, adding to already spectacular gains. U.S. equities were under selling pressure, although most will question how street protests in Egypt could have much impact on our economic recovery.

Well, heightened unrest in Egypt and beyond adds additional uncertainty for susceptible global markets. Unstable currency markets now have another development to contend with. The possibility for safe haven bids for the dollar, Treasurys, and bunds has increased, which causes additional uncertainty all along the daisy chain of leveraged bond spread trades and currency “carry trades.” Moreover, spreading regional unrest increases the probability for spikes and instability for oil and energy prices. Recent developments also have the potential to exacerbate the trend toward price inflation and hoarding throughout the commodities complex, especially in the metals, energy and agriculture commodities arenas.

No one knows what the weekend and next week holds for Cairo. What is clearer, however, is that this crisis is now unfolding at a juncture already demonstrating heightened market vulnerability. As I attempted to highlight last week, 2011 has begun with a number of markets moving abruptly against the “crowd” (i.e. euro, European CDS, precious metals, etc.). Additional uncertainty and related marketplace volatility has the potential to accelerate the process of de-risking and de-leveraging.

I would add that global Bubble Dynamics have been an unappreciated factor fueling U.S. equity prices. In an environment already demonstrating rising bond yields and incipient liquidity issues, the emerging markets may prove especially susceptible to the unfolding geopolitical backdrop. And a pullback in emerging bonds and equities would surely put significant additional pressure on the leveraged players. As such, I don’t believe it would take all that much for a bout of “risk off” trading to provide the catalyst for a long-overdue correction in inflated U.S. stock prices. Associated fragilities are an inescapable downside to Monetary Disorder and attendant speculative excess."

Oil Price Spike Results From Egypt Turmoil

From CNN Money. They were predicting $3.00 gas by spring, and $4 gas by summer. Since th4e entire Middle East may get caught up in it, expect to add $1 to those oil price predictions. Traders have been bidding up oil for the last few days.

Why the turmoil in the Middle East? Over food prices (read commodity market manipulation).

"Crude oil prices spiked Friday as anti-government protests in Egypt sparked concerns over regional stability.

Prices settled just shy of $90 a barrel, for an increase of more than 4%.

On Friday, thousands of angry Egyptians defied a government curfew and stinging police tear gas to march on the streets demanding change. The government cracked down with thousands of riot and plainclothes police and the force of the army in armored personnel carriers.

Images of the unrest were broadcast around the world.

"It's all about Egypt," said Peter Beutel, president of Cameron Hanover, who added that the country produces enough oil to be counted as a meaningful player in the market, but consumes most of its own supply.

Egypt produces just under 700,000 barrels of oil per day, while oil-rich Saudi Arabia is churning out around 8.5 million barrels a day, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration.

The region produces nearly a quarter of the world's oil supply, holds nearly all of its excess production capacity, and accounts for the majority of its proven oil reserves.

While not a significant exporter of oil, crude prices are traditionally very sensitive to potential supply disruptions, and Egypt is home to the Suez canal, a key shipping lane that connects the Red Sea with the Mediterranean.

An estimated 1.8 million barrels per day of crude oil and refined petroleum products flowed through the Suez Canal to the Mediterranean Sea in 2009, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration.

The worries about Egypt come as crude prices, which largely tracked the equities market over the last year, spiked late last year.

"Oil has been following a series of stories that get gang tackled by the media," said Beutel, pointing to concerns over Egypt as the latest example.

As the theory goes, unrest in Egypt could destabilize the region, and potentially have a larger impact on crude prices. Meanwhile, if the crisis were to be contained, the market impact would be negligible.

Fadel Gheit, a senior analyst at Oppenheimer, downplayed fears of oil supply trouble in an interview with CNNMoney's Poppy Harlow. Egypt does not export crude, he noted, and OPEC has at least five million barrels a day of spare capacity.

But, he said, the psychological impact is another matter. If the Egyptian government fails, Gheit believes fears of a domino effect in the region would send crude prices through the roof.

Is that a likely scenario? It's all in the eye of the beholder, according to Beutel.

"For those predisposed to seeing the Middle East as an explosion-ready monolith, it looks like the fuse just got lit," he said."

Our government is mostly to blame--by keeping interest rates low and the debt levels high, Obama (through Bernanke and Geithner) is engineering a collapse of not only our economy, but the world. In this environment, traders really have no choice but to go where the demand remains to make money--energy and food. This has led to what you see now: the Middle East slowly blowing itself up, and Obama waiting in the wings trot trot out his alternative energy plan once again, hoping fora more favorable reception this time around.

The conditions weren't right the last time around, so he worked to MAKE them right. Global warming may be a farce, but the cult-like thinking and supposed "solutions" are being shoved down our thoats without even one action from Congress...so far.

Once the Middle East blows up, people will be CLAMORING for electric cars, solar panels, and windmills--just what Obama wants. Then, once pretty much all of us have clamored, the electricity rates are going to skyrocket, and we'll have nowhere else to go except natural gas (where we should have gone in the first place).

That's one hell of a way to bring democracy to the Middle East and end this radical Muslim terrorism once and for all.

Update to the Hidden Starches Controversy

...well, it's a controversy for ME, anyway! :)

You may have seen, or will see soon, something called "resistant starches" in your internet travels, and although they may SOUND like an answer to the hidden starch dilemma, they really aren't.

Fast carbs: high-starch and high-sugar foods that get broken down rapidly into sugar and stored as fat, raising blood sugar quickly.

Slow carbs: medium-starch and low-sugar foods that get broken down slowly into sugar and stored as fat. Foods may contain fiber to help slow the digestion process, but the protein and fiber content is overshadowed by the carb/starch content. Blood sugar raises more slowly, and takes longer to rise. Most of the recommended foods on the Food Stamp Challenge cheat sheet are slow carbs.

Resistant-starch foods: essentially foods with more protein and fiber than sugar and carbs--otherwise known as HIGH FIBER FOODS that have little to no chance of getting digested, breaking down into sugars to store as fat, and raising blood glucose levels.

You will see lists of so-called "resistant starch" foods that contain high-sugar, fast-carb foods like potatoes, but these qualify as resistant-starch foods only if eaten raw. So far as I've found, the only edible raw resistant-starch food (besides peanuts) is bananas-the greener, the more resistant.

Who's going to eat raw potatoes or green bananas? So far, the most resistant COOKED food I've found is corn, judging by what I see in the toilet. In general, the higher the content of indigestible fiber, the higher the resistance rate--much like commercial cat food is to a cat, who is an obligate carnivore. Today's grocery store cat food is mostly stuff that cats can't digest, like soy, greens, and starches (rice and pasta come immediately to mind).

Would you like to see what I'm talking about? Skip the grocery stores and go to a PetSmart sometime. Better pet foods? I think not! It's almost as bad as the grocery stores.

You're better off boiling up a chicken breast and an egg, then throwing them both in a blender--never mind the vitamins. That was a whole separate post long ago.

Have you ever had a truly green banana? It's hard as a rock, hard to peel, and tastes disgusting.

The 5 Golden Rules for Saving on Everything

From Valley Central (CA).
"One way to save money when you shop is to look for sales and use coupons.

But that's the tip of the iceberg. Want to pay less for everything you buy? Then remember the five golden rules of saving.

Rule number one? Never buy new what you can buy used.

From cars to clothes to furniture, buying pre-owned is a simple way to save from 20 to 90 percent.

So before you go to the mall, go to stores that sell used, and sites like Craig's list and eBay.

Rule number two: When it comes to lower prices, ask and you might receive.

Cable bill too high? Ask for a discount. Ask for a lower rate on your credit card. From doctors to appliances, don't be ashamed to ask for a better deal.

Golden Rule number three? Don't needlessly pay for a name.

If a generic will work, save 10 - 50 percent. From food to drugs, generics are often nearly identical.

Golden Rule number four - if you're buying something you won't often need, like a ladder or lawn mower, form a neighborhood co-op and split the cost.

And golden rule number five? Use your imagination instead of your money. Homemade gifts are often nicer than store-bought. A picnic in the park can be more fun than a restaurant. There are infinite ways to cut expenses without sacrificing quality of life."

When Frugal Gets Absurd--A "High-Value" Lunch Meat Coupon

From the Cheap Chick blog at the Salt Lake Tribune. Bologne...YUUUUUUCK! It's not even real meat, but the LEFTOVERS of real meat butchering, like rendered pig snouts.

I can't copy-and-paste it, but apparently there's an Oscar-Meyer page over at Facebook with such a coupon. The blogger in question is making a big fuss over this coupon, like she hasn't ever seen such a deal on bologne, of all things.

Want a better deal on lunch meat? Invest in a meat slicer, and go to a warehouse store and buy either a pork loin or a beef eye of round, cook it, and slice away. Some warehouse stores will even slice the raw meat for you while you wait.

UPDATE: I learned yesterday that Kraft is selling off its Oscar-Meyer unit. I wonder why. :P

Why Pay for Things You Can Get For Free?

From the Beacon News (IL). You mean like dandelion greens sold in a health food store for $3.00/bunch? Simply stop mowing them down, and you can have all the dandelion greens you can stand!

"What can be better than getting something for free? Everyone wants things for free, but finding them can be difficult. Here are a few ways to score your own freebies.

WalletPop.com is one of the many sites telling you about free items that you can score. I checked out their Fantastic Freebies section and found ways to get free makeup, free light bulbs and a restaurant coupon for a free waffle. I also like Shop4Freebies.com. You can search around for freebies on your own, but it helps if a sites like these has already done it for you.

I have to admit that I have not joined the Twitter craze. It seems a bit confusing but I’ve read that it is a great place to find deals. There are some names to follow that will send you tweets of their finds. Freebies4mom and Dealseekingmom are two to sign up for. (I don’t know why it’s always Mom who has to find the deal.)

If you’re willing to try something new, you can get free samples by mail from many
different manufacturers. You can wait until you see an offer on a deal site, or you can head to a site like Walmart.com for a place to try a bunch at once.

Watch your ads for sales and stack them with coupons. With some store coupons and discounts, you can actually get the price of the item you want down to zero. I have a coupon right now for $1 off two Taco Bell products. If I buy two seasoning packets for 50 cents each, it’s free.

The Freecycle Network is a grassroots and entirely nonprofit movement of people who are giving (and getting) stuff for free in their own towns. It’s all about reuse and keeping good stuff out of landfills. Each local group is moderated by local volunteers and membership is free. Search for your local freecycle and sign up. They will e-mail you lists of the items that people are looking for and offering.

Make sure that you let the company know if you are dissatisfied with their product. Look on the package for their address, phone number or website and tell them about it. A lot of times they will not only replace the product but send you coupons for your next purchase. They want to keep you as a customer, and they want to hear if there is a problem. You can also ask for free samples from a company to try their product. It never hurts to ask."

Try a dumpster or laundromat trash can once in a while. Take a drive around your neighborhood the night before trash day, and see what curbside finds await you.

Meatless Monday Movement Rebrands Age-Old Practice

From Medill Reports (Chicago). We do Veggie Fridays here.

“We are not vegans. We're not vegetarians,” said Chris Elam, program director for the non-profit Meatless Monday.

The New York City-based organization conveys the message that anyone can give up meat one day a week.

Meatless Monday, associated with the Johns Hopkins University Bloomberg School of Public Health in Baltimore, has swept the nation since its launch in 2003. Such big names as celebrity chef Mario Batali and author Michael Pollan have endorsed it.

The movement aims to encourage the Average Jane and Joe to give up meat on Mondays to protect both their health and the environment for the following reasons:

• Reduce the risk of heart disease, which the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services has linked to the saturated fats found in meat.

• Curb obesity, as vegetarians and people with diets low on meat have been found to have significantly lower body weight and body mass index.

• Reduce carbon footprint. The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations found that one-fifth of the world’s greenhouse gas emissions are generated by the meat industry.

The idea behind Meatless Monday stems from rationing during World War I. The U.S. government promoted “Meatless Monday” and “Wheatless Wednesday” to preserve the limited food supply, Elam said.

However, regularly abstaining from meat has even deeper roots, according to Barbara Newman, professor of religion at Northwestern University.

For instance, the early Catholic Church went meat-free every Friday in observance of Christ’s crucifixion.

“It is ... a fast of grieving,” Newman said. “That was really observed until the Second Vatican Council in the 1960s, after which the Friday fast became optional. It’s down to a piddly little thing now – Fridays in Lent.”

Such practices of self-denial are not exclusive to Catholicism.

“There is this idea in Hinduism that you obtain a spiritual power by practicing asceticism,” Newman said. “Hindus abstain from meat, wine and sex - the core of any ascetic practice.”

Many Buddhists are vegetarians because they believe acts of self-discipline and self-denial will gives one good karma.

“Abstaining from meat is generally considered virtuous. In Buddhism you have something like…not quite a concern for the environment, but for the liberation and enlightenment of all sentient beings,” she said. “If you want sentient beings to be removed from suffering then you don't eat them.”

Muslims also incorporate self-denial into their eating habits. During Ramadan, a monthlong Islamic holiday, all eating and drinking is prohibited from sunrise to sunset, Newman said. Days are spent focusing on prayer.

The organizers behind Meatless Monday do not associate it with any religion, despite the historical precedent set by Catholics, Hindus and others.

“I would say that we were very much aware of [religion], but the thought was to take advantage of patriotic spirit and keep the focus here,” Elam said. “We want to keep [Meatless Monday] as broad as possible. Once you enter religion into it, it can be exclusionary, which is the opposite of what we're trying to do.”

Meatless Monday and religious meat restrictions have different motives.

“You have practices that may look similar, but reasons for them are often very different,” Newman said.

What makes Meatless Monday so popular is its mass appeal, Elam said.

“It is in no way about taking protein away from people,” he said. “We encourage sites to have meatless options next to meat options to give this message of choice.”

We do it because we need more veggies in our diet, and it helps save on meat costs.

Believe it or Not, It's Time to Plan Your Garden Plot (L-O-N-G)

From Montclair (NJ) Patch. PLAN, not plant!

"If you're planning a vegetable garden for the spring, whether it's through the community garden or on your own, it's time to start thinking of how to make the most of your plot and how to get the highest yield, the least crop failure, and the most fun out of your garden. Even if you consider yourself a novice gardener, there are some simple ways to defeat nasty pests and diseases and to ensure that you have success with your veggies through companion and succession planting.

The number one way to control disease in the garden is to plant disease-resistant varieties. These may cost a bit more up front, but you will be saving yourself time and money in the long run. Most catalogs will list the disease resistance of the plant varieties and if you're buying your plants or seeds in a nursery the labels should tell you or a knowledgeable staff member can help you out. The label will say something like "Celebrity"-VFFNT. This is the Celebrity tomato (All-American Winner, mid-season, medium red fruit, determinate) and has resistance to Verticillium Wilt, Fusarium Wilt race 1,2, Nematodes and Tobacco Mosaic Virus. Unfortunately the heirloom varieties, in which there has been a huge resurgence of interest lately, are not disease resistant.

Another common issue in the vegetable garden is pests such as aphids, cutworms, whitefly, hornworms, among many others. Before reaching for your chemical pesticides (which are not allowed in the South Orange Community Garden anyway), there are many organic biological, cultural and mechanical means of control for these pesky critters. Your first line of defense is to grow plants in your plot that will attract beneficial insects. You see, not all insects in the garden are bad; some insects such as ladybugs, lacewings, and certain types of tiny wasps should be welcomed into your garden as they will feast on the nasty bugs that are feasting on your veggies. To enhance the habitat of your garden to attract beneficials, you'll want to plant things such as dill, fennel, coriander, sweet alyssum, cosmos, basil, borage, yarrow, goldenrod, golden marguerite, sunflowers, and coneflowers. By attracting beneficial insects you will be balancing the ecosystem of your veggie garden so that the pest insects are under control and you won't have to resort to non-organic chemical pesticides, which indiscriminately kill all insects.

Another way of controlling pests and disease in your garden is to invest in a magnifying hand lens and closely inspect your plants on a regular basis. Turn over the leaves and look at the growing tips because this is where most pest infestations start. At a quick glance your plants can look perfectly fine, but if you turn over the leaves and look with your lens you may see hundreds of aphids which can quickly turn into hundreds of thousands of aphids (aphids are born pregnant!) If you find that you have an infestation you can remove the insects mechanically (crushing worms and beetles with your fingers, or spraying the plant with a strong stream of water to knock off aphids, whiteflies or spider mites) and then hopefully you've reduced the population to the point where the beneficial insects can take over and finish the job.

Other means of pest control include collars around your seedlings to prevent cutworm and cabbage maggots, screens or rowcovers, and mulches. You'll also want to maintain good sanitation practices, especially in a group setting such as the community garden. Remove any diseased debris and put it into a hot compost pile to kill off any spores. (Ideally this compost would not be re-used in a vegetable bed.) Water your plants from below to avoid getting the leaves wet which attracts fungus and other diseases. If you must water with a sprinkler do it first thing in the morning to give the plants an opportunity to fully dry off before dark.

Companion planting is an excellent way to get the most out of your vegetable garden. Companion planting has been in practice for thousands of years and benefits your garden by boosting crop production, attracting beneficial insects, hiding or masking a crop from pests, providing trap crops, and creating a habitat for beneficial creatures. For example, many people plant nasturtium in the garden as a way to trap aphids and keep them off the more important food crops. Aphids are attracted to the soft tissue of the nasturtium so they are more likely to go after those than your tomatoes. (Plus, nasturtiums are edible and add a nice, peppery bite to a salad!) According to the Encyclopedia of Organic Gardening, basil repels aphids, mites, and mosquitoes, slows the growth of milkweed bugs and acts as a fungicide. Basil is also said to improve the growth and flavor of your tomatoes. Plant marigolds freely throughout your garden, says the Encyclopedia of Organic Gardening, as they are the workhorse of pest deterrents; they keep the soil free of nematodes and discourage many insects.

Succession planting is a way to keep your garden producing at its highest capacity all season long, as well as ensuring that you will have some vegetables to harvest even if you lose some to pests or diseases. With a small plot such as the 4' x 12' community garden plots or a small home garden, succession planting is even more important so you can get the most out of your limited space. In April or May you can plant crops that can withstand a light frost and mature early. These include lettuce, peas, radishes, early cabbage, early spinach, mustard, and turnips. While these are maturing, you can plant the more permanent residents of your garden after May 15th, including tomatoes, eggplants, peppers, squash, okra, Swiss chard, and beans. After the early crops are harvested, you can then plant your cool weather crops in July, including broccoli, cauliflower, carrots, beets, kale, kohlrabi, spinach, turnips, collards, and lettuce. For leafy greens such as lettuces and spinach, you can sow seeds every 2 or 3 weeks to have a constant source of salad greens until winter. You may even be able to squeeze in a fourth planting after the permanent plants are harvested in late summer if you choose early-maturing varieties of cool weather crops so they can be harvested before winter sets in.

This may seem like a lot of information at once, but if you allow yourself to become an intuitive gardener a lot of this will come naturally to you. The main points to remember are to use your eyes as your first line of defense against pests and diseases; keep balance in the garden by planting a variety of crops and flowers and by attracting beneficial insects; and plant in succession to allow for the highest yield from your garden. And most importantly, have fun in the garden, especially if this is your first year attempting a vegetable garden. It is a constant learning process and Mother Nature is always throwing us a curveball in the form of a drought (last year), floods (the year before) or who-knows-what this coming season! We'll never have all the answers, but the excitement is in the uncertainty of it all."

Because we're forecasted to have a wacky weather for at least the next decade, do what the Africans are doing, and plant quick-growing varieties to avoid both the heat of mid-summer, and the snow of mid-winter. Basically, Mother Nature's going to allow us to grow in spring and fall.

TV--A Sneaky Part of the Food Pyramid

From HealthDay News. It's got to be some space-time continuum-warping thing when you go to a restaurant to sit in front of a TV to eat, then see food commercials while you're already eating!

"David Burley was excited about a new restaurant opening in his small Louisiana town, where vacant storefronts have become the norm as the recession lingers.

But Burley, an assistant professor of sociology at Southeastern Louisiana University, wasn't thrilled that the eatery would be serving heaping helpings of flat-screened TVs -- one in every booth -- along with its family fare.

The deluge of televisions in American restaurants in recent years makes a mockery of the quaint 1950s vignette of families eating dinner on folding tray tables in front of the Ed Sullivan show. Instead of uniting families, experts say, today's ubiquitous screens are threatening people's health, leading them to eat more of the wrong foods and eroding the socializing that makes mealtime special.

"It's a really hot topic," said Dianne Neumark-Sztainer, a researcher at the University of Minnesota's Project EAT. "People are really struggling with this."

Several studies over the past decade have linked prolonged TV watching with

obesity, which affects one-third of adult Americans. Scientists analyzing the Nurses' Health Study in 2003 looked at 50,000 women aged 30 to 55, finding their odds of obesity rising 23 percent and their risk of type 2 diabetes rising 14 percent for every additional two hours of television time they logged."

Must be a sports bar. I've never heard of a restaurant that has TVs at every booth...unless maybe Hooters has gone overboard.

"In 2007, Neumark-Sztainer's study in the Journal of Nutrition Education and Behavior indicated that teens in families that watched TV while eating together had a lower-quality diet than children of families that turned off the tube while eating together. Teens watching television ate fewer vegetables, calcium-rich food and grains; they also consumed more soft drinks than their peers who ate meals without the TV on.

And a 2010 study in the International Journal of Food Sciences and Nutrition showed that school kids who spent prolonged hours in front of television tend to be overweight or obese. A national sample of adolescents indicated that 64 percent of 11- to 18-year-olds had the TV on during meals.

One reason for the weight gain, Burley says, is that people tend to eat more slowly -- and consume less food -- when they are not glued to the tube.

Television's impact on families' emotional health is perhaps harder to quantify.

"The idea of the family meal is to interact with each other," said Neumark-Sztainer, also a professor of epidemiology and community health at the University of Minnesota. "I always say the nutritional value of the food may not be the best when you go out to eat, but the social interactions can [be valuable.] So if you're getting rid of that, it's sort of a shame."

Family meals -- without TV -- strengthen family ties and the need for connection. Burley pointed out that kids also learn important principles of human interaction at family meals - listening to others and taking turns conversing, for example - and this opportunity is negated when everyone is focused on a screen.

He challenges people to ask businesses to turn off the television, knowing it may be an uphill battle -- but a worthwhile one.

"I think this has implications for how we want our society to operate in the larger realm," Burley said. "We love to go out to eat. To go out and be taken away by the TV, we lose sight of the cultural pleasure we used to get by just going out to eat."

If we turn the TV off, he added, "we can engage others and pay attention to our food. It gets closer to what we all claim our values to be."

I personally have to object to this one--I myself eat superior meals on the couch while watching the news. If we dared to have a dining table in this house, I would immediately break out my sewing machine and have that table covered in fabric pieces in no time, and be reluctant as hell to clean them off just for supper. I admit I'm a "flat-surface" violator: if something has a flat top, it's got stuff sitting on it, mostly because there's nowhere else to put it.

And no, I'm not a hoarder. I've just learned to cut down on my flat surfaces, so I can't leave stuff out all over them.

Kids Fed Unhealthy Food Learn to Prefer Them

From Yahoo Health. I must be the only person on the planet (outside of Russia) who likes beets--my mom didn't raise a picky eater!

"Most preschool children develop a taste for salt, sugar and fat at home, and quickly learn which types of brand-name fast foods and sodas meet these preferences, U.S. researchers say.

In one experiment, the mothers of 67 children, aged 3 to 5, were asked to list their youngsters' taste preferences and listed foods high in sugar, fat and salt. The researchers tested the children and found that the parents' answers were accurate.

In a second experiment, the researchers looked at the association between the taste preferences of 108 preschool children and their emerging awareness of brands of fast food and sugar-sweetened beverages.

The children were shown 36 randomly sorted product cards -- 12 related to each of two popular fast-food chains, six related to each of the two leading cola companies, and six depicting non-related products. All of the children were able to place some of the product cards with the correct companies, which demonstrated that they recognized these brands.

The results "suggest that fast food and soda brand knowledge is linked to the development of a preference for sugar, fat and salt in food," the researchers reported.

Parents need to carefully consider the types of foods they give to young children at home and in restaurants, said study co-author T. Bettina Cornwell, a professor of marketing at the University of Oregon Lundquist College of Business.

"Repeated exposure builds taste preferences," she said in a university news release."

If Michelle Obama is really interested in wiping out childhood obesity, she should look to the home, and the drive-thru windows. The food choices parents make for their kids is a bigger influence than school lunches, and it lasts for generations.

10 Cancer-Causers to Remove From Your Home

From Yahoo Health.

"Given poor government regulation, many of the cleaning products available on the market contain "everyday" carcinogens such as formaldehyde, nitrobenzene, methylene chloride, and napthelene, as well as reproductive toxins and hormone disruptors. Not to mention other ingredients that cause liver, kidney and brain damage, allergies and asthma.

I really am a happy person--not your basic Eeyore type, but toxic cleaning products seriously get my goat. One of the best things you can do to detox your home is to create one of Annie's simple non-toxic cleaning kits to use--most of the ingredients you probably already have on hand.

But there are a host of products, other than those used for basic cleaning, that often contain carcinogenics. This list, from Cancer: 101 Solutions to a Preventable Epidemic (New Society Publishers, 2007) by Liz Armstrong et al, cautions against 10 household products, in addition to cleaners, that you should avoid having in your house.

1. Air fresheners: Often contain napthelene and formaldehyde. Try zeolite or natural fragrances from essential oils.

2. Art supplies: Epoxy and rubber cement glues, acrylic paints and solvents, and permanent markers often contain carcinogens.

3. Automotive supplies: Most are toxic. Keep them safely away from the house and dispose of at a hazardous waste disposal center.

4. Candles: Avoid artificially scented paraffin candles that produce combustion by-products, including soot. Beeswax only, with cotton wicks.

5. Carpet and upholstery shampoos: Use only wet-clean, natural ingredients.

6. Dry-cleaning: Choose clothes that don't need perchlorethylene to clean them. Ask for the wet-cleaning option at you local cleaners, or seek dry-cleaners that use liquid C02 or citrus juice cleaners.

7. Flea, tick, and lice control: Avoid lindane-based pesticides.

8. Paints and varnishes: Always chose low- or no-VOC finishes.

9. Household pesticides: Go natural.

10. Microwaves: Never microwave or heat food in a plastic container."

Okay, now comes the dispelling of some myths:

1. Use Lysol, or better yet, go to the source of the stink and eradicate that instead.

2. If they're non-toxic and suitable for kids, that's really all you need to know.

3. Aren't automotive supplies usually kept in the garage or carport? Well, maybe not the WD-40, but there are kitchen alternatives to that.

4. Candles consume oxygen--use them in emergencies, but not for ambience!

5. I've read where people are using vinegar and water to clean their carpets, and with today's carpets being made of plastic soda bottles, a damp rag should suffice. A big rental cleaner will take the vinegar-and-water solution.

6. Who needs dry cleaning? Okay, there are times when a few articles need it, but who needs it on a regular basis? If something needs regular dry cleaning, you bought the wrong garment!

7. A properly-fed pet won't attract fleas and ticks in the first place...or at least, damn few. There's always the garlic fallback. A good flea comb dipped in vinegar after each pass through the fur will kill them too.

8. Always use good ventilation when you're painting by only painting in weather that's suitable for opening all the windows and leaving them open until dark.

9. Sometimes organic pesticides don't work, as in the case of my garden. The best you can expect to do organically is REPEL them, but not subdue them.

10. As far as microwaving in plastic goes, Ziplock is the only plastics manufacturer that makes plastics suitable for microwaving in, because their products don't contain BPH, which heats up and becomes part of your food in other plastic containers. To be safe, use some other material, like Pyrex or glass. Pyrex makes soup cups and small dishes with lids for microwaving.

Why Americans Aren't Living Longer

From CNN Health.

"With plenty of food, more money spent on health care and modern medical innovations, it seems as if we should be living longer.

But compared to our international counterparts, we aren't. Americans lag behind other industrialized countries including Australia, Canada, Japan and France, in life expectancy.

A new report from the National Research Council finds that Americans fall short on life expectancy compared with other high-income countries because of two vices – smoking and obesity.

Smoking was very popular in the United States three to five decades ago and the effects are being seen now. There appears to be a lag of two to three decades between smoking and its peak effects on health.

Because the popularity of smoking waned dramatically, the life expectancy for U.S. males is likely to improve in the coming decades, the report says. The changes in women is expected to be slower, because their smoking behavior peaked later than men’s.

Lung cancer deaths are a reliable marker of the effects of smoking, but no such clear markers exist for obesity and physical inactivity, according the report.

And obesity in America is not waning. It could account for a fifth to a third of the shortfall in longevity in the United States compared to other nations, the report says.

Here's how Americans compare in life expectancy:

Women
Australia 83.78
Canada 82.95
Denmark 80.53
England and Wales 81.73
France 84.39
Italy 84.09
Japan 85.98
Netherlands 81.89
Sweden 82.95
United States 80.78

Men
Australia 79.27
Canada 78.35
Denmark 76.13
England and Wales 77.46
France 63. 77.43
Italy 78.62
Japan 79.20
Netherlands 77.63
Sweden 78.92
United States 75.64"

What about the silent epidemic of deaths caused by SUGAR--heart disease, diabetes, kidney/liver ailments, etc.?

Might I suggest we take a closer look at the nutritional training doctors receive...or rather, DON'T receive? Markers exist for telling us if a person is a "muscle" burner, a "sugar" burner, or both, and that should tell us how to ration carbs effectively. Also, put a damper on any more convenience-led technologies, because the less active we are, the fewer carbs get burned as energy output.

Teach the carb math to doctors, and to patients, as well as students, so they can go forward with this information into food source outlets: grocery stores, health food stores, other food-selling places, and web-based food outlets (like Amazon, who is slated to begin web grocery delivery).

Taming sugar--especially the hidden starches and carbs NOT in the ingredient list--will go a long way toward prevention of diseases with sugar as their root cause. Imagine a world where nobody had to die from diabetes or heart disease ever again!

Bless the Casserole

From the Fayette County News (GA). Especially the "What-Ya-Got" casserole!

"Speaking with a friend originally north of the Mason Dixon, I tried to explain the meaning of casseroled. You know, it’s what we do in the south whenever there is a real need: a birth, a death, a welcome to the neighborhood, anytime you need to show some southern hospitality and compassion. I have a few standard recipes that I can make in my sleep and have a 9 X12 Pyrex dish ready to take to anyone, who needs to be casseroled.

It occurred to me that sometimes we ladies need to casserole ourselves! We often run around taking care of others to such detail, that we fail to provide ourselves a little time to rest, reflect, and bond with each other, without worrying about the way our house looks to each other, our yard, our fashion, etc. When we get passed those silly issues, there are evenings when the company of women is better than…chocolate. Ok, chocolate with the company of women can’t be beat. Although everyone truly loves the men in their life, a conversation with a woman is less linear and more probing, for probing sakes, like sifting for gold in a clear mountain creek. Questions like, “Why did you feel that way?” and “What are you going to do about that?” are analyzed and sifted with great depth, love and empathy, and often without a concrete conclusion. A quiet dinner with girlfriends, sometimes even a weekend getaway is like an extended lunch date where you layout your psyches from your over- stuffed hobo purse, and then fold them all back up after coffee.

This past weekend a group of us ladies got together for a little casserole, and a lot of female bonding. What I valued the most was each woman added their uniqueness and wisdom to the evening. Each was like an ingredient in the casserole: terrific alone, but blended together with the others, made it absolutely priceless.

Often in an effort to cut back financially, we cut back on our entertaining. And while we are all keenly aware that relationships matter, we fail to take action or be the first to say, “My house is a wreck, I’m exhausted, but come over for a pot of soup, and watch Casa Blanca with me.” And Facebook can’t substitute wandering around in a pair of sweats with your best of friends."

Entitlement Attitude Growing

From the Spokesman-Review (Spokane, WA).

"A large segment of society’s profession is to procure government (taxpayer) funds. During 17 years as a food bank coordinator, I saw the demographics of clientele change from occasional use by most, to year-round by the majority.

Very aware that numerous circumstances can place people in need, the change in attitude is the big difference I see. Instead of looking for the thrifty way, they choose the easy way. The I-am-entitled attitude is rampant. Cigarettes, cell phones, TV, Internet, dining out, movies and alcohol are luxuries, things we can do without, nice but not entitlements.

During the 1970s and 1980s, food banks I worked in could share information with neighboring food banks to prevent double dipping. That can’t be done now because of confidentiality rules. The sad reality of government (taxpayer-funded) programs and grants: People who really need help, who truly physically or mentally can’t earn a living, barely scrape by while professional dole-takers get more than they need, hopping from program to program to keep the taxpayers’ money rolling into their pockets."

I've heard that churches and soup kitchens, as well as food banks, have a problem with double-dipping--this is the charity equivalent of going to several stores of the same brand to get further use out of coupons, or using a partner to score more stuff with the same coupons, thereby doubling your total take of the benefit (like I do). At least I'm PAYING for the products I'm getting, and not robbing a charity blind, stomping on the goodness of other people's hearts.

Honestly, with more people falling into the cracks of the welfare system every day, how can you expect churches, food banks, and the like to keep track of who their clientele are from day to day?

It's precisely these kinds of loopholes that lead me to believe that you can practically live for free if you put your mind to it--certainly not a QUALITY life, or one you would willingly choose to live, but most of it can be done.

SHELTER (indoor)
Homeless shelters
Abused women's shelters
Housing programs for vets/alcoholics/drug users/rehab "halfway" houses
Prison/Jail
Churches

SHELTER (outdoor)
Tent
Tarp/shower curtain liner
Under bridge/overpass

FOOD
Churches
Food Pantries/Food Banks
Dumpsters
Prison/Jail

CLOTHING, FURNITURE, HOUSEHOLD GOODS
Dumpsters
Laundromats
Curbside
Clothes lines
Prison/Jail

POCKET MONEY
Blood/sperm donations
Can/bottle collection
Scrap metal collection
Selling off excess stuff
Panhandling
Picking up lost change
Taking pennies out of cashier "take a penny" dishes
Rifling through couches, under car seats, etc.

WITH POCKET MONEY, YOU CAN
Ride the bus
Buy booze/drugs/cigarettes
Buy toiletries
Buy a cheap bicycle

You get the point.

Pork Shoulder--A Tasty, Thrifty Treasure

From the Miami Herald.

"...consider the pork shoulder. It has twice the flavor of those other cuts, plus a bonus: Its size. Usually weighing 3 to 4 pounds or more, this hefty cut can provide meals for days.

Recently, I carried one home, trimmed off some (not all, please) of the fat and covered it with a rub of cumin, smoked paprika, lime juice, salt and pepper. A quick sear on all sides in a Dutch oven browned it nicely. I add chopped onions to the pot, covered it and tucked it into a 325-degree oven. Three hours later, the meat was falling off the bone, ready to be sliced or shredded and drizzled with the defatted pan juices and onions.

This kind of tenderness from slow cooking is hard to come by these days, but worth pursuing. The meat can be packed into small storage bags, moistened with its juices, frozen and saved for quick weeknight meals. It can flavor a pasta, a risotto, a barbecue sandwich (topped with the traditional slaw). It will add savory flavor to a vegetable soup, a chili or a taco.

It’s a treasure for thrifty cooks and hearty eaters alike."

I recently watched a cooking show on TV where the cook did this same thing, only she tossed it into a crock pot instead of the oven, then separated all the meat and served it over penne pasta. My only problem with it (besides the carbs) is that a crock pot uses electricity like nobody's business, unless you use it during off-peak hours. If you have a gas stove, use that instead--if not, carefully time your pork shoulder project for the weekends, when the entire weekend is off-peak as far as electricity usage goes.

The pork can be used as Mexican food filling, for stuffing peppers/potatoes, making lasagna, and other things besides over pasta, or in BBQ pork sandwiches.

Thanks, Economists--More Taxes on Meat Will Reduce Global Warming?

From Science 2.0.

"The goal of any civilized society has always been to make food affordable to everyone regardless of income and we are converging on that rapidly. If anything, the rising obesity problem is because we are reaching a Utopian ideal of enough food for everyone in richer countries.

But the greenhouse gases from food production are a concern and one proposed solution by a group of economists in Sweden is to increase taxes on meat and milk (but not fruit and vegetables, far bigger industrial polluters than meat and dairy, which will make the vegetarians happy), meaning poor people will be able to afford less and farmers will make less.

Because these are economists their logic is simple; taxes of €60/ton CO2eq on meat and milk could reduce greenhouse gas emissions from European agriculture by around seven percent. As I have done in the past, the daisy chain of these spurious percentage numbers usually leads to someone claiming it and a flawed model behind the results but people wanting to believe it and so they shelve their skepticism.

Even more speculative, they assert that if the dairy and meat farmers then convert their land to bio-energy production, the decrease in emissions can be six times greater, though where they got that number is a question since no bio-energy is carbon neutral yet. Perhaps, like the 'gallon of gas per pound of beef' claim by one vegetarian and '140 Liters Of Water In My Cup Of Coffee' claim by a 'virtual' water advocate, the numbers are made up but because they have an air of truthiness to other believers, it gets repeated and data mapped to those beliefs.

In the article, these economists state that reduced meat, milk and egg consumption will significantly lower emissions of methane and nitrous oxide, which is absolutely true, since methane has 23X the effect of CO2 on warming and nitrous oxide, while only 9% of total greenhouse gas emissions, has 300X more global warming potential than carbon dioxide.

Any physicist or botanist knows their logic is flawed. If methane is the big problem it is plants causing it more than cows that fart too much. If we cut down the Amazon rainforest, for example, methane production would practically disappear but anyone with common sense would object to such a data snapshot in a complex ecosystem, much like I object to poor people being forced to become vegetarians.

And that is what they are doing - actual emissions from the meat industry are impossible to measure so they instead want to try and make social engineering look scientific; 'changing' food habits, which again means people with less money, are where they want to focus. Despite a complete inability to measure greenhouse gas emissions from the meat industry, which they concede, the researchers cite as fact that if beef is replaced with beans the reduction is 99 percent.

"A tax on the emissions from food production would normally be preferable. But as this is virtually impossible in practice, and the effects of switching away from meat and milk are so great, we show that it can be far more effective to apply the tax directly to the meat and milk consumption," says Stefan Wirsenius, co-author of the paper and a researcher in the Department of Energy and Environment at Chalmers University of Technology.

Beef would be taxed higher under their proposal while chicken and pork would be taxed lower as their emissions are lower. Non-flesh farming would be taxed nothing.

The fact remains that more taxes are a regressive solution to a problem better solved by science. Given the chronic fixation on mitigation and rationing that advocates of this approach have, we must conclude that there would be no society at all if they ran things in the ancient world; in the ancient world, when hunting got sparse, economists would have argued for taxes on hunting. Ancient scientists invented agriculture and learned how to domesticate livestock instead.

Engineering cows that fart less, and better energy sources, is the solution to greenhouse gases, not making poor people tread water by having their taxes for a decent dinner go up as their income does."

Let me give you a less scientific way to cut the cow farts: feed them more chlorophyll--as in GRASS-FEED the way cows are meant to eat! Chlorophyll cuts down on gas for everybody--cows, pigs, humans, dogs, goats, everything except cats.