ORGANIC PRODUCE IS VITAL FOR HEALTH
Does eating organic produce help ADHD disorders?
Every year since 1997 the diagnosis of attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder has risen by 3%. Something serious is amiss and a new study published in the journal Pediatrics says that ADHD is tied to an exposure to pesticides.
ROOFTOPS TRANSFORMED INTO FOOD GARDENS
Produce goes Hyperlocal
The benefits of buying local are irrefutable: fewer transport miles; fresher, healthier produce; job creation; stimulating local economies, to name just a few. A London supermarket has taken local to a new level with its rooftop produce garden. Like all good ideas, this one has inspired others to do the same.
I was looking through a bookshelf in an old house and found this wonderful book called The Complete Vinegar Book packed full of health tips and recipes for vinegar. What is not so well known today – although I remember my granny telling me – is that vinegar can also keep things sparkling clean. As we are striving to use as few chemicals as possible for cleaning our homes I thought you may find these tips useful.
The cost of cooking for rural communities has a heavy burden on the environment and on the health of women and children who are most at risk from the toxic smoke and fumes caused by the open fires, so the invention of a biomass burning stove that uses a fraction of the wood normally used to cook a family meal and that reduces smoke emissions by up to 70% is being hailed as a miracle solution.
Despite the obviously complex logistics behind such a move, Woolworths has heeded the call for free-range eggs to be used in prepared foods (they already sell only free-range eggs) and the rollout of products begins this month. It is envisaged that by 2012 100% of all eggs used will be free-range. Woolworths is to be congratulated, as are those who took the time to add their voices to the call, especially given that the issue was largely ignored by mainstream media; only a few online organisations and blogs promoted the campaign.
We all know that our state-of-mind is influenced both by factors from within and from our everyday interactions. But new research coming to light indicates that we may be able to balance our state-of-mind by simply changing our diets. And this evidence is pointing towards the fact that chromium - an essential mineral found in mushrooms, whole grains, liver and brewer’s yeast - may be an important player.
Interview with Simon Back of Backsberg Estate Cellars South Africa’s first carbon neutral wine estate.
Recently Backsberg was abuzz with visitors coming to celebrate the opening of the Earth Centre on the farm. This will be the place where Food and Trees for Africa can continue their great work in the Western Cape and also act as an information hub for action on climate change. I spoke to Simon about Backsberg’s initiatives.
The current focus of environmental activists is how to manage climate change and the impact on all of us should resources become even scarcer. I would like to draw attention to the role of each individual and how we can consciously change what we put into our mouths everyday in order to create a more sustainable future. Food scientists have created many compounds over the past 100 years that have made our food last longer, grow faster, taste better, look nicer and generally become more convenient for us to consume. That is until we realised most of them are toxic to our systems and the earth which has to re-process them.
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