GMO articles and information

Links to GMO articles and information:

Autumn helping make pancakes with organic, non-gmo ingredients

There is very little real food left in this world it seems, it is worth it to educate yourself about GMO's and learn how to find the food amongst all the food-like products that clutter the grocery store shelves! here are a couple of links to websites that can help!

1. The Non-GMO Project

 Non-GMO project in Canada!

Product Verification - North America’s Only Independent Verification of Non-GMO Products

The retailers who started the Non-GMO Project were motivated by a simple idea: they believed that consumers in North America should have access to clearly-labeled non-GMO food and products, now and in the future. That conviction continues to be the guiding force behind the Non-GMO Project, which offers North America’s only independent verification for products made according to best practices for GMO avoidance.

This website is full of great information and resources....

• GMO facts
• Lists of  Non-GMO verified products and restaurants
• resources and information 
• how to take action now

http://www.nongmoproject.org

2. Top Seven Genetically Modified Crops

http://www.honeycolony.com/article/top-seven-genetically-modified-crops/

Jan 22 2013

By The Hive
Most of the government-approved, made in the U.S.A. food we eat is poisoned. That may sound like a pitch for a sci-fi novel, but unless a growing body of research is all wrong, a tainted food supply is the reality here in America. Take genetically modified foods, for example, which are linked to a long list of health problems, from food allergies and cell damage in humans, to tumors, liver problems, sterility and high infant mortality rates in rats.

read the list here: http://www.honeycolony.com/article/top-seven-genetically-modified-crops/

3. GMO Inside.org

http://gmoinside.org/

Because we have the right to know what’s in our food!

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Large agribusiness and chemical companies oppose our right to know when foods have GMOs. These are the same companies that put GMOs out on the market without adequate testing – turning us all into lab rats in a giant science experiment.
GMO Inside is a campaign dedicated to helping all Americans know which foods have GMOs inside, and the non-GMO verified and organic certified alternatives to genetically engineered foods. We believe that everyone has a right to know what’s in their food and to choose foods that are proven safe for themselves, their families, and the environment.
GMO Inside gives people information and tools, and provides a place for a growing community of people from all walks of life, to share information and actions around genetically engineered foods. Join the campaign at www.gmoinside.org, and take part in the GMO Inside community on Facebook and Twitter.
If you are represent an organization or a business that supports a healthy food system that is non-GMO and good for people and the planet, please join the GMO Inside coalition. We welcome you to post your news and information on our Facebook page, would love to get all of your events and programs on our calendar and interview you for our featured partner section of our website!

Oven Roasted Herbed Vegetables and Roast Cabbage

We had a great vegetarian dinner tonight! Made with fresh vegetables from the farmers market and our favourite organic stores, the house smelled incredible while this was cooking. My whole crew really enjoyed this one.

dish one-  Oven Roasted Herbed Vegetables.  cut in to cubes - potato, carrot, parsnip, onion, red pepper. Toss with favourite mixed herbs, 2 TBSP nutritional yeast and olive oil, put into a casserole dish and sprinkle with sea salt and a goo amount of parmesan cheese bake uncovered for 1 hr at 425 F (or until potatoes are soft) If you wish this to be a Vegan dish omit the parmesan or replace it with a vegan substitute.

dish two - Oven Roasted Cabbage: cut cabbage into wedges, remove core, drizzle with olive oil or spray with an olive oil spray. sprinkle with caraway seed and sea salt. roast at 425 F uncovered for a 1/2 hour, then put the cover on and roast for another 20 min - 1/2 hour. (cook time will vary depending on the size of your cabbage wedges)

serve with your favourite salad !

delicious!

Support local stores!

I think I am done shopping for solstice and christmas food! OMG  now to bake bread, make goodies and holiday appies for the celebrations. 

Yesterday I went to Earth's General Store - I just have to take some time to say - they are SO worth shopping at and giving support to as a local business. I have never felt more cared for and appreciated as a shopper. They take the time to let you know where their product comes from if that kind of thing is important to you .

For example, my priorities as a shopper are local - first if possible, no GMO potential ingredients - which often means organic but not always, quality and affordability.  I wanted non-gmo oatmeal for my christmas baking, and because I need a large amount I wasn't sure I could afford the locally available organic oatmeal (which btw is great!) so I dropped a note on to their facebook page. They answered me nearly immediately and said they have the local organic oatmeal, as well as a Canadian sourced bulk organic oatmeal.  I went to the store and the store owner remembered me from the facebook post, even my name! Then he explained to me the differences in the two suppliers. I ended up buying the bulk Canadian sourced oatmeal due to the lower cost and the quanity I needed. If I had need of a lower quantity I would have gone with the local producer, and will in the future buy from them to support their business.

The staff at Earth's General Store were helpful and friendly, and take the time to help you out if you need advice on unfamiliar products or if you are trying a new brand for the first time. Their produce was beautiful and their pricing is very reasonable. I also enjoy that the aisles are not filled with all kinds of 'junk' that I would not be interested in anyway like you find in most grocery stores (you know, the rows and rows of stuff you breeze past on your way to find the actual FOOD)

Imagine my surprise when I got home later that day, and there on my FB post on their page, was a thank you note to me, for coming in that day. Little things like that make me feel like my choice to spend my grocery dollars there were appreciated and noted. It gave me a little warm fuzzy :)

It's so rare in today's world of supermarkets and food being 'big business' to find that kind of care and attention in a food store. They are definetly worth sharing and supporting!

It is worth noting that Earth's General Store has been around in Edmonton as a forward thinking, earth conscious consumer choice for decades - long before it was 'cool' - I am in deep appreciation for them and the valuable resource they are to our city.




Earth's General Store Website.
(p.s.  here is the link to their facebook page)

GMO awareness

Sharing some links about GMO foods today. I wrote my MP 3 yrs ago asking why (In Canada) we don't have foods that contain GMO's labeled so that consumers can make informed choices. My MP wrote back and said it isn't necessary, woulnd't be "possible" and is not something the public demands.... (among other excuses) . I think its time again to mount a campaign demanding that foods containing GMO's be labeled so people can choose to buy them or not.  Thankfully, so far in Canada, foods that are labeled organic cannot contain GMO at all.

20 GENETICALLY MODIFIED FOODS COMING TO YOUR PLATE

" If the need to halt GMOs were not urgent enough, this article should scare the pants off you. Here we glimpse some of the potentials for the unabated and bizarre proliferation of GMOs. Some of these developments you will already know about (hopefully), but some will come as a surprise. As I see it we are now at a crossroads where we can still dismantle this dangerous and perverted manipulation of the very fabric of life, the sacred code of nature, which will undoubtedly affect each and every one of us in profound ways now and in the future.

Here we are reminded that the fight against GMOs and to save organics is not just a battle for what we knew yesterday, which is bad enough. It is a fight against the future of the GE movement and the unlikely and increasingly creepy, scary, and deranged turns it will likely take. Just today I read elsewhere that 35 species of fish, in addition to salmon, are slotted to be genetically engineered for various traits. I am not going to preview the highlights of what is below, but maybe you too will be left wondering, “What will they think of next?” " (follow this link to read more)

Organic Consumers Association - Ready to take on Monsanto?

Ready to Take On Monsanto? Watch Genetic Roulette and You Will Be!

Click "Go!" to VOLUNTEER for the Prop 37 campaign. We need volunteers all over the country (USA) to help us win our right to know about GMOs by reaching out to California voters via phone, email, blogs and social networks. (And, DONATE here.)

Not ready to take on Monsanto? You will be after you watch this new documentary on the dangers of genetically modified organisms. Download Genetic Roulette for only $2.99.

10 herbs that heal

 

Sticking to our convictions

We have an ant problem, a big one, our whole front yard is seriously infested with the little buggers. Last year they were bad and we tried every natural solution we could find to no avail. This year they are worse. We are committed to not using chemical pesticides, herbicides or fetilizers; we believe they are not only bad for our planet but that they are ultimately bad for us, they get into our food chain and wreak havoc.

Today, I had a conversation today that challenged my conviction to avoid the use of pesticides. I called a pest control company that advertises 'eco-friendly' pest control. I thought maybe they had a natural solution that I hadn't heard of. It all sounded good until I asked what they use to kill the ants... a Chemical.. called Dragnet. The lady on the phone says that is " is safe after 4 hours but children and pets shouldn't be around it until it dries" huh?! how is that ecological. "it's plant friendly" she says on the phone.

I want to get rid of my ants, I don't want a chemical sprayed in my yard that in turn will get into our soil and then into our food that I grow here. Do I ignore our convictions and say, its only the front flower bed where we only grow flowers? that would be the easy way out, I found myself considering it ... briefly.... % yrs ago I wouldn't have though twice about it. Today it strikes me as test of my convictions and my commitment to our green lifestyle.

I have to admit that I quickly decided this wasn't an option for me, but oh for that brief moment I almost wished it was an option I could choose. TO have an easy, quick solution to the ants swarming my front yard seems divine. I just can't embrace the price it costs to opt into that solution. IF I want to live green, it has to be all the time, not just when its convenient, or 'stylish'. I resigned myself to searching up more natural solutions online and trying them again.

The whole exercise brought to mind other challenges we have faced along our journey, the foods we loved but no longer eat because they contain MSG or some other unsavory additive. The convenience of prepared foods left on the wayside because so few of them are healthy and additive free. The price of good wholesome organic food sometimes seems too high... the temptation to give and and just buy the inexpensive, the favorite msg laden snacks and hire the chemical weilding pest control company is sometimes

We have never felt better and are happy to be leading lives we feel are but sometimes it sure would be nice to find real food easier, to have cleaning options that work and to be free of pests in the garden! hrh

Introduction

The idea for this blog came as I continuously found myself looking for the same information to share with others or to use as reference and spending tonnes of time redoing the research. I thought "there has to be a better way " and tada! a new blog is born.

I want a place to put the information and websites we find so it is easy to access, to store recipes and write down my own creations that are excellent tasting so they don't get lost. A place to chronicle our journey as we move towards our goals of healthy, natural living. Perhaps it will help other families out there, and connect me to families that may have information I find helpful.

Recently, My husband and I were fruitlessly searching for a snack food (crackers) that didn't have MSG, or other additive and it took us an inordinate amount of time to search it out on the regular grocery store shelves. I think we ended up with a choice of 1 (yes one). It shouldn't be that hard to eat REAL food!

I have a horrible history with blogging, I go great guns for a short period of time, then life gets busy and I leave it by the wayside. I am hoping with this one I can utilize it to the best of its potential, and create a usable resource.

Here is a bit of history and info about us

We are a family of 9, My husband and I have 2 children together ages 18 months and 3 yrs, I have 4 girls from a previous marriage ages 19, 18, 16 and 15, the girls all live with us. My husband has a son from a previous marriage age 18, he lives with his mother. We also have my god-daughter and her baby living with us for a grand total of 10 in our home.

Sustainable living, healthy eating habits and being in good physical 'shape' have always been important to us. We want to leave a legacy of health and wellness, both in body and in the earth itself, to our children and feel the best way to do that is through example.

3 or 4 yrs ago we embarked on a journey to eat 'better' and that started with eliminating MSG from our diet. We eliminated most processed foods in that undertaking! Our journey has continued and we have eliminated not only MSG, but most preservatives. A couple years ago we stated buying 'naturally' raised meat (meaning no antibiotics, growth hormones, free range, grass fed etc.) and some organic products. We started to research why one would choose organic over non organic and which foods were most important to go organic with first and which ones were less "toxic" in how they were grown. That research process is ongoing.

The first thing we switched over to organic was cow's milk. The cost is nearly twice what it costs to buy "regular" milk and took a bit of adjusting! But once you get used to it, it becomes "that is what you pay for a jug of milk" . Last year we focused on buying locally and supporting our local economy. Our buying habits and the way we educate ourselves about the products we choose to buy have greatly changed in the last 5 yrs! We are continually adding new environmentally responsible products to our regular list of things to buy.

This year we are focusing on the move to wholly organic foods, with the caveat that naturally raised local food sources are preferable over imported food products. It's going to be slow going and I am sadly realizing that there are some things we may not be able to find organically produced, but its a start!

We have began to dig into the deep quagmire that is Genetically Modified Organisms and how it affects our food, our health and our earth. We are also further researching other food additives and their impact on health.

We would like to eventually only eat out at organic, local restaurants, but we have a horrible restaurant habit and that one may take more time to get under control. We have made it to local, privately owned establishments but so far this year we haven't made it to one to any of the 3 (or is it 4) organic restaurants available to us in our fair city.

I wouldn't say I am an activist, but I do write letters to producers both in praise -supporting sustainable farming/production practices and in critique of the ones that are not. I write letters to our government leaders, to the media, I pursue answers to questions that are sometimes hard to answer. I encourage every mother, every person who lives on this planet and is in a position to choose what types of food they eat to get involved in their food supply. I believe we change our world by living the way we desire it to be and create change by pushing for the things that need to be changed through our actions.