Agrarian Road Trip with the Presbyterian Hunger Program

Guest post by Toxic Free NC Intern Laura Valencia.

After interning with Toxic Free NC in the summer of 2009, working specifically on farm worker advocacy, I was left with the nagging sensation that the global food system was seriously ill. I learned first-hand about the symptoms of the sickness through sharing stories with farm workers who provide much of the labor that keep the food system chugging along. Pesticide exposure, poor housing, and unsafe working conditions were just a few aspects of the status quo that I not only heard about, but saw with my own two eyes. It wasn’t hard to come out of the summer with the idea that the food system is an unbridled beast, a problem that neither law nor economy would be able to fix.

Then, in the spring of 2010 I heard about the Presbyterian Hunger Program’s Agrarian Road Trip to the US Social Forum. Although the name is a total mouthful, the idea is quite simple: get together 15 people from across the country to road trip through eight states and visit just and sustainable agricultural projects. Or, in other words, my dream vacation. This trip gave me the opportunity to see the local agriculture movement as up close and personal as I saw the problems with conventional agriculture, and learn about much needed local solutions to national and global problems!

We toured from Louisville, KY to Detroit, MI by way of Berea KY, Maryville TN, Asheville NC, Wytheville VA, Mullens WV, and Youngstown & Cleveland OH (map). I’d like to report on the NC projects that our group visited and commend your state on a fantastic variety of agrarian projects!

The Veteran’s Restoration Quarters and Transitional Housing in Asheville, NC is a converted Motel 8 with over 150 rooms. According to Director Michael Reich, the facility is in the top 5 of 600 similar facilities in the United States, evidence that they run a tight ship! One project, the Victory Garden, was started by two current residents who asked for a garden when they moved in. They now work a large piece of land sunrise to sunset every day of the week. This victory garden not only provides food to the men’s quarters, but also to the women’s quarters in the city. The two men also run a weekly tailgate market to support their project! Produce also goes to the culinary classes where other veterans work to develop skills. The Victory Garden serves the community: it is not divided into plots for different people, it is a garden that is completely communal. While giving us a tour, the men mentioned their composting initiatives and also their use of IPM. In the photo to the left, Ed, a resident of the Veteran’s Restoration Quarters talks with Talitha, a Road Tripper from California. If you look closely, you can see a patriotic scarecrow in the background!

The Free Store at Warren Wilson College was started in 1999 as a part of Warren Wilson College’s super progressive recycling program. As a college student, I was blown away by WWC’s initiatives across campus: local food advocacy in the cafeteria, sustainable ag practices taught in the classroom, and an eco-dorm for leisure activities! As a college student, I am also sensitive to big-budget college spending vs. small-budget college student saving. The project that I saw that really appeared to not only be cutting-edge environmentally but also progressive socially was the Warren Wilson Free Store. The Free Store is an initiative to divert waste from the landfill – the message on their website is clear: “If you have some stuff you want to get rid of, no matter what it is, and you think that someone else might still be able to use / salvage it, bring it down.” Shelves upon shelves are filled with half-used shampoos, old cell phone chargers, dirty shoes, and suitcases. Just about everything a college student would throw away is found there, and more! I even picked up a “Warren Wilson Admissions” polo shirt. This project is part of WWC’s awesome recycling program, which you can check out here.

Our group spent the night at Warren Wilson College and had the pleasure of making Marc Williams’, local ethnobotanist, acquaintance. Marc led us through a meal that used over 30 ingredients, the vast majority local and harvested just that day. The menu included: herbal tea of monarda, spearmeint, sassafras leaves; pesto of lamb’s quarter and basil; garden salad with more lamb’s quarter and lettus, garnished with day lilies and monarda (left); and for dessert, juneberry-blackberry cobbler. Marc Williams, our favorite genius, is an ethnobotanist, teacher, chef, and farmer who went to Warren Wilson College and Appalachian State University. He is leading an online course that is donation based and based on the book Botany in a Day. Check it out!

One last story I’d like to tell is about a lunch our group shared in Brevard, NC at Fred and Elizabeth Bahnson’s homestead. Because our trip was sponsored by the Presbyterian Hunger Program, we often spent time with theologians and learned specifically about faith-based organizing around the local foods movement. The Bahnson couple, who are building an eco-house just up the hill from their gravity-fed edible forest and permaculture garden (idyllic, no?) are both theologians who met at Duke Divinity. My fellow roadtripper Bethel (her blog here) describes the Bahnson’s projects with detail:

Where the Bahnsons live is actually a microclimate in the midst of the mountains – a tropical rainforest, receiving nearly 80 inches of rain each year – as much as Seattle. As they build their new house, the Bahnsons have planned to harvest the rainwater, situating their catchment system on top of a hill – to gravity-feed to their biointesive growing beds. In addition to rainwater catchment, Fred has designed swales on the contour of the land to irrigate native fruit trees and prevent erosion on the steep slope on which their farm is southerly-facing. Other highlights of their farm-to-be are living mulches that fix nitrogen (lupine) and accumulate other deep nutrients (comfrey), as well as growing their own grains (Hopi blue corn for grinding). Elizabeth is currently dreaming of a goat dairy.

If you are interested in the connection between food and faith, check out an article Fred Bahnson co-wrote for the organization he founded, the Anathoth Community Garden. He points out, as many agrarian theologians do, that human and humus are not so far apart, a fact often supported by the Bible’s stories. The Bahnson’s are a living example of a desire to serve the soil rather than dominate it.

on "natural" meats and choosing local & organic

Guest post by Toxic Free NC volunteer Hayes Simpson.

I was forever changed a couple of weeks ago, and will henceforth always practice the “sniff test method” before I begin to cook any type of food with an expiration date!

Here's the story: I went food shopping on a Thursday, went out of town for the weekend, returned on a Sunday afternoon. Later in the afternoon, I chopped some onions, crushed some garlic cloves, and set out spices for the whole chicken that I intended to roast. I unwrapped the chicken, plopped it on a roasting pan while the oven preheated, and Whew! All of a sudden something was amiss; the air was thickening with a fetid odor that begged to be extinguished. First I ran to the bathroom, then to the shamed chicken, which I quickly double bagged and carried out to the garage. But, when I checked the slimy wrappings, the "sell by date" was for that very day!

For one thing, I probably should not have left uncooked chicken in the fridge for that long. Check out this Food Storage Guide. Fresh poultry is supposed to spend only one or two days in the fridge, oops! Us “master chefs” learn something new every day!

But here's a little more background on this chicken… I purchased it from a grocery store where I don't normally shop because they don't carry many organic products. But shop there I did, and seeing no great meat choices in the freezer section, I chose a whole chicken from behind the meat counter display case. It was labeled “natural” and had been produced on a “farm.” I think it was the word “natural” that sold me.

So, what does the label “natural” mean when it is applied to meat and poultry? The USDA says that meat and poultry labeled “natural” must not contain artificial flavoring, color ingredients, chemical preservatives, or artificial or synthetic ingredients, and can only be processed “minimally.” Really, the “natural” label refers to what happened to the animal product AFTER slaughter. This means that so-called "natural" products could contain pesticides, added hormones, or antibiotics! Pesticides and other pollutants build up in the fatty tissues of livestock that are exposed to them. When we consume animal products that have pesticides in them, those chemicals wind up in our own bodies. Unlike microbial contaminants, we can’t "kill" pesticides and other chemical pollutants by cooking them away. For more info on pesticides in food, go to: http://www.whatsonmyfood.org. It seems there could have been quite a few pesticides in that rotten chicken that I thankfully did not eat! (Maybe it was a blessing in disguise.) Too bad I can't "sniff test" for pesticides in my food!

We meat eaters do not have to abandon hope just yet, however! We have the option to shop for local, sustainably produced, pasture-raised animal products. Pasture-raised meat is leaner, higher in Omega-3s, has been shown to help lower LDL cholesterol levels, and is MUCH less likely to contain harmful bacteria and pesticides. This site provides a great summary of research on the health benefits of pasture-raised, "grass fed" meats.

Lucky for those of us in the Triangle area, we are surrounded by plenty of alternatives for purchasing healthy, sustainably-produced meat, poultry, and dairy products. A great resource is the Triangle Meat Buying Club. Members order their meats online from a local farm. Each month, participating farms are listed along with the products they offer. You place an order online, then simply pick up your order from the farmers at the designated pick-up site. This sounds sooo much more pleasant than scrutinizing labels in the meat department of a crowded grocery! And, you can’t beat getting to shake hands with the person who actually helped produce the meat that will soon be on your dinner plate. (The photo above is from one of the Triangle Meat Buying Club's suppliers, Coon Rock Farm in Hillsborough.)

For more information on pasture-based local producers look at the NC Choices site. Another idea to consider is joining a CSA Farm that offers meat, poultry, and/or dairy products. If you feel that this is too big of an expense, consider splitting the cost of a CSA share with a friend or family member. Personally, that is my plan. I was fortunate enough to visit a great CSA farm that specializes in pasture raised chicken. Check out the farm blog at: http://castlemainefarm.blogspot.com.

I know that I will feel much more comfortable adding wholesome, fresh chicken to my meal plans, perhaps some beef tenderloins for special occasions, and I can’t forget the delight of Sunday morning bacon. Perhaps my nose can relax now too!

not all germs are bad

Guest post by Toxic Free NC volunteer Andrea Restle-Lay, Moderator of Five Points of Raleigh CSA

Not all germs are our friends, it’s true, and they can turn into true enemies. It’s no wonder H1N1 swept us all into a panic!

I’ve heard lots of stories over the years: a neighbor has MS; my high school friend has celiac disease (a.k.a. gluten allergy); friends and relatives die of cancer; schoolmates started suffering sudden, life threatening peanut allergies and asthma; my own son picked up a cold which turned into an odd, barking cough that went on forever and was impervious to medications. My own research has shown that all these issues may be related to hyper-immunity, or the body’s immune system turning against itself. But why? What is wrong with everyone’s immune system all of a sudden?

One explanation comes from the Hygiene Hypothesis, developed after a failed experiment in Germany in the late 1990s. Dr. Erika Von Mutius hypothesized that children who grew up in poorer East Germany would be more likely to have asthma and allergies than those in wealthier West Germany. In fact, after reunification she discovered that exactly the opposite was true – children in East Germany were less likely to have asthma and allergies! So she developed a new theory – the hygiene hypothesis - that a child’s early contact with dirt, animals and other children exposes them to many microbes and allergens, and this helps their immune systems develop strong and healthy.

There has been much debate in the scientific literature since that time about the validity of this idea, and how exactly it works. There is such a thing as a good germ – in fact, there are billions of good bacteria at work in all of us, helping us to digest our food properly, heal from skin wounds, and more. Overdoing it on the antibacterial soaps, cleaners and sanitizers, not to mention antibiotics, may kill off too much good bacteria and throw our bodies out of whack. What’s more, antibacterial ingredients added to many household products are actually pesticides, with toxic effects on our health and on the environment. More about that in a previous blog post.

Opponents of the hygiene hypothesis point to inner-city populations in the US. Living in more crowded housing and spending more time in daycare should mean higher exposure to germs and lower risk of asthma and allergies for inner-city kids, right? But no, rates of asthma are in fact much higher than for other American children. However, inner-city kids may also face a lot of other exposures that increase their risk for respiratory illnesses – things like diesel exhaust, industrial pollution, and pesticides. Diet may also play a big role.

Some good sources to check out on this issue include:

Jessica Sachs’ Good Germs, Bad Germs: Health and Survival in a Bacterial World

Dirt’s good for kids from the Chicago Tribune

So what can we do as parents to raise healthy children free of immune diseases AND the flu?

1. Educate your children’s immune system every day by exposing your children to plenty of environmental nuances - (non-poisonous) backyard plants and flowers, fields of weeds and wildflowers, get a kiss from a neighbor’s well-behaved dog, investigate some bugs, pick up some earthworms. Feed your kids local honey every day after they reach one year of age. Let them get dirty and make mud pies in the backyard.
2. Wait to serve solid food until six months. Start with low allergy risk foods like sweet potatoes, oatmeal and apples but avoid things like eggs and nuts early on.
3. Flood those little bodies with healthy antioxidants to help their immune systems remain strong, especially after a cold or vaccination when young immune systems are most likely to overreact. A delicious organic berry and local honey yogurt smoothie or even chicken vegetable soup can do the trick!
4. Join a Local CSA farm and feed your family a variety of fresh, local, organic fruits and vegetables, serve uncooked foods when you can and visit the CSA farm so your kids can play in their dirt, too. (The photo above is of two very happy kids in the dirt at Killen Farms in Pittsboro, NC - courtesy of Jennifer and Jason Killen.) Take your children to the Farmer’s Market and let them try free samples whenever you can. Look on www.LocalHarvest.org for resources nearby.
5. Don’t use pesticides around children! No matter what you think about the hygiene hypothesis, know that the same argument does NOT apply to pesticides and other toxic chemicals. Children are more sensitive to health damage from pesticides and many other pollutants than adults are, so it’s extra important to keep their environments toxic-free. Try natural methods instead - you can get some ideas for least-toxic pest control methods from Toxic Free NC’s website.

You’re still allowed to make your children wash their hands when they get home from school, though, because not all germs are good germs, either!

Tips for Avoiding Genetically Modified Foods

Guest post by Toxic Free NC volunteer Hayes Simpson

For a long while now, I have carried around an index card in my wallet billfold, which contains a list handwritten by my own dear Mama. The list includes the top fruits and veggies to buy organic (as in the Shopper's Guide to Pesticides in Produce from Environmental Working Group). She also listed fish and shellfish that contain fewer toxins (as in the Seafood Selector from Environmental Defense Fund).

I’m sure that many of you are familiar with these lists and others like them, and they may have changed your buying habits in a big way, or maybe just when it comes to certain staple foods, such as apples, spinach, and potatoes. I'll admit that it was only once in a while that I remembered to check my Mama's list.

But another closely-related food issue has caused me to stop consuming sodas, and to “floor-it” when my stomach is grumbling and the golden arches are beckoning. I am talking about the unsavory subject of GMO’s which until recently brought to my mind visions of acres of picture-perfect, bright yellow, completely inedible corn, and futuristic, square watermelons stacked neatly into a towering pyramid for display purposes.

I was lucky enough to be introduced to some information that really helped me to put my limited knowledge about organic food shopping and genetically modified foods into context. It started when I was shown a clip from the film, Everything you HAVE TO KNOW about Dangerous Genetically Modified Foods.

I learned that, in fact, the crops that are most likely to be genetically modified are corn, soybeans, canola, and cotton. Very few fresh fruits and veggies sold in the U.S. currently are genetically modified, but did you know that there are dozens of common ingredients derived from the big four GM crops that may be genetically modified? In the words of my two year old, “Ewwwww!” So the best advice for keeping GMOs off your plate is to read labels, and know that anything containing one of these ingredients is questionable, unless of course the product is marked "certified organic" or "non-GMO."

The film explains that there are a some very serious health concerns about genetically modified ingredients, including the potential to cause allergies. More information is available at: http://www.responsibletechnology.org They also provide an excellent Non-GMO Shopping Guide (in case your Mama hasn’t already made you one.)

Good luck, and eat well!

America's Most Wanted Toxic Chemicals

by Andy Igriegas
Campaign Director, Safer Chemicals, Healthy Families
Reposted with permission

One way we'll know that Congress is serious about reforming the nation's chemical laws is by how they address a group of extremely dangerous chemicals that are the equivalent of the FBI's "Most Wanted" list: Persistent, Bioaccumulative Toxins or PBTs.

Some of the most notorious chemicals ever studied are PBTs - lead, PCBs, DDT, dioxin mercury, and cadmium. Many PBTs, including flame retardants and the stain-resistant perfluorinated chemicals (like PFOA used to make Teflon), are still found in products we use every day in our homes and places of work.

Persistent, toxic chemicals build up in our bodies and are passed on to the next generation. This is especially troubling to parents like Molly Gray, who want their children to have safe, happy and healthy lives that are free of toxic chemicals that may harm their health.

Molly's concern for this issue is deeply personal. Molly was part of a study that tested pregnant women for toxic chemicals; their developing babies were exposed to these chemicals during pregnancy.

Molly thought she'd test chemical-free because in the five years before becoming pregnant, Molly had done everything she could to reduce her exposure to toxic chemicals, including eating organic food, choosing low-mercury fish and avoiding personal care products with phthalates and fragrances.

Instead, despite taking precautions leading up to her pregnancy, Molly learned she had the highest levels of mercury – a PBT – of all the women tested in the study. And she tested above the national average for other chemicals tested, including phthalates, BPA, flame retardants, and "Teflon" chemicals.

We helped get Molly and her seven-month-old son Paxton to Washington, DC so she could tell Congress that what we don't know about toxic chemicals is harming real people, right now.

Senator Frank Lautenberg, who will soon introduce legislation to update the nation's chemical safety law, expressed concern, saying, " … in essence, the American public has become a living, breathing repository for chemical substances. And when the chemicals…show up on our children's bodies, we have a potentially dangerous situation."

The Safer Chemicals, Healthy Families coalition agrees with Senator Lautenberg. We believe it should be a no-brainer for Congress to put PBTs on a pathway to phase-out when it reforms
the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA).

Unfortunately, even no-brainer ideas have run into trouble recently, thanks to the lobbying efforts of the chemical industry. The chemical industry is trying to avoid action by convincing Congress that the right thing to do is to spend more years "studying" chemicals; chemicals that scientists have already shown to be notorious and dangerous.

Please write to your member of Congress to tell them that real TSCA reform will include taking immediate action to phase PBT chemicals out of commerce.

Research links Pesticides to Autoimmune Disease

Guest post by Toxic Free NC volunteer Amy Freitag.

Yet another reason to question use of pesticides in the home: it has recently been linked to autoimmune disorders such as rheumatoid arthritis and lupus. In a study presented at the American College of Rheumatology’s annual meeting earlier this year, researchers concluded that women who sprayed pesticides at least six times a year doubled their risk of autoimmune disease. This risk was the same whether the pesticide was applied professionally or not. Read the rest of the story here, but that’s not the beginning of the journey nor is it likely to be the end. A review published in 1988 summarized the effects of various chemicals, including pesticides on autoimmune response based on understanding at the time. The field has come a long way since then, but the basic link between the two was pretty well elucidated, even 20 years ago. The authors linked seven different types of autoimmune reactions to chemical exposures and suggested that genetic predisposition may lead some people to be more susceptible to environmental exposures than others.

Autoimmune responses in a nutshell describe the process of the body attacking and destroying healthy and important cells. It’s like sending the baby out with the bathwater, as the saying goes. The signaling pathway within the body that leads to the miscommunication is still not understood, and likely to be different depending on the person and the tissue attacked. Environmental exposures, however, are implicated as triggers. In the intervening twenty years since that first review, a flurry of articles have been published presenting mixed results on the link between chemical exposure and autoimmune response. Depending on the exposure and the target tissue, immune response could increased to unsafe levels, but could also be decreased or left the same. According to a review in 2002, the pesticides malathion, lindane, and aminocarb, cause an autoimmune reaction in both sheep and mice. The authors do caution the use of animal models, as their immune systems may react differently to exposures than humans, but they are the best model we have as scientists.

The only human study done to date involved a spill of the pesticide hexachlorobenzine (HCB) in Turkey, where residents near the spill showed a drastic increase in autoimmune disease. Compared to previous studies on HCB, humans showed a much more sensitive autoimmune response, suggesting that animal models may provide only a conservative estimate of which exposures will show an effect in humans.

Most people are left with this review of the medical literature with their head in a kind of cloud as to what the data are really showing. Since almost all studies show some effect of pesticides on autoimmune responses, the precautionary principle should be invoked. It’s another case of the need to limit exposure to chemicals that may cause devastating disease in the future, because you may be one of the lucky few with genetic resistance to autoimmune disease, but your loved ones might not be.

December 3, 1984

By guest blogger Allen Spalt

Today is the 25th anniversary of the disaster at Bhopal, India.

When the badly designed and improperly maintained chemical tank failed at the Union Carbide pesticide plant in Bhopal and sent a cloud of deadly methyl isocyanate (MIC) gas over the city killing thousands in the middle of the night, it was the world's works industrial "accident." It also poisoned thousands of others with health effects that linger today (for those who have survived that long).

For me, it is a strong reminder and impetus for our work. It was also totally unnecessary in at least two ways.

First, the pesticides being manufactured there, carbaryl (Sevin) and Aldicarb, can be made with a 'flow through' process that does not require the use of intermediate holding tanks for the MIC which is used in the manufacture of the final products. In fact, at the time, Bhopal's sister plant in Institute, West Virginia, did not contain such tanks. Better oversight and maintenance might have prevented the leaks, of course, but in fact the tanks were not even necessary. Just cheaper. So to save a few bucks on the process and on maintenance, Union Carbide risked the lives of tens of thousands.

Second, we work to promote alternatives which would make the manufacture of such deadly pesticides unnecessary. You don't need Sevin or Aldicarb or other similar deadly poisons in sustainable or organic agriculture. Every acre that is converted means fewer pounds of poison manufactured, sold, used, or disposed of. Fewer people at risk. Less residues in the water, soil, and food. Safer environments for our children and wildlife.

Someday it will be recognized that what has been called "conventional agriculture" for the last few decades was anything but. It is horribly out of sync with the tradition of agriculture over the centuries. With chemical intensive monocultures, it is depleting the soil and poisoning the water. It is not sustainable. The latest gasp of bioengineered crops, which promised more productivity and fewer chemicals, are proving to provide neither. They are less productive and require more herbicides and other pesticides. You know, if there is one thing the geniuses from Monsanto could select for besides Roundup-resistance, it would be greater productivity. But they haven't found it in any genetically engineered crop. More than a few critics from our side of the barn predicted this.

It is not a question of whether will we replace "conventional" agriculture with sustainable production, it is when. Otherwise we will not be sustained as a civilization.

Most indicators, fortunately, are not as dramatic as Bhopal, but they are pointing in our direction. I am proud to work with all of you on this important work to promote health and safety and to point the way to a sustainable future. Getting rid of pesticides is one important part of the struggle.

Union Carbide did not survive the aftermath of the incident, though it never paid fully for its responsibility. Its assets were sold. Work continues under other owners in RTP. The Bhopal plant was bought by Dow, which contends it has no responsibility to the victims.

On the tenth anniversary I was giving a workshop at a meeting in Atlanta and asked for a moment of silence for Bhopal. I was moved when one participant introduced himself as having grown up in Bhopal. He is one of three or four people I've met from there, the others are survivors of the disaster. Today I will take time out to remember them and others and rededicate to the task.

Join us in commemorating the Bhopal anniversary by taking action for justice in Bhopal.

Dow Shall Not Trespass

By guest blogger Gary Cohen, President and Co-founder of Health Care Without Harm - www.noharm.org

Twenty-five years ago, a Union Carbide pesticide factory exploded in Bhopal, India, releasing a toxic cloud that killed thousands in its wake. More than 8,000 people died within the first three days of the disaster, while more than 500,000 were exposed to toxic gases that invaded their lungs and spread throughout their bodies. For this reason, Bhopal has been called the Hiroshima of the Chemical Industry.

Twenty-five years later the abandoned factory has still not been cleaned up, but continues to leak poisons into neighborhood groundwater. A recent report by the Bhopal Medical Appeal found dangerous levels of heavy metals and persistent chemicals in the groundwater. Union Carbide executives have never been brought to trial in India, despite attempts by the Indian government to extradite them. And although Union Carbide was bought by Dow Chemical in 2001, the parent company claims no responsibility for cleaning up the mess left behind and has not submitted itself to the Indian criminal case. Rather than addressing its ongoing liabilities in Bhopal, Dow has spent tens of millions on its Human Element ad campaign, which portrays the chemical company as people-focused and caring.

The world has learned a lot about the chemical industry since the Bhopal disaster. We now know that many of the industry’s products are linked to a broad array of diseases in the general population, including asthma, cancer, birth defects, infertility, Parkinson’s disease, endometriosis, obesity and diabetes. Rather than internalizing the consequences of pollution, the industry has externalized health and social costs onto individuals and the American healthcare system, which is being crushed under the weight of ballooning costs, chronic disease and misaligned priorities.

We have also learned that we all carry the by-products of the chemical industry in our bodies. These toxins pass into us from the food we eat, through plastics in everyday consumer products, through building materials in our houses and offices, and through our water and air. The Centers for Disease Control has documented that the average American carries more than 100 toxic chemicals in his or her body. Plastic additives bisphenol A and phthalates, the pesticide 2,4 D, and shampoo additive 1,4 dioxane are among those Dow Chemical products found widely in many people’s bodies. Even children are being born pre-polluted, already filled up with a plethora of toxic chemicals that can act like ticking time bombs, triggering health impacts later in life. Without our knowledge and our consent, we and our children have become guinea pigs in an uncontrolled chemical experiment in which Dow and the other chemical companies are running.

Over the last twenty-five years, the Bhopal survivors’ plight and our own have become much more intertwined. We have all become united in a global web of chemical poisons. We have all been “branded” by the chemical industry, their signature chemicals coursing through our veins and building up in our fat tissue and other organs, whether we live in Bhopal or Baton Rouge.

Given the new political momentum in the country to address environmental issues, healthcare delivery and even corporate negligence, its time to stand up to the chemical contamination of the American people and reassert our basic human rights and religious values. As a society, we should guarantee every American child the right to be born free of industrial chemicals. And as a society committed to freedom, we should defend the freedom of women to breastfeed their infants without passing their life supply of toxic chemicals onto them. We all have a right to a toxics-free future. The laws in our country and at a global level should guarantee these rights and the environmental conditions for our health and wellbeing.

Farming American Dreams

In ‘Is Becoming a Farmer the New American Dream’, Makenna Goodman writes about the recent migration of scores of city dwellers to rural farms (herself included). She notes that among these new farmers are well-educated recent college graduates and even corporate bigwigs. Goodman questions why many with steady salaries are forfeiting them in favor of the unpredictability of the farm. She concludes that it is the desire for a greater connection with nature and a return to traditional values that is driving (via horse and buggy) so many into the agrarian lifestyle.

My father was born and raised on a farm in northeastern North Carolina, where he spent summers picking, sorting, carrying, and cleaning potatoes. As his son, I think about how our lives are so different even though we are only one generation apart. I often wonder how my character would differ if I had spent my childhood in fields of corn and cotton, rather than fields of soccer and baseball. What values I’d have if my Christmas bounty and family’s wealth were tied to Mother Nature’s weather and the crop’s health.

I regret not sharing Dad’s experiences as a kid, and feel disconnected with my ancestors and environment as a result. I question whether (and fear that) it is those things I do not share with my Dad that make him the man I so admire. But it was his wishes that led him to leave the farm, pursue other interests, and raise a family in an urban setting that he thought would best suit them. He followed the path of countless farm children before him, a path many city kids desire to take back.

Goodman includes in her article an excerpt from the Gene Logsdon book ‘Living at Nature’s Pace: Farming and the American Dream’. In the excerpt Logsdon acknowledges the rise of urban farming and community based food solutions. What is driving people back to farms is the recognition that there is a need for sustainable food systems, and that the solutions require great ingenuity. Where farms were once the places parents hoped their children would escape with the help of an education, they have now become the places where the educated are returning to craft inventive solutions that help us to escape from unsustainable consumption patterns.

For some inspiring and innovative farmers check out this New York Times Magazine article profiling Will Allen (who is coming to NC in November - visit http://cefs.ncsu.edu for more information!) and the slideshow below highlighting some of North Carolina’s very own up-and-coming farmers courtesy of Mule Magazine.

Questions about (Toxic) County Mosquito Control in Coastal NC

guest post by Amy Freitag

Glass of cold ice tea, hibiscus and green tea with just the slightest hint of lime. Check.

A good novel, one prepared to take me off to someone else’s world of romance and fantasy. Check.

Hammock, gently rocking in the wind, the taste of the air ever so slightly just flavored by the tomato plants nearby in full summer glory. Check.

I sat down, prepared to have a wonderful, relaxing afternoon to myself when I hear ‘bzzzzzt’. I would know that noise anywhere even if it weren’t directly in my ear. A mosquito.

‘Buzz, buzz, buzzzzzzut’. It tries again to get a good bite and then is joined by a friend. Great. So much for my afternoon.

I hate mosquitoes. I mean, who doesn’t? My afternoon scene isn’t foreign to anyone living in coastal North Carolina, that’s for sure. And apparently, this year’s the worst mosquito year in quite awhile, so the county has stepped up efforts to chemically decrease their numbers, as evidenced by the spray truck that comes by my house about once a week in the early morning under the banner of public health.

Wait, what?

As much as I hate mosquitoes, I’m not sure I’m ready to give in to the sacrifices of this practice that makes me think I’ve been surreptitiously transported back in time to a bygone era. One before Rachel Carson, the EPA, and the general understanding that pesticides are dangerous and should be handled with care.

So what about the cloud of chemical smoke that graced my porch this morning? Did I just become consumed in my little life bubble and miss the announcement that the county was spraying? Or was it really not announced? Did I ever have the chance of voicing concern over the practice?

A little bit of internet searching later, I found the section of the local government responsible for making such decisions: the Carteret County Mosquito Control Division, linked to Animal Control (yep, not linked to the state’s departments in charge of agriculture or pesticides, but entirely under local control). A quick call to their offices asking about the spraying I had observed that morning yielded the following information:

1. mosquito control is done entirely on a county level, though practices are fairly standard and haven’t changed over the last couple of decades
2. the control program uses a combination of sprays and pellets distributed in roadside ditches
3. the following brands are used: Aqua-Reslin, Altosid SBG, Aquabac XT, and Altosid briquettes.

She asked if I had any more questions, but not wanting to get on my activist high-horse quite yet, I politely said no and hung up the phone.

After a bit more time poking around the manufacturers’ websites (www.backedbybayer.com, www.altosid.com, and www.teamaquafix.com), I could identify the active ingredients and start connecting them to other information I knew in terms of impacts to human health and the environment. Like other chemicals, these pesticides are required to have a comprehensive label describing all the potential risks that come along with use and giving specific directions for proper handling in order to minimize those risks. This sheet was a good first stop for information – these sheets are federally required and under strict federal oversight to report all known risks. All of the products said to wash eyes or exposed skin for 15 minutes and to contact poison control if swallowed (do not induce vomiting or give them water). Here’s more specifics from what the labels say, my reactions and comments follow:

• Aqua-Reslin: Active ingredients are permethrin and piperonyl butoxide. It’s intended to be a space spray for adult mosquitoes. It is not to be applied within 100 feet of lakes and streams and exposed drinking water (such as fountains or cattle troughs). My favorite is the environmental hazards section: “This pesticide is extremely toxic to fish and aquatic invertebrates. Do not apply directly to water, to areas where surface water is present or to intertidal areas below the mean high water mark… This pesticide is highly toxic to bees exposed to direct treatment on blooming crops or weeds. Do not apply this product or allow drift when bees are actively visiting the treatment area.”
• Altosid SBG/briquettes: Active ingredient is s-methoprene, designed to kill larvae as dosed in their breeding pools. They mention no particular risks other than “do not contaminate water when disposing of rinsate or equipment washwaters”.
• Aquabac xt: Active ingredient is Bacillus thuringiensis, a bacteria that kills larvae of a wide variety of insects. They include the same statement about contaminating water as Altosid. These directions seem innocuous enough, easy to follow, and targeted at the nuisance. However, upon closer examination of the coastal environment upon which these chemicals are being applied yields a number of questions followed by surprise that these chemicals are standard practice considering the total effects.

First, we assume the good sense of the applicators and people exposed to the spray to give themselves the 15 minute shower flush and maybe even check in with poison control, consequently avoiding direct exposure the next time. There are even classes for applicators to take from EPA to minimize their risk of exposure. However, the labels give no information on the length of time after application the chemicals remain active. What if I had not noticed the truck go by at 7am and then sat down on the porch swing at 7:15am to enjoy my breakfast? What kind of exposure did I just put myself through?

Second, I’d like to tackle the 100 feet of lakes and streams directive. I live pretty close to the center of a fairly small island, surrounded by water on all sides just a few blocks from my house. Presumably, also, the spraying truck also covered the streets closest to the estuaries where some of the densest housing is located. Did they stay 100 feet from bodies of water that contain productive fisheries? Not if they went over a bridge.

Third, related to the question of bees. Most people by now have heard of colony collapse disorder (CCD) occurring across the country in honeybee colonies. These colonies are critical to agriculture, bringing pollen to stamens everywhere and allowing us to enjoy squash, tomatoes, eggplant, apples, peaches, and the list goes on. I’ve personally noticed a lack of honeybees in my personal garden this summer, rendering my beautiful vegetable plants sterile. I’ve even tried to do the job myself, out in the early morning with a q-tip trying to think like a hungry bee, but to no avail. I’ve had one tomato out of a plot of 3 tomato plants, 4 squash, 4 eggplants, and a more wildflowers than I can count. CCD (see http://www.oardc.ohio-state.edu/agnic/bee/ccd.htm for more information) is as of yet unascribed to any particular cause, but I have my guesses.

Finally, the more general point about “do not contaminate water” with the anti-larvals. Although this sounds simple, a couple of considerations may require a second thought. The area is comprised of soil made up almost entirely of sand, which allows water, pesticides, and any other runoff to directly enter the drinking water supply that sits directly below our island. Also, the tablets are applied to roadside ditches and puddles that connect directly to…you guessed it, bodies of water! Work by Costlow and Bookhout, professors at the Duke Marine Lab, in the 1970’s established that methoprene and permethrin directly kill blue crabs, shrimp, and other invertebrates in the estuaries. This not only disrupts the ecology of the estuaries (which, incidentally are federally protected preserves, the Rachel Carson Estuarine Research Reserve and the Lookout National Seashore), but directly costs the area jobs in terms of declining fisheries.

I encourage everyone to look into their local pest control programs and find out what the operating practices are. You might just be surprised.

guest post by Amy Freitag

Even Colbert is getting nervous about endocrine disruptors

guest post by Toxic Free NC volunteer Lowell Wood

A few weeks back I was watching The Colbert Report, when the only anchor I trust to give me the news (Stephen Colbert) sat down with New York Times op-ed columnist Nicholas Kristof. Kristof addressed how the endocrine disrupting chemicals found in pesticides and other agricultural and consumer products are deforming wildlife living in polluted watersheds.

In the video below, Kristof manages to excite Colbert with mention of male genital deformation. Before the interview completely deteriorates into potty humor and genital jokes (like all Colbert's interview inevitably do), Kristof manages to convey the growing concern many environmental scientists have with the abundance of endocrine disruptors.

(Warning: video contains potty humor and genital jokes as referenced above - sensitive audiences please beware!)

The Colbert Report	Mon - Thurs 11:30pm / 10:30c
Nicholas Kristof
www.colbertnation.com
Colbert Report Full Episodes Political Humor Jeff Goldblum

A week prior to Kristof's appearance on the Colbert Report, he published an op-ed column in the New York Times on the same topic. In the article, he discusses a recent scientific statement from The Endocrine Society which cites mounting evidence that endocrine disrupting chemicals are having negative effects on our health, and urges increased precaution. Kristof goes into detail in the article about the chemicals' disruptive effects on reproduction and growth in animals, and the growing evidence that endocrine disruptors are negatively effecting humans as well.

This reminds me of our old friend Tyrone Hayes and his astounding work on hermaphrodism in frogs caused by the herbicide atrazine and other chemical pollutants.

Articles and videos like these underline the importance of environmentally sustainable practices in all fields; whether they be the products we use and interact with daily, or the less visible ones a few steps removed from us, like the pesticides used on the foods we buy. Information like this inspires me to raise awareness about how our actions are harming not only the world around us, but us human beings as well. It also encourages me to use the power I have as a consumer to change these evil ways by purchasing organic goods.

Join me! Watch the video, read the article, take action, and make change! Check out Toxic Free NC's website for ideas to help you get started, or call our office at 919-833-1123 to get more involved.

FOOD, INC - A Film Review

Food, Inc - a documentary on the American Food System - will be opening in select cities around the country this summer, including Raleigh's Colony Theater on July 17th. Here's a review of the film from a Toxic Free NC volunteer, who saw the film this week in Texas.

Guest post by Ronald Wade.

There are simply not a lot of documentaries that capture and hold my attention. So, when I went to the screening of Food, Inc this week and the “shorts” and “previews” started, I paid attention thinking that at least I could be entertained by the trailers. And, I’d have something interesting to pass on after I did the compulsory words to the readers about how the director could have done a (fill in the blank) job while doing the (fill in the blank).

But, surprise! The absolute only negative thing that I can pass on was that it should have been twice as long. So, you won’t even get to know what the previews were since I’ll use the rest of the space to tell you what you’ll miss if you don’t see this MUST SEE film.

The documentary is not about the roaches in the restaurants and has very little about the unsanitary conditions of processing and packing plants, although it does exist. It doesn’t even dwell on excessively on the safety in the industry for the workers or the misuse of pesticides and chemicals; they are however mentioned as a by-product of the main theme.

Oh yes, the Main Theme: in our quest for fast, economical, and easy to prepare food, industry has stepped up to the challenge and provided us with the answer. Food production is controlled by a few very large organizations that have the ear and seats in government to ensure that farm subsidies can continue to provide profits in their pockets while producing products that are the unhealthiest in generations.

The film takes you thorough industrial mechanization where chickens are engineered to be the same size, weight, and consistency in order to facilitate production. It doesn’t matter that the animal can’t support its own weight and wallows around in the filth until sent to market. The film exposes you to the reality of corn fed beef, which produces bacteria within the animal which in turn produces toxicity for us when processed. Oh but they have developed ammonia baths that can kill the bacteria before it gets to us. Just what I wanted, cooking an ammoniated hunk of meat on the grill on Sunday.

One of the vitally important sub-themes to the film that will be of interest to each of you who regularly read this blog will be the emphasis put on buying organically produced and locally grown food.

Be prepared to hear about how toothless the regulatory agencies are in the face of what big business is doing. Be prepared to hear about the ruthless nature of a seed company that controls 90% of the soybean market because of patents that they hold on the seed, preventing anyone from competing in the market. Be prepared for how companies will help the government fulfill illegal immigrant quotas in return for quid pro quo of no raids on the production plants for the illegals.

Be prepared to hear how food is engineered to make us happy. Interestingly the point is made that salt, fat, and sugar occur in non-engineered and non-industrially produced natural environments in small percentage quantities. However since these are also foods that stimulate our brain's pleasure points, you will learn how those ingredients are leveraged in the foods we buy thus creating an appetite for more.

Be prepared to hear a mother tell the story of Kevin who went from being a healthy young boy on vacation, and 3 hamburgers later is being mourned because he was the victim of e-coli that shut down his vital functions in only 12 days. You'll hear her describe the tribulations of her advocacy work, trying to make the industry safer for all of us.

You’ll walk away understanding his SIMPLE solutions have their origins in our agricultural history. The movie will prepare you for the future battle: “The consumer’s right to know what is in their food.”

Watch a trailer or find out more at these websites:
Food, Inc - the movie website
The Humane Society
Review from The Chicago Tribune
Eating in Raleigh, NC - a North Carolina Perspective

Note: You’ll want to use caution when attending with children. There are graphic scenes that would have been disturbing to my family members had they decided to go to the matinee with me.

How an herbicide in "organic" compost is destroying organic soils - A cautionary tale.

Guest post by Bruce Olive, hobby gardener, Olive Farms in Orange County, NC.

On February 9, 2009, Dow Chemical registered the website URL www.BanAminopyralid.com. They haven’t developed a website yet, just purchased the domain and squatted on it. Kind of strange for the company who actually makes a product called Aminopyralid. For those of you who are not farmers or gardeners, the word Aminopyralid most likely has no meaning. But for UK gardeners last year, and for many US gardeners this year, this hormonal herbicide used to kill weeds in hay and straw fields has become a nightmare.

Early signs of aminopyralid poisoning include leaf cupping, fernlike growth, and twisted vines. Photo by Bruce Olive.

Here’s the deal. In the tightly knit coven of commercial chemical and seed producers (often one and the same), agricultural extension services and growers/producers, “programs” is how the work of the farm gets done. A “program” consists of soil amendments, herbicides, pesticides and seed stock genetically modified to flourish in this chemical bath. You plant the right seed, you spray the right chemicals, and everything comes up roses. But unintended consequences have a strange way of showing up where you least expect them. Take the case of Aminopyralid for example. You get a great yield of hay and straw with the “program”, using Dow herbicide products such as Grazon and Forefront. You sell the beautiful, thistle-free, weed-free straw and hay to local horse and cattle farms, who are totally pleased with the thistle-free product. The horses and cows eat the hay, and bed on the straw. You compost their manure and the straw bedding, let it cook for a year or so, and then sell it to compost packagers and vegetable gardeners as “organic” compost, just the way you always have. But you don’t have any idea the compost contains a toxic herbicide with a 533 day half-life. Then the local extension service begins to get calls about twisted tomato vines with curly leaves, wilting eggplant, and droopy potato plants. Strawberry producers loose a season’s crop. Suburban gardeners report wilting zinnias.

And then you suddenly realize that the herbicide was in the manure, passed on through the animals, and has now contaminated the soil. And may continue to contaminate the soil for years to come. Recently pulled by Dow from the UK market due to its devastating impact on vegetable and flower gardeners, the true impact of Aminopyralid is only just now being felt in the US. While there were some reports of impact last year, it seems to be in the application of aged compost this year that is being felt on a growing basis. We appear to be running a year behind the UK in our cycle, but the spring of 2009 will be remembered by many local farmers and market gardeners as the “Spring of Aminopyralid”, and the cascade of unintended consequences that followed its use. Soil remediation is possible but can take several years. For certified organic farms this contamination will be treated as “an act of God,” so they will not lose their certification but will lose the infected land until it can be remediated.

So when Dow registered www.BanAminopyralid.com back in February of this year, they were undoubtedly expecting someone else to want to register it shortly after. Or perhaps they were simply being good corporate citizens, preempting the public outcry. Where this will go is anybody’s business. Being America, the likelihood of a class action lawsuit is probably greater than the likelihood of a ban on the chemical. In the meantime, beware of putting any manure-based compost on your garden, whether from a big box store in a plastic bag or from a local farmer in the back of a truck. Not to place any blame, but to understand that folks may not even know their compost is toxic. Test all compost and manure with small plantings BEFORE you apply to your garden. Unlike herbicides such as Roundup, the hormonal herbicide lets the plant grow for quite a while before destroying it. What looks like a curly leaf virus or aphid problems may not be what you think it is.

Our own garden is ruined for this year, with hundreds of greenhouse raised seedlings destroyed. We are currently remediating this land following directions from the Rodale Institute. Not to be defeated, we have in the meantime plowed up another patch and put it behind some electric fence.


The first step in remediation is don’t give up – plant a new garden with a deer fence!

By all means, continue to buy local, but buyer beware….the Dow slogan "bringing good things to life" is not necessarily referring to the life of the things in your deer protected patch of Piedmont heaven.

Food Safety Bills in Congress

Guest post by Toxic Free NC volunteer Christopher Grohs.

US Representative Rosa DeLauro (D-CT) has issued a proposal for revamping the current Food and Drug Administration (FDA) that’s causing an uproar among advocates of organic farming, and has generated a lot of chain emails about protecting organic farms. The proposal would split the FDA into two separate groups, establishing a new Food Safety Administration. With all the recent outbreaks of salmonella and food contamination, it’s of little surprise that Americans are pushing for stricter regulations and greater accountability in the food production sector. Though the bill is coming from a place of concern for food safety, some advocates for organic farming contend it contains many provisions that could be detrimental to small-scale organic farmers.

According to Gov Track's article on HR 875, the Food Safety Modernization Act of 2009, the bill will “establish the Food Safety Administration within the Department of Health and Human Services to protect the public health by preventing food-borne illness, ensuring the safety of food, improving research on contaminants leading to food-borne illness, and improving security of food from intentional contamination, and for other purposes.” To accomplish these goals, the government will increase its power and presence over the food industry by giving a newly created Food Safety Administration control over all farms, which will be reclassified as “Food Production Facilities.”

The proposed regulations appear to be prohibitively hard for small farmers to comply with, and so would favor massive, corporate factory farms. Organic farming advocates argue that the string of food safety scares in the US are the result of mishandling by large, corporate agricultural facilities and not small-scale organic farmers, so why punish them?

Interestingly, Elanor over at The Ethicurean reports that HR875 isn't moving much in Congress, but meanwhile several other food safety proposals might be bigger threats. Read her post here.

Whatever the case may be with these different proposals flying around Capitol Hill, it's clear that most would, in effect, put a small band-aid on a huge problem. The current commercial food system is a failure on food safety, and on many other fronts as well: labor rights, sustainability, humane treatment of animals, public health and more. We won't achieve food safety without a significant overhaul.

With our new, more food-minded administration in the White House and the USDA, we can't let our guard down. Rather, we must redouble our efforts to support our local farmers, talk to our neighbors about supporting organics, and let our state and federal representatives hear that local and sustainable farming is important to us.

Government report slams EPA for poor regulation of chemicals

Guest post by Toxic Free NC volunteer Christopher Grohs.

The financial meltdown isn’t the only crisis resulting from poor government regulation facing the American public right now.

In its 2009 High Risk priority report released January 22, the US Government Accountability Office (GAO) sharply criticized the US Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) track record of safety testing for hazardous chemicals. This includes, of course, pesticides, which EPA is charged with regulating.

Recent articles from the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel and AScribe Newswire explain the numerous problems the EPA has had providing accurate and timely information to the American public. From the Journal-Sentinel article:

"The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) lacks adequate scientific information on the toxicity of many chemicals that may be found in the environment - as well as on tens of thousands of chemicals used commercially in the United States," the GAO said. "EPA's inadequate progress in assessing toxic chemicals significantly limits the agency's ability to fulfill its mission of protecting human health and the environment."

(...)

"The EPA's ability to protect public health and the environment depends on credible and timely assessments of the risks posed by toxic chemicals, the GAO found. Its Integrated Risk Information System, which contains assessments of more than 500 toxic chemicals, "is at serious risk of becoming obsolete because the EPA has been unable to keep its existing assessments current or to complete assessments of important chemicals of concern."

The EPA urgently needs to streamline and increase the transparency of this assessment process, the report says."

Weaknesses in EPA's system of chemical regulation ultimately hurt American families who are exposed to a plethora of toxic chemicals through their use of everyday household products - pesticides, cleaners, plastics, cosmetics, and more. The public is also exposed to a variety of chemicals in our food, water and air because of their use in agriculture and industry.

For tips on how to reduce your exposure to pesticides and other toxics at home, from eating locally to staving off annoying bugs, check out the many resources available on our website. Toxic Free NC provides useful information for parents, resources for getting involved in the pesticide-free movement and a list of toxins commonly used on our crops (so you can make the healthier decisions!).

Gulf War Syndrome is real, and was caused (at least in part) by exposure to pesticides

A new report linking exposure to two chemicals with Gulf War syndrome was recently presented to the US Secretary of Veterans Affairs. One was a drug given to soldiers to protect against nerve gas, and the other a pesticide applied to protect against sand fleas. According to the authors of an article that appeared in November in the LA Times, titled Report to Congress: Gulf War Syndrome is Real, this latest report to Congress contradicts nearly two decades of government denials that the syndrome is real.

Dr. Beatrice Golomb is an associate professor at the UCSD School of Medicine who headed up the team that worked on the report to Congress. She links the chronic fatigue, severe muscle pain, memory loss and other illnesses that about 250,000 Persian Gulf War veterans are experiencing to the drug pyridostigmine bromide they were given to protect against nerve gas attacks, and exposure to organophosphate pesticides.

It is really frightening to know that many organophosphate insecticides are still registered for use in the United States. These powerful nerve poisons are closely related in chemical structure to sarin and other nerve gases used as chemical weapons. For more information about organophosphate pesticides and what you can do to help get them off the market, check out PANNA's campaign on organophosphates.

- Guest post by Toxic Free NC volunteer Sylvia Durell

Sustainable Holidays: Minimize the Meat

The holidays can get stressful. Whether driving long distances to see family and friends, preparing a meal for 10 or just trying to find a gift for everyone on your list, the holiday season can be hard work!

All of the above examples actually come from my festive woes for the upcoming holiday. This year, I plan on trekking the 500 miles to my parent’s house by car and cooking a dinner for the whole family; the perfect gift will be a successful run at both pursuits. As I plan out the dinner to satisfy all the different tastes of my family members, which now range from vegans to hearty meat eaters, I find myself wondering what to make for the centerpiece, the main dish. Years ago, I would have made some type of roast, or possibly a glazed ham. Probably not turkey; as my Dad was never a fan. Now, though, it’s proving much harder to decide.

The more I learn about the meat industry, the less I want a roast to sit at the center of my table, let alone the center of a family member’s stomach. Nothing says love and care like hormone-injected beef or some factory farmed chicken, right? So where does this leave me, and all the others staring at the hole in the table? It leaves us with a chance to reevaluate our eating habits and bring fresh ideas on food into the new year.

More than two years ago, I made a big step toward a healthier lifestyle by choosing to give up meat all together. During this time, I learned the value of spices and the immense variety of vegetables and fruits we can enjoy. It also gave me more respect for the farmers that grow it and a careful eye for picking out the best produce. It brought me to farmer’s markets in mid-summer to pick the juiciest heirloom tomatoes and showed me how to create something delicious when someone handed me a rutabaga. The journey brought me many places and my views changed constantly, evolving with all that I learned. One thing that has consistently resonated within me is a deep respect for life and a strong connection to the Earth. This respect has made me rethink the role of meat in our diets, at the center of our tables and as the largest portion on our plates.

Americans eat far too much meat without even realizing it. A turkey isn’t a turkey anymore, it’s a package of deli slices for lunch; chicken is drenched in BBQ sauce and conveniently microwaved for dinner. Stopping to think how much meat the typical American eats in a given day, let alone the whole week, is absurd. Meat prices are so artificially low that we can enjoy our favorite dishes everyday instead of reserving them for special occasions - like the holidays. Meat should be regarded as a delicacy, honoring the life that was given so you may enjoy it. It used to be a smaller part the meal. It wasn’t the whole dinner and it certainly wasn’t the meat most of us know today.

So this year, as you stare at the hole in your holiday table, think of what you are thankful for. Think of what you are celebrating or whom you are honoring. If you do eat meat, respect the animal and yourself enough to buy it from a local farmer who raised it on open pastures instead of in a CAFO (Concentrated Animal Feeding Operation). Check out LocalHarvest.org to find a farm near you. And make sure to try out some new recipes like the ones below. I can personally attest to the harvest stuffed squash from chooseveg.com; it was a big hit during Thanksgiving!

Alternative holiday recipes:
http://www.chooseveg.com/stuffed-acorn-squash.asp

A complete vegetarian Christmas dinner:
http://www.theveggietable.com/recipes/christmas.html

- Guest post by Christopher Grohs, Toxic Free NC Volunteer

Why I am thankful this year

Here is some good news for you: our President-elect reads. And it is a possibility that he reads this very blog. In a recent interview with Time Magazine reporter Joe Klein, Barack Obama mentions having read Michael Pollan's letter to the next Farmer-in-chief in the New York Times Magazine. How did Obama find out about the article? Surely, he has been reading Fair Ground posts.

And not only that, an ABC News article released today about Barack Obama's new White House Budget director, Peter Orszag, contains this quote from the President-elect:

"There's a report today that from 2003 to 2006, millionaire farmers received $49 million in crop subsidies, even though they were earning more than the $2.5 million cutoff to qualify for such subsidies. If this is true, it is a prime example of the kind of waste I intend to end as president."

It seems that Barack Obama has also been studying up on U.S. Farm Policy. It is true that since World War II, subsidies for farmers have focused on commodity farmers; those who raise vast quantities of corn, wheat, and soy, for example. A myopic intensity of increasing productivity while making food as cheap as possible has lead to the predominance of monoculture (one crop) industrial agriculture. Over the years, fewer and fewer farmers have grown more and more of one thing, with those singular crops traded on global markets, throw in big subsidies, and that's how you get millionaire farmers. Not very many of them, of course.

So thanks, President-elect Obama, for your recent reads. While I've got your attention, sir, I would direct you and our other Fair Ground readers to the USDA's article U.S. Farm Policy: The First 200 Years (pdf, 83 KB). I hope everyone enjoys the fruits of their harvest this Thanksgiving!

-Guest post by Kate Pattison, Toxic Free NC volunteer

Pollan's letter to the next Farmer-in-Chief

In last week’s issue of the New York Times Magazine, Michael Pollan, the UC Berkeley professor, journalist, and best-selling author of The Omnivore’s Dilemma, scribed an open letter to the next president of the United States, or as Pollan terms it, the Farmer in Chief.

Since beginning a study of Sustainable Agriculture at Central Carolina Community College, I have become keenly aware of the breakdown of the U.S. food system and crisis we are facing as a nation. I hope John McCain and Barack Obama have had the chance to read Pollan’s letter, because it is not only the American food system that’s under threat. Pollan’s letter offers up solutions to fix our food system, as well as the obesity crisis, climate change, national security threats, and our addiction to foreign oil.

Think about it this way: since the end of World War II, U.S. Agriculture has focused largely on producing the greatest volume of commodity crops possible. These crops - wheat, soy and corn - trickle down to U.S. consumers as foodstuffs in the form of over-processed, barely recognizable, pre-packaged snacks and meals. It has been relatively cheap to produce food in this way because oil used to be so cheap. Oil, not just for fueling tractors, is also the basis of petrochemical fertilizers and pesticides, which are used in incredible tonnages to continually turn out the greatest quantity of the largest possible crops.

Now that we face a crisis in the price of oil, the rest of the world is facing a crisis in obtaining cheap food. At home, our overly-centralized, large-scale agricultural system pumps out foods which are all too vulnerable to bioterrorism. Even if the food supply were better protected, the nutritional quality and long-term safety of consumption is at question. Pollan cites Centers for Disease Control numbers that estimate that one in three American children will develop Type 2 Diabetes, a disease which can result in blindness, amputation of a limb, and early death -- and which is also 100% preventable.

The solution? Pollan urges the next president of the United States to view agriculture, specifically sustainable agriculture, as one solution that can help eradicate obesity, climate change, terrorist threats to our food supply, and our oil addiction. Sustainable Agriculture is based on three main tenets: that farming should benefit of the farmer, the community, and the environment. Pollan’s application of community-based sustainable farming principles to much larger, national threats is elegant and sensible.

Pollan envisions the First Family leading the charge by installing a White House farmer, complete with a productive five-acre garden on the White House lawn. Recipes and gardening tips could be posted and shared on their website. The president, Pollan says, can appeal to all parts of the political spectrum in embracing sustainable food, whether encouraging hunters to supply their families with wild meats, or aiding evangelicals and lefty environmentalists alike who seek alternatives to the fast food diet. As with the Victory Gardens of World War I, we can take control of our food sources and our communities, and face down economic, health, and energy disasters around the dinner table.

- by Kate Pattison, Guest blogger and Toxic Free NC volunteer