Become More Self-Reliant – Start Here

Self- sufficient – Self-reliant – Homesteading

For the majority of the American population, these terms probably conjure images of ’60′s hippies, rugged mountain men or perhaps Little House on the Prairie.  For me, it’s all about simply taking more personal responsibility and control of caring for my family.  I am tired of big corporations and big government dictating my health and food choices.  I believe we need, as a country, as communities and as individuals to develop our own resources, not be dependent on some foreign power that may pull the plug at any time.

When you can provide for yourself, and become more self-reliant, even in a small way, it gives you a feeling of empowerment, which often transfers to the rest of your life.  You don’t have to rely on experts to make your decisions for you.  You can help your body to heal.  We’re here to help.  Through this website, through our Facebook community, and through our network of resources that we’re continuing to build, we’ll help you get the information you need.

Small Steps Lead to Big Changes, Personal Growth

Ben Franklin made up a list of 13 virtues that he aspired to, and worked on one each day, until they became habit.  The Japanese concept of “kaizen” translates to “continuous improvement”.  It involves taking small steps, every day, to make a process better.  Take these time tested approaches and use them to change your world.

Make a List of Changes You Would Like to Make, Things You Would Like to Do, Skills You Would Like to Learn

Pick one thing off the list – start there.  Don’t go for “all or nothing” – that usually winds up being “nothing”.  Don’t put off starting until this or that happens – there will always be a reason not to get started.  Don’t think you can’t be a homesteader or more self-reliant because you live in the city – urban homesteading options are growing by leaps and bounds.

For instance, if you wanted to improve the quality of food your family eats, you might start with replacing a single prepackaged food item with a homemade version of that item.   Continue until most things you eat are homemade or better quality pre-made.  Eat out less (or not at all).  Source your ingredients closer to home, either via CSA, farmer’s market or growing your own.  Add more veggies to your family’ meals.  Ditch the highly processed snack foods.  Buy in bulk and learn how to store foods. Experiment with fermenting.  Try sprouting.   – As you can see, there are many steps you can take, you just need to choose what’s right for you and try it.

Read more here

The Russians Prove Small Scale Organic CAN Feed the World

If you’ve already been through an economic collapse, you might know a thing or two about how to feed your family with little money. More importantly, you might know how to do it without pesticides, herbicides, fungicides, and GMO seed. On a total of about 20 million acres managed by over 35 million Russian families, Russians are carrying on an old-world technique, which we Americans might learn from. They are growing their own organic crops - and it’s working.

According to some statistics, they grow 92% of the entire countries’ potatoes, 77% of its vegetables, 87% of its fruit, and feed 71% of the entire population from privately owned, organic farms or house gardens all across the country. These aren’t huge Agro-farms run by pharmaceutical companies; these are small family farms and less-than-an-acre gardens.

A recent report from Agro-ecology and the Right to Food says that organic and sustainable small-scale farming could double food production in the parts of the world where hunger is the biggest issue. Within five to 10 years we could see a big jump in crop cultivation. It could also take the teeth out of GMO business in the US.

Read more here

Asia curbs US imports of wheat after genetically modified sample found

Billions in food exports at stake following disclosure by US Department of Agriculture of the existence of the GM wheat.

The discovery of rogue genetically modified wheat in a farmer's field in Oregon shook global confidence in the safety of America's food supply on Friday.

Billions in food exports were potentially at stake following the disclosure by the US Department of Agriculture of the existence of the GM wheat plants.

The GM variant, developed by the agricultural giant Monsanto, has never been approved for human consumption.

The discovery in Oregon, about a decade after field trials ended in that state, raised concerns among the main buyers of America's wheat abroad, as well as an increasingly active GM movement at home.

The European Union advised member states on Friday to test some wheat shipments from the US. The EU imports more than 1.1m tonnes of wheat a year.

Asia was also shutting its doors to American wheat imports. South Korea, which last year imported half of its wheat from the US, cancelled imports, following Japan's lead. Thailand puts its ports on alert. China and the Philippines said they were closely watching the USDA's investigations into the GM escape.

Read more here

Gut Reaction: Stress, Genetically Modified Food, Gastrointestinal Disorders And Possible Cures

All of your feelings create physiological changes, and stress is no exception. While under stress, your heart rate can go up, your blood pressure may rise, and blood is shunted away from your midsection, going to your arms, legs, and head for quick thinking, fighting, or fleeing. 

This is meant to be a temporary response to help with survival, but when stress becomes chronic, as it is the case for millions of people reading this, it can pull the rug out from beneath your health, wreaking havoc on your gut and digestive health.

How Stress Impacts Your Gut:

The stress response causes a number of detrimental events in your gut, including:

• Decreased nutrient absorption
• Decreased oxygenation to your gut
• As much as four times less blood flow to your digestive system, which leads to decreased metabolism
• Decreased enzymatic output in your gut – as much as 20,000-fold!

But that's not all.  

In a very real sense you have two brains, one inside your skull and one in your gut. Interestingly, these two organs are actually created out of the same type of tissue. 

During fetal development, one part turns into your central nervous system while the other develops into your enteric nervous system.  

These two systems are connected via the vagus nerve, the tenth cranial nerve that runs from your brain stem down to your abdomen.  

This "brain-gut axis" is what connects your two brains together, and explains why you get butterflies in your stomach when you're nervous, for example.  

Likewise, stress results in alterations of your brain-gut connection, which can contribute to or directly cause numerous gastrointestinal disorders, including:

Read more here

Genetically modified food
Digestive Problems And GM Wheat
Acupuncture & Chinese Medicine And Crohn's Disease
The use of Peppermint to soothe an upset stomach or to aid digestion
Anti-inflammatory, anti- bacterial, and anti-viral actions of the Aloe Vera plant
TrutherGirl Sonia: Crohn's Disease Natural Treatments and Possibly Even Cure
Anti Inflammatory Foods – List Of 63 Foods To Choose From For Natural Healing

Student science experiment finds plants won't grow near Wi-Fi router

Ninth-graders design science experiment to test the effect of cellphone radiation on plants. The results may surprise you.

Five ninth-grade young women from Denmark recently created a science experiment that is causing a stir in the scientific community.  

It started with an observation and a question. The girls noticed that if they slept with their mobile phones near their heads at night, they often had difficulty concentrating at school the next day. They wanted to test the effect of a cellphone's radiation on humans, but their school, Hjallerup School in Denmark, did not have the equipment to handle such an experiment. So the girls designed an experiment that would test the effect of cellphone radiation on a plant instead.  

The students placed six trays filled with Lepidium sativum, a type of garden cress into a room without radiation, and six trays of the seeds into another room next to two routers that according to the girls calculations, emitted about the same type of radiation as an ordinary cellphone.

Read more here

What Plants Talk About - Full Length Documentary

This program integrates hard-core science with a light-hearted look at how plants behave, revealing a world where plants are as busy, responsive and complex as we are. From the stunning heights of the Great Basin Desert to the lush coastal rainforests of west coast Canada, scientist J.C. Cahill takes us on a journey into the "secret world of plants," revealing an astonishing landscape where plants eavesdrop on each other, talk to their allies, call in insect mercenaries and nurture their young. It is a world of pulsing activity, where plants communicate, co-operate and sometimes, wage all-out war.

Scientists Confirm that Plants Talk and Listen To Each Other, Communication Crucial for Survival.

Read more here

How I Got Hooked on Weeds—and Why You Should, Too

When I moved to a small organic farm in 2004, I quickly got hooked on weeds (note plural). First, there would be salads of chickweed—a grassy-tasting plant that popped up just after the ground thawed in spring. Next, from the marshy banks of a creek, tender, peppery watercress would sprout. Soon after, dandelion greens would proliferate, adding a bitter note to those spring weed salads. And then, along an old wood road up the forested mountainside, would come a flush of stinging nettle—we'd harvest the leaves with gloves, boil their sting away, and add them to pastas and pizzas. Finally, by high summer, my favorite weeds of all would emerge from plowed fields: a high-rising, spinach-related green called lamb's quarters, and a low-slung, creeping plant called purslane, with its succulent, lemony leaves.

We never found much of a market for these delicacies (save for the watercress, which chefs loved). But they became staples of the farmhouse kitchen, supplements to the cultivated greens that went mainly to the farmers market and to our CSA shareholders. Now that I spend more of my time off the farm and in a city, one of the things I miss most is easy access to these flavorful wild foods.

Read more here

42 Flowers You Can Eat

The culinary use of flowers dates back thousands of years to the Chinese, Greek and Romans. Many cultures use flowers in their traditional cooking — think of squash blossoms in Italian food and rose petals in Indian food.  

Adding flowers to your food can be a nice way to add color, flavor and a little whimsy. Some are spicy, and some herbacious, while others are floral and fragrant. The range is surprising.

It’s not uncommon to see flower petals used in salads, teas, and as garnish for desserts, but they inspire creative uses as well — roll spicy ones (like chive blossoms) into handmade pasta dough, incorporate floral ones into homemade ice cream, pickle flower buds (like nasturtium) to make ersatz capers, use them to make a floral simple syrup for use in lemonade or cocktails. I once stuffed gladiolus following a recipe for stuffed squash blossoms — they were great. 

So many possibilities…

Read more here

13 Refreshing Smoothie & Green Juice Recipes

Here in southern California where the sun shines bright and healthy living is always on the mind, the “liquid meal” trend has totally captivated our focus. Where fitness is a huge part of our lives and for some of us, a career, green juices and smoothies are redefining foods as fuel in order to maximize athletic output.

As a yoga instructor, I am constantly chatting with students and fellow teachers about their latest and greatest juice or smoothie recipe, excitedly exclaiming “kale, berries, chia!” or some variation of that in passing between classes. Perfect as the first meal of the day, as a mid-day pick-me-up or as a post-workout recovery, juices and smoothies keep you feeling fully satisfied, yet light as a feather.

Here are some tried and true favorite recipes from our San Diego juicing community to yours:

Read more here

Yoga and Gardening: Taking Care of Ourselves While Tending the Garden

Are you a gardener who practices yoga? Or a yogi who wants to garden? With the warmer months ahead, many of you will be spending the mild, sunny days in the outdoors tending to your garden. I am a gardener, too and I very well know the great lengths we go in taking care of our gardens, but we must also take care of ourselves in the process.   

Gardening is a wonderful way to fertilize the earth with plantings of flowers, vegetables, and trees. Gardening also brings a relaxing, meditative quality to our minds since it requires much patience and concentration while sowing seeds, weeding, pruning, and watering. We spend so many hours nurturing our garden that we forget about our own well-being, until fatigue, soreness, and lower back pain unkindly settles into our bodies. Sound familiar? What are we as gardeners to do then? Yoga of course!

Yoga is about bringing balance, and there is certainly an imbalance when a garden is healthy, strong, and thriving, yet the very person who gave it much love and care becomes injured. Stooping, squatting, kneeling, and hunching over creates tension, soreness, and tightness in the shoulders, upper and lower back, chest, knees, hip flexors, abdominals, and feet. The most important gardening tool, our hands, may also suffer from repetitive movement which can lead to tendinitis. Yoga is also about practicing Ahimsa (non-violence), and we should be mindful not to bring injury and pain to ourselves.

Read more here

The Vegetable Gardener’s Guide to Planting by the Moon

In ancient times when man had not quite got round to inventing the wristwatch, the most reliable source of telling the time was the sun, moon, and stars. 

There seems to be several opinions of who came up with the moon planting calendar first. Was it the Egyptians or the Babylonians? It is more than likely that each and every farmer had a planting calendar based on the moon phases, and there would be different variations depending on the geographical location. 

As their calendars where passed on through the generations they evolved to cover the different crops they tried to grow, and the more productive farming techniques used. 

 It was noticed that different plants grow better when they are planted during different phases of the moon. Each of these phases imparts an influence on the way vegetation grows on the planet through the rising and falling of the moisture in the ground and in the plants.

To provide more accurate records it was noted that certain crops faired better when planted whilst the moon was in a specific constellation. As the moon can take only 2-3 days to pass through a constellation, the planting calendar was a ‘cutting edge’ technology.  

Planting was not the most important time for the farmer, harvest time also had to be recorded. If you harvest at the correct time your crops will last much longer. It is down to how the plant stores the water in the fruit/crop at different times of the Lunar cycle.

Read more here

66 Things You Can Grow In Containers

Growing your own food is exciting, not only because you get to see things grow from nothing into ready-to-eat fruits and veggies, but you also don't have to worry about the pesticides they might contain, and you definitely cut down on the miles they -- and you -- have to travel.

As it turns out, with pretty minimal effort, anyone can be a gardener. My boyfriend and I are essentially first-timers this season and so far have the beginnings of strawberries peeking out, tomatoes are on their way, the basil's about ready for a big batch of pesto, and once the last frost hits, the peppers, kale, spinach, chard, and mesclun will be on their way, too. All on a tiiiny little terrace (with the help of a little DIY carpentry).

If you're up to the challenge -- and it really isn't much of one -- growing your own food can be so rewarding. And so much cheaper! Just be sure to choose the right planter or container, learn how to maintain it properly, and go find yourself some seeds (or starter plants)!

Here's a starter list of all the crazy things even urban gardeners, without space for a garden, can grow at home.

Read more here

How To Make A Hanging Gutter Garden

Gutter gardens are a great way to take advantage of the vertical spaces around your home to grow flowers, edibles and create a stylish space divider or privacy screen without spending too much money.

Read more here

China Destroys 3 US Shipments of GM Corn

Could the global tide in support of GMOs be turning? A new report reveals that the formerly pro-GMO Chinese government, one of the largest consumers of GMO food crops in the world, is beginning to crack down on GM corn shipments from the US that have not followed appropriate biosafety regulations.

According to a news brief released today by GMWatch.org, China destroyed three shipments of GM corn imported from the US. GMWatch.org reported:

The law says that the [Chinese] Ministry of Agriculture must require environmental and food safety tests to be carried out by Chinese institutions, in order to verify data provided by the seed developer. All these documents must be reviewed by the National Biosafety Committee before the MOA can issue a safety certificate. Yet these shipments of US corn did not have the relevant safety certificates and approval documents, according to the news reports below.

Read more here

New App Lets You Boycott Koch Brothers, Monsanto And More By Scanning Your Shopping Cart

In her keynote speech at last year’s annual Netroots Nation gathering, Darcy Burner pitched a seemingly simple idea to the thousands of bloggers and web developers in the audience. The former Microsoft programmer and congressional candidate proposed a smartphone app allowing shoppers to swipe barcodes to check whether conservative billionaire industrialists Charles and David Koch were behind a product on the shelves.

Burner figured the average supermarket shopper had no idea that buying Brawny paper towels, Angel Soft toilet paper or Dixie cups meant contributing cash to Koch Industries through its subsidiary Georgia-Pacific. Similarly, purchasing a pair of yoga pants containing Lycra or a Stainmaster carpet meant indirectly handing the Kochs your money (Koch Industries bought Invista, one of the world’s largest fiber and textiles companies, in 2004 from DuPont).

At the time, Burner created a mock interface for her app, but that’s as far as she got. She was waiting to find the right team to build out the back end, which could be complicated given often murky corporate ownership structures.

She wasn’t aware that as she delivered her Netroots speech, a group of developers was hard at work on Buycott, an even more sophisticated version of the app she proposed.

“I remember reading Forbes’ story on the proposed app to help boycott Koch Industries and wishing that we were ready to launch our product,” said Buycott’s marketing director Maceo Martinez.

Read more here

EU To Ban Olive Oil Bottles From Restaurants

Traditional glass jugs and dipping bowls will be replaced with pre-packaged factory bottles to help hygiene and avoid fraud.

The European Commission has declared that only non-refillable, pre-packaged factory bottles with tamperproof lids can be used from 2014.

It will end the practice of restaurants sourcing their own artisan products to be used in bottles and dipping bowls.

EU spokesman Olivier Bailly said the move is being initiated because consumers often get fooled by being served cheap olive oil.

"We are just making clear that when you want to have olive oil of a certain quality in a restaurant, you get exactly the one you are paying for," Mr Bailly said.

"We are just protecting consumers", he insisted as he added that the non-refillable bottles would also improve hygiene.

However the move has been criticised as further meddling by unelected bureaucrats.

"They should let the people decide what olive oil bottles they want to use and not dictate uniformity from the centre," Ukip MEP Paul Nuttall said.

Read more here

A bright side to the extended winter as late spring set to bring bumper apple crop

The prolonged wintry weather has rained off bank holidays, forced people to use more fuel which will push up their energy bills and caused widespread travel chaos.

But at least there's one advantage to the extended cold snap - the late spring should bring a bumper crop of apples.

The chilly February and March meant that British trees did not waste energy on slow growth - and all the stored energy was used to produce bountiful blossoms.

This flowering will be protected from cold snaps as they are at less risk of being damaged by frosty conditions.

Bees will now pollinate the blooms - but warm weather will be essential for a generous crop.

Read more here

Soothing Calendula

The common “pot marigold” is one of many medicinal herbs in the garden. 

Whether displaying bright orange or sunny yellow flowers, calendula (also called pot marigold) is one of the most essential parts of your garden medicine chest. 

Those aromatic flowering heads can be collected and made into oils and salves to help heal skin injuries of all kinds. 

Make sure you grow only C. officinalis, and not any of the many “marigolds” (Tagetes spp.) or ornamental varieties that are available. 

Calendula can grow to almost 2 feet tall, and the flowers tend to open with sunny, dry weather and close in cold or moist conditions.

Growing: Calendula enjoys full sun—or even partial shade, in hot summer regions—and average soil, and has moderate water needs. If flower production dwindles, you can cut back the plants to increase new flower production. Calendula will self-sow yearly in many gardens, and it doesn’t mind crowding. Direct-sow the seed in early spring or late fall, as it can withstand some frost.

Read more here

Don't waste your weed: make dandelion wine

Spring is the greatest, right? Everything comes alive suddenly, especially the dandelions. They're instantly recognizable — the cheeriest and most iconic weed. But they're so much more than a lawn pest. 

Dandelions are used in all kinds of folk remedies and herbal medicine. The leaves are edible. And best of all, the petals can be made into wine!

A bottle of dandelion wine is a taste of spring sunshine that can be savored later on, when winter has set in and you might need a reminder of sunnier days.

I've always wanted to make dandelion wine, but until this year I never got my act together during our brief dandelion season. If you're intimidated by home brewing, it's a fairly simple recipe and would be a good way to get started.

Read more here

5 recipes for dandelion wine
How to make dandelion wine

Farmer Faces Over 2 Years Jail, $10K Fines for Feeding Community

Things are heating up in Baraboo, Wisconsin as a long awaited food rights trial approaches.

Raw milk drinkers are outraged that Wisconsin DATCP is bringing criminal charges against a farmer who serves a private buying club. Do citizens have a right to contract with a producer and grow food to their own standards? That is what is at stake in this case. – Kimberly Hartke, Publicist Farm-to-Consumer Legal Defense Fund

Customers and Other Supporters to Attend Court with Farmer

Food rights activists from around North America will meet at the Sauk County Courthouse in this tiny town on May 20 to support Wisconsin dairy farmer Vernon Hershberger and food sovereignty. Hershberger, whose trial begins that day, is charged with four criminal misdemeanors that could land this husband and father in county jail for up to 30 months with fines of over $10,000…

The Wisconsin Department of Agricultural Trade and Consumer Protection (DATCP) targeted Hershberger for supplying a private buying club with fresh milk and other farm products.

DATCP has charged Hershberger with, among other things, operating a retail food establishment without a license. Hershberger repeatedly rejects this, citing that he provides foods only to paid members in a private buying club and is not subject to state food regulations.

Read more here

UN issues report recommending insects for human consumption

Responding to global hunger concerns, the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) is recommending the incorporation of insects into human diets. 

According to the United Nations' World Food Programme, hunger is the world's number one health risk - topping heart disease, cancer, war, and other diseases - with roughly 870 million people living in scenarios where they do not have enough to eat. Additionally, the human population worldwide is projected to reach 9 billion by 2050. 

 

However, current agricultural solutions - using large-scale water distribution to support livestock and plant-based products - are not projected to keep up with the swelling human population figures. And, as food becomes scarce - food and feed security will become a considerable challenge for social stability around the world. 

 

Read more here

 

Celebrities who Eat Insects
Hungry? Lacking protein? Eat an insect, UN says
UN urges people to eat insects to fight world hunger
Breed insects to improve human food security: UN report
New study highlights role of insects for food and feed consumption
Video: You Won't Believe the Exotic Snack the Jolie-Pitt Kids Eat Like "Doritos!"
EU to spend 3 million Euros to promote eating insects 'as alternative source of protein'
Alan Watt from Cutting Through The Matrix suggests UN should start serving insects in their cantine

(Alan speaks about UN recommending insects for human consumption about 30 minutes in ... (talk is approx 50 minutes long.)

Teacher Sues School over Suspension for 'Weapons' Charge: Showing Students Garden Tools

Attorneys for The Rutherford Institute have filed a civil rights lawsuit against a Chicago public school district on behalf of a second-grade teacher who was suspended after he displayed garden-variety tools such as wrenches, pliers and screwdrivers in his classroom as part of a "tool discussion" in his class.

Despite the fact that all potentially hazardous items were kept out of the students' reach, school officials at Washington Irving Elementary School informed Doug Bartlett, a 17-year veteran in the classroom, that his use of the tools as visual aids endangered his students. Bartlett was subsequently penalized with a four-day suspension without pay - charged with possessing, carrying, storing or using a weapon.

The complaint charges that Bartlett "suffered humiliation, embarrassment, mental suffering, and lost wages, and was suspended for four days" - and asks for "nominal and compensatory damages" and for the suspension to be expunged from the teacher's record.

Read more here

Monsanto threatens to sue the entire state of Vermont

Lawmakers in Vermont are looking to regulate food labels so customers can know which products are made from genetically modified crops, but agricultural giants Monsanto say they will sue if the state follows through.

If the bill in question, H-722 (the “VT Right to Know Genetically Engineered Food Act”) passes the state Senate and House, manufacturers will be required to label products that are created either partially or in full from a genetically modified organism, or GMO. Such man-made crops have become a trademark of the billion-dollar Monsanto corporation, and in the past the company has gone to great lengths to keep themselves the number-one name in American agriculture, even if those profits are made possible from playing God.

Monsanto is going mad over the proposal, however, which would also make them unable to label their productions as “natural,” “naturally made,” “naturally grown” or “all natural,” if, in fact, they are not. For the corporation, it would seem that moving products and making money is much more of a worthwhile venture than telling its customers what exactly they are consuming. 

Read more here

Transforming Neighborhoods Through Guerrilla Gardening

Imagine what your community would look like if the vacant lots, patches of half-dead, boring old lawn, and sidewalk beds were thriving, beautiful gardens filled with veggies, flowers and herbs. Doesn't that sound nice? Want to get involved with making it happen? Welcome to the world of guerrilla gardening.

The practice of planting on land that does not legally belong to you, guerrilla gardening is, on the one hand, not as rebellious as its name suggests. We’re talking about introducing seeds and plants to neglected land; a pretty harmless act. On the other hand, however, a guerrilla garden can radically transform a junky lot full of trash into the showpiece of a neighborhood. It can provide food, create beauty where there was none, draw attention to areas that need cleanup and bring a community closer together. In times of isolation and concrete over-growth, this really is an act of revolution. Not bad for a few little plants, eh?

Read more here

Oil pulling: What is it? and how to do it

Oil pulling is an ancient Ayurvedic method for detox and rejuvenation. It’s a simple practice, with quite remarkable results. Many have heard of it, but never actually dove in to try it. It definitely has a mystical and exciting vibe around it, which made me eager to try. But what exactly is it? What does it do?

In a (coco)nut shell:

To oil pull, simply swish your choice of unrefined, high quality oil in your mouth; similar to the way you would use a mouthwash. My favorite is coconut oil. This can be done anywhere from five to 20 minutes. The process attracts and removes bacteria, toxins, and parasites that live in your mouth or lymph system, and also pulls congestion and mucus from your throat and loosens up your sinuses, which is amazing! With the help of your saliva, all these scary undesirables bind with the oil, ready to be disposed of. Pulling also helps re-mineralize your teeth and strengthen your gums by thoroughly cleansing the area. This sounds good, right? But how exactly do you do it?

Traditionally, oil pullers used virgin sesame oil. The reason I prefer to use raw coconut oil is because it has antimicrobial, anti-inflammatory, and enzymatic properties. This provides the added benefit of killing any unwanted bacteria that may be residing in the mouth, while leaving behind healthy probiotic strains. A perfect exchange!

 

Read more here

Got Hemp Milk? The Benefits of Hemp Milk

Hemp milk is an incredibly nutritious and tasty alternative to cows milk as it supplies the body with essential nutrients without the harm that dairy causes to the body. For some, it is an ethical choice to not drink animals milk, for others it is an intolerance. Others choose to avoid it for reasons of making healthier choices while others drink it as they want the nutritional benefits and like the taste. Whatever the circumstance, is it possible that we are not making the most healthy choice by drinking animals milk? For those who are looking for an alternative to animals milk, hemp milk is one option you should consider.

What is it Made of? Hemp milk is a vegan product made of a blend of hemp seeds and water. The mixture provides a creamy texture with a delicious taste some may describe as ‘nutty.’ Unlike cows milk, hemp milk is easy for the body to digest and does not cause any of the health problems associated with milk.

Question number one for some of us might be: Is Hemp milk made from Marijuana? The answer is, no. Hemp milk is made from the seeds of the hemp plant which is legal to grow in various countries around the world. In fact, the United States is one of the only countries where you are not allowed to grow hemp. Possible concern some may have about hemp milk surrounds its possible levels of THC (tetrahydrocannabinol). Fortunately for those looking to drink this milk alternative, it is important to note that the hemp plant does not contain enough THC to have psychoactive affects. Further, the hemp plant has many incredible uses that can apply to various areas of our society. This is why there is such a great deal of controversy behind the reasons hemp is illegal to grow in the USA.

Read more here

Wisconsin Bill Would Treat Organic Milk, Sharp Cheddar, Brown Eggs as "Junk Food"

Wisconsin ranks 44th in the nation for new job creation. Rather than rolling up their sleeves and finding new and innovative ways to help create jobs, the Wisconsin legislature is spending its time telling people needing food assistance what they should be eating. AB 110, which will be up for a vote in the Assembly on Tuesday, May 7, is geared toward limiting "the amount of food stamp benefits that could be spent on junk food." But some of the fine print of the bill, bizarrely, would ban people from choosing more healthy and less expensive options for their families. The bill is one of many being considered that are unduly punitive of the poor.

As of March 2013, 858,000 Wisconsinites receive FoodShare benefits. The bill, AB 110, would limit FoodShare, Wisconsin's food stamp program funded through the federal Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP). As the Center for Media and Democracy (CMD) has reported, Governor Scott Walker has already proposed to require all "able-bodied adults" who receive food stamps (and don't have dependent children) to train or search for work in order to continue receiving those benefits. This even though Walker has failed to create the 250,000 jobs he promised when running for office in 2010.

Read more here

EU preparing legislation which will make it illegal to grow crops not on a list of approved seeds

EU is preparing legislation that will make it illegal to grow crops that are not on a list of approved seeds? A list that currently 60% dominated by big corporations like Monsanto, AstraZenecar and others? The pros list are basically only hybrids - which means that you can not take next year's seed from his crop. 

Furthermore, it will not only be forbidden to sell other seeds than those already mentioned, but also to grow. "File sharing" in the area of seeds will become a criminal act. This means that people be even less able to influence what you eat, when you can not even decide what to grow. It also means that the varieties that are historically interesting will disappear, even varieties that can withstand our climate. This means that poor people who live off what they grow is referred to in the seedtrades discretion in terms of pricing, which can be costly where there are few players.

Avaaz.org petition here

The Real Seed Catalogue
10 Best Heirloom Seed Companies as Selected By Readers
4 Heirloom, Non-GMO Seed Sources for Foodies, Kitchen Gardeners, and Chefs
EU to criminalize nearly all seeds and plants not registered with government
The World According to Monsanto GMO Documentary

Tulsi Plant (Holy Basil) Found to Remove Fluoride from Water & Support Pineal Gland Health

A plant called Tulsi, or Holy Basil, which grows all over India might just be another answer to defluoridating water in poor countries all over the world. Research scientists at Rajasthan University have discovered that Tulsi can replace some of the more expensive alternatives to fluoride removal. The process is so simple, its downright exciting.  

Tulsi (Holy Basil) Found to Cleanse Water of Fluoride  

The researchers conducted the experiment in a village of Narketpally Mandal by soaking 75 mg of Holy Basil leaves in 100ml of water that had over 7 parts per million of fluoride. After soaking the leaves in the water for a mere 8 hours, the fluoride was reduced to just 1.1 parts per million. The World Health Organization says that ‘safe’ levels of fluoride in water are no higher than 1 part per million.  

With the recent admittance by Harvard University that fluoride was bad for health, and the continuing news that points to fluoride being responsible for depleting brain capacity to causing ADD and ADHD, or even calcifying the pineal gland, (which inhibits important hormonal secretions like Melatonin and Seratonin, and DMT), it is wonderful news that such a simple remedy has been found.

Read more here

Tulsi/Holy Basil/Ocimum tenuiflorum

15 Benefits of the Holy Basil (Tulsi)

The Tulsi Story: India's "Queen of Herbs"

It’s Not a Fairytale: Seattle to Build Nation’s First Food Forest

Forget meadows. Seattle's food forest will be filled with edible plants, and everything from pears to herbs will be free for the taking.

Seattle’s vision of an urban food oasis is going forward. A seven-acre plot of land in the city’s Beacon Hill neighborhood will be planted with hundreds of different kinds of edibles: walnut and chestnut trees; blueberry and raspberry bushes; fruit trees, including apples and pears; exotics like pineapple, yuzu citrus, guava, persimmons, honeyberries, and lingonberries; herbs; and more. All will be available for public plucking to anyone who wanders into the city’s first food forest.

“This is totally innovative, and has never been done before in a public park,” Margarett Harrison, lead landscape architect for the Beacon Food Forest project, tells TakePart. Harrison is working on construction and permit drawings now and expects to break ground this summer.

Read more here

Growing your own food is like printing your own money

Ron Finley plants vegetable gardens in South Central LA -- in abandoned lots, traffic medians, along the curbs. Why? For fun, for defiance, for beauty and to offer some alternative to fast food in a community where "the drive-thrus are killing more people than the drive-bys."

Ron Finley grows a nourishing food culture in South Central L.A.’s food desert by planting the seeds and tools for healthy eating.

Ron Finley: A guerilla gardener in South Central LA

The Simple Life: 14 Steps to an Urban Homestead

Want to live a simpler, more self-reliant lifestyle while remaining in the city or suburbs? You don’t have to move to a farm to grow some of your own food, cut your reliance on the grid, reduce your waste output dramatically and save a whole lot of money. Urban (or suburban) homesteading is all about re-learning basic skills that most of us have exchanged for ‘convenience,’ and feeling more connected to the items and processes that sustain us, bringing those things from faraway factories back into our own hands. Here are 14 ways to get started.

Get Gardening

The single most important step you can take is to produce even a small amount of your own food by starting a garden. You can do this even if you don’t have a yard, with planters in windows or on a balcony. Whether you just have herbs and a few tomato plants or you rip out your entire lawn and replace it with food, there are few things in life that are more rewarding than eating homegrown produce right off the plant.

Plant Fruit Trees

If you want to ease into the process of growing your own food, and can’t commit to a lot of upkeep right away, plant some fruit trees. They take a few years to get established and start producing fruit, and require almost no maintenance. Pears, apples, cherries, figs, avocado, plum and pomegranate are just a few options available depending on your local climate. Consult a plant nursery in your area to find out what varieties would be most likely to flourish.

Start Composting

All of the banana peels, coffee grounds, egg shells and grass clippings you’re currently  just tossing in the trash could be an ideal source of free, high-quality, plant-nourishing garden soil free of chemical fertilizers. Composting is a basic component of growing your own food, turning waste into something valuable. It’s also easier than you might think. Your compost pile could be as simple as a circle of chicken wire, though some people prefer to purchase self-contained units. Starting a simple compost pile on bare earth allows worms and other beneficial organisms to aerate and fertilize the compost. Get the fundamentals at EarthEasy.com.

Read more here

Nestlé is Trying to Patent the Fennel Flower

Nigella sativa -- more commonly known as fennel flower -- has been used as a cure-all remedy for over a thousand years. It treats everything from vomiting to fevers to skin diseases, and has been widely available in impoverished communities across the Middle East and Asia.

But now Nestlé is claiming to own it, and filing patent claims around the world to try and take control over the natural cure of the fennel flower and turn it into a costly private drug.

Tell Nestlé: Stop trying to patent a natural cure

In a paper published last year, Nestlé scientists claimed to “discover” what much of the world has known for millennia: that nigella sativa extract could be used for “nutritional interventions in humans with food allergy”.

But instead of creating an artificial substitute, or fighting to make sure the remedy was widely available, Nestlé is attempting to create a nigella sativa monopoly and gain the ability to sue anyone using it without Nestlé’s permission. Nestlé has filed patent applications -- which are currently pending -- around the world.

Read more here

Nestlé: Stop trying to patent the fennel flower
Nigella sativa - Fennel flower

Nigella Sativa: Ancient Egyptian Cancer-Fighting Super-Spice
The Health Benefits of Black Seed [Nigella sativa]
Kitchen of Palestine - Black Cumin Pie (Qizha)

7 Foods to Get You Through April

“April is the cruelest month,” T. S. Eliot once wrote. Clearly, he was a fan of local food. Despite the longer days and slowly warming temperatures, local food stalls are still bare and farmers are only beginning to plant what seems like a depressingly far-off harvest.

That’s why it’s all that much more important to fill your plate with mood-boosting foods, full of omega-3s, vitamin D, and vitamin B. And given that allergists are predicting a worse-than-ever allergy season this year, it wouldn’t hurt to build up your immune defenses, either! Grab your shopping cart and load it up with these food cures to get you through the cruelest month of the year.

Read more here

Garbage Warrior: Advancing the Art of "Earthship Biotecture"

What do beer cans, car tires and water bottles have in common? Not much unless you're renegade architect Michael Reynolds, in which case they are tools of choice for producing thermal mass and energy-independent housing. For 30 years New Mexico-based Reynolds and his green disciples have devoted their time to advancing the art of "Earthship Biotecture" by building self-sufficient, off-the-grid communities where design and function converge in eco-harmony. However, these experimental structures that defy state standards create conflict between Reynolds and the authorities, who are backed by big business. Frustrated by antiquated legislation, Reynolds lobbies for the right to create a sustainable living test site. While politicians hum and ha, Mother Nature strikes, leaving communities devastated by tsunamis and hurricanes. Reynolds and his crew seize the opportunity to lend their pioneering skills to those who need it most. Shot over three years and in four countries, Garbage Warrior is a timely portrait of a determined visionary, a hero of the 21st century.

Why Make Compost?

Compost is one of nature’s best mulches and soil amendments, and you can use it instead of commercial fertilizers. Best of all, compost is cheap. You can make it without spending a cent. Using compost improves soil structure, texture, and aeration and increases the soil’s water-holding capacity.

Compost loosens clay soils and helps sandy soils retain water. Adding compost improves soil fertility and stimulates healthy root development in plants. The organic matter provided in compost provides food for microorganisms, which keeps the soil in a healthy, balanced condition. Nitrogen, potassium, and phosphorus will be produced naturally by the feeding of microorganisms, so few if any soil amendments will need to be added.

Landfills are brimming, and new sites are not likely to be easily found. For this reason there is an interest in conserving existing landfill space and in developing alternative methods of dealing with waste. Don’t throw away materials when you can use them to improve your lawn and garden! Start composting instead.

Read more here

How to Build a Rotating Compost Bin in 4 Easy Steps

Wheatgrass

Wheatgrass is a food prepared from the cotyledons of the common wheat plant, Triticum aestivum. It is sold either as a juice or powder concentrate. Wheatgrass differs from wheat malt in that it is served freeze-dried or fresh, while wheat malt is convectively dried. Wheatgrass is also allowed to grow longer than malt is. 

It provides chlorophyll, amino acids, minerals, vitamins, and enzymes. Claims about the health benefits of wheatgrass range from providing supplemental nutrition to having unique curative properties. 

Some consumers grow and juice wheatgrass in their homes. It is often available in juice bars, alone or in mixed fruit or vegetable drinks. It is also available in many health food stores as fresh produce, tablets, frozen juice and powder. Wheatgrass contains no wheat gluten.

History:

The consumption of wheatgrass in the Western world began in the 1930s as a result of experiments conducted by Charles F. Schnabel in his attempts to popularize the plant.

Schnabel, an agricultural chemist, conducted his first experiments with young grasses in 1930, when he used fresh cut grass in an attempt to nurse dying hens back to health. The hens not only recovered, but they produced eggs at a higher rate than healthy hens. Encouraged by his results, he began drying and powdering grass for his family and neighbors to supplement their diets. 

The following year, Schnabel reproduced his experiment and achieved the same results. Hens consuming rations supplemented with grass doubled their egg production. Schnabel started promoting his discovery to gristmills, chemists and the food industry. 

Two large corporations, Quaker Oats and American Dairies Inc., invested millions of dollars in further research, development, and production of grass products for animals and humans. By 1940, cans of Schnabel's powdered grass were on sale in major drug stores throughout the United States and Canada.

Wikipedia

Wheatgrass, healthy for the body and the bank account