Are organic plants being eliminated for the common grower?

             Went to the reliable garden store, Village Green, locally based in Rockford, Ill., to buy some organic plants today. No such luck. there weren't any. Only seed packages. Were they sold out? No. Never had any. Went to Menard's, Home Depot and another local greenhouse. Nothing. One greenhouse operation reported people were having trouble finding organic products to support growing their own.

            I found this to be disheartening. Down right disturbing.

            I have been an organic grower for years. Sometimes from seed, sometimes from plants. It's important that organic growing begins with organic seed. Yes, it takes organic soil, the proper organic nutrients and clean water. Water is where people often fail. It's hard to deliver water free of pollutants, free of volatile organic chemicals, heavy metals, prescription drugs, herbicides, pesticides, antibiotics, growth hormones, e-coli and other nasty microbes and viruses.

            The water I use in gardening comes from a whole-house water filtration system that preserves calcium and magnesium. Using purified water is using water without any useful nutrients that plants thrive on. I also use a mix of organic compost, coffee grounds, organic egg shells and other organic compost material when planting. I even went so far to build a large garden box this year to better control the soil. I never use lawn mulch that has been sprayed with herbicides or pesticides.

            But what about the plants we start out with to plant? I realize that it takes a lot to get the USDA Certified Organic stamp on a product. I know it takes a long time to certify the soil used. I also know that in Illinois, as well as other states, the GMO-based farms dominate the land and every time farmland goes on sale here that is organic, a GMO-based farmer is quick to buy it. The land is disappearing, as so are the plants it seems.

            This is also a portend of the future of organic meat. No land, no grazing room for cows, chickens, turkeys and pigs.

            I have visited many organic farms, both vegetable growers and producers of organic meats. I always hesitate to tell people where I get my organic meat because I know there isn't much of it around Illinois and Wisconsin to meet the need. When more people are wanting to buy and less of it to be had, prices will soar.

            Now the GMO machine is taking plants away. Why bother to legislate GMO food when there is no alternative in the store?

            What's are the alternatives? We could moves to Europe, Mexico, Australia. Organics are a way of life in those places. The United States is controlled by big agri-business and powerful lobby groups. The alternatives here are disappearing.

            There is only one way out if you want to live in America. Grow your own, learn how to preserve your foods in glass and stock up on organic seed.

Raw Milk Farmer's Religous Beliefs Dismissed By Judge

            Vernon Hershberger's attempt to use his religious beliefs to escape prosecution for his sale of raw milk and organic food sales in a co-op situation in Wisconsin has failed and he will proceed to trial.

            A judged ruled Monday that the Loganville dairy farmer’s religious beliefs do not absolve him of certain legal responsibilities. His attempt to use Christianity as a way to circumvent legal action has failed and he will proceed to a jury trial May 20.

            Hershberger, a Mennonite farmer who has run his co-op for many years, was charged with five counts, including unlicensed food and raw milk sales stemming from a raid on his farm in 2010.

            “None of (the religious tenants cited by Hershberger) prohibit, on their face, the exercise of any secular rights,” said Sauk County Circuit Court Judge Guy Reynolds.

            In June 2010, state inspectors with the Wisconsin Department of Agriculture, Trade and Consumer Protection raided Hershberger’s farm and sealed coolers of food. They ordered him to discontinue sales. He did not heed that order and said it would be against his beliefs to waste food. One of the charges alleges that he violated that hold order.

            Hershberger’s attorneys claimed his religious tenants would have constituted an act of aggression and therefore contradicted his religious beliefs. Reynolds ruled Hershberger and his attorneys had not provided sufficient evidence for their argument and that even if such tenants do exist, it does not appear that Hershberger has relied on them in the past.

            "The Judge ruled against us in everything that he ruled on," Hershberger said Tuesday. "This is all the more reason for everyone who wants this food to drop everything and come out during the week of the trial. This will get us to rely more on God for strength as we face the trial. He alone can bring out the truth which He has done so many times in the past. We do not know if it will be revealed to us at the trial or not but we know what the Truth is and no matter how long it takes, it always has and it always will come out on top!!"

            The state discovered that Hershberger was listed as a defendant in a 2007 civil case that involved an automobile crash with a horse-drawn planter. Hershberger used a legal defense in that case and filed a motion to have the case dismissed.

            “There’s no evidence in that motion that deals with any such religious tenant,” Reynolds said. “I think this really goes to the sincerity of the religious beliefs asserted here.”

            The state is out to show who's boss and intends to prosecute to the fullest possible extent of existing law that is meant to shut down raw milk sales and organic co-ops.

 

Quit Poisoning Your Children

Why do we pour cancer-causing chemicals on ourselves and our children every summer?

            When growing up in a small town outside Chicago, trucks would spread Deet fog to combat mosquitoes during the summer. Residents were told not to go out for an hour after spraying. This was in the 1950s and early '60s, before West Nile. The annihilation of the mosquito was a must then. They were pests. They had to die.

            Instead, the streets, the trees, the grass, the cars, all had residue from the spraying. We ate it, we drank it and we wonder why we got cancer.

            Then came major brands of bug sprays. Got to have it in a can.  Our skin absorbed it and we wonder why we got cancer.

            There is an alternative, keep reading.  

            With a depleting ozone layer, we find the need to protect ourselves from UVA/UVB rays. While there is a need for sunshine and Vitamin D, there is a limit, whether your time is more than 15 minutes or an hour. You need sunscreen after that. Long periods in the sun cause us to look older and develop skin cancer. Why have alligator skin when you can protect it and nourish it.

            Prevention is the most underused word in America and is hard to find in our culture these days. Putting American-sold sunscreen on your skin is poisonous. It contains a chemical SPF rather than a natural SPF. The FDA has cracked down on claims made by SPF sunscreen makers. There is no need for an SPF more than 50 and sunscreen won't last in water very long.

            In Mexico, there are laws that state only biodegradable sunscreens can be used in waterways, ocean swimming, water theme parks and cenotes.

            The only company to sell a biodegradable SPF of zinc oxide in the U.S. is Maya Solar from Batab through Enfuego Productions. No need to pour chemicals on our children to keep them from burning. They also have a burn lotion in case you do get burned.

            As for the insects, Batab also makes a Deet-free lotion to keep the bugs away. If it will work in the jungles in the Yucatan, the woods in Wisconsin and the hills of southern Kentucky, it will work for you. Without the poison.

            We don't have to poison children any more.

            The sole importer in the U.S. for Batab is Enfuego Productions. For more info see www.enfuegoproductions.net.

 

           

The Death Knell of Print Journalism Rekindles Fond Memories

            I predicted the end of print journalism in the early '90s and the reality of that is coming to fruition. The latest chain nearing bankruptcy is Gatehouse Media with move than $1 billion in debt.

            I made my bones, as they say, in the newspaper business. When looking at all the stops I made along the way to fulfillment of a journalism career, I always have fond memories of my first real newspaper job in Morton, Ill. In those days, holding a college degree bought you a journalism job under $200 a week in the 1980s for a small-town paper.

            My first hire came from Gary Blackburn, who is retiring as Publisher/President of Tri-State Media in Princeton, Ind. He's been with the parent company, Brehm Communications, for 30 years.

            I prepared this for his retirement party to show how one person can greatly influence someone's life. Here it is:

 

            A good career would be terrible to waste.

            If it weren't for Gary Blackburn, I probably would have died in the ghetto. To the man facing retirement, many thanks again for giving me a shot when others were reluctant.

            You see, I wanted to become a newspaper man even though I was born legally blind. Went to college, got a degree and was one of 20 paid staffers on the Daily Egyptian at Southern Illinois University in 1977. Good grades, good references, but without a car, there were no offers after graduation. I took a job in the inner city, teaching high school kids how to write and how to run a printing press until the Feds cut our funding in late 1979. No job, no car, no career and I was living in a bad part of town.

            I interviewed in January 1980 with Gary at Tazewell Publishing but didn't get the job. Then I had to spend two weeks' time caring for my dying father in Florida. After Gary hired some schmuck with a car who alienated himself quickly, he called me the day I got back from my father's funeral. Fate, perhaps.

            Maybe all he had left to choose from was a raw, half-blind sportswriter. But in a matter of minutes, he turned me into an award-winning reporter, feature writer, editor, photographer and community activist. The pay was lousy so you knew we were only there to launch a career. Gary, however, made the newsroom a family and helped us realize we could make a difference in a small town full of rich people.

            We became proponents of change, positive change. We halted what would have been a big mistake in a small town when some short-sighted administrators thought joining a big-city high school conference was the way to go. We stopped the insanity with a barrage of editorials from Gary the Editor and the blond-haired sports editor who rode a bike to work and hitched rides to out-of-town sporting events. We recommended forming a new conference where academic and sports equality could be found. That alliance is thriving today.

            After three-and-a-half years of making a difference and winning awards in Morton, it was time to leave the nest. After stops as a copy editor in Carbondale, Peoria and then for Gannett in Green Bay, I heard Vegas calling in 1987. Bolting from the Gannet chain unexpectedly, I went to the desert to seek fame and fortune. I got half of that. I served as the features editor, magazine editor and feature writer for the famous Las Vegas Sun for the Greenspun Empire. Then I was hired as the lead writer and public relations coordinator for Caesars Palace. After serving as a event and PR specialist for Las Vegas Events, I took a job for Las Vegas Magazine and held the titles of associate editor, editor, editor-in-chief and editor emeritus over six years. I later moved on to own a public relations business handling celebs and freelancing around the world. A small-town journalist made it big in Vegas.

            I've also been an event promoter, grant writer, ghost writer, book editor, business owner, gaming consultant and a high school and college teacher. I started a journalism program at the junior college in Las Vegas and was whisked off to far-away places as a travel writer.

            Last year, I won two more Illinois Press Association awards that included a first in Newswriting Series and second in Investigative Reporting for a series I wrote uncovering pollution in the neighborhood where I once lived. Had I not gotten out, I would have lived where many died of cancer from the pollution by a local factory where I used to work as a kid.

            The one opportunity I needed to escape a bleak existence to accomplish all that came from you. That chance led to more and more and more in my life.

             Currently, I'm back in Illinois. I teach holistic health and energy healing classes for a couple junior colleges and trade schools. I have been a Reiki Master for 26 years, give speeches, teach seminars in hospitals and write a health blog. I have a fantastic family of a wife and two kids. Married for 15 years, my family is my life now. The glorious memories of a storied career are treasured. 

            None of that would have been possible without my first real journalism gig given to my by one of the nicest people I have ever met. Congratulations, Gary, on your retirement.

Complementary has evolved into Integrative

          The word "complementary" means combining two or more different things in such a way as to enhance or emphasize each other's qualities. In terms of complementary medicine, the term is a better description of what now-credible modalities have to offer in the health care world.

          Massage, Reiki, reflexology, acupressure and acupuncture, and in some instances, aromatherapy, herbal remedies and essential oils, are now considered complementary to a physician's care.

          The first contributions of the aforementioned complementary therapies were found in the "alternative" world, which, thankfully, has gone through an evolution into the complementary era.  This evolution includes formidable modalities into a bigger and better domain -- integrative medicine. This is a realm where no treatment is a last alternative.

          There are integrative medicine specialists, holding medical degrees, who can provide a tailored treatment program to one's individual needs. When these complementary modalities become part of the standard of care of a hospitalized patient or those suffering from a devastating illness, better results ensue.

          This same let's-all-contribute attitude has been effective in Mexico, Germany, Australia and England, to name a few. In England, Reiki is now part of the standard of care in their national health care coverage in every district. What a concept.

          The integrative approach involving the potentially useful qualities of  Western and Eastern referrals combined into a comprehensive plan of treatment. Whatever works and "do no harm" can coincide in the same universe.

          The federal government and numerous other entities use the CAM acronym of Complementary and Alternative Medicine. The term is often found in grants for research. To research grants about CAM modalities, go to www.clinicaltrials.gov and use a keyword of a modality such as Reiki.

          To experience first-hand, the Holistic Health Services department at SwedishAmerican Hospital offers numerous modalities as part of their care. There are reportedly more than 100 hospitals using this philosophy in various departments. The Caring Place cancer treatment center in Las Vegas offers complementary services and all are free.

          Having these modalities covered by insurance is the next frontier. Inroads have been made in the areas of discretionary health care spending in tax-free reimbursement. There also has been co-billing along with traditional medical and psychiatric services. Blue Cross Blue Shield has been a proponent of change. The idea is holistic approaches often cost less and are more effective with few adverse reactions. Finding alternatives to expensive drugs and surgeries and other procedures would cut costs insurance companies incur.

          During my 25-year tenure as a Reiki Master and also being certified in Shiatsu for the same length of time, I have seen what were once alternative ideas become part of the selection of choices people need to fight illness, trauma and disease.

          If complementary therapies didn't work, why would so many people be using them?

          For more information about Reiki, see www.reikilightenergy.com or www.reikienergyinternational.org.

We Don't Have To Poison Our Skin

Why do we pour cancer-causing chemicals on ourselves and our children?

            When growing up in a small town outside Chicago, trucks would spread Deet fog to combat mosquitoes during the summer. Residents were told not to go out for an hour after spraying. This was in the 1950s and early '60s, before West Nile. The annihilation of the mosquito was a must then. They were pests. They had to die.

            Instead, the streets, the trees, the grass, the cars, all had residue from the spraying. We ate it, we drank it and we wonder why we got cancer.

            Then came major brands of bug sprays. Got to have it in a can.  Our skin absorbed it and we wonder why we got cancer.

            There is an alternative, keep reading.  

            With a depleting ozone layer, we find the need to protect ourselves from UVA/UVB rays. While there is a need for sunshine and Vitamin D, there is a limit, whether your time is more than 15 minutes or an hour. You need sunscreen after that. Long periods in the sun cause us to look older and develop skin cancer. Why have alligator skin when you can protect it and nourish it.

            Putting American-sold sunscreen on your skin is poisonous. It contains a chemical SPF rather than a natural SPF. The FDA has cracked down on claims made by SPF sunscreen makers. There is no need for an SPF more than 50 and sunscreen won't last in water very long.

            The only company to sell a natural SPF of zinc oxide is Batab. No need to pour chemicals on our children to keep them from burning. They also have a burn lotion in case you do get burned.

            As for the insects, Batab also makes a Deet-free lotion to keep the bugs away. If it will work in the jungles in the Yucatan, the woods in Wisconsin and the hills of southern Kentucky, it will work for you. Without the poison.

            The sole importer in the U.S. for Batab is Enfuego Productions. They also have parabin-free organic skin care for women. For more info see www.enfuegoproductions.net.

 

           

Hershberger Raw Milk Motion Hearing Update

               The hearing on whether or not the State of Wisconsin violated Vernon Hershberger's First Amendment Rights when charged with illegally selling raw milk in Wisconsin was continued and the decision delayed after the state was forced to scramble and was found unprepared in Hersberger's motion hearing.

               Hershberger and his supporters gathered in the Sauk County Courthouse Monday to try to have charges dropped before his scheduled trial in May.

               "WOW!! There were over a hundred members and supporters who drove 

through the blizzard conditions to stand with us in the Courtroom today!" Hershberger told his supporters by email after the hearing.  "That was a phenomenal turnout considering the weather conditions. Thank you very much to whoever braved the snow and the wind to be there! And also a great Thank you to all the people who were supporting us in many different ways, like donations, prayers, etc. We appreciate it very much!"

               The true question was whether Hershberger could actually get a fair trial in a state controlled by powerful dairy lobby.

               "The Lawyers and I thought it went very well today," Hershberger said. "The Judge was great! I especially liked when he called for a 10-minute break and asked us for Scripture references for what we are bringing up. It was probably the very first Bible study ever to be held in a Sauk County courtroom! I was very glad to have some assistance from Att. Amy Solberg, my dad, and a few other members and friends that happened to be there.

               "The Judge did not make a ruling today on any issue but wants some clarification on the conclusive argument of whether the initial holding order was subject to appeal according to the Statutes. Each side will be able to file a Brief explaining their view of the Statutes. We scheduled a teleconference hearing for the Judge to give an oral ruling on the issue on April 22."

               Nancy Liberty Jaques, a Hersberger supporter, wrote after the hearing, "It seems Vernon's counsel needed to instruct the State that they had some major flaws in their argument," she said. "The judge asked for more briefs. An amazing performance by Vernon's team. They argued over which order was in question regarding Vernon's defense. The State points to the first order (Jackie Owen's 14-day injunction of June 2nd). But Vernon's counsel argues that that the second order (June 12 I believe) is the one under question. The first order does not allow appeals while the second one does. It was an obvious OOPS moment for the State who scrambled to attempt to read the law to the judge but couldn't make a clear case in light of Vernon's attorney who pointed to a specific statute. That SHOULD have settled it. But the judge and the state are intertwined, that much is obvious. And so the circus continues."

               This will not sway Hershberger supporters who await the outcome on the charges Hershberger continued to sell raw milk after the state raided his property in 2010. See the below post for more details on the charges.

               The final pre-trial hearing is set for 1:30 p.m. on May 7. The trial is set for May 20-24.