L’Indonésie détient le taux de déforestation le plus fort du monde : l’équivalent d’un terrain de football toutes les 15 secondes. Les feux, allumés volontairement, se chargent de nettoyer ce qui reste de forêt primaire, dégageant tant de carbone que l’Indonésie est le troisième pays émetteur de gaz à effets de serre. Les anciens paysages ont été remplacés par des palmiers à huile, une monoculture rentable. D’autant que depuis peu, l’huile de palme entre dans la composition du biocarburant, et qu’une loi votée par le parlement européen impose un taux de 10% de biocarburants d’ici 2020.

Lorsqu’il est question de forêt primaire, on pense généralement à l’Amazonie. Mais qui sait que l’Indonésie recelait l’une des plus riches de la planète ? Pour beaucoup d’Européens, c’est d’ailleurs aux différentes essences de bois précieux – dont on fait des tables de jardin ou des lattes de plancher – que l’île est associée. Le meranti et le ramin par exemple, des bois précieux rouges, sont ainsi chaque jour abattus à une cadence infernale. Au risque de tuer la poule aux oeufs d’or ? Non : la forêt vierge disparaît devant des millions d’hectares de palmier à huile, nouvel or vert de l’Asie. C’est que l’huile de palme entre aujourd’hui dans la composition de tant de produits : les cosmétiques, les détergents, les chocolats et surtout… les « biocarburants ».

Sur le terrain pourtant, on constate que ces cultures n’ont rien de « bio » : déforestation massive, incendies volontaires, expropriations manu militari, sans compter les orangs-outangs de Bornéo qui perdent petit à petit leurs moyens de subsistance… Une loi, votée par le Parlement européen, impose un taux de 5,75 % de « biocarburants » d’ici à 2010 et de 10 % d’ici à 2020. Une loi qui, paradoxalement, va précipiter l’importation massive d’huile de palme sur notre continent… au nom du développement durable.

Save the Rain forest
If you are thinking 1 year ahead, sow seeds
If you are thinking 10 years ahead, plant a tree
If you are thinking 100 years ahead, educate the people

This is a complex issue to understand. Logically we’d think farm-raised (by the way, “ocean-raised” fish is the same as “farm-raised” just a new marketing name. Farm-raised fish are fish in pens in the ocean and when this got a bad wrap they changed the name, that’s all) would be better for our environment and better for us.  But we have learned that farm raised means that the fish don’t get lots of swimming room, are prone to disease (and therefore fed antibiotics) and can get out and infect the fish in the wild.  They are also high in mercury.

Salmon is an incredibly healthful fish full of omega 3s. Since Farmed Salmon are fed pellets instead of what they eat in the wild three elements are affected.
First, the food that they normally eat in the wild converts into powerful omega 3s for us; the farm raised salmon doesn’t have as high nutritional value. Second, the food they eat naturally helps them turn that beautiful pink color to which we are accustomed; the farm raised are therefore fed colorings to make them more palatable to our eye. Finally, the food they eat affects how they taste and there is truly no comparison in flavor or texture.

When choosing to eat fish, we must consider:
The importance of fish to our health with valuable Omega-3s, protein, low fat. The sustainability of the fish, that it is not overfished and that it is safe for our environment. The health of the fish and the life of the fish (what it eats, how it lives). Cost. We really can’t afford to eat farmed salmon. Taste.

We do know that fish is important for our health.

Fish, particularly cold water oily fish, have valuable Omega 3s. We are just now exploring all the benefits of these EFAs and are finding that they are invaluable to good health. They help reduce risks of heart disease, cancer, age-related blindness and eye problems, arthritis, and other inflammatory diseases as well as keep a healthy circulatory system. We should strive for two to three servings (total of 6 – 12 ounces per week as one serving is considered 3 but can be as much as 6 ounces) per week of a fish high in Omega 3s.

“The National Cancer Institute has linked consumption of red meat– beef, pork and veal–to an increased risk of several types of cancer, including breast cancer. One study found that the risk of breast cancer doubled in postmenopausal women who ate three ounces of red meat a day as compared with women who ate one ounce or less of red meat daily. Instead, emphasize fish, especially fatty fish such as salmon–their omega-3 fatty acids may help prevent breast cancer.”

–Sola Ogundipe, What Every Women Should Know About Breast Cancer

It’s unbelievably sad how hard we must work to eat healthy today. There is so much we must do and there are conflicting reports, sometimes it’s easier to just give up and go with the masses. But our health is the most important thing we have – without it, we have nothing. Health is important for today and for our future; we want to be here for our children as they get older and need guidance and to share their joys.

Here are ten steps to help us eat healthier, feel better and live longer. Good luck on your journey!

1. Get rid of the hydrogenated oils and transfats in your home and in your life.

Throw out the products that you have (don’t try and finish them, just throw them out and add healthy time to your life!) Get a garbage can and go! Look at all the processed foods and words on the label that say “hydrogenated” or “partially hydrogenated oils” and toss into the can. Don’t worry, there are plenty of convenience foods without these transfats.
This is the first cleansing we all go through and it’s in our kitchen cabinets. Then go to the refrigerator and get rid of any margarine.

Don’t buy these things anymore. That includes most shortening and most processed and packaged foods.

Cut out the junk. Highly processed foods offer no nutritional value and shorten your life as well as can make the life you do have miserable with sickness.

Cut out fast food. My family and I don’t eat fast food. Loaded with transfats and plain just don’t taste good. If you lunch at fast foods regularly, cut them out for a month and eat delicious whole foods cooked to perfection, then TASTE fast foods again.

If you don’t think you have time to make foods, there are ways to make them quickly and there are plenty of healthier fast options too. There is no excuse to eat poorly. This is the most important thing we can do for ourselves and our future, not to mention the future of any children to whom we are teaching eating by example. So your eating habits don’t continue to last through their lifetime and then they pass it to the next generation. What a legacy to leave!) You may be surprised to find that they really don’t taste good. We don’t eat them.

If you know what food is suppose to taste like, and if you taste what’s out there in fast food and convenience food, it’s easy to give it up. In order to devour life, we must truly enjoy food and our bodies will tell us what is good if we just listen instead of numbing our senses with advertisements, sugars, processed flours, and the quick stomach fill up. We need to take time and savor the food we eat and the life we have been awarded and make a difference to ourselves, our loved ones, and others.

2. Next, go to the refrigerator and get rid processed meats with nitrates.

3. Go organic!

• Start with those food that have the most heavy pesticides.
• Eat 5-9 vegetables and fruits each day.
• Eat a colorful array of vegetables and fruits, the deeper the color, the better
• Eat those rich in antioxidants to combat free radicals678
• Add organic fruits and vegetables regularly to reap the benefits.
• Juice whole vegetables.
• Eat whole fruits but lower how much fruit juice you drink each week. A good way to transition this is to dilute the fruit juice a bit each week.
• Fiber, found in the skins of fruits and vegetables as well as whole grains, is important for our health. Juicing removes the fiber. Add back some of the pulp to your juice and chew it or make sure you are getting enough fiber from the whole grains and whole fruits and vegetables, skins too.
• Eat more raw fruits and vegetables, or lightly steamed or sautéed to preserve the nutritional value. I mean, if you’re already going to eat Brussel Sprouts, make them count, right? And they are actually tastier that way!
• Eat Cruciferous vegetables each week.
• Eat vegetables containing sulfur compounds like Garlic and Onions
• Eat berries
• Spice it up! Use Fresh herbs and spices.
• Enjoy your food! Prepared properly, healthful foods are delicious! Eat a healthy and varied diet.
• Instead of grabbing a quick processed snack, try a fruit.
• Instead of the same foods and menu each week, try new foods and recipes.

4. Add Omega 3 fatty acids to your diet. These can be found in fish, walnuts, and flaxseeds. The best source is in cold water, wild, oily fish.

5. Use good organic cold pressed extra virgin olive oil (a mono-saturated fat) and keep it in the refrigerator. Never fry in olive oil – it is not good for high heat. Organic Virgin Coconut Oil is a stable oil and can take the high heat of frying. Walnut oil is also great for salad dressings. Organic Grapeseed oil is good for the occasional frying and is a light oil. Sesame oil can be used sparingly to impart flavor. Organic Ghee (clarified butter) is perfect and delicious for sautéing.

6. Cut out the “white” stuff – Limit or stop eating altogether nutritionally defunct:
- white processed flour. The trouble is that we eat way too much grain, and particularly way too much white flour. Many who believe you should cut out grains completely and there are good books on this subject. Grains, as a rule, raise our insulin levels and cause our bodies to go into a tizzy. There are other experts taht believe that whole grains are a good addition to the diet. The key is moderation if you follow that approach. And remember, corn is also a grain. And it’s high in sugar. We’d all do much better if we cut the corn from our foods. Instead of white flour (used to make pasta, cookies,…) eat whole grains:

• o Quinoa
• o Spelt
• o Oats & Oat Bran
• o Brown Rice
• o Wheat Germ
• o Soba or Udon Noodles
• o Kamut
• o Bulgur Wheat
• o Couscous (which is actually a pasta)
• o Millet
• o Buckwheat
• o Rye
• o Flax

- white rice. Conventional rice is loaded with pesticides. Though white rice is a much better option to regular overcooked pasta, it is not a nutrient-dense food that should be consumed regularly. There are so many different kinds of rice that have more nutritional value and are delicious. It’s not just brown rice. Again, rice is a grain and should be consumed in moderation.

- white sugar, corn syrup and the processed foods made from these things. Cut out sugar and corn syrup, as much as possible. This is the single thing we can do to improve our health quickly as we generally consume way too much sugar. And artificial sweeteners are no better for us. We need to stop our cycle of craving sweets and stick with a wholesome sweet (like fruit, dried fruit, a piece of dark chocolate (ok, not particularly wholesome but a better choice than other chocolates when you’ve got to have it!) and healthier “raw” cookies made without sugar and without flour and yet surprisingly delicious! When we cut out the simple sugar, we can really taste the flavor and our bodies will show the change.

Steps to eliminate bad sweets from our diet:

1. Give up soda. We have done that in our home. I can’t even remember when I last brought soda into the house. One day we were out and our then 4 year old son went to get water from one of those soda dispensers with his Daddy. Unbeknownst to us, sprite came out. He tasted it and promptly returned it to us saying the “water is bad” and refused to drink it. A week later he had some milk and said “yuck, this tastes like the water at x” – he likened soda to sour milk! It isn’t good for our bodies and it doesn’t even taste good to a clean palate.
2. Try to eliminate sweets but on occasion use instead:

• + Maple Syrup
• + Honey, organic, raw preferably
• + Molasses
• + Brown Rice syrup
• + Stevia
• + Agave Nectar
• + Fruit like Bananas, especially ripe ones, can be added to pancakes, cookies or smoothies for sweetness. Try other sweet fruit too!

- milk may also fall under “white” stuff category, particularly the conventional rBGH pumped milk, and the high temperature long time pasteurized milk, and the milk from grain-fed cows instead of grass-fed. Low pasteurized and raw milk can provide valuable calcium and nutrition.

- table salt. There is a huge variety of sea salts out there and adding them to our diet is actually good for us as opposed to regular table salt which is actually bad for us.

7. Eat protein from a variety of sources:
* Nuts, like Brazil nuts and Walnuts
* Seeds, like Sunflower Seeds, Pumpkin Seeds, and even Hemp Seeds
* Beans – (also a carb and an incomplete protein)
* Grass-fed Beef (rich in Omega 3s too!)
* Fish (rich in Omega 3s too!)
* Chicken
* Eggs – especially from Chickens fed a high Omega diet!
* Yogurt, Kefir & Kumiss (adds calcium too!)
* Milk and Cheese
* Fermented soy products like Tempeh and Miso

8. Cut out artificial colors and artificial sweeteners.

9. Prepare Your Food Safely and more Deliciously:
1. Never put your food in a plastic container or use plastic wrap to cover it in the microwave. Use glass or ceramic instead. Might be better to get rid of the microwave all together anyway because of how it changes food.
2. Don’t use aluminum pots and pans; use stainless steel, ceramic, titanium, or glass instead. If you’re using anodized aluminum (black) than be careful not to scratch it. Don’t scratch Teflon coated pans either and never use those on high heat and never heat them dry (without anything in them, always start Teflon pans with oil in the pan if you are going to use them at all.)
3. Leftovers should be stored in glass (pyrex or anchor hoching, for example) or a safer plastic. Never put hot foods in plastic, wait until they are cool to minimize leaching of chemicals from the plastic.
4. Be adventurous and try new foods and new recipes!
5. Steam, braise and poach over frying and char grilling.

10. Live Better:
1. Stop smoking. If you are still smoking. Stop. I have no advice on this so you’ll have to look for help on how but please stop. Do it for yourself, your family, and for us out here who are trying hard to breathe clean air (and for our children.) And keep your children from ever starting by teaching them at an early age the dangers so that they have the information to make their own decision when the time comes. The best way to teach is by example. Children of smokers tend to smoke too. You have the power to end the cycle.

2. Drink plenty of water. It’s tough, I know; the easiest way is to start the day with a glass and have a glass on your bedside table at night. Have water at lunch and drink your glass before your meal and another with the meal. Our bodies need water. And adding a squeeze of lemon does more than just add a little flavor, it helps the water hydrate our cells more efficiently. If you’re nursing, drink a glass every time you nurse. Use filtered water, spring water, or artesian water. Tap water contains many added chemicals. Remove chlorine from your bath and shower.

3. Walk. Exercise. Do Yoga. Move.

4. Take time to relax. Not in front of the TV. Meditate, even for a couple minutes, to help calm. If you’re like me and are restless, try a mantra to help focus. And spend less time in front of the TV, particularly shut off news to lessen stress. Spend more time with family and friends and less time running around. I mean, our goal is to enjoy life yet many of us race around trying to make money so hard so that we enjoy life that we actually miss living life! Simplify your life and take stock of what’s truly important – health and love. These things cannot be purchased with money so why are we racing so much?

5. See your glass as half-full, you’ll live longer! Optimism improves our immunity, lowers the stress hormone cortisol, and reduces the risk of chronic diseases.

6. Get out in the sun a little each day. Don’t sunbathe. Don’t use sunscreen. But just soak in the sun on your walk, even to the car. Get outdoors in a natural surrounding! Sit for 10 minutes on a bench or the grass (that hasn’t been treated with chemicals) and look at the trees and the natural surroundings; listen to the birds instead of the cars; remember gazing at clouds and seeing shapes? What do you see? Great time to spend with your child too!

7. Start each day with a healthful breakfast. Eat smaller meals more often and at regular intervals instead of 3 big meals a day, especially when they are spread apart unevenly. Make your bigger meal at lunchtime. Portion control is key (eat slower, use smaller plates, eat foods that are rich in fiber to help fill you up, eat plenty of vegetables, enjoy what you eat). Healthful snacks (including fruits and nuts) are good for us, even before bedtime to help us sleep well.

8. Sleep. Soundly (if you have kids, as soundly as you can sleep) and in Total Darkness. Get 8 hours of sleep each night. You cannot “catch up” on sleep; our bodies need sleep each night. Block out lights from windows and get it dark for your health!

9. Volunteer. Or help others regularly. Help kids. Be an important part of our community and contribute to the world.

10. Drink a little less coffee and caffeinated products. A lot of controversy on whether it’s good or bad, but it’s hard to give up for many of us and I think moderation is the answer. Aside from getting our blood going in the morning, caffeine can increase body odor.

11. Clean with environmentally friendly and less toxic products. Wash your hands, get under the fingernails, especially before eating, cooking, and after using the bathroom. Special antibacterial soap is more harmful than helpful but use plenty of water (count to 10 as you rinse and rub.)

12. Take simple steps to avoid harmful chemicals in your life.

13. Drink alcohol in moderation. Choose wine over hard grain alcohols.

14. Be cautious about vaccines, especially inert ingredients included in them and multiple vaccines at once.

15. Be cautious about dental care.

16. Consider safer deodorants over harmful antiperspirants.

17. Avoid x-rays when you can.

18. Reduce, Reuse, Recycle. Compost.

19. Don’t use chemicals on your yard; instead find eco-friendly ways to tend to your lawn and garden. Then get out and play in the dirt!

20. Eat less calories – thin people live longer.

21. Brush and Floss. Regularly.

22. Always use your seat belt when traveling.

23. Learn. Studies indicate that people who reach higher education levels in school and people that continue to learn new things age better and live longer.

24. Do It! Don’t just let fear stop you. Take a chance.

25. Don’t use plug-in room deodorizes, room fresheners or scented or aromatherapy candles, even those with pure essential oils. Instead burn only 100% pure beeswax candles, preferably without artificial color.

26. Supplements and pills do not replace a good and varied healthful diet. Foods work in balance with their nutrient and healthful composition. A supplement or pill cannot do this.

A diet rich in organic whole foods (fruits and vegetables and complex carbohydrates), low (or no) in refined or processed foods, with a nice balance of proteins (including safe fish) allow us to live a longer, more healthful, and very Delicious Organic life!

Don’t just eat to fill the stomach. Savor each moment. This is your life, you are living it right this minute, enjoy it instead of letting it pass you by while you devour something in the car as you race to get somewhere important. That’s no way to live your life. You are more important than that. You have something to share with the world and your health will make that happen. Food is an experience to be shared with friends and with yourself. Enjoy every bite of life!

Additional Tips – add these Super Foods regularly:

• Add Blueberries to reduce cardiovascular disease. Blueberries help keep you relaxed even in stressful situations. Blueberries add fiber, vitamins and minerals. Blueberries can even help ward off cataracts and macular degeneration, cancer and other disease. Blueberries are a powerful antioxidant. This is a wonder food that is equally as delicious so add a handful every day – as a snack, to breakfast cereal, or even as a topping over fish or chicken! Eat a handful every day.

• Goji Berries add powerful antioxidants, beta-Carotene and Vitamin C, contain 18 amino acids and 21 minerals, and are a force in anti-aging.

• Strawberries, Cranberries, Red Grapes, Purple Grapes, Raspberries, Blackberries, and Purple Potatoes all have anthocyanin, a powerful antioxidant. Berries also have flavanoids. Indiana and Ohio State University studies found that Raspberries and Strawberries inhibit the growth of colon and esophageal cancer cells.

• Eat some Tomatoes, Brazil Nuts, Blueberries, Fish, Kiwi, and Broccoli each week because of their great antioxidant value.

• Tomatoes have powerful antioxidants (Lycopene and Vitamin C) and reduce the risk of prostate, colon, cervical, bladder, mouth and stomach cancers.
• Fiber can be found in fruits and vegetables (particularly in the skins), in nuts, seeds, legumes, beans and whole grains (whole wheat breads, oats, brown rice, and other whole grains.) Fiber helps prevent constipation and can reduce headaches.
• Omega 3s from cold water fish like Salmon & Tuna are important for brain function, eye health, may improve memory, and can lessen arthritic symptoms and coronary heart disease. DHA and Omega 3s have been shown to reduce hostility too! Omega 3s can help combat depression, anxiety, impulsiveness and aggression. Cod Liver Oil contains these essential nutrients and fatty acids as well so if you’re not eating your fish regularly, take a teaspoon of Cod Liver Oil daily. Omega 3s help promote a strong heart and immune system, good digestive system, healthy teeth and bones, smart brain, better eyesight (especially at night), glowing skin, and working joints. Wonder food indeed!
• Pomegranates and pure pomegranate juice offers a healthy dose of antioxidants with their deep color; this is a fruit that is low on the glycemic index too!
• Yogurt increases the absorption of Calcium and contains important flora and probiotics (friendly bacteria) for our digestive health. Make sure the label reads “live” or “active” cultures not just “made with” live cultures. Eat Fermented foods for a healthy digestive system and therefore a healthy body. Yogurt can also help reduce homocysteine levels and therefore the risk of cardiovascular disease.

• Greens including Collards and Broccoli, Tofu, Sesame Seeds are sources of Calcium.

• Cruciferous vegetables like Broccoli and Kale help break down potential carcinogens.

• A Heart Study found that elderly people who ate Spinach and Broccoli with high vitamin K had less hip fractures.

• Broccoli and other Cruciferous Vegetables are wonder foods and should be a regular part of each diet. They ward off cancer, actually help fight cancer, add fiber, add vitamins and minerals, and help build strong bones.

• Red Cabbage is not only a cruciferous vegetable but has antioxidants (eat your colors!) that are powerful. The reds and blues have the most! Cabbage is also high in Vitamin C and contains iodine and Vitamin E. Sauerkraut is fermented cabbage and aids our digestive system.

• Speaking of reds, let’s not forget Red Beets for the same reason.

• Leafy Greens should be consumed regularly including Lettuce (Red or Green leaf and Romaine more particularly), Spinach, Kale, Chard, Collards, Bok Choy and others help ward off cancers and offer a healthy dose of minerals, chlorophyll, essential vitamins for good health. Greens help the body maintain an alkaline state where cancers can’t thrive, unlike sugars which offer an acidic arena for cancers to flourish. Juice your Greens every day!

• Spinach contains Lutein which fights eye disease, macular degeneration. It is also rich in additional antioxidants, Glutathione, Vitamin C, Beta-Carotene, Folic Acid and Carotenoids. Spinach can also zap some calcium from bones. Cooking is the best way to eat Spinach because that allows us to absorb more of the nutritional value and lessen the negative effects, and be sure to get some extra calcium too (creamed spinach!). Eat it twice a week.

• The Nurses’ Health Study found that women who eat Carrots, Squash and orange Sweet Potato have the lowest risk of breast cancer.

• Oranges, full of antioxidant phytochemicals and Vitamin C and cancer-fighting bioflavonoids, help boost our immune system. Orange juice has too much sugar (about 7 oranges in a glass of juice) so eating oranges is not the same as drinking a glass of juice.

• Apples, with ellagic acid, inhibits some cancer growth. And with so many from which to choose, this is an adventure in and of itself!

• Superfoods include Fish, Fruits, Vegetables, Garlic, Almonds, Wine and Dark Chocolate and should be mixed into a regular diet to reduce the risk of heart disease by 75%! (Did you just hear chocolate and wine? Remember Fruits and Vegetables! Garlic. Almonds. Fish high in omega 3s.)

• Reduce the risk of heart disease by adding Garlic, Shitake Mushrooms and Oyster Mushrooms to your meals. Garlic, with organosulfides and allicinthus, protects against some cancers like breast cancer.

• Reduce arthritic symptoms with spices like Ginger and Turmeric. Many other spices have anti-inflammatory and immune-boosting properties including Cayenne Pepper, Rosemary, Sage, and Thyme.

• Reduce the risk of colon cancer by lowering sugar and meat intake. Especially work to avoid meats with hormones (conventional meats) and grain fed meats. Go for grassfed meats and grassfed organic meats when you can find them.

• Cilantro can help rid the body of mercury.

• Sage & Lemon may help in Alzheimer’s.

• Hot Red Peppers have capsaicin which fights the carcinogens from cigarettes and protect against lung cancer.
• Green & Black & White Tea is made from brewing fresh unfermented tea leaves and these teas are bursting with antioxidants polyphenols, the most potent of which is catechin.
• Sunshine provides Vitamin D and is a natural anti-depressant.
• Fats that are good include Avocados, Walnuts, Organic Egg Yolks, Coconut Oil, Olive Oil, and Butter. Butter should not be eaten all the time, but it is much better than margarine, especially from grass-fed cows. Butter from conventional cows is poison since the fats contain chemical residues (remember that’s where chemicals accumulate, in fat tissue.) Many advocate raw butter over pasteurized butter. Even though some of these fats are the dreaded “saturated” fats, like Coconut Oil, new research indicates that saturated fats are not the devils once made out to be. These fats are essential to good health, energy and can actually help regular our weight by keeping our metabolism high and in good rhythm.
• Egg Yolks from Organic Hens should not be feared. Eggs are a perfectly balanced food offering protein, fat, vitamins, folate, and antioxidants. Choline in eggs is used by every cell in our body to function properly. Conventional hens are treated poorly and the result is a poor quality and full of stress egg.

• Coconut is high in lauric acid, good for intestinal health. Cook with coconut oil, drink fresh coconut milk, add coconut milk to meals, add coconut cream to smoothies.

• Walnuts add fiber, healthy fat (omega 3 fatty acids), minerals and more. They can help reduce the risk of cancers, heart disease and diabetes. Add a handful for a snack or added to breakfast.

• Avocados are a wonder food that get little fanfare until one gets cancer. Full of healthy fats, vitamins, fiber, and minerals, Avocados are also chockfull of antioxidants that will keep you looking young and beautiful – promoting healthy skin and eyes and health. And eating avocados with red, orange and yellow vegetables actually enable us to more easily absorb the antioxidant carotenoids in those foods.

• Whole Grains can help keep us full and our energy levels even while offering cancer-fighting benefits. Whole Grains are not processed flours and most processed foods do not contain whole grains or contain so much sugar to make that food not a good balance and therefore not a good choice.

• Beans, fresh and dried, are filling and offer a good nonmeat source of protein. They act as protein inhibitors (so cancer cells have tough time penetrating the walls to tissues next door) so can help reduce cancer risk.

• Flaxseeds are high in omega 3s also but are not converted by our bodies as efficiently as omega 3s from Salmon or even Walnuts. Flax can be added to baked foods, smoothies, cottage cheese (or use flax oil) as another source of omega 3s.

• Try some Superfoods that might be new to you including Spirulina, Maca Powder, Sea Vegetables (Dulse, Kelp, and Nori), Chia Seeds.

• Raw Cacao contains magnesium (supports mental clarity and alertness) and tryptophan (essential amino acid that produces serotonin which helps regular mood and sleep.)

• When Pregnant it’s particularly important to include Greens and Cruciferous Vegetables, safe Salmon, and Fermented Foods while avoiding sugars and white flours so your baby comes out healthy and strong and smart!

Cautions – Avoid:

• * Doughnuts – fatty and no value with white flour and transfats and oils
• * Potato Chips and French Fries – not just fatty and the risk of transfat oils they are cooked in, potatoes, when cooked at high temperatures like frying, create high levels of known carcinogens.
• * Corn Chips – fatty and no value, conventional chips use GMO corn too
• * Foods to Avoid if not Organic because of high pesticide levels
• * GMO Foods
• * Sugar and things that spike our insulin constantly. Artificial sweeteners should be avoided too. Instead use blackstrap molasses which is rich in minerals and adds sweetness and flavor.
• * rBGH conventional milk and dairy products, especially those that are High Pasteurized and Homogenized
• * See caution about peanuts and eat sparingly, if at all. Avoid peanut oil.
• * Avoid soy oil and SPI.
• * Corn derivatives like High Fructose Corn Syrup, eat whole organic corn on and off the cob sparingly

“Prince’s Rainforests Project” (Projet du Prince pour la Forêt Tropicale) est maintenant disponible en français. Le site Internet contient des informations intéressantes sur les forêts tropicales, la déforestation et le travail effectué par le Projet. Jetez-y un coup d’oeil:

www.princesrainforestsproject.org/francais

Faites nous part de vos avis et commentaires.

Joyeux Noël!

Cordialement

The Prince’s Rainforests Project (Le Projet du Prince pour les Froêts Tropicales)

I recently joined membership of the Prince of Wales Rainforest Project.

The Prince’s Rainforests Project works with governments, business, NGOs and individuals to increase global recognition of the contribution of tropical deforestation to climate change and to find ways to make the rainforests worth more alive than dead.

- Project mission statement

Watch the Introduction of the Project

I had to post this here also, it’s a very touching video that makes you want to act right now.

If you also desire an “Amazon Rainforest Forever” subscribe their manifesto. After obtaining a substantial amount of signatures, it will be forwarded to Brazil’s President enabling him to take the necessary measures to solve this serious Brazilian and worldwide problem: The devastation of the Amazon Rainforest.

Your participation is very important!

BRAZILIAN ARTIST’S OPEN LETTER ON THE AMAZON DEFORESTATION We just celebrated the smallest Amazon Rainforest deforestation rate of the past three years: 17 thousand square kilometers. This corresponds almost to the half size of the Netherlands. We have already been able to destroy 16% of the total rainforest area, which corresponds to twice the size of Germany and three areas corresponding to the state of Sao Paulo. We do not have a reason to celebrate it at all.

Amazon is not planet’s lung, but renders services to Brazil and to the world. This green vastness extending over five million square kilometers is a thermal layer generated by nature to prevent the sunrays from reaching the ground, and thus enabling the existence of the most luxuriant forest on earth, which helps to regulate the planet’s temperature. It has been tilted in its exuberance, raped by unscrupulous lumberjacks, who set its emerald coverage on fire, giving way to foreigners that humiliate the forest by planting pasture or soybean over its centenary chestnut-tree ashes.

In spite of the extraordinary effort for conservation unit implementation as an alternative for the sustainable development, the deforestation continues. Even after Chico Mendes’ blood having sealed the men/nature pact, as well as the rubber latex extractor and Indian, even after the forest people alliance “for the right to maintain our forests untouched, as we need them for survival”, even after several sagas full of heroism, death and passion, the Amazon deforestation continues.

As in the past, we consider the Rainforest as being an obstacle to progress, an area that has to be subdued and conquered. An enormous land stock that might be turned into low production pastures, soybean plantations and vegetable species to be used as alternative fuel or even inexhaustible wood, fish, gold, mineral and energy sources. We are people with no responsibility at all. The deforestation and burning are symbols of our incompetence to understand the susceptibility and instability of the Amazon ecosystem and how to deal with it.

A country that possesses 165.000 square kilometers of abandoned or semi-abandoned deforested areas might double its grain production without having to fell one single tree. Without the forest the soil will be of no avail. It is urgent that we become responsible for managing our natural resources’ leftover.

Thus, from our point of view, the only reasonable proceeding to diminish the almost irreversible deforestation effects, is given under § 4 of Article 225, of our Federal Constitution: “The Brazilian Amazon Rainforest (…) is a national inheritance, and its use will be performed within law requirements, which assure the environment preservation, even with regard to the use of its natural resources”.

Having its enforcement to be implemented on municipal, state and federal levels, thus assuring

THE IMMEDIATE INTERRUPTION OF THE BRAZILIAN AMAZON RAINFOREST DEFORESTATION. NOW!

Time has come to visualize our trees as monuments of our culture and history.

WE ARE FOREST PEOPLE!

AMAZONIA FOREVER Concept and Project CHRISTIANE TORLONI ctorloni@amazoniaparasempre.com.br VICTOR FASANO vfasano@amazoniaparasempre.com.br Text JUCA DE OLIVEIRA joliveira@amazoniaparasempre.com.br Pictures ARAQUÉM ALCÂNTARA FRANCISCO CARRERA Musics BRAZILIAN NATIONAL ANTHEM – FRANCISCO MANUEL DA SILVA (Opening) BACHIANAS BRASILEIRAS Nº 5 – HEITOR VILLA LOBOS (Manifesto) Narration CHRISTIANE TORLONI (Portuguese) JUCA DE OLIVEIRA (Portuguese) VICTOR FASANO (Portuguese and English) Translation FRAUKE ALLMENROEDER (English) KATIA CHALITA (French) MAITHÉ HAKIM (French) PROFa. VANISE LEITE NUNES (Spanish) Production and Administration CLÁUDIO GOMIDE cgomide@amazoniaparasempre.com.br Audio ALEXANDRE DE FARIA MailMaster ELZA COSTA ecosta@amazoniaparasempre.com.br PAULO ZANON pzanon@amazoniaparasempre.com.br Web Designer CARLOS EDUARDO ASCHENBERGER caschenberger@amazoniaparasempre.com.br Thanks BRAZILIAN MUSIC ACADEMY / DR. HENRIQUE GANDELMAN JULIANA TERESA HANNICKEL PROFa. MARIA DA GLÓRIA SAMPAIO FERNANDES ROBSON SANTANNA

You personally can do a lot of things in your everyday life in order to save the rainforest and be more environmentally responsible

In The Home

• Recycle everything you can: newspapers, cans, glass bottles and jars, aluminum foil, motor oil, scrap metal, etc.
• Investigate local recycling centers that take items your garbage hauler does not.
• Try to use phosphate-free laundry and dish soaps.
• Use cold water in the washer whenever possible.
• Don’t use electrical appliances for things you can easily do by hand, like opening cans.
• Re-use brown paper bags to line your trash can instead of plastic liners. Re-use bread bags, butter tubs, etc.
• Store food in re-usable containers, instead of plastic wrap or aluminum foil.
• Save wire coat hangers and return them to the dry cleaners.
• Take unwanted, re-usable items to a charitable organization or thrift shop.
• Don’t leave water running needlessly.
• Install a water-saving shower head.
• Set your water heater at 130 degrees.
• Have your water heater insulated free of charge by your utility company.
• Turn your heat down, and wear a sweater.
• Lower your thermostat by one degree per hour for every hour you’ll be away or asleep.
  Turn off the lights, TV, or other electrical appliances when you’re out of a room.
• Get a free energy audit from your utility company.
• Burn only seasoned wood in your woodstove or fireplace… and don’t light them as often.

IN YOUR YARD

• Start a compost pile.
• Put up birdfeeders, birdhouses, and birdbaths.
• Pull weeds instead of using herbicides.
• Use only organic fertilizers… they’re still the best.
• Compost your leaves and yard debris, or take them to a yard debris recycler. (Burning them creates air pollution, and putting them out with the trash wastes landfill space.)
• Use mulch to conserve water in your garden.
• Take extra plastic and rubber pots back to the nursery.
• Plant short, dense shrubs close to your home’s foundation to help insulate your home against cold.

WHILE ON VACATION

• Turn down the heat and turn off the water heater before you leave.
• Carry reusable cups, dishes, and flatware.
• Make sure your trash doesn’t end up in the ocean… don’t litter beaches.
• Don’t pick flowers or keep wild creatures for pets… leave plants and animals where you find them.
• Don’t buy souvenirs made from wild or endangered animals.
• Watch out for wildlife… give consideration to all living things you see crossing the road.
• Build smaller campfires, and make sure they’re completely out before you leave.
• Stay on the trail… don’t trample fragile undergrowth.

IN YOUR CAR

• Keep your car tuned up.
• Carpool, if possible.
• Use public transit whenever possible.
• On weekends, ride your bike or walk instead.
• Buy a more fuel efficient model when you’re ready for a new car.
• Recycle your engine oil.
• Keep your tires properly inflated to save gas.
• Keep your wheels properly aligned to save your tires. (It’s safer too.)
• Don’t litter our roads and highways… save trash and dispose of it at a rest stop. AT WORK
• Recycle office and computer paper, cardboard, etc. whenever possible.
• Use scrap paper for informal notes to yourself and others.
• Print things like in-house memo pads, etc., on recycled paper.
• Print or copy on both sides of the paper.
• Use smaller paper for smaller memos.
• Re-use manila envelopes and file folders.
• Hide the throw-away cups, and train people to use their washable coffee mugs. Use washable mugs for meetings too.
• Route around the office or post non-urgent communications … instead of making multiple copies.
• Use the stairs instead of the elevator on trips of less than three floors… it’s better for you too.
  When You’re Shopping..
  Avoid buying food or household products in plastic or styrofoam containers whenever possible. (They can’t be recycled, and don’t break down in the environment.)
• Think twice about buying “disposable” products. (They really aren’t disposable and are extravagant wastes of the world’s resources.)
• Buy paper products instead of plastic if you must buy “disposables.” They break down better in the environment and don’t deplete the ozone layer as much.
• Check the energy rating of major appliances you purchase. Buy only the most energy-efficient models.
• Ask questions… don’t buy products, such as styrofoam, that are hazardous to the environment or manufactured at the expense of important habitats such as rain forests.
• Buy locally-grown food and locally-made products when possible.
• Don’t buy products made from endangered animals.

PERSONAL THINGS

• Join a conservation organization.
• Volunteer your time to conservation projects.
• Give money to conservation projects.
• Spread the Word
• Convert by example… encourage your family, friends, and neighbors to save resources too.
• Learn about conservation issues in your community or state… write your legislators and let them know where you stand on the issues.
• Teach children to respect nature and the environment. Take them on hikes, or camping. Help them plant a tree or build a birdhouse. Teach them by example.

Do the laundry after 9pm

Earlier this year, we decided to change our habbits concerning laundry, using the dish washer, owen for bread baking. After noting down each day how much power consumtion we had for each single day, we calculated that we could save money – and most importantly for me helping the environment – by changing our electrical bill subscription, meaning that we would pay half price for power from 9 p.m. to 6 a.m.

This all ment, that we now save money and even do less laundry than before. Before that I could turn on laundry up to three times a day, now I only do it once a day (or night:-)). Furthermore, we support the night curves of the power station, meaning we try to use less energy in peak hours which would be at daytime.