IslandWood Connections feature

Through my current work with Friends of the Cedar River Watershed, I had the opportunity to re-engage with IslandWood and met at length with their Executive Director, Ben Klasky. IslandWood was thrilled to see how my professional life has come full circle and my work has come back to a focus on local sustainability issues.

Read my feature story here and also take a look at Ben's article titled "Take a hike, and call me in the morning"

Exploring Nature with Little Hands

Few things in life are as fulfilling and insightful as spending time in nature with children.  The 4th of July weekend was spent exploring the shoreline of hood canal with my two and four year old daughters.  They became absolutely transfixed with teeny red spiders on a piece of driftwood.  Sometimes it takes a child to slow you down and help to take notice of the simple joys in life.

Spring Harvest has Begun! (Rule #1 & #5)

One of the things I have always made time for since leaving the nest is  gardening.  Although it took me a few years of college to realize that life was not just about the parties and football games, I finally found a house with space for a garden and as overly granola as it may sound "re-connected" with the environment.  Interestingly enough, this was when I decided to focus my school efforts on an Environmental Studies degree.  Growing up, my grandfather was always an inspiration to me being a financial business owner and a gentleman farmer at his home on Mercer Island and family retreat at Hood Canal.  From May to October, we were always guaranteed a variety of fresh fruits and vegetables from my grandfathers hard work, and in the winter months enjoyed the best preserves and canned goods I will ever know.  With his passing, my uncles and I have taken his lead and still continue to garden as a way to stay "connected" and provide food for our families.  I also find that spending time in the garden is a great stress reducer and opportunity for me to educate my girls about growing plants in our marine climate. 

Being a consultant has freed up my schedule to sporadically spend more time working in the garden and establish a "system" to produce more food in less space.  As I worked to build a playhouse for my girls out of reclaimed materials last fall, I realized that I also was coming across all of the key elements to build raised beds and a passive greenhouse for the spring time.  My very simple structure, positioned perfectly for optimal southern exposure from February to April has produced my first harvest of Chard this early in a very cold year!  We celebrated Mother's Day with a harvest and wonderful casserole with fresh Chard. We have also started herbs, lettuce, tomatoes, zucchini, and cucumber in the house on a south facing window sill and peas, carrots and beans are now sowed in the ground outdoors.

 

It is not too late to start summer veggies from seed inside and this is the perfect week to sow directly in the ground as the chance of frost has likely FINALLY passed.  So get outside and plant some seeds today or swing by the nursery and pick up some local starts ready for our growing region!

If you are new to gardening in this climate, I highly recommend thumbing through Steve Solomon's Growing Vegetables West of the Cascades.

Sustainable Wellness featured on Patch.com

See my recent feature on Patch.com!

Living in a "Thriving Community" (Rule #3 & #6)

Seattle's Salmon Bay "micro-hood" is thriving with a true neighborhood feel right out of the 50's or 60's.  This small community within Ballard is part of the City of Seattle, but a world away from the grit, tension, and fast pace of downtown.  Communities like this sometimes happen by accident and sometimes are nurtured, but those that seek this experience (which is becoming less and less common) wouldn't trade it for the world.  Years ago I organized two similar communities that are still a highlight of my personal community endeavors.  On alternating weeks, a group that started with 4 hiking and mt. biking enthusiasts turned into a weekly ritual for a group of 25+.  On week would entail a Friday morning sunrise hike to the top of Spencer's Butte in Eugene Oregon, equipped with headlamps, down jackets during the winter, and cook stoves.  As we sat at the top of the Butte watching the sunrise, we prepared a simple breakfast of oatmeal and fruit.  This eventually turned into a build your own omelet bar and pancakes as more joined in and brought backcountry cooking innovation.  Friday hikes then morphed into an alternating Saturday morning pancake potluck followed by a solid morning of mt. biking on local trails.  What made this so satisfying was never having a shortage of people to hike or ride with by connecting people who otherwise would never have met and allowing people to find new adventure buddies of similar ability levels.  In a completely unplanned and unstructured capacity, we created a thriving community by nurturing a group with common interests...adding in good food didn't hurt either!

The benefits of social exercise (Rule #2 & #6)

Today marks the busiest week for health clubs around the country, as new years resolutions become realized and people set out to "get fit".  After spending more than 6 years managing programs at the largest health club in the nation and catering to the likes of corporate types and families who have to schedule time to breath, I have seen what works and keeps people on track. 

The answer?  Make your exercise routine a social experience. 

Now, that doesn't mean you can expect results by going to the gym, leaning against a piece of equipment, and having a conversation with your best friend or office mate.  What you should look for is an opportunity to use your exercise time to catch up with friends, establish new relationships, and find a group that will hold you accountable for showing up and living active. 

I'll give you an example.  My best friend since 3rd grade travels more than any one person could possibly imagine and our time together is limited, but we always make the most out of it by getting in our exercise as well.  We meet for a run, hike, bike or gym session and use that time to catch up on lost time.  The interesting thing about exercising with someone is that you are far more likely to actually set aside time for exercise, tend to push yourself harder,  and often get in more quality conversation than you would on the phone or over coffee.

If you don't have a good friend that is in to exercising, this is a great week to motivate them to start!  Better yet, join a group exercise program that requires some accountability and sign up with a friend.  Many community centers and colleges offer quarterly fitness programs, yoga and pilates centers offer multi week programs, and many gyms are now jumping on the bandwagon with biggest loser team training programs.  If you don't have access to these facilities due to your location or financial constraints, then find a friend or local group for walking, running, hiking, biking, or take part in a recreational sports league.

So, if your new years resolutions include "get fit" and you want to make that process a little greener, here are my top 5:

1.  Bike to work - there is no better way to get fit, stay fit, and reduce your carbon footprint.  See my upcoming post on commuting by bike during the winter, if done right it is feasible to do 12 months of the year and enjoy the experience. 
2. Head out on foot for errands - we have become so accustomed to driving that it seems foreign to walk further than across the parking lot for groceries.  Our bodies were built to walk long distances, up to 12 miles per day!  How long would it take you to walk to your nearest grocery store and pick up what you need for a few days?  An extra 20 to 40 minutes?  Sounds like a great way to get in some exercise while staying green.  Get a good backpack, like the sturdy and waterproof Ortlieb, and start walking.
3. Join an organized group - seek out work partues at local parks, participate in weekend trail maintenance projects, or tear up your lawn and plant a vegetable garden for you and your neighborhood.  Not only do these projects get you moving and burn calories, but they build community and help you feel good about being involved and making a difference.

4. Seek out a gym or fitness program that offers a greener experience -the simplicity of yoga, mat pilates, tai chi, or even dance studios often times use small spaces with limited resources to produce exceptional workouts and a group atmosphere.  The Green Microgym in Portland offers a new concept, which you can expect to see popping up around the country, where they have partnered with Seattle based Re: Sources Fitness to utilize electricity producing cardio equipment to help power the building.




Hiking near Mt. Rainier


5. Take on a new outdoor pursuit - consider kayaking, rock climbing, mt. biking or hiking.  These activities can get you out to the remote places that help us check back into the world that exists outside the city - a breathing, thriving, and self sustaining environment.  I guarantee if you connect back with the natural world more often, you will second guess your choices back in the urban oasis of convenience.

Feeling SAD on the Winter Solstice? (Rule #4)

At 11:38 tonight, the earth officially reaches its furthest point from the sun for 2010.  By this point of the year, the day seems to go by in a flash, especially during the work week when many don't get more than a small glimpse of the sun at lunch or through an office window.  In the Northern latitudes we have to endure short and cold days during the winter so that we can enjoy the long brilliant days of spring and summer.  The challenge is to make sure we stay healthy and positive when nature deals us gray skies and short days. 
Today marks the return to lengthening days, which means we still have a few more months of commuting home in the evening and cooking dinner in complete darkness.  On the bright side, days will begin to get longer and with only about 8 to 9 hours of usable light today, we will see daylight increase between 8 & 15 minutes per week over the next few months.  The long days always seem to return quicker than they leave - I always think it is similar to the feeling that getting to a new location in the car always seems longer than getting home.  To deal with these short days we are utilizing more energy lighting the house or office in the afternoon and evening hours and have been feeling sleepier earlier in the evening, many of us may also feel a bit more "blue".  That feeling may be for a variety of reasons and here are a few things we can do to combat the blues:

Indoor Lighting
In order to avoid the winter blues, you need to help your body stay alert in the evening hours - especially if you have kids to care for, evening meetings or a report to finish for your 8:00 am meeting tomorrow.  Consider adding full spectrum compact fluorescent lighting to your major light sources in the house and office, especially those lights that you will use most in the afternoon/evening hours.  Compact Fluorescent bulbs use about a quarter of the energy of traditional incandescent bulbs, and although they are more expensive up front, they will cut down on your energy costs and reduce your carbon footprint.  If you also add in the full spectrum benefits, you will gain a healthy advantage while staying green and keeping your budget balanced in the long run.  Full spectrum bulbs produce a light spectrum similar to the sun's light and have been used to treat such conditions as SAD or the general "winter blues" which are very prevalent in the Pacific Northwest.

Sleep & Exercise
Experts agree that keeping up with a regular exercise routine can will keep the blues at bay, and the Center for Disease Control recommends 2 hours and 30 minutes of weekly exercise to maintain a healthy lifestyle.  This can come in small chunks (as little as a 10 minute brisk walk) or larger chunks (90 minutes of moderate activity) but should take place at least 3 days per week with 2 days incorporating some form of strength training.  Ideally we should shoot for 5 hours per week and 5 to 6 days of exercise, even if we just get in a 20 minute jog or fast paced strength circuit on a few of those days.  Sufficient and quality sleep can also help ward off the blues and experts recommend between 7 & 9 hours per night, to learn more see my October post on sleep or click here to read a medically based article on sleep and SAD.

Finally, many experts will recommend that getting outdoors as much in the winter time as possible will help increase vitamin D levels and ward off the blues, and many individuals such as myself opt to take a daily vitamin D supplement to stay balanced - check with your doctor to learn more and click here to read a great  a general article from the Wall Street Journal.

Do You Still Have Leftovers From Your Holiday Feast?



Leftover sweet potatoes, beets, and stuffing.

It's December, which means that we have now passed the "safe" time frame to consume any Thanksgiving leftovers you may have in your fridge.  The Mayo Clinic recommends only consuming leftovers within a 4 day time frame after they were initially prepared.  But, if you are like me, you probably still have a few items lingering in the fridge that you just didn't get around to finishing. What you may be amazed to learn is that a quarter to half of all food produced in the United States goes uneaten - not harvested, contaminated during production, spoiled in transit, or thrown out at the grocery store, but an overwhelming amount is actually wasted at home.

Some statistics from a recent New York Times column:

• 40 percent of food waste occurred in the home.
• 93 percent of respondents acknowledged to buying foods they never used.
• Food scraps make up about 19 percent of the waste dumped in landfills
• A family of four that spends $175 a week on groceries squanders more than $2,275 a year

So it seems that once again we have run into the fact that being wasteful is not only harming the environment, but also bad for our financial situation - all the more reason in this economic climate to assess how much food you waste and where you can be more thrifty with your food budget!

With all this knowledge, someone is capitalizing on this epidemic and has created what seems to be a very useful app for iphone to help you build a shopping list and remind you of expiration dates.  Author and blogger Jonathan Bloom has also just released a book that I will be adding to my reading list American Wasteland: How America Throws Away Nearly Half of Its Food 

So what should you do?

1. Plan your meals before you go grocery shopping, you will be more likely to buy only what you need and avoid those "impulse" purchases of items you don't really need.
2. Eat perishables soon after purchasing. Besides the concern of food-borne illness food is much more nutritious when it is fresh.  Then, pack those leftovers for lunch the next day.
3. Soup, soup, and more soup - I can walk into any house and pull things out of the fridge and cupboard that probably need to be eaten and make a delicious soup, just ask my wife!
4. Compost any leftovers or fresh food that has passed its safe time frame to consume.

Finally, I recently had the opportunity to meet with the Education Coordinator for Cedar Grove Composting, and learned a few new things about industrial composting, mostly what you can and cannot deposit in your curbside yard waste bin.  Click here to view acceptable items on the Cedar Grove website - most notably I learned that very few paper cups are compostable as most now have a plastic rather than wax coating, wine corks can also not be composted but instead recycled at many local wineries*!

So, here's a cheers to your holiday meals and if you don't finish your leftovers, make sure to compost!

*I have calls in to a few local wineries and will post a list of where to recycle.

Is your fish dinner a healthy and sustainable option?

I recently enrolled in a weekly lecture series as a University of Washington Alum titled "Eating Your Environment" featuring top professors from around the world on the topics of food and sustainability.  Throughout the last few weeks we have listened to professors from Purdue, Stanford, and NYU.  This week, Professor Ray Hilborn of the University of Washington presented his findings regarding how we can sustainably harvest fish as a means to supplying a portion of the world's protein needs. 

There are mixed views on the impacts that fishing have on the environment, but Professor Hilborn made a compeling case for continuing to fish certain species at current levels rather than make up that protein demand through land based options.  The most eye opening statistic is that we would need at least 22 times the amount of available rain forest to produce enough beef to replace fishing - assuming we stop fishing completely.  Now, take a moment to think about that - there is not much rain forest left and if we cut it down to create land for protein from beef vs. fishing, the ramifications would be devastating.  So, in an attempt to help you make healthy and sustainable options when choosing fish for dinner - here is my distilled version of the lecture along with some additional resources. 

Pros to eating fish vs. beef:

• Fish is much higher in omega-3 fatty acids which help lower blood pressure and risk of heart disease
• Consuming protein from fish contributes significantly less carbon dioxide to the atmosphere
• Less loss to biodiversity (farming eliminates up to 100%, fishing about 30%)

Cons to eating fish vs. beef:

• Currently fishing at/near maximum yields, less than 30% growth available in fisheries worldwide 
• Typically higher levels of mercury and other contaminants, such as dioxins and PCBs
• Fish tends to be more expensive. But overall, cheap protein is not a healthy and sustainable option

Rodale's list of the 7 healthiest fish for you and the planet, All are high in heart-healthy omega-3s and low in contaminants, and are fish whose fishing or farming methods have minor impacts on the environment:

   

1. Albacore Tuna (Canada, U.S.)

2. Arctic Char (farmed)

Steve Mason with British Columbia
King Salmon and Dungeness Crab

3. Atlantic Mackerel

4. Rainbow Trout (farmed)

5. Sablefish/Black Cod (Alaska, Canada)

6. Sardines (U.S.)

7. Wild Salmon (Alaska) 

  
*Not mentioned on this list are shellfish, and since we have abundant opportunities in the NW to eat shellfish - I found that farmed oysters followed by wild dungeness crab and farmed mussels are the best options.I actually followed the lecture with meal of mussels and essential bakery bread!

Additional resources:

 Monterey Bay Aquarium: Seafood Watch also provides a comprehensive and easy to use list of which fish are best to eat and which should be avoided to do your part in restoring global fish populations and consuming only sustainably harvested populations.  Additional resources can be found through the Marine Stewardship Council - Sustainable Seafood Resources.  Finally, most experts agree that the health benefits of eating a moderate amount (2 servings per week) of fish far outweigh the risk of exposure to contaminants.

Are you sleeping well...and enough? (Rule #5)

Many years of research have gone into understanding why we sleep and how much is enough - the verdict?  We still don't know.  But, most experts agree that sleeping between 7 and 9 hours each night is imperative to keep your body functioning at optimum levels and ward off chronic disease. And the purpose, outside of providing the body time to regenerate and recover from the day?  In a recent National Geograpic article, Giulio Tononi from the University of Wisconsin noted that "the sleeping brain seems to weed out redundant or unnecessary synapses or connections. So the purpose of sleep may be to help us remember what's important, by letting us forget what's not."

If you feel that your stuggle to get a good nights sleep is an issue that few deal with, think again.  National Geographic also reports that fifty to 75 million Americans, roughly a fifth of the population, complain about problems sleeping. Fifty-six million prescriptions for sleeping pills were written in 2008, up 54 percent over the previous four years. and the article also places the direct medical cost of our collective sleep debt at tens of billions of dollars. The loss in terms of work productivity are even higher.

So what are the ramifications of not getting enough sleep?

Research presented in the Washington Post states that failing to get enough sleep or sleeping at odd hours heightens the risk for a variety of major illnesses, including cancer, heart disease, diabetes and obesity...The analysis of a nationally representative sample of nearly 10,000 adults found that those between the ages of 32 and 49 who sleep less than seven hours a night are significantly more likely to be obese.  A study done at the Harvard University over a ten year period on 70,000 women concluded that sleeping six hours a night was associated with a 18 per cent greater risk of heart attack, and sleeping five hours a night was associated with a risk of almost 40 per cent.
The Gallup Organization also rates sleep as one of the neccessities to keep a clear head and be productive throughout the day, it is like your daily reset button!  "Lack of sleep disrupts every physiologic function in the body," said Eve Van Cauter of the University of Chicago. "We have nothing in our biology that allows us to adapt to this behavior." 

So, what can you do to improve your sleep habits?

1. Make sleep a priority, focus on going to bed and getting up at the same time each day.
2. Exercise, but not within 4 hours of bedtime. I find that even 20 to 30 minutes of vigorous exercise early in the day improves sleep.
3. Sleep in a dark room and expose yourself to sun light or full spectrum indoor light during the day , click here to learn more about melatonin .
4. Reduce stress and anxiety before you go to bed in order to slow brainwaves: Write down pressing thoughts, resolve issues, take a warm bath then stretch, foam roll or meditate.
5. Have a snack before bed, experts suggest that dairy products (which contain tryptophan) and whole grains are a great option.  I like a bowl of Rice Crunch-ems cereal an hour before bedtime. 
6. You spend a third of your life in bed, find a bed you love.  I sleep on a Tempurpedic Classic, and have literally never slept better and wake feeling more refreshed than I have with any other bed.

Having a Dream... (Rule #7)

Life takes us down many paths, some inspiring, some challenging, some we will try to forget, and others we will make sure we remember, but in the end every step down every path makes us who we are and propels us into the future.  I consider myself a student of life and although I am not wise or enlightened, I have seen the world from many different perspectives and feel it is time to give back some of what I "think" I know!  Today I launch my blog and I see this project as a chance for me to express my perspective on the world to those willing to listen. Please join me as I discuss the connections between personal wellness (finding that balance of health, happiness, and personal fulfillment) and sustainability (the quest to meet the needs of the current generation while taking into account the needs of future generations).  My dream is that you will become a follower and in return provide your comments, feedback, and challenges to my perspective.

To you, in good health! Corey

Making better choices about food. (Rule #4)

A recent article in the Washington Post presents the findings of a new study that obesity is now potentially costing Americans 16% of their health care spending. Previous studies put the estimate at 9%. This should be an even more urgent call to arms for all of us working to educate and make high quality whole foods more readily available throughout society. As an individual who is working to bridge the gap between sustainability and wellness, data like this only becomes a more powerful tool when working with specific groups, schools and corporations on preventing obesity by encouraging behavior change. Starting by offering better food choices and "marketing" those choices while making it harder to pick "bad food" is a great place to start - if you have not read some of the case studies in "Nudge: Improving decision making about Health, Wealth, and Happiness" start by clicking here to see a short story on a simple cafeteria nudge. To read the article in the Washington Post, click here.

Your health may depend on where your beef comes from! (Rule #8)

Often times, we make a decision to purchase a particular food due to either its health or environmental ramifications. Is the food high in calories and nutritionally deficient? Was the food produced locally and organically or oversees by individuals that do not think twice about how their practices impact the health of the environment? There has been a lot of talk about grass fed beef lately, and I found a great study that promotes eating it not just because it is better for the environment and our health, but because it could change the amount of calories consumed - even by those that are not aware of the differences between beef from grain and grass fed cattle.

Because meat from grass-fed animals is lower in fat than meat from grain-fed animals, it is also lower in calories. (Fat has 9 calories per gram, compared with only 4 calories for protein and carbohydrates. The greater the fat content, the greater the number of calories.) As an example, a 6-ounce steak from a grass-finished steer can have 100 fewer calories than a 6-ounce steak from a grain-fed steer. If you eat a typical amount of beef (66.5 pounds a year), switching to lean grassfed beef will save you 17,733 calories a year—without requiring any willpower or change in your eating habits. If everything else in your diet remains constant, you'll lose about six pounds a year. If all Americans switched to grassfed meat, our national epidemic of obesity might diminish.

Click here to read the whole article and additional resources.

While changing over to a 100% grass fed beef diet may not be realistic for most (financially, accessibility) and changing this behavior alone is not the panacea of the obesity epidemic, it is a great step in the quest to being more sustainable in your overall wellness!

"It's better to go on vacation than to buy a new couch." (Rule #3)

Is basically the idea behind and New York Times article by Stephanie Rosenbloom titled "But Will It Make You Happy?" and validates #3 on my list. A few excerpts:

One major finding is that spending money for an experience — concert tickets, French lessons, sushi-rolling classes, a hotel room in Monaco — produces longer-lasting satisfaction than spending money on plain old stuff.

Spending on leisure activities appeared to make people less lonely and increased their interactions with others...spending on leisure and services typically strengthens social bonds, which in turn helps amplify happiness.

One reason that paying for experiences gives us longer-lasting happiness is that we can reminisce about them, researchers say.

Besides the fact that the article promotes Wal-Mart's sale of "experiences" via buying goods to create these experiences, this is an example of the mainstream recognition of integrating the principles of sustainability with the enhancement to personal wellness. For more research on the impact that "experiences" have on happiness, see the Financial Wellbeing section of "Wellbeing: Five Essential Elements" published by the Gallup organization.

Is sweating socially acceptable? (Rule #2 & 6)

This is the question posed recently by Dr. Daniel Friedman (Dean of the College of Built Environments @ UW) at a conversation in Seattle's Town Hall. He was presenting on the the topic of sustainability and pushing the public toward a more sustainable future by encouraging behavior changes. So, can we correlate environmental and widespread health problems in western society to our unwillingness to accept human traits such as sweating in public? As we progress toward creating a world that can sustain a healthy increase in population, these are interesting questions to ponder. Now, some cultures and areas of the country/world can get away with a short bike ride that is flat and can be accomplished without excessive sweating, but in the hilly cities of the PNW, this is rarely an option.
The status quo in our society is that sweating is acceptable in the gym, on the trail, or during a run through town, but not in the office or meeting environment. As I sit writing this on the UW campus, I am reminded that the university setting may be one of the few were you would not be ostracized for showing up to a professional engagement with a fresh sweat on your brow.
I do try to walk or bike whenever possible, and plan trips accordingly to avoid using the car, but unless there is a shower and a fresh change of clothes, I am choosy about when I make these decisions.
So...what if we as a society were more open to sweaty individuals? Would you ride your bike or walk more often? To the store, work, school, a social occasion? Would this change in behavior create a healthier population and a cleaner environment? I look forward to your comments!

Farm-to-School Program: how much do we value the health of children? (Rule #1 & 4)

As a society faced with challenging economic times, we are looking to reduce costs everywhere we can, but at what expense? The health of our kids? The quality of the local environment? Launched in 2008, the state run Farm-to-School program has the great intentions of keeping kids healthy while helping schools support local farmers, truly a win-win for all involved. There are challenges though, and those come at a higher premium - prices that tax payers may not be willing to support. So, the question is "How much does society truly value healthy kids?" The Farm-to-School program has the rare opportunity to bring real world experience to kids of any grade level by allowing them to be involved in the process of growing, harvesting, and preparing food - with the outcome of healthier kids who are more aware of where their food comes from and how it gets to their plates. Many families don't have the time or knowledge of nutrition to consistently provide their children with the education on how to eat properly and select food that is not only good for them, but good for the planet as well. As taxpayers, it is our job to support an educational process that produces children steeped in the skills necessary for life, and I hope we would rate eating well in-line with reading, writing and arithmetic. Take a moment to review the comments on the article and you will see just how divided we are on the topic.

Read the whole Seattle Times article here.

Root Connection CSA (Rule #3)

One of the greatest things I offer my children is experiences that instill values in them that will create more awareness of the world around them. Considering how busy life is and how little time we have to do things like go shopping and take our children on adventures, I recently found a way to do both while making our family healthier, supporting local business, and promoting sustainability. If you are unfamiliar with the concept of a CSA, I will offer you this brief explanation. Think of it like buying stock in a company that offers a weekly dividend and the ultimate payoff is health! Wow, hard to beat that right? Community Supported Agriculture is a farm or coop that allows individuals and families to purchase a"share" of a farm and receive a weekly allotment of produce during the growing season (25 - 30 weeks in the Puget Sound area). We joined The Root Connection CSA, which is conveniently less than 2 miles from our house. It supplies about 600 families the bulk of their produce from June - October for less than $35 per week. We also purchase a fruit share for an additional $25 per week that is sourced from mostly local and organic fruit growers, although we do get the occasional kiwi, banana or mango. Besides the benefits of incredibly fresh and nutritious locally produced food for most of the year, I get to take my daughters to the farm every week where they can pick carrots and lettuce, arrange their own bouquet of flowers, and see first hand where their food is grown. The best part is that they are much more inclined to eat things like kale and green beans after they pick it themselves!

Creating Intelligent Feet (Rule #2 & 4)

Western society for the most part frowns upon going barefoot in public for health and safety reasons, but benefits of going barefoot have long been known by many cultures around the world. For most of us, shoes fit a purpose and we do not often think about how they impact our health -we are more concerned with how they look or if they will keep our feet dry and warm. Our bodies have become accustomed to the support and protection of shoes so much, that recent studies have proven shoes may actually be causing more health problems for many as they create lazy feet and shutoff our feets ability to "learn". As an avid "barefooter" at home and outdoors during the seasonally appropriate months, I was thrilled to see Vibram Five Fingers come on the market as an alternative to safely and legally go barefoot anywhere. It took me a few months to commit and take the leap, but when I did in January, I was pleasantly surprised by the outcome. I have suffered from mild plantar faciitis and knee/hip/low back issues for years. I have tried different shoes for exercise and running. Have been fit for orthotics by 3 different Physical Therapists and Podiatrists and visit the chiropractor regularly for a tune-up to my active body, but nothing seemed to really do the trick. For 9 months now I have been wearing the Five Fingers, not exclusively, but regularly for everything from working out in the yard and walking around town to workouts at the gym and running outdoors. They take time to get used to, and the recommendations on the Five Fingers website should be taken to heart, but I am now convinced that the majority of the issues I have had the past 16 + years was due to my body not being able to move as it naturally wanted to within the confines of shoes. My feet feel better and that has translated to by knees, hips, and low back! Now...I also incorporate a regular regime of Yoga, Myofascial Release techniques with the Trigger Point Technologies kit, and Movement Preparation techniques prior to exercise or strenous outdoor activites which are definitely a contributor to my success. If you are considering giving the Five Fingers a try, check out their website to learn more.

Thundering Hooves Comes For Dinner (Rule #1)

Saturday nights have always been my chance to experiment with food, and tonight I invited Thundering Hooves to the table. Based in Walla Walla, WA and owned by the Huesby family. In 1994, Joel Huesby had an epiphany that transformed the farm from producing subsidized wheat and alfalfa to sustainably raised and 100% grass fed meats. By putting the natural laws of farming and ranching at the forefront of his business practice, Joel was able to create a superior product that has a positive impact on the environment and produces highly nutritious and absolutely delicious meat!

We brought home a pound of their 9% ground beef, mixed it with fresh herbs from the farmer's market, and grilled it on the BBQ for the best burger I have had in a long, long time. Burgers were topped off with lettuce and thinly sliced zucchini from the garden, grilled onions from Root Connection, and a homemade balsamic aioli - deeeelicious and nuuuutritious!

Thundering Hooves products are available through their website and are also now sold at PCC Natural Markets.

My new favorite book: "In Defense of Food" (Rule #8)

Michael Pollan's views on personal and environmental health as they relate to real food, what companies would like us to believe is food, and implications of food choices on our local and global communities. In his latest publication, In Defense of Food, Pollan brings insight into the state of national and global health whuile creating the undeniable link to environmental challenges. If you ever question how your food is produced, how it gets to your grocery store or delivery truck, and what exactly is in the food you eat - you cannot miss this book! Contrary to the frustrations some feel after reading his previous publication on food, Omnivore's Dilema, Pollan leaves the reader with an extensive list of "rules" to pull from when making food choices and shopping decisions.

Since completing the book, I have joined a CSA (Community Supported Agriculture) foraged for berries in my neighborhood and been more focused on maintaing our backyard garden to produce higher yields of food. I am already an avid farmer's market attendee and seek out organic produce whenever possible, and am now considering a chest freezer to purchase our meats in bulk from a local farm. The power of the written word on our actions!

ANDI score at Whole Foods (Rule #1 & #4)

During a stop at Whole Foods for lunch and a few groceries, I found a fun new tool for experiencing food and being proactive with your health. As the popular tv network stated during their campaign to increase the American awareness of everyday items "The more you know..." fits this scenario nicely. Whole Foods has adopted the "ANDI" (Aggregate Nutrient Density Index) Score to inform consumers in an analytical sense just how healthy your food choices are, especially by weight. This system was developed by Eat Right America's Chief Medical Officer, Joel Fuhrman, M.D..

We all know that lentils are good for us, but did you know they only have 1/6th of the nutrient density of brussel spouts? Now, don't let the chart lead you astray - some items are just more dense than others and offer similar amounts of nutrients per serving size. For example, you would not likely eat 4 ounces of spinach in a sitting as you may chicken - everything is relative and needs to be viewed from that perspective. Click here to learn more about this system from the Whole Foods website.