Viva Verde!

I read this amazing article in the NYTimes this morning about eco-palms. I never thought about the palm-importing industry, but apparently when NAFTA did their research behind the most-imported goods from countries south of us, palms appeared and churches and florists are the big buyers. So with it being Palm Sunday when churches purchase millions of palm fronds, there has been a major effort by these churches to purchase sustainably harvested palms. Hats off to the church!

There were several of people interviewed, but the priest that was interviewed brought it all back to the Bible and explained that it is mandated by the Bible to be stewards of the environment. I thought it was a really interesting, responsible stance taken by the church. Plus, it doesn't cost them much more to have these eco-palms and it has a positive impact on the communities and forests from which they are harvested.

The article has a bright light emanating from it: it is so nice to see a community of people (racial, spiritual, corporate, etc.) that is taking responsibility has a positive impact on the world. This is a great example of how we should be creating a more sustainable, ecologically responsible community.

Peace and blessings.

I think I have mentioned before that I work with an organic gardening crew of ladies in Boulder and today was a delightful day--weird, but delightful. There were snow storms all in the mountains and they loomed on the front range, but all they brought to us were high, wintery winds and sunny, blue skies. All the trees are just coming into bloom right now (and are being made a fool of by winter which keeps showing itself!) and today I was weeding below a cherry tree and all the whitish-pink blossoms were BUZZING! I was 10 feet away and all I could hear were the intense vibrations from these busy bees.
Now, I'm not scared of bees...in fact, I LOVE them! Perhaps more than any other insect/animal/amphibian, bees are the essence of life to me! You see, bees pollinate which in turn produces a fruit which in turn provides us with tasty, natural edibles that sustain our living. So, when you get right down to it....bees are the reason we are alive! So don't kill the bees because they help us and do so many wonderful things. Plus, have you heard how there has been a huge decrease in the population of bees internationally and they think this is linked to GMO-ed crops!! Yet another reason to eat organic, local, non-GMO!!!
Be well...just "bee."

I don't know if it is because people are caring more or producers are getting more lax with their standards, but it appears that there are growing food concerns caused by menial errors that have catastrophic effects. First the spinach and now pet food (with many things in between)...big-time producers drove the ma and pa farmers out, and then proceeded to mechanize the farming process, taking all the compassion and attention to quality out of the process. By doing this, our food became contaminated...people and pets died.

For me, part of the experience of eating is knowing where it came from--what it consists of. Was it grown next to Hwy 25 or was it grown in the fertile valley off the Shade River? What people forget is that plants and livestock are sponges--every bit of polluted air, brushing of pesticide and particle of fecal matter gets absorbed into their system which in turn people and pets ingest. Thats why it is important to me to eat organic because I know that there are definately not vertain things in my food--pesticides, antiobiotics, hormones, and cruelty-free. The odds of me or my dog getting sick from e.coli or some bizarre virus are HUGELY reduced by eating organic, homemade food.

With all the scares lately and the list of "safe" foods quickly shrinking, I am commited to eat local, organic food for myself and homemade, organic food for my pets.

As soon as the concept of "green" hit hollywood i was worried--very worried. Would our cause loose its credibility now that it was the hott thing to do? The last thing I want to have happen is for the concept of green to be trivialized and have people think that recycling is enough to save the world. So when Leonardo DiCaprio and Alicia Silverstone hopped on the bandwagon I thought we were really doomed. Titanic's hearthrob is trying to talk green (hahahahaa).

I was wrong. I didn't realize that their honest support (they do put their money where their mouth is) would bring the right kind of attention to the cause and would serve as a catalyst for change. I have to give them a lot of credit for doing something positive with their fame and I really need to get over the thought they are destroying our efforts. Take for example Alicia Silverstone. She just threw an "all-green" wedding and got HUGE coverage, so now a whole lot more people will be into something like that. On a more global level, Al Gore is helping stimulate policy change and demand better enforcement of international environmental standards.

So, my whole idea for this was prompted by Oprah's Earth Day show (Friday, 4/20) when she'll be helping people learn how to go green and interview various people in the industry. Good info show. Check it out.

So we've got two days until Earth Day, but it seems like the rest of the world likes to celebrate it during the business week, so it looks like today is the unofficial celebration! Yay for Earth Day. And like I said in my previous blog, Oprah's got a rockin' "Go Green" show on today at 3 pm EST.