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Organic Connections November-December 2010

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The magazine of Peter Gillham's Natural Vitality. Covering issues of health, food, environment, agriculture and green design
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The magazine of Peter Gillham’s Natural Vitality NOV– DEC 2010 Connections Organic Philip and Alice Shabecoff Environmental Toxins and Our Children Chef Kevin Gillespie Sustainably Down-Home Anna Lappé The Real Food Revolution Philip and Alice Shabecoff Environmental Toxins and Our Children Chef Kevin Gillespie Sustainably Down-Home Anna Lappé The Real Food Revolution
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  • The magazine of Peter Gillhams Natural Vitality

    NOVDEC 2010NOVDEC 2010ConnectionsOrganic

    Philip and Alice ShabecoffEnvironmental Toxins and Our Children

    Chef Kevin GillespieSustainably Down-Home

    Anna LappThe Real Food Revolution

    Philip and Alice ShabecoffEnvironmental Toxins and Our Children

    Chef Kevin GillespieSustainably Down-Home

    Anna LappThe Real Food Revolution

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  • In this issue

    Good people are making positive changes in the world today. It seems that many of humanitys best and brightest have understood that we have been heading down a dangerous path. They observed the warning signs in our

    environment, in our food supply, in our health and the health of our children. They are rising to the occasion and, by their own efforts, helping alter our course from certain destruction to laying the foundation for a sustainable planet and sustainable living.

    In Hollywood sci-fi disaster epics, whenever Earth is threatened the population pulls together for the sake of common survival. Why isnt this the case now? Why arent we all pitching in to help create and be part of an enlightened, sustainable culture rising from the toxic legacy of the chemical-industrial profit-over-conscience system?

    The answer is obvious but disheartening. Were just not all on the same page. Some of us are trying to clean things up and get back to consuming fresh, local and organic food while others are hard at work perpetuating and promoting the unsustainable short-sightedness that got us in trouble.

    There are too many toxins in our existing agricultural environment being applied every day. We certainly dont need more. We need less. This particularly applies to the idea of genetically engineering foods. We dont know the long-term effects of these patented alterations, nor what these genes will do in combination or how they will spread to other non-GE organisms. The Center for Food Safety has succeeded in halting the planting of genetically modified alfalfa and sugar beets pending full environmental impact studies. GE corn is being exported to Latin America. A fast-growing GE salmon has been developed and the company behind it wants FDA approval without the fish being labeled. These are just a few examples, but you can be sure others are in progress and more are on the drawing board.

    Clearly, in some quarters sustainability is just something that stands in the way of corporate profits. Hire a PR firm for some greenwashing and make it go away, or at least create a distraction; meanwhile its business as usual. Isnt that insane? In a word: yes, particularly when acting in self-interest actually harms the common interest.

    So, for the rest of us, you and I do have to fight for sustainability. But isnt the prize of our planet, our food, our health and future gen-erations worth fighting for? We think so.

    Ken Whitmanpublisher

    Why do we have tofight for sustainability?

    4 Philip and Alice Shabecoff Journalists Philip and Alice Shabecoff, authors of Poisoned for Profit: How Toxins Are Making Our Children Chronically Ill, talk

    with us about what needs to be done to safeguard the health of our children in todays world.

    7 Chef Kevin GillespieTop Chef fan favorite and sustainable southern cooking expert Kevin Gillespie talks about how he makes it work at

    Atlantas Woodfire Grill and the educational responsibilities of

    being a chef.

    Anna Lapp Renowned author and food activist Anna Lapp sharesher views on the three pillars of a sustainable food system, the importance of interconnectivity,

    and the positive changes she sees happening.

    Ashley Koff, RD Nationally known dietitian

    Ashley Koff provides guidelines on how to choose a daily supplement for your kids.

    11

    Organic Connections is published by Peter Gillhams Natural Vitality

    8500 Shoal Creek Boulevard, #208, Austin, TX 78757

    Editorial Office 818.333.2171 e-mail [email protected]

    For a free e-subscription, visit www.organicconnectmag.com

    Product sales and information 800.446.7462 www.petergillham.com

    organic |r ganik|

    denoting a relation between elements of something such that they fit together harmoniously as necessary parts of a whole: the organic unity of the integral work of art characterized by continuous or natural develop-ment: companies expand as much by acquisition as by organic growth.

    11

    2010 Peter Gillhams Natural Vitality. All rights reserved.

    7

    4

    Free subscription to Organic Connections weekly web-only featureswww.organicconnectmag.com

    15

    15

    Cover photo Carr Clifton

    www.carrclifton.com

    Photograph page 12 Matthew Klein

  • 4 o r g a n i c c o n n e c t i o n s

    Poisoned for Profit: How Toxins Are Making Our Children Chronically Ill by Philip and Alice Shabecoff is an amazingly comprehen-sive work on the subject of environmental toxins. It details specific chemical, heavy metal and radioactive pollutions, diseases that run parallel to them, and who is respon-sible. It also makes an impassioned plea for changes needed in our system to create a safer world in which our children can grow up.

    How the book came to be is an illustration of the way that conscience can lead someone to profound and influencing actions.

    On the Trail of the Truth

    For many years, Philip Shabecoff has been driven to help save the environment. As a New York Times reporter for 32 years, he strove to cover important aspects of the envi-ronmentand was fought most of the way by editors who considered topics such as labor, the national economy and the White House more of a priority. Inspired by the very first Earth Day in 1970, Philip covered environ-mental issues for the last 14 years of his career with the New York Times.

    Upon his retirement, he founded Green-wire, a daily online digest of environmental news, which is still going strong today. He also began his career as an environmental author and has recently released his fourth book, co-written with his wife, Alice, a free-lance journalist and former executive director of the National Consumers League.

    Poisoned for Profit came about as an obser-vation made in the couples very own day-to-day life. When our grandchildren were being born, we happened to notice a high rate of disease around their neighborhood, Alice Shabecoff told Organic Connections.

    A quarter of the male kids in the neigh-borhood of one of our grandsons alone had some sort of neurological behavioral prob-lem, Philip said. So we started looking into it. We saw that it wasnt just neurological problems but also a huge increase in asthma cases, in birth defects, and certain types of cancers were rising as well. I was an environ-mental reporter for many years and I had known that there was an increase in a num-ber of chemicals being produced by industry and put into the environment by commerce. When we began looking deeper into it, we saw what to us was an inescapable correlation between the tremendous expansion of toxic substances in the environmentchemicals, metals and radioactive pollutionand the rising number of sick children. When we came across startling data that one of every three American kids today has some sort of chronic illness, we decided wed better really look into this in depth. And thats how we came to do the book.

    Their research led to some shocking rev-elations. Of Americas 73 million children, almost 21 millionnearly 1 out of 3suffer from one chronic disease or another: 58,000

    are threatened by cancer; nearly 2.5 million live with disfiguring or debilitating birth de-fects; 310,000 are poisoned by lead; approxi-mately 6 million suffer from asthma; and 12 million have some form of developmental disorder, from autism to ADHD and serious learning disabilities.

    These epidemic statistics can be viewed alongside the massive toxification of our en-vironment. According to Dr. David Wallinga, director of the Food and Health Program at the Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy,

    Weve created a society with around 80,000 industrial chemicals, most of which have not been tested for safety. Many of those chemi-cals end up in the food chain one way or another, through drinking water or because they are intentionally put into food packaging or because they are pollutants that accumu-late up the food chain. Being at the top of the food chain, we often get the most exposure to these pollutants.

    A Question of Values

    The Shabecoffs not only report facts and figures but analyze the problem down to an assessment of core valueson governmental, corporate and personal levels.

    On a corporate plane, the widespread use of chemicals has been motivated by the bot-tom line. If a corporation can maximize its profits by using certain toxic or questionable chemicals, it will, until expressly stopped from doing so. Unfortunately, the current system allows for chemicals to be innocent until proven guiltymeaning that unless a direct threat is shown to exist, a factory or plant can continue releasing them into the environment. And as the book clearly shows, it most certainly will.

    Economist Milton Friedman proclaimed some years ago that business has no social responsibility other than to increase its profits, Philip and Alice write in Poisoned for Profit. Unfortunately for our children, and for all of us, this is the prevailingalthough by no means universalethos in

    Philip and Alice Shabecoff Environmental Toxins and Our Children

  • corporate America at the beginning of the twenty-first century.

    The Shabecoffs provide an example of General Electric (GE), which operated a factory complex in Pittsfield, Massachusetts, until the 1980s, when the company pulled up stakes and moved out of the area. Up till the 1970s, GE (as well as many other manufactur-ers of electronics and electrical goods) used PCBs (polychlorinated biphenyls) in their processes. PCBs are fire resistant and are good insulators and were widely in use from the 1920s through to the late 1970s, when the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) barred their further manufacture.

    While PCB manufacture ceased in the 1970s, they are highly persistent in the envi-ronment. They are classified by the EPA as a probable human carcinogen and a cause of damage to the liver, kidneys, thyroid, stom-ach and skin. They have also been found in numerous studies to cause intellectual im-pairment in children.

    GE left the Pittsfield areabut also left behind an environment badly polluted with PCBs. The Housatonic River that flows through the town is one of the most contami-nated in the nation. A local resident inter-viewed by the Shabecoffs described the high number of residents in the town still suffering illnesses, and the grossly polluted state of the towns groundwater.

    The end of the story is that GE (after years of negotiation with the EPA) agreed to clean up some of their former proper-ties as well as the riverbut has still never acknowledged the serious health effects associated with its PCB wastes.

    The Shabecoffs argue that a change is needed in order to bring these types of situ-ations under control. Theres only one entity that is strong enough to stand up to corporate power and that is government, Philip said.

    And it cant be government that is really an extension of industry. What is needed is sort of a veto-proof Congress and a president who is willing to fight, to take on the corporations and do all kinds of things in terms not only of legislation that would restrict the activities of polluting corporations but also of chang-ing corporate governance in this country, which is almost nonexistent.

    Green Chemistry

    In the long term, manufacturing methods will have to change. One solution of-fered in the book is a process that is fortu-nately already starting to take holdthat

    of green chemistry. This means replacing the toxic chemicals with environmentally friendly ones.

    We know that there have to be ways of mak-ing industrial types of products, Alice said.

    Were not going to go back to candles and producing everything from scratch. So green chemistry and alternative energy are ways to save kids health, without all the byproducts of the kind of fuel that is driving our economy right now. There are a number of universities that have fabulous green chemistry initiatives.

    Im not sure whether the corporations have begun loading the amount of money into those initiatives that they should, but we do point out in the book that this would be an awfully good way for America to spearhead a new economic revolution, which we would be leading for a change instead of following.

    Changing Personal Values

    Of course, it comes down to all of us as well, on a personal level, changing our system.

    o r g a n i c c o n n e c t i o n s 5

  • 6 o r g a n i c c o n n e c t i o n s

    According to the book, Most Americans would not dream of exposing their children to poisonous chemicals or criticizing neigh-bors who were trying to protect their children. Their values would not permit it. But it is probably safe to say that, by and large, people running the daily marathon of life and work give little thought to the dangers that sur-round their children.

    Parents have to become educated con-sumers, Philip said. They cant believe that what they buy in the stores is safe because somebody is taking care of ityou know, the government or the companiesbecause thats not true. Therefore, they have to look at what theyre buying and make sure that it is safe for their kids. Our book has an appendix that addresses thissome things parents can do.

    In the end, conscientious parents will also have to take on some kind of role in steering the governmentthrough their votes. The Shabecoffs point out that gov-ernment representatives are elected and must listen to their constituents. People really need to empower themselves, Alice advised. We did it in the civil rights move-ment. We did it in the womens movement. The Tea Party people are figuring out how to do it with their issues. Its in the hands of the parents next. If we would really pull to-gether parent-led groups, we could possibly get some kind of a national movement of active parents underway. If we end up with a hundred thousand parents on the Capitol mall, theyre going to have to listen.

    Depth of the Problem

    Part of the problem in cleaning up our toxic environment is that unless direct causation can be established linking a certain chemical to a particular disease, the companies and their legal teams wont take action.

    As we point out, its almost impossible to prove that a particular chemical caused a particular disease at a particular time, in a particular individual or group of individu-als, in that place, Philip said. Thats what the industrythe perpetratorsuse as their line of defense.

    The Shabecoffs point to the town of Dick-son, Tennessee, in which 19 cases of children born with cleft lips and palates occurred with-in two years. Under normal circumstances, 2 such cases might be expected with that population sample within that period of time. Other birth defects were occurring there alsobrain malformations, inverted

    urethras, heart defects and leukemia. One of the parents researching the problem actually placed the cases on a map and discovered that most of the families with cleft-palate babies lived near the Dickson County Landfill. The landfill had violated recommendations by the local department of public health and had ac-cepted liquid chemical wastes over a period of several years. The pollutants included trichlo-roethylene (TCE), a solvent known or sus-pected to cause several forms of cancer and birth defects. There is even limited evidence that it can be a specific cause of cleft palates.

    Unfortunately, no one could trace any of the diseases to specific chemicals beyond a reasonable doubtand, according to the Shabecoffs, this has been the problem with virtually every such case that ever comes to court. Due to publicity, companies tend to settle with victims familiesbut such settle-ments never amount to an admission of guilt required to set precedents for the overall scene to change.

    The Shabecoffs argue that the rules of

    evidence in such cases should be turned around to be made similar to what is used in criminal cases, in which circumstantial evidence is allowed. You cant prove it but you have a huge weight of evidence sug-gesting that that is the case, said Philip. It only makes sense that, when there is such evidence but no direct proof, you should go with the weight of evidence and protect the kids rather than the companies.

    Plea for Change and Action

    In their book, Philip and Alice make it clear The first line of defense for the children is, of course, their families. Parents can do much to shield their children, including providing them as toxic-free an environment as pos-sible. They can remove poison-containing products from their homes and not use them on lawns or gardens. They can give their kids a nourishing, balanced diet of unadulterated food, starting before they are conceived.

    There are a number of books containing precautions parents can take to minimize toxic threats. Poisoned for Profit also includes a healthy list of such actions; within the ap-pendixes, there is advice on choosing a clean community and how to get many chemicals out of the home environment. In addition, there are plenty of recommendations on choosing foods.

    But given the overwhelming momentum of our technology-based, consumption-driven economy, our industrial agriculture, the sea of chemicals already out there, the new ones pouring into the environment every day, and the dearth of information about the nature of threats to the children and how to deal with them, there is only so much parents and local communities can do on their ownand that is not remotely enough, Philip and Alice write.

    We will have to change the way the world now works, and this will be an immensely challenging task. But if we lift our eyes a bit, we can see that our man-made environment was once, not so long ago, a much safer place for our children to inhabit. As a democratic society, we have it within ourselves to make the necessary reforms in our science, our medicine, our industry, our economics, and our politics to re-create a safer, healthier, fresher environment. The effort will be met with determined resistance. But we believe it can be done.

    Poisoned for Profit is available at the Organic Connections bookstore.

    We will have to change the way the world now

    works, and this will be an

    immensely challenging

    task. But if we lift our eyes

    a bit, we can see that our

    man-made environment was

    once, not so long ago, a

    much safer place for our children to inhabit. As a democratic society, we have

    it within ourselves to make

    the necessary reforms in our science, our medicine,

    our industry, our economics,

    and our politics to re-create

    a safer, healthier, fresher environment.

  • o r g a n i c c o n n e c t i o n s 7

    If youre a fan of the Bravo television show Top Chef, youve definitely heard of Kevin Gillespie. Proving to be a top contender on the show by winning several Quickfire Chal-lenges and Elimination Challenges, he stood out as one of the sixth seasons final three

    cheftestants who competed for the Top Chef title in Napa Valley. Gillespie was also voted fan favorite by viewers.

    But for Gillespie, co-owner and executive chef of Atlantas famed Woodfire Grill, being a chef goes far beyond just the technology of cooking. Its a full-on artistic expression and a complete exposure of the natural ingredients available around his native Atlanta. Also, its a mission to show the worldincluding other chefs as well as the general publicthat uti-lizing sustainably produced ingredients is the way to go.

    Gillespies Journey

    As with other leading chefs todaysuch as Alice Waters, Dan Barber, Rick Bayless and Suzanne Goinits all about creating around the ingredients that find their way to Gil-lespies kitchen. I would say the philosophy that governs us more often than not here at the Woodfire Grill is the idea that if we pur-chase the best quality ingredients we can, our job as chefs really is to begin to understand what the makeup of an ingredient is and then to construct a dish that highlights it, Gil-lespie told Organic Connections. In that way you can fully take in whatever it is about the ingredient that makes it unique and special.

    Gillespies path to sustainable ingredients started out as it did for many othersin search of greater taste. When I began cooking, I spent most of my time in kitch-ens that were driven purely by technique. To be a great chef you had to be an excel-lent technician, Gillespie said. You had to understand the ins and outs of cookery itself. And to a certain degree that is defi-nitely true; but as I went along I began to question whether this simply was enough, or if combining that understanding of technique with a better quality ingredient would make you a better chef.

    So I went to work at this restaurantthe one where I am now actuallyfor a gentleman named Michael Tuohy, who really brought the local food movement to

    Atlanta; and I began to explore this idea that when you use the best quality stuff possible in selecting what you start with, technique becomes, to a certain degree, secondary to understanding the flavor profiles of the ingredients themselves.

    Since Gillespie took over the Woodfire Grill as co-owner and executive chef, that focus on ingredients has become paramount. The menu revolves around what is seasonably available and is not always set in stone.

    Relationships with Producers

    Gillespie has taken the time to fully cultivate relationships with producers of both meat and fresh produce in the local areaand it has paid off in taste.

    Chef Kevin Gillespie Sustainably Down-Home

    by Bruce BoyersI

  • On his left arm Gillespie has a large tat-too of a pigsimply because, with his pas-sion for traditional southern cuisine, pork is his favorite ingredient to cook with. It makes sense, then, that he has established a relationship with a producer that runs much deeper than ordinary culinary arts might dictate. For our pork, we work with Tommy Searcy of Gum Creek Farms, Gil-lespie related. Hes about an hour or so west of Atlanta. He raises purebred Berkshire hogs on his farm in an environment thats a little bit different from what most people are accustomed to. We try and emulate a more natural environment for the pigs. Weve fenced in a great deal of wooded area, mostly oak trees for the hogs to live under,

    so it provides them a lot of natural shelter. It also allows them to forage for food, which is what theyre designed to do by nature. These animals are then taken to be processed at Auburn University. Auburn uses their meat science laboratory, which is a teaching facility, to process our animals. Theyre dealt with one at a time, in the most state-of-the-art facility possible, under the direction of people who are certified to do what theyre doing and are also teachers. Theyre passing on that knowl-edge to another generation. Im really happy with that relationship.

    Such pork makes its way into traditional southern barbecuea cooking art form that Gillespie is dedicated to keeping alive. I cant

    help but believe that our barbecue is far supe-rior, not only due to the technique of the way in which we cook it, but mostly because we start with a better product, Gillespie said. I know for a fact that I can taste a drastic dif-ference between commodity pork and a high-quality-raised pig. I think that oftentimes in cheaper barbecue, to make up for the fact that the pork doesnt taste like a whole lot, you see people relying on a ton of smoke and a ton of sauce because they know that the meat doesnt really have a taste to it.

    Gillespies barbecue also utilizes his own homemade apple cider vinegar, which be-comes the base for a pepper vinegar with on-ion, garlic, black peppercorns and hot chilis. If youve ever had real traditional southern

    barbecue, just reading this is going to make your mouth water.

    Fresh produce is also vitally important to the Woodfire Grill operationand Gillespie has forged great relationships for that as well. Nicolas Donck, who runs Crystal Organic Farm, was providing the majority of produce to the restaurant even before Gillespie owned it, and that partnership continues to this day.

    Crystal Organics is definitely a trendsetter, Gillespie said. Nicolas is looked to as a person who has a wealth of knowledge and someone whos constantly willing to try something new. The younger generations of farmers are always asking him questions and sort of following his trend. Nicolas raises the vast majority of

    crops that we use at this restaurant, and hes managed to create a system where he is able to produce and harvest crops year round here in Georgia, without having to rely on machines and outside influence; hes just smart about the way that he plants his crops in rotation. Weve built a very strong relationship with him and his family. His mother is from Bel-gium and essentially has passed down to him the knowledge of how to do this. She brought over quite a few Old World techniques, things that she learned as a child.

    Down in the Dirt

    For a period of time Gillespie was living and cooking in Portland, Oregon, and it

    was there he first learned the link between the quality of soil and produce that had superior flavor.

    When I was in Oregon cooking, I got to know Gene Kiel, who pretty much created Oregon Tilth,* Gillespie said. He is a very old gentleman who is a multigenerational farmer and he grows potatoes, carrots, beets, some onionspretty basic crops. The land on which hes been growing these vegetables has been in his family for an extremely long time, and the soil is almost black because its so rich with nutrients. As an example of his vegetables, he grows an old heirloom variety of carrots that arent very pretty to look at; you pull them outtheyre knobby, theyre sort of

    8 o r g a n i c c o n n e c t i o n s

  • t10 o r g a n i c c o n n e c t i o n s

    coarse looking. At the same time, if we blind-tasted those carrots against any other carrot we had in the restaurant at that moment, there was a drastic flavor difference. I cant help but feel as if the reason for that is because hes put so much time and effort into the soil he grows those vegetables in that it imparts this sort of extra-level intensity of flavor.

    When Gillespie returned to Atlanta to take over the Woodfire Grill, he found the same to be true. We deal with quite a few different farmers at this point, and Im happy to say that all of them have that same commitment to the quality and care of their soil. You can absolutely say that the ones who have had more time working at it tend to produce a better product.

    Making a Sustainable World

    But its not just for the fun of it, or for patrons (of which he now has plenty), that Gillespie is cooking. He is quite literally out to change the way America eats and views food.

    In addition to being an example to home cooks and chefs of all kinds the world over, Gillespie is part of an organization called

    Chefs Collaborative, a leading non-profit net-work of chefs that fosters a sustainable food system through advocacy, education, and col-laboration with the broader food community.

    Chefs have a responsibility, in my opinion, to other chefs, he said. This is an industry where people are taught a trade and they learn by constantly working; but they learn by the work of other people too. I think that being a member of Chefs Collaborative opens up my ability to deal with people who are like-minded and who also have a strong mo-tivation to use food that has been harvested in a way that is more responsible to the earth, or to use fish that have been responsibly farmed or harvested from the wild, and so on. It gives me an opportunity to attach my name to a group of people who I know support the same values. And if I ever have a question about whether or not something that I am doing is the right choice, I have those people at my disposal, and they have me as well. I think the Chefs Collaborative has definitely stood for a lot of change in

    our industry. Through furthering their efforts both as a non-profit and in fund-raising, theyre constantly helping to move people toward an agenda of producing food that, in the end, will benefit us all.

    Gillespie and Woodfire Grill also support the Atlanta chapter of Slow Food, a global grassroots movement with thousands of members around the world that links the pleasure of food with a commitment to community and the environment. Slow Food Atlanta has been really good to us, Gillespie said. Theyve definitely promoted Woodfire Grill for a very long time. We share the same valuesthe idea that food is something that people should spend more time with; that they should allow addition-al time around meals and try to commit a greater part of their lives to understanding that food is something more than just a way for us to be full. It nourishes our bodies and it nourishes our souls, and I think that the choices we make with food greatly parallel or mirror our choices in other facets of life. If we take the time to be a bit more sensible and think about the things we put in our bodies foodwise, this same mentality will carry through in the choices that we make in our interactions with other people. Slow

    Food has always embodied that experience. The Atlanta chapter has grown and hopefully we have grown as a restaurant beside them, since our core values are the same.

    But above all, Gillespie sees his position as critical in eliminating todays indus-trial food system and bringing sustainable agriculture to the mainstream. I think a chef has a huge role in the way that people perceive food and what they choose to eat, he concluded. You can see this every day when the modern moms of the world are preparing dinner for their families, be-cause so much of what they cook is either inspired or dictated by the chefs they see on TV or the restaurants theyve eaten at. They go home and they try to emulate a dish that they ate somewhere or that they saw cooked on television, or from a maga-zine they picked up; magazines are loaded nowadays with chef-driven articles. So I feel we have a responsibility to the public at large to teach them and to show them how to prepare foods that are better for their fami-lies, more nutritious and more responsibly produced. Were also hoping over time to make a difference in the direction of whats

    really important, which is people beginning to understand that every choice we make with food has an impact thats a bit greater than ourselves. If a mom teaches her children to eat food that is inherently seasonal and hasnt had preservatives added and modifica-tions made to it, those children will grow up to be adults who demand this same quality of food once they become consumers. And that will begin to change our methods of agri-culture, our methods of raising animals, and our choices as a capitalistic society; in order to make money we will have to move toward what the consumer demands.

    Find out more about Kevin Gillespie and the Woodfire Grill at the restaurants website: www.woodfiregrill.com.

    *Oregon Tilth: a non-profit research and education membership organization dedicated to biologically sound and socially equitable agriculture. Oregon Tilth provides organic certification services to organic growers, processors and handlers internationally.

    I feel we have a responsibility to the public at large to teach them and to show them how to prepare foods that are better for their families, more nutritious and more responsibly produced.

  • Anna Lapp

    The Real Food Revolution

  • Her mother, Frances Moore Lapp, is the author of 17 books including the bestseller Diet for a Small Planet, and Anna herself is now a national best-selling author and sought-after public speaker, respected for her work on sustainability, food politics, globalization and social change. Listed in Time magazines Whos Who: The Eco-Guide, Anna has been featured in the New York Times, Gourmet, O: The Oprah Maga-zine, Domino, Food & Wine, Body + Soul, Natural Health and Vibe, as well as many other publications.

    In 2002, Anna and her mother founded the Small Planet Institute, an international network for research and popular education about the root causes of hunger and poverty. The Lapps are also co-founders of the Small Planet Fund, which has raised more than $750,000 for democratic social movements worldwide, two of which have won the Nobel Peace Prize since the funds founding.

    In her continuing efforts, Anna has seen much to give herand the rest of usa great deal of hope for a sustainable food system in the years ahead. She recently sat down with Organic Connections to share her thoughts on the makeup of our food system and what is really needed to bring about change.

    The Three Pillars

    In helping give direction to a revolution in what we eat and how we grow it, Anna has recently boiled down the sometimes dispa-rate factors of the crusade into three basic core values. When I talk about the three pillars of a sustainable food system, she said, what Im really suggesting is that we ask ourselves, what are the core values we bring to our food?

    Ecology

    The first of these pillars is ecology. Ecol-ogy emphasizes interrelationships, Anna explained. Everything is connected. An ecological food system means one that has a fundamental respect for nature and natural systems. At its heart, this kind of food system works with nature to produce abundance; its not an attack against nature with toxic pesticides or raising livestock using highly unnatural methods, such as feedlots. An eco-logical food system would raise livestock on the diet they evolved with and provide a life that allows them to fully embody their nature.

    Community

    A sustainable food system also has at its core the health and vibrancy of communities, Anna continued. Its particularly important to look at this value in the context of the dominant food system, which is governed largely by market forces. Currently these forces are focused on maximizing profit for multinational food companies that bring us most of the food we eat. What many of my colleagues and I talk about is how we can use

    the market to help us organize our food sys-tem while having that market operate within a set of community values. For example, if some people are shut out from being able to have access to foods because of market forces, how can we have a set of community values that are overarching, ensuring that everyone has access to good healthy food? And how can we ensure that deep-pocketed food com-panies arent lobbying for policies that benefit their bottom line instead of our health?

    Fairness

    The third value is one of fairness, that every-one along the food chainall the workers and farmers and food producershas been treated fairly and is getting a fair wage, Anna said. Just like the community pillar, the value of fairness means trying to create a food system in which every one of us, no matter where we live or what our tax bracket is, can afford sustainably raised real food.

    Interconnectivity

    As Anna points out, these three pillars are all connectedand interconnectivity is essential to the entire vision.

    For me the interconnectivity goes to the heart of it all, she said. When most people think about eating foodand polling and focus-group data has borne this outthey tend to think of it as an individual act that you and I do often in the privacy of our own homes, hidden from the rest of us. We typically dont think about the food system. Yes, eating is one of the most personal things

    Everything is connected. An ecological food system means one that has a fundamental respect

    for nature and natural systems. At its heart, this kind

    of food system works with nature to produce abundance; it's not an attack against nature with toxic pesticides or raising livestock using highly

    unnatural methods, such as feedlots. o r g a n i c c o n n e c t i o n s 13

    Renowned author and food activist Anna Lapp has spent most of her adult life working to bring about a badly needed change in our industrial food system.

  • 14 o r g a n i c c o n n e c t i o n s

    we do, but we tend to forget that the choices you and I make about food have ripple ef-fects that ultimately, I argue, connect us to the whole globe. Weve all heard the maxim You are what you eat, but I like to think of it slightly differently: I am what you eat; you are what I eat. We are what each other eats. When my family and I make choices to sup-port organic farmers, we add our weight to the movement shifting us away from chemi-cal agriculture. Chemicals in the environ-ment affect all of us, whether we choose to eat organic food or not. They affect us through the runoff that ends up creating a dead zone in the Gulf of Mexico; they affect us by leaching into our waterways. They affect our neighbors and the farm workers and the farmers.

    Interconnectivity is really at the core of the food system, but because food is so personal and individual, I think that interconnectivity can sometimes be invisible to many of us.

    The Good News

    From the microcosm of her current home-town, New York City, Anna has been watching the food revolution take hold in numerous exciting waysand expand outward.

    Just in the past few years Ive seen a lot of innovation coming out of city agencies. A couple of years ago, the Mayors Office cre-ated the citys first food policy coordinator. Among other efforts, the city has launched the Healthy Bodegas Program, working with bodega owners to bring healthier food into their stores. It has also created the Green Carts Program, using both public and private funding, to introduce one thousand green carts into neighborhoods identified as those with the least access to healthy fresh produce. These green carts provide fruits and vegetables at relatively affordable prices, and the city is monitoring their impact.

    Another program New York City has launched that I think is excellent is Health Bucks, a collaboration of different city agencies. This program is one strategy to encourage people to consume more fruits and vegetables, while supporting those people with less income in doing so: Spend five dollars at a farmers market using food stamps and get a Health Buck coupon worth two dollars to spend at the farmers market. Its an incentive for people who are on food stamps to go to farmers markets, where theyll get the freshest, healthiest fruits and vegetables, and it also provides additional financial support for farmers.

    This is a very exciting time across the coun-try in terms of this kind of city-level innova-tion in food policy. New York City started the food policy coordinator position two and a half years ago, and Baltimore just announced a food policy director. Kansas City has a food policy coordinator, and Boston announced

    that it also is beginning to develop a food policy coordinator position. There are ad-ditional cities that have created this position as well, while a lot of states have developed food policy councils. Theres plenty of energy emerging, and I think its partly the result of the growing awareness that we have a funda-mental crisis on our handswe have a broken food system that needs urgent repair. One of the ways we are going to get there is through changing our policies. We can and should be looking at national policy, but theres also activity that can happen at the local level that can make a difference.

    The Critics

    Of course, while all the positive change is occurring, detractorswith a big stake in the status quocontinue to play down the value of a sustainable food system. As Anna indicates, though, their arguments crumble under the slightest of scrutiny.

    The strongest criticism of sustainable agriculture I hearand have heard year after year since I started working on these issues a decade agois the myth that we cant feed the world with sustainably grown foods, that we couldnt possibly feed the world if we shifted away from a fossil-fuel-dependent ag-riculture. I think the most powerful response to their claim that we need their technology is, first of all, how successful has industrial agriculture been in feeding the planet? Today there are enough calories produced glob-ally to feed every single one of usin fact, to make every person on the planet overweightwith too much calorie consumption. Yet about one-sixth of the worlds population is going hungry. Clearly there is something else operating here on a planet that is producing enough food yet has persistent hunger. One way I tend to engage with the myth is to say, Look, in order to feed the world were going to have to talk about a lot of other things besides food production. Were going to have to talk about power, and power in the food system.

    Were going to have to talk about access. Were going to have to talk about who has a say in what foods get grown and where.

    Secondly, weve known for a long time that sustainable methods can produce the same amount of food as, if not more than, indus-trial agriculturewithout the detriments to

    our environment of pollution, excessive en-ergy used, or depletion of fossil fuel reserves. What is particularly positive about engaging with this debate now is that there is even more research supporting this argument. In addition, sustainable methods tend to create healthier soils that are more able to retain water and withstand heavy flooding. Were talking about farms that not only produce abundant foods but also are more resilient.

    Looking Forward and Connecting

    With everything thats occurring, Anna sees us going very much in the right direction.

    Interest in a sustainable food system today compared to ten years ago is phenomenal, she concluded. I just did an event in Port-land, Maine, on a Wednesday in the middle of the summer, and the local bookstore was packed, with standing room only. For the past ten years Ive traveled to cities around the country, and everywhere I have gone Ive discovered programs working to ad-dress these issues. In another example, I just went to the annual gathering of the National Cooperative Grocers Association, which was attended by representatives from food co-ops all over America that are work-ing to bring healthy local food into their communities. I was struck afterwards that many of the co-ops had only started in the last five years.

    Overall, I see energy blooming across the country to work on policyfood policy that connects the dots between urban planning, public health, childhood nutrition, energy use and environmental sustainability. What is most encouraging is observing these connec-tions being made. In order to truly transform the food system, it can only happen this way, when we are forging these relationships and thinking in terms of the whole picture.

    For the latest news from Anna, visit her websites at www.smallplanet.org and www.takeabite.cc.

    Interest in a sustainable food system today compared to ten years ago is phenomenal.

  • Ashley Koff is a registered dietitian (RD) who strives to make better nutrition a way of life for all. Her passionate style is effective, result-ing in Koff being named by Citysearch as L.A.s Best Nutritionist three years running and a national media favorite. Koff appears monthly on Good Morning America Health, and as the lead expert for the Huffington Post Livings Total Energy Makeover she was selected as Hollywoods Dietitian; she is also an AOL wellness expert.

    Start with a wish list: strong bones, focus, calmness, intelligence, healthy digestion, strong muscles, healthy weight, no head-achesI realize the list could go on and on, but this will do as a beginning.

    What a supplement can offer is a way to balance out the nutrition from the day. Think of Tom Cruises famous line from Jerry Maguire (no, not Show me the money!)You complete meand you will see how a daily supplement can en-hance your childs nutrition regime. While organic farming is wonderful and nutrient dense, it still represents a very small por-tion of fruits and vegetables grown today; and that means that the vast amount of our nations soil, which has been chemically farmed for years, has lost nutrient value compared with previous decades. Thus, for optimal health, we can supplement these nutrients regardless of our childrens fruit and vegetable intake.

    So, back to the wish list. Can we deliver? Yes, heres how:

    1. Minerals: Make sure that you are getting sufficient magnesium to counter-balance supplemental and food intake of calcium. Magnesium creates the calmnesswhether its mental or physical; magnesium turns off our stress response, allows our muscles to relax (which means all muscles, especially our digestive tract muscles), and is critical for strong bones, along with its partner, calcium. Potassium is also key, to counterbalance sodium for optimal hydra-tion. Since we get sodium in the diet, and often too much, the need for potassium, like magnesium, is often supplemental.

    2. Amino acids: We need all the essential ones to ensure hormone health (hormones are our messengers) as well as to build mus-cles and maintain a healthy weight. Some-times a whole day can go by in which the protein-rich options were low quality or not liked by your child, or both. Thus, supple-mental amino acids help prevent operating at a deficit with these important nutrients.

    3. Organic fruits and vegetables: While the availability of these organic foods con-tinues to increase (as demand does tooyeah!), they are still hardly ubiquitous. Thus, a supplement that provides organic fruits and vegetables can be a great addition to a days nutrition plan. For Ashley Koff Approved, I dont approve of supplements that contain fruits and vegetables that arent organic. It doesnt make sense, as studies are confirming what we know to be true: the chemicals used in chemical farming chal-lenge the normal operating functions of the bodyespecially the young growing body.

    4. Sugar: We definitely do not need to supplement (defined as in addition to a healthy diet) more sugar, even if its or-ganic sugar. I am totally comfortable with modest consumption of natures organic sugar options: honey, molasses, stevia leaf, and nectars like agave and coconut. But these sugars should come primarily from the dietnot a supplementto avoid confusing the body as well as a childs mind (How come my vitamins taste so much like candy?).

    5. How do you get children to take their supplements? If its a great product but they wont consume it, theres no gain,

    right? The first step is, of course, getting the children to take the supplement. This means it needs to be in a form that chil-dren will accept. Its doubtful that pills and capsules will work that well with kids, as they can be hard to swallow. So that leaves gummieswhich can get stuck in teeth, be confused with candy, and provide excess sugaror something like a liquid. Keep in mind that all supplements have to dissolve (liquefy) before they can be absorbed, but liquids are already in that form. If you can provide something that tastes good either by itself or added to a cup of half juice/half water or a smoothie, the kids will take it.

    GUEST COLUMN Ashley Koff, RD How to Choose a Daily Supplement for Your Kids

    Read more from Ashley Koff atwww.naturalvitalitykids.com.

    Also access exclusive features onMommy MDAlice WatersCarolyn Dean, MD, NDToxins and Our ChildrenEnvironmental High SchoolHealthy Eating in SchoolsEnding Childhood ObesityThe Fight against AllergiesKid-Safe Productsand more.

    o r g a n i c c o n n e c t i o n s 15

  • n Magnesium is vital to daily health. This key mineral is part of over 300 biochemical processes that take place in your body regularlymuscular contraction, monitoring of heart rate and blood pressure, and many others.

    n Four out of five people dont get their minimum daily requirement of magnesium.

    n Calcium intake needs to be balanced with magnesium so it can be assimilated and properly utilized. n Too much calcium and not enough magnesium may cause calcium buildup and result in increased and sustained stress

    and other unhealthful conditions.

    n Magnesium supports heart health, stress management, bone health, healthy

    sleep and rest, mood, energy production and storage, womens health, mens health and athletic performance.*

    n Natural Calm is the best-selling magnesium supplement for over three years in a row. Its ionic, which means it gets used by the body. It is the award-winning anti-stress drink that you can enjoy hot, warm or cold.

    Why is Natural Calmsomething you shouldbe taking daily?l Magnesium is vital to your health. This key mineral is part of over 300 biochemical processes that take place in your body regularlymuscular contraction, monitoring of heart rate and blood pressure, and many others.

    l Magnesium supports heart health, stress management, bone health, energy

    production and storage, womens health, childrens health and athletic performance.

    l Four out of five people dont get their minimum daily requirement of magnesiumthat includes your children too.

    l Calcium intake needs to be balanced with magnesium so that it can be assimilated and properly utilized. l Too much calcium and not enough magnesium may cause calcium buildup and result in increased and sustained stress

    as well as other unhealthful conditions.

    l Natural Calm is the best-selling magnesium supplement for the third year in a row. Its ionic, which means it gets used by the body. It is the award-winning anti-stress drink that your whole family can drink hot, warm or simply add to a water bottle.

    Why your family needsNatural Calm every daySTRESSLESS

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    Organic flavors and organic steviaA new level of health!

    For more product information, visit www.petergillham.com.

    Read the latest at www.organicconnectmag.com.

    These statements have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration. This product is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure or prevent any disease. 2010 Peter Gillhams Natural Vitality. All rights reserved.

    l Magnesium is vital to your health. This key mineral is part of over 300 biochemical processes that take place in your body regularlymuscular contraction, monitoring of heart rate and blood pressure, and many others.

    l Magnesium supports heart health, stress management, bone health, energy

    production and storage, womens health, childrens health, and athletic performance.

    l Four out of five people dont get their minimum daily requirement of magnesiumthat includes your children too.

    l Calcium intake needs to be balanced with magnesium so that it can be assimilated and properly utilized. l Too much calcium and not enough magnesium may cause calcium buildup and result in increased and sustained stress as

    well as other unhealthful conditions.

    l Natural Calm is in its fifth year of being the best-selling magnesium in the natural products marketplace. Its ionic, which means it gets used by the body. Natural Calm is the award-winning anti-stress drink that your whole family can enjoy hot or warm or simply add to a water bottle.

    NATURAL CALM The Anti-Stress Drink


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