Thursday, March 28, 2013

Where Are the Restaurants that Serve Organic Food?

Can You Find a Restaurant Near You Offering Organic Food?

 
Finding restaurants that serve organic food is well nigh impossible!  Why?  Because so far our society mostly regards all foods as equal.  Restaurant menu items are extolled for taste, beauty, and price.  Patrons of restaurants pay little heed to healthfulness--except those among us who long for organic food choices.
 

The Plight of the Restauranteur

 

However, pity the poor restauranteur who wants to offer an organic food menu.  He's dependent on suppliers.  Many of those suppliers have no organic food sources and may lack any interest in tracking down organic food sources.  Perhaps, one supplier or another may sporadically offer one or several organic food items.  Can a restauranteur create a menu based on sporadic supply?  Only with difficulty.  Unless he has dependable farm sources, dependable at least during the growing season, only with difficulty can he create organic food menus, promote them, and hope to attract customers.
 

We Offer Some Hope!

 
I Control Communications, the business I'm developing, offers some hope.  Our first project, The Organic Food Network, aims to enable and enhance communication among organic food consumers and all types of organic food providers, including restaurants.
 
Our proposed Internet-based communication service--unlike any existing--wherever a restaurant is based will instantly link it with organic food suppliers, locally or far away (farmers, wholesalers, and processors) and also with its current and prospective customers, locally and from afar, for example, with potential customers just  passing by.  Current, as well as prospective customers, can use smartphones to search for restaurants offering organic food menus, and restaurants themselves can use smartphones, tablets, or computers to locate organic food sources.
 
 


 

 

 
 


Wednesday, March 20, 2013

A Worldwide Organic Food Standard

Demeter International--Certifying Organic Food Since 1928

 
 
The Demeter certification program, established in Germany in 1928, is the earliest label for organically produced foods.
 
The name Demeter refers to the Greek goddess of grain and fertility.  Demeter Biodynamic Certification, now used in over 50 countries, verifies that biodynamic products meet Demeter's stringent production and processing standards.
 
 

The Highest of All Organic Food Standards

 
These standards require biodiversity and preservation and enhancement of the ecosystem.  Biodynamic farmers view farms as living, holistic organisms.  Consequently, they pay utmost attention to soil husbandry, livestock integration, and prohibit genetically engineered organisms.
 

Biodynamics and Demeter

 
"Biodynamics is a spiritual-ethical-ecological approach to agriculture, food production and nutrition," according to the Biodynamic Farming and Gardening Association.  Demeter certification is the certification method validating this approach.  Demeter and biodynamics go hand to hand.
 
The Association encapsulates its history and then provides an example of its global reach:
 
"Biodynamics was first developed in the early 1920s based on the spiritual insights and practical suggestions of the Austrian, writer, educator and social activist Dr. Rudolf Steiner (1861-1925), whose philosophy is called "anthroposophy."  Today, the biodynamic movement encompasses thousands of successful gardens, farms, vineyards, and and agricultural operations, in a wide variety of ecological and economic settings."
 

Biodynamics and Demeter have Even Reached China!

 
Weihe Hu reported (January 31, 2013) about a ten-day seminar on biodynamic and organic agriculture held September 19-28, 2012, on a biodynamic farm in Beijing (Phoenix Hill Commune).  The farm is the first, and so far the only, Demeter-certified farm in China.  "The seminar, which was organized by the Demeter China Association and Phoenix Hill Commune, consisted of three parts: a biodynamic training course lasting six days, a two-day forum on the management of organic farms and green marketing, and a two-day tour of organic farms in the Beijing region."  See https://www.biodynamics.com
 
 
 


 



Monday, March 18, 2013

A New Way to Certify Organic Food

Use Kinesiology to Test Organic Foods!

 
 
Yes, the so-called muscle test used by some alternative health care providers can give superior, practical results.  You may have experienced the two-person kinesiology some chiropractors use.
 
However, a more accessible one-person kinesiology, called O-ring kinesiology, can give the same results.  I've become an expert in O-ring kinesiology, having used it for over 15 years.  
 
Let me first tell you how three major categories test: "natural foods," organic foods, and foods raised by the biodynamic method of cultivation and that are Demeter-certified.
 
Then, I'll tell you how you may learn more about kinesiology and how to test using it.
 

Use the Hawkins Scale to Measure Exactly What's Organic, What's Not!

 
David R. Hawkins, M.D., Ph.D. (1927-2012, more about him later) developed a logarithmic scale that enables testers to measure--calibrate is the term he used--exactly where a substance (or idea or event) lies on his scale.  The scale runs from 1 to 1,000.  He found that everything testing 200 or above on the scale was positive and health giving.  Anything that tested below 200 was negative and illness inducing.
 
When I use kinesiology to test, here's what I get:
 

Natural Food = 200

 

Organic Food = 210

 

Biodynamic Food = 215

 
Here's what Hawkins has to say about differences in ranking:  "It's very important to remember that the calibration figures do not represent an arithmetic, but a logarithmic, progression.  Thus, the level 300 is not twice the amplitude of 150; it is 10 to the 300th power.  An increase of even a few points represents a major advance in power; the rate of increase in power as we move up the scale is enormous." (See  Power Vs. Force: The Hidden Determinants of Human Behavior, Revised Edition Hay House, Inc. 2012, Chapter 4 Levels of Human Consciousness," p. 79).
 
In other words, whether we eat natural foods, organic foods, or biodynamic foods has an incalculable affect on our health and longevity!
 

How do foods containing GMO Test? 

 
Any traces of GMO in Food make the food test at 150!
 
 
When we (or animals) eat food tainted by GMO substances, we (or animals) eat it at our peril!
 

More on Kinesiology

 

To learn kinesiology, the Hawkins book cited above is essential.  However, as a scientist, he used only two-person kinesiology.  To learn one-person kinesiology, I recommend Co-Creative Science: A Revolution in Science Providing Real Solutions For Today's Health & Environment, by Machaelle Small Wright (Perelandra Center for Nature Research, Jeffersonton, Virginia, 1997).  Appendix A "Kinesiology Testing" gives detailed, illustrated instructions.



 

 

 

 

 

 

 
 

Tuesday, March 12, 2013

Full Disclosure--Where Organic Food Originates

Where Do We Get Our Fish?

An Eminent Clothing Manufacturer Enters the Organic Food Realm

 
Forty years ago Yvon Chouinard founded Patagonia out of his blacksmith shop in Ventura, California.  Today the company has 1,350 employees involved in selling clothing and gear inspired by Chouinard's love of the outdoors, and $540 million in sales.
 
Chouinard says, "I've been interested in food for 40 or 50 years, and I'm just now focusing my attention on it.  I want to change the way people are eating. . .
 
". . . when people catch fish in the ocean, they don't know where it originated.  And when they put out big nets to catch pink salmon, they also catch endangered chum salmon.  You have to release them, but they're already dead."
 
He was speaking at a sustainable seafood conference and thought from the audience's reaction he had wasted his time.  Nevertheless, it gave him the idea to start Patagonia Provisions (www.patagonia.com/us/patagonia.go?assetid=65753).
 
He told Inc. magazine (March 2013) in an article entitled "My job is to bring ideas into the company and forge change,"  he describes the kind of change he's forging:  "I opened a salmon plant in British Columbia.  We buy salmon from natives who fish with lines, selectively, so they release the endangered fish.  We have a superior product that's as sustainable as possible.  It sends a message to the fishing industry: This is the way it should be done. 
 
"We started with salmon jerky.  Hot smoked salmon is next.  We're going to make all-organic fruit and nut bars.  It's the same approach we have taken with our clothing--full disclosure about where and how the product is sourced."

Saturday, March 9, 2013

Major Supermarket Joins Advocacy Groups to Creat Non-GMO Label

More Good News for Organic Food Consumers!

 
 
Only a few days after several major advocacy organizations announced measures to stem the marketplace confusion for consumers seeking truly "organic food," The New York Times reported (March 9, 2013) that "Whole Foods Market, the grocery chain. . . became the first retailer in the United States to require labeling of all genetically modified foods sold in its stores, a move that some experts said could radically alter the food industry."
 
According to the Times, "The labeling requirements announced by Whole Foods will include its 339 stores in the United States and Canada."  Its seven stores in Britain already carry labels required by the European Union.
 

The Non GMO Project

 
The Non GMO Project (http://www.nongmoproject.org) currently verifies that products carried by these stores in Britain are free of genetically engineered ingredients.  The labels to be used in the U.S. beginning in 2018 have yet to be created.  Suppliers to Whole Foods were only notified shortly before the company made the public announcement, thereby giving them five years to prepare their food products to comply with the new restrictions.
 

A Game Changer

 
Gary Hirshberg, chairman of Just Label It (http://www.justlabelit.org), called the Whole Foods decision a "game changer."  He told the Times, "We've had some pretty big developments in labeling this year,"  noting, "that 22 states now have some sort of pending labeling legislation."
 
He likened the potential impact to what happened several years ago when Wal-Mart decided to stop carrying milk from dairies that treated cows with growth hormone.  Now, only a handful of cows are injected with the hormone. 

 

 

 


Friday, March 8, 2013

Consumers of Organic Food--Good News!

Major Movements Afoot to Clarify

Differences Between "Organic" and "Natural"

 
Two major organizations--independently--have just announced measures to stem the marketplace confusion facing consumers seeking truly "organic food."
 
 
March 6, 2013--The Environmental Working Group (www.ewg.org) and Organic Voices (www.organicvoices.com) announced that they will "collaborate to highlight the benefits of organic food and advance the fight for labeling food that contains genetically engineered ingredients."
 
March 7, 2013--The million-strong Organic Consumers Association (www.organicconsumers.org) has just announced that "along with allies in the organic and natural health community" it will launch a nationwide campaign to be called the Organic Retail and Consumer Alliance (ORCA).  The alliance includes public interest groups, food producers, retailers, co-ops, natural food stores, farmers markets, Community Supported Agriculture (CSA), buying clubs, and wholesalers.  They aim to aggressively promote organic food and products and "expose and eliminate the misleading practice of 'natural' labeling and marketing that has slowed the growth of America's $30-billion dollar organic sector."
 

Lack of Clearly Understood Labeling Confuses Consumers


Since 2011, Organic Voices has managed the Just Label It campaign (http://justlabelit.org), a national coalition "to persuade the federal Food and Drug Administration to require labeling of
GE foods."
 
According to Ronnie Cummins, National Director of the Organic Consumers Association (OCA), "Routine mislabeling and marketing has confused millions of U.S. consumers, and enabled the so-called 'natural' foods and products sector to grow into a $60-billion dollar a year powerhouse, garnering twice as many sales in 2012 as certified organic products.
 
. . . This is outrageous,"says Cummins, "given that organic food and products, by law and by third-party certification, are produced  without the use of synthetic pesticides and chemical fertilizers, animal drugs, genetically modified organisms (GMOs), irradiation, nanoparticles, or sewage sludge, whereas so-called 'natural' products are unregulated."

Wednesday, March 6, 2013

WHO HAS ONE?

A Complete Organic Meal--Soup to Nuts--Who Has One?

 
 
Even the few farmers who may raise a wide variety of their own produce and animals, or can exchange with other farmers nearby, almost certainly don't supply their own organic coffee, tea, bananas and other desirable organic foodstuffs.
 
How many of us who are not farmers have complete organic meals at any time?  At what nearby restaurant or snack bar can be drop by and have a complete organic meal or just an organic sandwich?
 
 

Our Organic Food Limitations are Enormous! 

 
What retailer can possibly exist in business selling only organic food?  A retailer with the best of intentions must carry a large stock of so-called natural food items plus clearly non-organic items just to make ends meet.
 
Is there any wholesaler anywhere in the world who sells only organic food?  I doubt it. Again, such a business could not be viable, because the supply of organic food is so limited.
 
Certainly, we have organic food processors, here and there, who manage to obtain the raw materials for their organic food products: baked goods, candies, beer, wine, etc.
 

Putting Together a Complete Organic Meal is a Superhuman Project!