Out of 741 samples of conventional celery, there were 3,821 residue detections and 54 different pesticides found.

USDA Pesticide Data 2008

Just passing along a blog that I’m loving about incorporating more raw vegan foods into the family diet.  Written by mom, Carissa Leventis-Cox, who eats a 50% raw diet, this blog is practical and inspiring.  Trying a recipe here and there is a lot more realistic than proclaiming that you’ve gone raw or vegan all at once.

Try the I Can’t Stop Eating This Kale Salad and read up on how to transition the family into eating more raw vegan foods and the top 12 kid-friendly raw superfoods.  You will be surprised at the simplicity of her suggestions.  Before school starts and daily lunchboxes must be packed, gather some new ideas from Mama in the Kitchen.

The boys absolutely love Arnold Lobel’s stories.  Frog and Toad, Owl At Home and Mouse Tales are a few of their favorites.  I thought it was cute when one of them asked if we could have Owl’s pea soup and buttered toast for dinner.

Owl’s Pea Soup & Buttered Toast
1/4 c. diced bacon (optional)
1 T. oil
3 T. flour
1 c. leeks sliced thinly
1 qt. stock
3 c. peas
1/4 c. heavy cream
salt & pepper
bread
butter

Cook bacon in a soup pot and discard or save for a garnish.  Add oil and flour to the same pot and cook 3 minutes.  Add leeks and cook for 3 min.  Add stock and bring to a boil.  Simmer for 30 minutes.  Add peas and simmer 5 minutes more.  Puree in a blender or food processor.  Stir in cream, salt and pepper.  Toast bread and spread with butter.

“Owl was at home.  ‘How good it feels to be sitting by this fire,’ said Owl.  ‘It is so cold and snowy outside.’  Owl was eating buttered toast and hot pea soup for supper.  Owl heard a loud sound at the front door.  ‘Who is out there, banging and pounding at my door on a night like this?’ he said.  No one was there.  Only the snow and the wind.  Owl sat near the fire again.”

Owl At Home, by Arnold Lobel

“As it happens, very little is pure or natural about cotton when it is raised conventionally. Fully 10 percent of all agricultural chemicals in the United States are used to produce cotton, grown on just one percent of all major agricultural land. Conventional cotton crops in California alone are dusted every year with 6.9 million pounds of chemicals. And research shows that extensive and intensive use of synthetic fertilizers, soil additives, defoliants and other substances wreak terrible havoc on soil, water, air and many, many living things.  There is, of course, an alternative: organic cotton. There are farmers who have been growing cotton without harmful chemicals for years. Their yield is high and the quality of the cotton they grow is equal to or better than conventionally grown cotton. Their methods support biodiversity and healthy ecosystems, improve the quality of soil and often use less water. Growing organically takes more time, requires more knowledge and skill, and, for now, costs more. But it’s worth it.”  -Patagonia

Each Snug Organics™ sherpa sleeper is made using top quality organic cotton fabrics for durability, longevity and comfort.  However, these garments need the proper care to maximize use and to maintain the original look and fit.  We recommend treating our sleepers as delicates, meaning machine washing on delicate or a cycle with low agitation in cold water and line dry. Conventional cotton apparel is generally treated with chemicals to reduce the shrinkage effects of heat.  Because organic cotton is not treated, high heat can cause it to shrink significantly.

Using an eco-friendly laundry detergent, with vinegar as a fabric softener, will further help to maintain the integrity of the garment.  Organic cotton will absorb chemicals in ordinary laundry detergents, undermining your investment and contributing to skin and respiratory conditions.  For stains, use an oxygen bleach such as Biokleen or OxyClean.

If you’re a parent and a Gen-X’er, you will find this book intriguing.  I wish I would have read Buy, Buy Baby while I was pregnant with my first child.  Even as the mother of a 3 and a 5-year-old, I am so glad I read it.  Every parent should be aware of the marketing directed at his or her children.  Snug Organics creates sleepwear without cartoon character clouding and this book makes me proud that we have put that goal into place.  Licensed characters play a far bigger role in a child’s life than parents may think.

From Publishers Weekly

According to reporter Thomas, modern marketers believe that “the moment a baby can see clearly, she becomes a consumer.” Indeed, as investigative journalist Thomas discovered, some marketers start earlier, with an array of fetal “education” gimmicks designed to broadcast music and vocabulary to the mother’s womb. Thomas interviewed a wide range of child development experts, product developers, marketing consultants and educators to write this well-researched exposé of the brave new world of American babies. Parents no longer believe that unstructured, baby-directed play and exploration is a valid use of baby’s time. Parents buy videos and toys marketed as tools so that baby’s every free moment can be a learning opportunity, even if there’s no evidence that babies learn anything from these products. The phenomenon of KGOY—kids getting older younger—has passed from tweens down to toddlers and lap babies. Younger and younger children are watching more and more television and videos, she argues, and identifying with more “licensed character” products. Some of the problem lies with today’s Gen-X parents, says Thomas, who’s one herself. Having grown up with latchkeys and divorced parents, with only television for comfort, they want to give their own children everything—and marketers know how to play to their insecurities. Thomas ends with Pooh’s plea for “Doing Nothing”—an idea many parents may be relieved to embrace.

I just reserved this at my local library.  I recommend you do the same.  This book sounds like a great way to be aware of how much plastic is currently in your home and how to reduce your consumption.

From Publishers Weekly

“What is plastic, really? Where does it come from? How did my life become so permeated by synthetics without my even trying?” Surrounded by plastic and depressed by the political, environmental, and medical consequences of our dependence on it, Freinkel (The American Chestnut) chronicles our history with plastic, “from enraptured embrace to deep disenchantment,” through eight household items including the comb, credit card, and soda bottle (celluloid, one of the first synthetics, transformed the comb from a luxury item to an affordable commodity and was once heralded for relieving the pressure on elephants and tortoises for their ivory and shells). She takes readers to factories in China, where women toil 60-hour weeks for a month to make Frisbees; to preemie wards, where the lifesaving vinyl tubes that deliver food and oxygen to premature babies may cause altered thyroid function, allergies, and liver problems later in life. Freinkel’s smart, well-written analysis of this love-hate relationship is likely to make plastic lovers take pause, plastic haters reluctantly realize its value, and all of us understand the importance of individual action, political will, and technological innovation in weaning us off our addiction to synthetics.

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