Organic Connections July-August 2009 by Natural Vitality

Organic

Connections JULYâ&#x20AC;&#x201C;AUG 2009

The magazine of Peter Gillhamâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Natural Vitality

Daniella Chace Nutrition as Therapy Stephanie Vance Getting Heard in Washington Quillisascut Farm School Connecting Field and Table

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Feel healthier—be happier!

Celebrate diversity or mandate uniformity?

ife isn’t always neat. Just ask any parents with young children. But there’s nothing inherently wrong with that. Nature doesn’t come in just one size or one color. Neither do people. English poet William Cowper once said, “Variety’s the very spice of life.” Do we want to revel in nature’s bounty or see Earth become one giant clean room? We’ve been heading down the clean-room path for many years. The supermarket brought us widely distributed produce. The trade-off was limited variety, chemical sprays and lack of taste. If our health suffered due to nutrient loss and highly processed foods, the doctor and drugstore were close by to give us a chemical prescription for our pains. But apparently that’s not enough. We are now facing genetically engineered and irradiated foods grown from genetically engineered seeds on farms worked by machines and agri-industry “farmers.” What will our collective future be? Will man or machines (and those who run them) have the upper hand? At halftime, it seems the game could go either way. A large percentage of the population are dutifully watching their TV news and taking prescription medications. On the other hand, boutique wineries and artisan cheeses are increasing in popularity, farmers’ markets are appearing in more and more cities, sales of natural and organic products continue to grow, and people are turning to “alternative” natural health practitioners in greater numbers than ever. Who wins pretty much depends on which side is more determined and invests more energy. Certainly the chemical, agricultural and pharmaceutical industries are putting in overtime (the pharmaceutical industry alone has about 2,500 lobbyists working Capitol Hill). Back in 1994, a million citizens bombarded Congress with communications to secure the passage of the Dietary Supplement Health and Education Act (DSHEA). This secured our free access to vitamins and minerals. Congress stated that “there may be a positive relationship between sound dietary practice and good health, and that, although further scientific research is needed, there may be a connection between dietary supplement use, reduced health-care expenses, and disease prevention.” Fifteen years later, DSHEA is under attack with media articles appearing almost every day. Appropriately, in this issue, we feature citizen advocate Stephanie Vance with data about how to get your voice heard in Washington, DC. The world we and our children will live in will be determined by what we do now.

In this issue

or•gan•ic |ôr ganʹik| 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 development: companies expand as much by acquisition as by organic growth.

4 Daniella Chace Nutrition therapist and author Daniella Chace looks at the nutritional challenges facing us, talks about her Nutritionist Approved program, and offers some healthy recipes.

Stephanie Vance The Advocacy Guru, Stephanie Vance, gives surprising insights into how the legislative branch works, along with practical tips on how you can make your voice heard on Capitol Hill.

11 Quillisascut Farm Lora Lea Misterly, co-founder of the Quillisascut Farm School of the Domestic Arts in Washington State, has a mission to connect field to table and does this by bringing chefs, students, nutritionists and others out to the farm for education, hands-on farm work, cooking and, of course, eating.

Ken Whitman publisher

Organic Connections is published by Peter Gillham’s Natural Vitality 2530 N. Ontario Street, Burbank, CA 91504-2512 Editorial Office 323.664.1755 • www.petergillham.com For a free e-subscription, visit www.organicconnectmag.com. Statements made in this magazine have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration. Products mentioned are not intended to diagnose, treat, cure or prevent any disease. © 2009 Peter Gillham’s Natural Vitality. All rights reserved.

A portion of the profits from the sale of

Natural Calm ® and Organic Life Vitamins ® goes to our Natural Revitalization environmental action initiative addressing global warming, which helps fund Conservation International (www.conservation.org) and Remineralize the Earth (www.remineralize.org).

Daniella Chace Nutrition as Therapy

issues with nutrition, and she has two more—The Xeno Diet and The Nutrition Minute: Grocery Guide for Your Optimal Health—scheduled for release this year. Along with the extensive range of her many activities, Chace continues to formulate additional smoothie recipes—and in fact has just created several for the new products from Peter Gillham’s Natural Vitality, NutraRev! and Osteo Calm (see page 6).

in a wine section reads, “Wine tannins fight viruses. Tannins found in grapes and wine have been shown to have antiviral effects.” Another, posted on the yogurt case, states yogurt’s benefits in helping combat GERD (gastroesophageal reflux disease). The information on these NutriSigns is derived from a comprehensive database of scientific research collected worldwide, known as the NAI Nutrition Knowledge Stream. “Retailers such as grocery stores purchase Finding Specific Nutrition the NutriSigns for their stores because they help answer shoppers’ questions and assist If you’ve ever been working your way consumers in identifying which whole foods, Nutrition therapist Daniella Chace brings through a health food store wondering how food products and supplements meet their considerable expertise to the table—both particular items might help you, or perhaps individual needs,” said Chace. “Nutrition literally and figuratively. A master’s degree even what they are, you may find Daniella information placed at the point of purchase from the esteemed Bastyr University in Chace’s new program of interest. Not long dramatically increases the sale of the prodSeattle, Washington, has been followed ago, seeing the need for consumers to fully uct it addresses. Retailers benefit, as their by 13 years of clinical experience. She has understand what types of food would best sales increase, and shoppers benefit, as they specialized in medical nutrition and coun- assist them with various health issues, she receive free nutritional information in the seling for a wide range of health conditions decided to put the considerable research form of prevention and nutrition therapy.” including cancer, diabetes, heart disease, eat- she had amassed to work on a broad scale As part of the program, Chace is this year ing disorders, parasitic and fungal infections, and launched a program called Nutrition- publishing The Nutrition Minute: Grocery hormonal imbalances, metal and chemical ist Approved, Inc. (NAI). “The goal of NAI Guide for Your Optimal Health, an A to Z toxicity, weight loss, digestive disorders, is to empower people to improve their reference for shoppers, organized by health food allergies, autoimmune disease and age- health with science-based nutrition infor- condition, to give them access to many of related degenerative conditions. mation,” she told Organic Connections. “We the studies and dietary recommendations She hit the best-seller lists in 1998 with position easy-to-understand, science-based that are used to create NutriSigns. her book Smoothies for Life, co-authored point-of-sale interventions near appropriate with Maureen Keane, and followed it up in food items where they are likely to influence Nutritional Challenges 2007 with More Smoothies for Life. Those healthy purchasing behaviors.” delicious concoctions were created initially Chace decided to provide a service Daniella Chace’s second book scheduled by Chace for cancer patients at the Cancer to health food markets by which vital for release this year is entitled The Xeno

ONE THING WE DO KNOW IS THAT bETWEEN 1994 AND 2000, THE SAmE TImE GM FlOODED THE mArKET, allerGic Treatment Centers of America’s facility in Seattle, Washington, when she was looking for a way to increase protein, antioxidants, minerals and essential fatty acids in the patients’ diets before and after treatment. Many of them had lost their appetites or had mouth sores, which prevented chewing, and smoothies provided the perfect vehicle for the nutrients they needed. Daniella Chace is the author of numerous other books addressing specific health 4

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foods

reacTioNs More ThaN doubled.

nutritional information was placed on shelf Diet. “This book covers food politics, talkers (signs located beneath specific items genetics and nutrition,” she explained. “It on shelves) so that shoppers would know is primarily bringing awareness to the sciwhich products provide what benefits. The ence of epigenetics [the study of influences NAI shelf talkers, called NutriSigns, cover on genes caused by environmental or other every department in the store, including factors not part of the underlying natural whole foods (produce, bulk items, meat, genetic structure] and includes a prescripseafood and dairy), wellness products, tion for using this information to increase natural cosmetics, supplements and envi- health, improve energy and support weight ronmentally friendly cleaning and paper loss. Our food contains countless bioacproducts. For example, a NutriSign placed tive substances, many of which are new to

nature, which provide unique information or messaging that is translated to the cell through complex biochemistry, leading to alteration of gene expression and thereby altering the cell’s function in response to the message. Some of these food-derived messages are beneficial to our health, while others are detrimental. “Modern industrial farming, as well as food manufacturing practices, has introduced new-to-nature molecules, examples of which are high-fructose corn syrup, unusual fat profiles in livestock and farmed fish, preservatives, artificial colors and sweeteners, genetically modified foods and much more. These molecules invariably send food-derived messages that are negatively altering our cellular signaling systems, and the resulting epigenetic changes represent the origin of many of today’s preventable diseases.” One area of new bioactive substances that Chace is particularly concerned about deals with genetically modified produce, known in scientific circles as GMOs (genetically modified organisms). “In my opinion, genetically engineering food crops, and now animal food, is a brazen and irresponsible move in consideration of negligent lack of real safety testing,” said Chace. “Genetically modified or genetically engineered fruits and vegetables grown for human consumption are big business on an insidious worldwide scale. Backers of genetic modification believe it to be the only viable way to feed a growing global population without depleting natural resources. Critics of GM farming—and I am one of them—consider it eco-tampering and a threat to biodiversity. “It is important to keep in mind that most countries of the world have been much more cautious and have not allowed this kind of broad control of the food supply to be given over to corporations. We now know that genetically modifying foods is not an exact science and that we end up with unexpected effects; the two greatest we have sustained from this experiment have been the loss of nutritional value and the increase of chemical residue in the foods.

“No one knows the full extent of what can or will happen when GM fruits and vegetables are consumed for several years or generations. One thing we do know is that between 1994 and 2000, the same time GM foods flooded the market, allergic reactions more than doubled. Specialists are reporting a significant rise in the number of patients suffering from multiple food allergies.” Another nutritional challenge that Chace is addressing deals with the need for supplements due to the loss of trace minerals and nutritional value in our food today. “According to recent research, the average vegetable in the US supermarket is anywhere from 5 to 40 percent lower in minerals, such as magnesium, iron, calcium and zinc, than those harvested 50 years ago,” she stated. “This loss of nutrients is due to

genetic dilution from selective breeding to increase crop yield, resulting in the disappearance of traits such as amino-acid and mineral levels. Secondarily, commercial agricultural methods, which include a dependence on agricultural chemicals and improper land management, have led to nutritionally depleted soil.” To make up the difference, she advocates the use of supplements—but is quite choosy in those she recommends. “I use only a small handful of products in my office that I learned to trust while I was interning at both the Bastyr Center for Natural Health and the Cancer Treatment and Wellness Center in Seattle, as well as in my private practice,” said Chace. “I really pay attention to feedback from clients when I send them home with supplements, to be sure they are

getting long-term benefits. In addition, I rely on lab results, looking at lab work before and after mineral supplementation, to verify that my clients are at optimal levels.” Continuing Excellent Work

Daniella Chace continues her research, writing, consulting and clinical practice in the direction of helping us all to be aware of how specific foods can assist us in living healthier lives. In a world rife with chemically treated crops and genetic modification, the time has certainly never been better! To find out more about her work, visit her personal website at www.daniellachace.com. For more information on NAI programs, please visit www.nutritionistapproved.biz.

smoothie recipes by Daniella Chace Lemon Drop (serves 1) This sweet citrus cocktail shimmers with bright flavor. 2 cups sparkling water ½ cup seedless grapes 2 Tbs orange juice concentrate 1 Tbs lemon juice 1 tsp electrolyte powder 1 tsp honey 1 capful OsTeO CaLm Electrolytes are minerals that are essential to carry electrical currents in the body to keep our physiological functions going. When we are low in these minerals—calcium, magnesium, potassium and sodium—we can become fatigued, have irregular heartbeats, feel depressed and experience muscle weakness. Replacing these minerals corrects the problem instantly, giving us more energy.

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Cherry Icy (serves 2) Use your favorite dark berries in this recipe, as they are all delicious. 1 cup ice 1 cup sparkling water 2 cups frozen dark cherries 1 tsp sweetener 1 Tbs cherry juice concentrate 1 capful NuTrarev!

Watermelon Pomegranate (serves 2)

Breakfast Blend (serves 1)

This juicy icy is sweet and just a little tart. 1 cup ice 1 cup seedless watermelon 1 cup sparkling water ¼ cup pomegranate juice 1 tsp electrolyte powder 1 capful OrgaNIC LIfe vITamINs

This classic combination is a favorite daily smoothie to support the immune system. 1 cup milk ½ cup orange juice 1 frozen peeled banana ¼ cup cottage cheese 1 tsp honey (optional) 1 capful OrgaNIC LIfe vITamINs Even if you don’t love cottage cheese, try it in smoothies. It’s high in protein and low in calories and so creamy that it is hard to detect once blended.

Stephanie Vance Getting Heard in Washington

As we’ve experienced with the current economic crisis, what happens in Washington can have a very real effect on our personal lives. Along with the economy, there are many other critical issues involving health, farming practices and the environment that are currently “on the table” in the nation’s capital. How are we

AS SOrT OF A New ACTuAlly More

Stephanie Vance, known in Washington, DC, as the Advocacy Guru, began her career working for various members of Congress— and what she saw during this time caused a change in her career path. “While I was working on Capitol Hill for different members of Congress, I had many people come ‘advocate at me’ badly,” Vance told Organic

Communicate with Congress. She then started assisting individuals and groups through seminars and training on working the advocacy system in Washington. Her assistance is now some of the most sought after in the capital, and she has also just released a new book—Citizens in Action: A Guide to Influencing Government. She recently sat down

TreNd IN WASHINGTON, DC, Grass-rooTs adVocacy IS

Powerful ThaN direcT lobbyiNG.

as individuals, or small interest groups, to Connections. “People would come into our with Organic Connections to provide some play a role in determining our fate, with office and it was clear that they didn’t really advice on dealing with our political system. the pharmaceutical industry, for example, understand the power they had as constitumaintaining a stable of about 2,500 lob- ents. I realized that someone needed to tell A Day in the Life byists to push their interests? Fortunately them how to do this, and if I did, they might for us, as citizens, we have a voice that can get more of what they wanted out of govern- A congressional office is an intensely busy be heard over the money and influence of ment and everybody would be happy. That place. A member’s day usually begins around giant corporations. To learn more about was really my inspiration.” seven or eight o’clock in the morning with a Vance began by publishing a book in 1999 breakfast meeting or event. At 8:30 or 9:00 how things actually run on Capitol Hill, entitled Government by the People: How to the office staff gather to look over the votes we turned to an expert. organic connections

that will be on the floor that day and decide what recommendations they should make to the member about these votes. At 10:00 there are usually two or three different hearings for members to attend and there might be four or more bills being debated. Throughout the day, there are many other types of meetings that both members and staff must make, including luncheons, and members must also be in attendance on the floor of Congress in order to do their jobs. “I would say every hour there are probably about 5, 10, 15, sometimes even 20, different demands on a congressperson’s time,” Vance stated. “There was a time when I was working on the Hill that my boss said he’d received 50 requests for constituent meetings on one particular day. I had another office just tell me lately that they had 200 requests in for the day. It’s always non-stop busy, and in the midst of it all they have to go down to the floor to vote. It’s pretty chaotic all day long.” So, given those kinds of statistics, can we really be heard? Do petitions really work? What happens when you e-mail your senator? Would a personal visit really be worthwhile? The answers to these questions become clear in understanding communication priorities within those offices. “It is frustrating when people think they can’t make a difference, because they really can,” said Vance. “While Congress on average receives well over 500 million e-mails per year, there is actually a sort of triage system they utilize that is to your advantage.” The first level of separation of communication comes with isolating those e-mails or letters that emanate from the member’s

Which then brings us to the most important type of message you can send. “The ones that really rise to the top are those personalized communications that tell a story about how a particular federal or state policy will impact the person who is writing,” Vance said. “When you are part of the member’s constituency and are asking for something specific that that person can do, it’s actually going to capture the legislator’s attention.” What about petitions, then? “I don’t want to tell people not to do things like petitions or form e-mails, because I do want people to be communicating,” Vance said. “However, if they want to be most effective, they can sign a petition but they should really follow it up with a personalized communication. I’ve seen several examples where just three letters or three phone calls from individuals in the district who have real stories about something that impacts them have inspired a legislator to introduce legislation, to co-sponsor a bill, to really get involved in a particular issue. And it’s those personalized communications that make the difference far more than a petition or form communication.” In this digital age, e-mails are actually more effective than physical letters. Since the anthrax scare of several years ago, all physical mail must be routed through New Jersey to be irradiated and arrives six weeks late. Hence, e-mails or faxes will arrive in a timely fashion and have a chance at making a difference. And, believe it or not, so will personal visits. While there is tremendous lobbying power in Washington, even a lobbyist has a better chance of being heard by using the constituent touch—especially now. “As sort

that show that in-person visits from constituents are the number one way of influencing legislation. So I really believe that grass-roots advocates, individual citizens, have much more power than they recognize.” Of course, such a visit should be very well planned. “You may only have five to ten minutes to get your point across, so you have to be prepared,” Vance explained. “You have to know what you’re asking for and have your personal story prepared, as well as your explanation of why you’re relevant to the legislator. And I think you also have to make sure that you are ready to do follow-up. Seven minutes in Washington, DC, once a year is really not going to get you that relationship you need to have for a legislator or staff person to be on your side.” Such follow-up consists of getting to know the staff of the congressional member you are dealing with—something that’s more valuable than you might realize. “It’s great to shake a congressperson’s hand and say hello, but if you want to move forward on your advocacy, get to know the staff,” advised Vance. “They are the ones who are going to do a lot of the day-to-day legwork. They’re going to be advising the member of Congress on issues; they’re going to be bringing issues that are affecting the district to his or her attention. I can’t tell you how many times, when I was working as a lobbyist, that we achieved legislative objectives without ever having met that member. If members are going to pay attention to anyone who is contacting them on a dayto-day basis, it’s going to be their own staff. If you can get their staff on your side, then

WHEN yOu ArE pArT OF THE mEmbEr’S coNsTiTueNcy AND ArE ASKING FOr

soMeThiNG sPecific THAT THAT pErSON CAN DO, IT’S ACTuAlly GOING TO caPTure The leGislaTor’s aTTeNTioN. district or state—that is, from that member’s constituents. Traffic not from constituents gets forwarded to the proper elected officials. For that reason, Vance always advises only to communicate with officials to whom you are relevant. Next sorted out are form communications. For example, a website is set up by a special interest group that allows one to simply click and send a pre-written e-mail to an elected official, with a form message. While those are received by the offices, they are not given the same priority as personal communications. 8

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of a new trend in Washington, DC, grassroots advocacy is actually more powerful than direct lobbying,” Vance remarked. “I think direct lobbying is an important component of any government relations campaign; but any good lobbyist will tell you that when they walk into a legislator’s office they had better have a lot of information about that legislator’s district, and they will be far more effective if they can actually bring a real live constituent in with them. In fact, there have been studies from the Congressional Management Foundation

they almost become mini-lobbyists for you within the offices and they become the ones that are really pushing the issue.” Influencing Government Agencies

Unlike Congress, there are government agencies such as the USDA and the FDA that pass regulations and make decisions that aren’t influenced by voters. Is there a way we can have a compelling effect on them? “Federal agencies aren’t required in any legal or constitutional way to be responsive to

I rEAlly bElIEvE THAT

Grass-rooTs adVocaTes, iNdiVidual ciTizeNs, HAvE Much

Power THAN THEy rECOGNIzE.

individual citizens,” said Vance. “So, what I suggest is seeing if you can utilize some of the folks in Congress to help you get to the agencies, because the agencies have to be responsible to Congress. Congress determines agency budgets, so agencies are pretty much going to be paying attention to what Congress has to say. If you make a good enough case to your congressional offices, they will be willing to help you in having a meeting with the agency personnel; or if you have a congressional staff person who’s really interested in the issue, they might sit down with the agency regulators and talk about the issue. If worst comes to worst and the agencies are running out of control, Congress can always introduce legislation to pull them back. So, while you might want to get involved in the rulemaking process at the agencies and respond to any requests for comments, going through your congressional office may have the most impact.”

possibly be well enough informed to vote on such things? “People tell me that they can’t believe their congressman didn’t read some 500-page bill,” Vance related. “I ask them, ‘Have you ever read a bill?’ The actual bill language reads something like, ‘Take out the semicolon at the end of paragraph 673 of code 2742 and insert the following sentence… .’ If you aren’t sitting there with the original code and comparing it, it doesn’t make any sense. So the staff who are writing the bill, as well as independent counsel, provide summaries of the legislation explaining exactly what the bill does. People in the lobbying community also have lawyers who pore through the bills and compare them to the codes and explain them. That is the material that the members and the staff really need to read, and they do. Reading an entire bill is not a good use of a member’s time.” In addition to a member’s overloaded schedule, there are a lot of bills to get through, discuss and vote on. “In every session of Congress, there are about 10,000 Dealing with the Complexity of Bills bills that get introduced and only around 4 to 5 percent of those get passed,” Vance You may have heard how complex congresexplained. “So almost 96 percent of the bills sional bills can be—and it’s true. They can don’t go anywhere. A lot of people hear those be hundreds of pages long and are written figures and think, ‘Well, geez, that Congress in legal language. How could a member is pretty inefficient!’ And they’d be right; of Congress, with such a busy schedule, it is inefficient. But if you actually thought about it, it’s an institution that’s designed to be totally and completely inefficient. The Founding Fathers, when they set it up, were coming off a monarchy that they weren’t too fond of. They wanted to set up a system of government that didn’t simply pass legislation; the stress was primarily on arguing and fighting and deliberating about legislation, which Congress does a really good job with.” The Bottom Line

At the end of the day it is your government and, despite its flaws, was designed to be that way. Following the advice of someone like Stephanie Vance who knows the rocks and shoals can greatly help in getting your issues heard. You can find out more about Stephanie and her books, and read her articles, at her website: www.advocacyguru.com. Her books are also available at organicconnectmag.com and many other outlets.

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Bringing Conservation into Focus Quillisascut Farm School Connecting Field and Table by bruce boyers

It was this mission that was taken on by Lora Lea Misterly and her husband, Rick, back in the 1990s. Having successfully run their Washington State Quillisascut Farm, providing goat’s milk cheese to numerous restaurants and outlets throughout the state, they found that while European

teaching them. Well, usually if you come up with the idea of someone doing something, pretty soon you realize that no one else is doing it and maybe that ‘someone’ should be you. And that’s how our idea of starting the school here on our farm began. We wanted to bring chefs out to the farm, have

When these high-flown words were penned by Joni Mitchell all the way back in 1969, there was a romantic notion shared by a few that they had to get back to the land and live their lives raising and existing off their own food. At the time it might have been dismissed as a “hippie dream”; but today, with a close examination of our industrialized food production cycle, what was once impractical may chart the route to our future survival. While society at large has been uninvolved with food creation, soils have been depleted (it is estimated that in the past 100 years, mineral content in the world’s farmland and range soil has decreased by an average of 85 percent), chefs had a great understanding of food food has lost its nutrition (between 15 and production and the importance of the 75 percent), and destructive chemicals connection between the farm and the table, used in farming have found their way into American chefs did not. “As we grew with water tables. our cheese and with the new chefs that

them spend some time here and really get to learn how to grow things, find out what goats are like, learn how to make the cheese and how to incorporate all those things into their menus.”

We are stardust We are golden And we’ve got to get ourselves Back to the garden.

WE WANTED TO brING chefs HErE AND rEAlly GET TO

ouT To The farM, HAvE THEm sPeNd soMe TiMe

learN how To Grow ThiNGs, FIND OuT WHAT GOATS

ArE lIKE, lEArN HOW TO mAKE THE CHEESE AND HOW TO iNcorPoraTe

all Those

ThiNGs iNTo Their MeNus. Fortunately, there are ever growing numbers of concerned consumers, as well as food retailers, distributors and chefs, who are working to bring connection between field and table a little closer to home, knowing that if we don’t take a hand in seeing that our own food is wholesomely produced, no one will.

were coming on line, we realized that newly trained American chefs were frequently disconnected from the earth,” Lora Lea Misterly told Organic Connections. “We thought it would be great for them if they could have that understanding, and that somebody should come up with a way of

Thus began the Misterlys’ first farm teaching program, Chefs on the Farm—and the chefs that visited during those initial programs never forgot them. Four years later, Chef David Blaine of Latah Bistro in Spokane, Washington, is still reaping the rewards. “I think the focus for me was that organic connections

WE’rE AbOuT INDuSTry. WE CrEATE mACHINES TO DO Our jObS. HOW DO WE GO bACK TO

beiNG huMaN WHEN WE’rE CONSTANTly bEING puSHED TO bE mOrE mACHINE-lIKE? CrEATING rElATIONSHIpS WITH PeoPle, CrEATING rElATIONSHIpS WITH THE earTh— THOSE ArE WAyS THAT WE CAN prACTICE bEING More it’s not just about where your food comes from, it’s about how you handle it as well,” Blaine told Organic Connections. “There are many layers to this system, and that sense of interconnectivity was the biggest thing I got from it. I feel a lot less isolated standing in my kitchen right now. I feel those tendrils of connections to all of the other people that make these plates of food possible.” Since that time, the types of students attending the Quillisascut Farm School of the Domestic Arts have broadened considerably. In addition to chefs, the Misterlys now host courses for new farmers, culinary students, nutritionists and nutritional students, youth groups, high school students, high school culinary arts teachers and family and consumer science teachers, and there is even a weekend for parent-and-child teams. With bunkhouse-style lodging, participants spend several days learning to work the farm hands-on and how to prepare food that has just come from the field or the barnyard. They milk goats, make cheese, help care for farm animals, transplant vegetables, and harvest produce from the gardens. Included in the program are visits to neighboring organic farms to hear presentations about honeybees, grassfed meats and composting. Then dinner is a time to feast on the bounty of the farm, as students prepare their evening meal from each day’s labor. Sustainable Farming

Part of what visitors and students are taught at the farm school is sustainable farming practices. These encompass the raising of healthy crops without poisons, the use of nutritious composts, natural fertilization (in their case, with plentiful goats), and the natural address of weeds. Lora Lea sums up sustainable farming with an interesting use of modern terminology. “I like trying to work within nature’s operating system. Changing the mindset of the farming that is out there and that has the money and the power is a really big job. So all I can do is my piece to educate people and myself about what is health and what is healthy for the soil, 12

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huMaNe.

and look for those farmers who are working on that path as well.” It all begins in the soil, and the area around the Quillisascut Farm has abundant minerals. It still needed more, though. “The soil wasn’t growing a lot of plants when we first moved here because it required food. When we put compost and bedding on it,

it ate them up quickly. There were plenty of minerals in the soil, but it needed the other side: it needed the fertility; it needed to be fed. Our main solution to this has been raising goats that increase the fertility of the soil, that regenerate the earth.” On the point of weeds, Lora Lea made an interesting suggestion. “Some of the weeds in

our gardens are very delicious,” she laughed. “Take, for example, dandelions. How many people are out there spraying their yards with herbicides to get rid of dandelions? You could eat all of these plants; then you wouldn’t have the problem, and you’d be savvy. You’d love your neighbor’s dandelion crop that is going over to your yard to reseed it, and you’d have some fresh greens in the spring that are really nutritious and are actually good to eat. Maybe you just need to learn how to cook them, how to prepare them so that they taste delicious.” Sustainable farming also includes utilizing seeds from crops that have been raised in a healthy manner. “I think we’re in for a

change in the whole seed system,” Lora Lea said. “The large corporations are buying up the big distribution companies. So, even if you’re purchasing from a company that sells seeds to home gardeners, the seeds that you are buying are grown by a farmer but the distribution system is run by a big corporation. I believe the next revolution is really learning how to save our own garden seeds and shared seeds, and looking for people that are growing seed and making that connection ourselves instead of through these other systems. I expect we’re going to start seeing more models like Seed Savers Exchange. They have many people growing seeds for them in safe conditions.

“Why is this important? It’s one way to preserve the seeds that we want instead of the seeds that we get. It’s also the diversity. Twenty years ago a lot of different seeds were disappearing and we were just getting those industrialized seeds that were being developed for commercial agriculture, even for home gardens. So, who’s growing the seed for that delicious tomato? Nobody. Seed Savers Exchange did a marvelous job of the renaissance of heirloom tomatoes, with the abundance of colors and varieties that are now available, getting the message out, and organizing them in a cohesive way so that everybody has access to them.” Lora Lea is also involved with two additional projects to educate others. As part of Slow Food Upper Columbia, she has helped teach people about reconnecting to the land and the delicious rewards that can be had. Periodic potlucks are held, utilizing produce from local gardens, and education is provided at the same time. Contributing to Northwest RAFT (Renewing America’s Food Traditions), she has assisted in bringing back to life local fruits and vegetables that have not been grown since Native American times, forgotten after the advent of commercial food systems. These include huckleberries, choke cherries, elderberries, camus root, Oregon grapes, Inchelium garlic, and the Ozette potato. From the Farm to the Table

In a sense, Lora Lea wanted to share the fruits of her own upbringing through the Quillisascut Farm School. “I was raised on a farm in Leavenworth, Washington,” she related. “My parents milked cows and sold milk and eggs. My mom made cheese with the summer milk surplus. I remember the taste of fresh curds, real creamed cottage cheese and butter. It is a taste that isn’t duplicated in anything found at the local grocer. I learned my love of country living and homemade cheese and country lifestyle right from them.” She never lost that love. After she married, Lora Lea and her new husband started working the land he already owned while looking for more. She had begun making cheese and saw that there could be a market for it. “It was all really from the idea that we wanted to be self-sufficient,” she said. Lora Lea eventually found that she wished to bring to others the same satisfaction that she had experienced—or at least to be able to educate them about what it was like. organic connections

Back to the Land

In addition to teaching people from all walks of life about the relationship of the farm to the table, Lora Lea is hoping to help others start their own farms. “There are a large number of young people who would like to be involved in farming and are so disconnected that they don’t know how to go about it. How do they get land? How do they gain the skills for farming on a diversified farm when even the universities are teaching agribusiness? “You can take a broader look and ask, what would be needed for small farms to feed us?

“People today are very disconnected from the sources of their food,” she stated. “They’re not even seeing that there are people behind it. Who are they? What are their lives like? If you’ve never been on a farm, if you’ve never participated in any part of growing the food for the table, then everything that’s coming into your kitchen has already been processed by somebody else’s hands. And people just don’t make that connection.” Neither does society at large realize the damage that’s been done by the loss of that connection. “I think we have this myth that food is cleaner and safer if you get it at the grocery store and it’s wrapped up in plastic,” said Lora Lea. “But science is starting to come through and say, ‘Hey, you know, this is not better. It doesn’t have higher nutrition. Plastic packaging creates its own condition for bacteria to grow in.’” Mounting concern is also developing over genetically modified crops. While European countries refuse to import them, our regulatory agencies have awarded them “generally recognized as safe” status, so no labeling is required to alert consumers of what they’re buying. “I think genetic modification is scary,” Lora Lea remarked. “I don’t really believe it’s the answer for the future. We already have naturally genetically modified crops out there that we’ve ignored—crops that nature and generations of people who have worked with them have created—which achieve these changes in the safe system that we have. Maybe we need to look in a different direction. We’re looking to science and universities for those answers, and we have corporations trying to find the answers so that we can have 14 14

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a ‘marketable product.’ Instead we should look to some of the peasant farmers around the world who have been growing wheat and grain and corn for centuries and have plants that are drought tolerant.” The news, of course, isn’t all bad. Farmers’ markets are becoming increasingly popular and individuals on their own are starting to realize that there is a correlation to be made. “I think people are beginning to make that connection between the farm and the table with the farmers’ market movement. The people that are growing their food—the farmers—are ecstatic to have these relationships with those who are buying their food and watching their families grow. It’s really about learning each other’s stories and reconnecting on a human level.” Chefs on the Farm—the Book

After they had been running their school for a time, Rick and Lora Lea found that many who attended wished they could in some way take a bit of the experience home with them. As well, the Misterlys wanted a method by which they could export the experience and interest others in it. These factors resulted in the creation of the book Chefs on the Farm: Recipes and Inspiration from the Quillisascut Farm School of the Domestic Arts. The book describes the seasonal workings of the farm and the experiences of chefs who have attended, and also contains 65 farm-fresh recipes.

Actually, it would require recolonizing the countryside with small farmers. So, some of our work is offering introductory farming classes to help people do that. “Our society has industrialized,” Lora Lea concluded. “We’re about industry. We create machines to do our jobs. How do we go back to being human when we’re constantly being pushed to be more machine-like? Creating relationships with people, creating relationships with the earth—those are ways that we can practice being more humane. We really need to get back to more basic kinds of eating, closer to the earth.”

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