The Green Gazette - April /May 2016 Issue

8/ Atlantic Power – Burning questions about railway ties Controversy is brewing over Atlantic Power Corporation‘s bid to increase the volume of creosoteladen railway ties it is allowed to burn in its biomassfired energy plant in Williams Lake. - by Sage Birchwater 9/ Your Pet's Health and Real Food Choices We are all connected. People. Pets. The planet. Cows.

Cats. Chickens. Songbirds and honey bees. Monarch butterflies. Old growth trees - by Jacinta D’Andrea 21/ To Craft a life: The Art and Sculpture of Christina Mary The artist and her muse plunge headlong into the waters of the unconscious, pulling up the dreams and tendrils of meaning, lovingly molding them into form. - by Venta Rutkauskas 25/ Key Considerations for an Off-grid Solar Energy System If you are considering a solar energy system for your off-grid home, ranch, or seasonal residence here are a few pointers to help you through the decision making process. - by Ron Young 26/ Support Organics at March for Food Justice May 21 People around the world will voice their support for organic, toxin-free food during the annual March Against Monsanto, Saturday, May 21.- by Erin Hitchcock 27/ Farming and the Femme Women across North America are getting their hands dirty in the unpredictable and often unprofitable industry of sustainable agriculture. What is driving these shifts and what does it mean for the future of organic farming?

- by Molly Payne 29/ Celebrate Earth Day Every Day Earth Day falls on April 22, the anniversary of the birth of the modern environmental movement in 1970. - by Jessica Kirby

Publisher / Editor-in-Chief Lisa Bland lisa@thegreengazette.ca Senior Editor Jessica Kirby Contributors David Suzuki, LeRae Haynes, Margaret-Anne Enders, Ciel Patenaude, Erin Hitchcock, Lisa Bland, Ron Young, Venta Rutkauskas, Jasmin Schellenberg, Terri Smith, Oliver Berger, Jessica Kirby, Sage Birchwater, Brandon Hoffman, Bill Irwin, Adam McLeod, Phil Ranson, Jacinta D‘Andrea, Christa Mustard, Tyler Shippit, B. Blake Levitt, Molly Payne, Kristin Lehar, Advertising Lisa Bland Creative Directors Lisa Bland / Casey Bennett Ad Design Jill Schick, Rebecca Patenaude, Leah Selk Published by Earthwild Consulting Printing Black Press Ltd. Cover Photo Casey Bennett Index Photo Image ID : 10781586 www.shutterstock.com Copyright : Mark Spowart

www.thegreengazette.ca info@thegreengazette.ca TheGreenGazette is published by Earthwild Consulting. To subscribe email info@thegreengazette.ca or visit our website at www.thegreengazette.ca © 2016 all rights reserved. Opinions and perspectives expressed in the magazine are those of authors, and do not necessarily represent the views of the ownership or management. Reproduction in whole or part without the publisher‘s consent is strictly prohibited.

6/ Clean Energy Canada As a global community we are on the cusp of significant change in terms of the way we

use and produce energy. International conflict, economic volatility, and environmental destruction are drawing attention to the myriad reasons dependence on fossil fuels like coal, oil, and natural gas must change.

- By Jessica Kirby

05/ Recipes - by Lisa Bland 07/ Tracking Spring Bird Migration in the CaribooChilcotin - by Phil Ranson 10/ Recycling in the Cariboo Regional District 11/ Share Sheds: Someone‘s garbage is another‘s treasure - by Christa Mustard 11/ Central Cariboo Disposal Services: Recycling on the rise - by LeRae Haynes 12/ No Time Left to Waste: Exploring waste management on the Isla de Chiloé, Chile - by Oliver Berger 12/ Positive Change at Williams Lake Return-It Depot 13/ Dealing with our dirty laundry - by Margaret-Anne Enders 14/ Raising Amadeus - by Terri Smith 14/ Williams Lake Garden Club is Sowing Seeds 15/ Balancing Roots, Electronics and Individualism - By Tyler Shippit 16/ Green Business Feature: Aikido Studio and Aizenkan Martial Arts - by Terri Smith 17/ Free Drip and Micro-Irrigation Workshop with Highlands Irrigation and the Conservation Society

18/ Spring Revolution and Renewal - by Ciel Patenaude 22/ Green Business Feature: Welcome to the Family at Sta-Well Health Foods - by LeRae Haynes 23/ Love Bees—Especially the wild ones - by David Suzuki 23/ Station House Gallery: Upcoming Exhibitions in April - by Brandon Hoffman 24/ Confessions of a Farmer: A Woman cannot live on hugs alone - by Terri Smith 24/ Skywatch - by Bill Irwin 28/ Holistic Nutrition and the Holistic Perspective - by Kristin Lehar 30/ Invasive Plants in the Cariboo-Chilcotin Coast Region 31/ The Real Truth about Cancer - by Dr. Adam McLeod, ND, BSc 32/ Spectacularly Dumb: The ‗Smart‘ Grid and its Meters - by B. Blake Levitt 33/ Calendar of Events April/May, 2016 35/ Nourishing our Children - by Jasmin Schellenberg

Lisa Bland Publisher/ Editor-in-Chief

H

appy spring!

One of the best things about this time of year, other than the increased sunshine, greenery, and birds, are vibrant spring foods. After a winter of eating warming soups, root vegetables, fats, and protein— salad greens, berries, and garden veggies are a sight for sore eyes.

Springing into action in our lives just seems to be supported by the abundance of foods that appear this time of year. Although there are many philosophies around diet and food intake, I mostly trust how foods make me feel. Eating salads doesn't appeal so much in the winter, but in spring and summer they are my main fare. In eating vitamin and mineral-rich garden greens and veggies, our bodies seem to know that keeping things light are what is required in spring.

In the spirit of simplicity and seasonal foods, here's a sampling of a few of my favourite recipes. The only limitation is imagination when it comes to preparing salads and vitamin-rich juices and smoothies.

Left: Summer blueberry smoothie.

Photo : Olha Afanasieva www.123rf.com Upper right: Green salad.

Photo: Alena Haurylik, www.shutterstock.com Bottom right: Green drink with spinach.

Photo: www.123rf.com/profile_lecic'>lecic /

Mixed Greens Salad with Tangy Lemon Dressing Ingredients  

       

1/2 bag of greens (I like a mesclun mix with arugula, beet, and mustard greens) 1/2 cup of green sprouts–lots of varieties to choose from at the Growers Coop in Williams Lake.

A handful of cherry tomatoes 1 cup of apple cut into chunks 1 sliced cucumber 1 cup grated beet 1/2 cup grated carrots 2 tablespoon hemp seeds, sprinkled 1 diced avocado 1 handful of pumpkin seeds, toasted



Delicious High Protein Smoothie

grass juice is my go-to. If you live a busy life on the go, Smashin' Smoothies or The Hobbit House are a couple of places in Williams Lake to find wheatgrass shots and a great selection of juices. A warning: I wouldn't recommend following coffee with a wheatgrass shot; it can be unsettling to the stomach!

Ingredients

Green Juice



Ingredients

Clean and prepare all ingredients, run through a juicer and into a glass, and head out the door.

Enjoy the season of renewal and nourish your inner self with beautiful vibrant foods!

Smoothies are a great way to get a lot of nutrients into your diet in a healthy way, including things you wouldn't normally find appealing to eat. A lot of yummy berries and fruit can mask less palatable but good-for-you ingredients.

Tangy Lemon Dressing          

1 tablespoon lemon zest 1/3 cup real lemon juice 1 tablespoon tahini 2 tablespoons maple syrup 1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar 1 tablespoon miso 1 tablespoon rosemary Salt, to taste Water, as needed

Preparation Combine the salad ingredients in a large bowl.

Blend dressing ingredients in a blender until smooth.

Add water for preferred texture.

Serve salad with dressing drizzled on top.

     

1 1/2 cups almond milk or other milk substitute, kefir or yogourt 2 tablespoons hemp hearts or almond butter 1 cup blueberries or wild huckleberries 1/2 cup strawberries or raspberries 1/2 banana 2 cups spinach or kale 1 teaspoon spirulina powder 1 teaspoon maca powder

Add ingredients to blender, adjust liquid for desired thickness, pour into a glass, and enjoy. :) As much as I love smoothies, I love juicing fruits and veggies for quick energy and vitamins. While I try not to take in too much juice due to high sugars and lack of fibre, and don't drink them on an empty stomach, I love a revitalizing juice midday.

If under the weather or lethargic, wheat-

   

1 cup water or coconut water 2 celery stalks 1/2 lemon 1 pear

   



1/2 apple handful of strawberries 1-2 cups spinach or kale 1/4 cucumber 1-inch chunk of fresh turmeric (Higher Ground Health Food store in 100 Mile House often carries it).

1-inch chunk fresh ginger

By Jessica Kirby, Senior Editor of TheGreenGazette

A

s a global community we are on the cusp of significant change in terms of the way we use and produce energy. International conflict, economic volatility, and environmental destruction are drawing attention to the myriad reasons dependence on fossil fuels like coal, oil, and natural gas must change.

Topping the list of clean energy sources are wind and solar, and as generation facilities and output technologies improve and become cost effective, these industries are generating new jobs and cleaner environmental potential.

In fact, according to the David Suzuki Foundation, ―the renewable energy sector generates more jobs per megawatt of power installed, per unit of energy produced, and per dollar of investment than the fossil fuel-based sector.‖ In Canada, the renewable, clean energy opportunities abound—our rich, open spaces and vast wilderness mean endless potential for wind, solar, hydro, biomass, geothermal, and marine sources. As in previous energy revolutions, where humankind has made a major switch – wood to coal, coal to oil and gas – the transition to clean energy promises new employment opportunities, prosperity, and healthier living.

The federal government just announced as part of the 2016 Budget more than $7billion over the next two years to be spent on environmental protection, including public transit expansion, repairs to aging water and waste water infrastructure, and support for provincial efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

Finance Minister Bill Morneau characterized the new federal government as ―a champion of clean growth and a speedy transition to a low-carbon economy.‖ Delivering on election promises, the budget included several programs to apply clean technology innovation throughout the economy.

These announcements come a long way in boosting Canada‘s status as a clean energy proponent, especially since a February report by Clean Energy Canada said although 2015 was a record-breaking year for global investment in clean energy, Canada‘s spending declined by about half. The reason was, said Merran Smith of Clean Energy Canada, the lack of new government targets and regulations for the use of renewable energy. ―Clean energy doesn‘t need subsidies,‖ Smith told the CBC. ―It needs policies that commit to targets.‖ The budget announcement came just after Prime Minister Justin Trudeau met with provincial and territorial leaders in

Vancouver earlier in March to discuss a pan-Canadian strategy that would promote clean growth and climate action. Among other issues, carbon pricing was a key discussion point with all leaders agreeing on its need as well as the need to achieve Canada‘s international emission targets. Without consensus on what pricing might look like, the federal government will come back to the issue and hopes to conclude the deal by next fall.

The budget, however, promised an extra $1 billion in 2018-19 to establish a twoyear, $2-billion low carbon economy fund that will mitigate GHG reduction costs for provinces and territories that sign on to the national climate agreement.

And change might be easier than we think. Researchers from Stanford University recently released a study outlining just how Canada could move completely away from fossil fuels to a totally clean-energy future in as little as a decade. According to The Solutions Project, which evaluates the wind, water, and solar potential for all of the US and 139 countries including Canada, our home and native land could be 100 per cent renewable using 58 per cent wind power, 22 per cent solar, 16 per cent hydro, two per cent wave, and two per cent geothermal.

The study suggests 80 per cent of all energy production will be renewable by 2030, but some proponents say the goal is far more attainable and that the entire world could easily transition to 100 per cent renewable within 15 years. ―The solar-installed capacity has doubled every two years since the year 2000,‖ Stanford business professor Tony Seba told the CBC. Seba has advised international boardrooms on this topic and is adamant solar and wind are the future. ―If you keep doubling that capacity, all you need is seven more doublings in order for solar to be 100 per cent of the world‘s energy supply.‖ A promising sign is that growth in renewable energy has not been affected by a drop in the price of oil, and Seba says bankruptcies in the coal industry indicate the beginning of the end for the nonrenewable energy sector.

According to the David Suzuki Foundation, in 2012, $244 billion was invested around the world in renewable energy (excluding large hydro), including investments in new capacity, research and development, and manufacturing. Global installed wind capacity has grown ninefold over the past decade, with an estimated $80.3 billion invested in this industry worldwide in 2012.

David Suzuki Foundation has partnered with the Canadian Academy of Engineering and the Trottier Family Foundation to create the Trottier Energy Futures Project, which envisions a future for Canada with a cleaner environment, and in which Canada is seen as a leader in innovative, clean energy solutions.

Photo: Wajan / 123RF Stock Photo

―Limiting climate change and achieving sustainability is the defining challenge of our time and in Canada, it is clear that creating a sustainable energy plan is critical,‖ says David Suzuki in a Trottier Project promotional video. ―It is a huge job, it will take decades to complete, and it will require a clear recognition of our ecological limits and of our technological possibilities. It will also require a groundswell of support, and all of us talking to each other and learning from each other.‖ To learn more about the Trottier Project and other ways to impact clean energy in Canada please visit www.davidsuzuki.org.

How You Can Help: The David Suzuki Foundation recommends these easy-to-implement steps anyone can take to a greener, carbon mitigated future for Canada.

1.

Transportation: Cars are carbon hogs and the biggest contributors to CO2 emissions. Next time you buy a car, check the federal government‘s Auto Smart ratings to ensure your new wheels cruise smoothly down the road of efficiency. Consider biking, walking, or taking transit—even once per week can make a big impact. When you move, consider a location close to your daily destinations to reduce your overall commute times.

2.

Travel Light: Learn all about the impact of air travel and consider vacationing closer to home. Consider trains, cars, and busses over airplanes whenever possible, and when you fly, combine trips, fly direct, or fly in the daytime for better efficiency. Fly economy, because the more people on the plane the more efficient, and travel light to contribute to fuel efficiency.

3.

Energy: Reduce your home‘s energy usage with energy efficient practices.

Check out the federal government‘s EnerGuide for Houses program to get started, and remember to think green when shopping for new appliances.

4.

Food: With seven billion on the planet, food production has become costly to biodiversity, air and water sources, and soil. Choose local, or ganic, and seasonal whenever possible. Be mindful with seafood choices—check out the SeaChoice Guide or Suzuki‘s Top 10 Seafood Picks. Compost all organic waste.

5.

Be active. Our responsibility is individual and community-wide. Green your houses, offices, and schools, and then help take a policy to government and spread the word nation-wide!

By Phil Ranson

M

ay 14 is International Migratory Bird Day, which I confess holds about as much significance for me as Red Tape Reduction Day, which, incidentally, was on March 2 and I missed it.

Not that I don‘t have a keen interest in migratory birds. In fact, much of my spring is devoted to the sheer joy of watching birds returning after a drab winter and noting their first arrival dates. I do, however, have a problem with the much overused proclamation of Days to draw attention to issues, which in the case of declining song bird populations, surely warrant greater than a day‘s exposure.

Spring migration in the CaribooChilcotin begins in late February when birds on the periphery of their range begin to move back north, and continues through to early June when the last of the neotropical migrants finally arrive on their breeding grounds. In between some 250–300 species will be arriving, many to set up territory and many more to continue on to the northern boreal forests, the alpine tundra, and the high Arctic with some even continuing across the Bering Sea to Siberia.

What is it about the first birds to return on the still cool southeast winds? Aspen trees are barely budding and patches of snow remain on the shady slopes when the first migrants arrive in the valley bottoms.

The male Mountain bluebird, the colour of clear, unclouded sky seems much more vivid against a backdrop of lasting winter, and the song of the meadowlark so much sweeter without the competition that another month or two will bring.

I‘ve been recording spring arrival dates of birds in the Cariboo since 1998 and I‘m by no means the first to embark on this undertaking. Anna Roberts, who is a founding member of the Williams Lake Field Naturalists, has been keeping bird records since she came to the Cariboo in 1958 and found there was no one else in the area doing this. She used this information to produce the first Checklist of Cariboo Birds in 1976, with a second edition coming out in 1992, which was more detailed and had bar graphs for each species to show their dates of occurrence and relative abundance.

Checklists are generally out of date the moment they return from the printers with dates being extended and new species showing up almost on an annual basis (The 1976 checklist had 248 species. The current

An Arctic tern pair at the Eagle Lake nesting colony. Photo: Jim Sims

version has 323). In the late 90s, Anna was discussing a third edition with Jim Sims, also on the executive of the Field Naturalists, who at this time was familiarizing himself with writing programming software. And so the idea of an electronic checklist was conceived, and also the beginning of my involvement in tracking arrival and departure dates of Cariboo birds.

In the mid-90s there was a loose email connection between people with varied interest in local birds. I began compiling these emails and resubmitting them to a distribution list. This distribution list expanded and the compilations were going out anywhere from daily when things were busy to maybe once a week or less during the slower winter months. This went on until 2011 when, wanting to be relieved of the responsibility and also allow for greater involvement among the correspondents, we switched to Google groups.

With the aid of the previous checklists and email search functions, I began to track first-reported return dates going back to the mid-90s. I also attempted to log departure dates, but it‘s much easier to track birds first seen than the last time birds were not seen, so I gave up on the end dates. There is now over 18 years worth of data all gleaned from email correspondence and personal observations throughout the region. This information has been absorbed into the electronic checklist, which, after many trials and tribulations, Jim has up and running. The e-checklist is now much more than a spreadsheet of graphs; it also has notes of local relevance for each species, photographs by area photographers, and sound files of bird calls and song. Perhaps

its greatest advantage, through the eversion we have the ability to add any new information instantly and print off an up-todate hard copy.

So what does this information tell us?

Birds in general are arriving earlier and earlier, particularly the short distance migrants wintering within North America including northern Mexico. Birds wintering in the tropics and sub-tropics seem to be less affected and their migration clocks more 'hard-wired' and less dependent on regional weather patterns. Lacking in this data and probably more relevant would be the timing of the peak of species migration.

Individual birds arriving at record early dates may well be indicative but I have no

means to corroborate this. Some birds are clearly not consulting the checklist before they set out.

Aside from empirical data and some speculation, watching the spring migration unfold captures the fascination of nature and the thrill of discovery that keeps birders heading out to view this annual spectacle. Anyone who has stood on the grasslands of Becher's Prairie in April and witnessed wave after wave, from horizon to horizon, of undulating strings of Sandhill cranes heading for the coastal plains of Alaska, or visited Eagle Lake in the Chilcotin to view the oddly disjunctive colony of Arctic terns, perhaps the most graceful of birds, said to be the world‘s longest migrants with a round trip of over 80,000 km from Antarctic to Arctic, cannot but help be filled with awe at the wonders of the natural world.

Phil Ranson migrated to Canada from northwest England in 1972. He worked seasonally in the Cariboo for the BC Forest Service since 1986 but made Williams Lake home in 1993. Married with two daughters and three grandchildren, Phil has been a member of the Williams Lake Field Naturalists for 30 years and is the compiler for local Christmas Bird Counts. He was also the regional co-ordinator for the BC Breeding Bird Atlas which ran from 2008– 2012 (http://www.birdatlas.bc.ca/). Now retired Phil, spends a sizable portion of his spare time birding in the area.

By Sage Birchwater

C

ontroversy is brewing over Atlantic Power Corporation‘s bid to increase the volume of creosote-laden railway ties it is allowed to burn in its biomass-fired energy plant in Williams Lake.

When the facility began operating in 1993 it signed a 25-year energy purchase agreement (EPA) with BC Hydro to provide 66 Megawatts of electricity to the energy grid. It was also granted permission by the Ministry of Environment (MOE) to burn up to five per cent of its fuel mix as rail ties.

Now with the EPA about to expire in 2018, the company is seeking a 10-year extension to that agreement. To ensure it has enough biofuel to feed its plant, Atlantic Power has applied to the MOE for a tenfold increase in the volume of rail ties it is allowed to burn.

That‘s the rub for a growing number of people in Williams Lake.

There is a perception that if Williams Lake were to become a destination for burning old railway ties brought in from all over western Canada, the health of the community would be compromised. People are concerned that deadly toxins will accumulate in the environment despite efforts by Atlantic Power to keep contaminant levels below provincial government guidelines.

Sir Isaac Newton‘s third law of physics states that for every action there‘s an equal and opposite reaction. If you bring 112,500 tonnes of toxic material or 1.6 million rail ties into the Williams Lake Valley every year, that‘s exactly what you will have— 112,500 tonnes of toxic material that the Williams Lake environment will have to absorb. The 10-year accumulation will be more than one million tonnes.

Many people are adamant that Williams Lake is not a suitable location to process that much toxic material. Besides the smoke emissions there is the toxicity of the ash created by burning creosote. The ash is being stockpiled precariously close to the edge of the Williams Lake River Valley that drains directly into the Fraser River.

Williams Lake is located in a bowl subject to frequent temperature inversions. For extended periods of time, cold air gets trapped in the valley bottom by layers of warmer air above, and this prevents adequate circulation and flushing of the airshed that is already 80 per cent saturated with smoke and particulate matter. Add toxic emissions like furans and dioxins to that mix, and health risks accelerate for the 20,000 people who live in the valley or work in Williams Lake.

Many residents feel it‘s not worth the risk.

Atlantic Power promises to handle the toxic rail ties carefully. Shred them on site in an enclosed facility and burn them immediately. Temperatures will be extremely high at 1,600 degrees Kelvin, or 1,327 degrees Celsius, or more than 2,400 degrees Fahrenheit.

Terry Shannon, Atlantic Power Corporation‘s director of environmental health and safety, says most of the rail tie poisons will be burned up at that temperature. ―Two seconds at 2,000 degrees Fahrenheit and toxic substances are destroyed to their base elements,‖ he insists.

Atlantic Power did a three-day test burn in 2001 using 100 per cent rail ties, and Shannon says most of the pollutants were either destroyed by the high temperatures or removed by the plant‘s environmental controls.

―The level of pollutants was well within the provincial standards,‖ he states. ―Provincial standards are 100 parts per billion, and emissions during the test burn were only four parts per billion.‖ But what he can‘t answer are the cumulative concentrations that will grow in the environment and how they will impact people in the long run.

A little history of the Williams Lake energy plant might be useful.

In 1993 the power plant arrived like a knight in shining armour rescuing Williams Lake from a crippling case of air pollution.

Many residents were suffering from respiratory illnesses, and fly ash from the beehive burners was everywhere.

The new energy plant consumed all the wood waste produced by half a dozen lumber manufacturing plants and the air quality improved overnight. Particulate emissions were reduced by 90 per cent.

In the beginning the energy plant got the mill waste for free because sawmills no longer had to dispose of it themselves. Then the corporate landscape shifted.

In 2004, Pinnacle Pellet plant started purchasing the sawdust and shavings from the sawmills, and the wood wastes took on economic value. Eventually the mills started charging for the bark and hog fuel. ―The 200 tonnes of biofuels we burn each day used to be free,‖ points out Williams Lake energy plant manager, Mark Blezard. ―Now we pay money for it. Pinnacle Pellet took the shavings and sawdust from our fibre basket.‖ The primary reason Atlantic Power Corporation is applying to increase the volume of railway ties it is allowed to burn, is the projected drop in the annual allowable cut (AAC) for the Williams Lake timber supply area. In the next five to nine years the AAC will be cut in half from three million cubic metres of fibre to 1.5 million. That means sawmill production will be cut in half, and there will be less wood waste to supply the energy plant.

Retired forester Jim Hilton is a member of the ad hoc group opposed to Atlantic Power burning railway ties. He feels there is a win-win solution to the energy plant‘s fibre-supply woes so the company won‘t have to burn any ties at all. But it will

From the roof of the Atlantic Power Corporation energy plant in Williams Lake, Terry Shannon, the company's director of environmental health and safety, right, offers a tour of the facility to Jim Hilton, Sandy Hilton, and Caterina Geuer. Photo: Sage Birchwater

probably take political pressure to make it happen.

Hilton says vast amounts of waste wood have been left in the bush in the aftermath of the mountain pine beetle harvest. But Atlantic Power claims it can‘t afford to pay the hauling and processing costs to bring this inferior wood fibre to its plant.

Hilton says the availability of railway ties is too enticing an opportunity for the energy company to turn down. Not only will the ties be delivered to the plant for free, but he believes railway companies will offer a tipping fee to dispose of them.

Hilton hopes the BC government will turn down Atlantic Power‘s request to burn more railway ties and offer incentives to the company to produce power from the vast swaths of clean wood fibre left in the bush.

With the AAC cut in half, Hilton predicts that half the region‘s direct 4,800 forest industry jobs will be lost. Also impacted will be 1,680 spinoff jobs connected to the forest industry.

But if Atlantic Power can be convinced to forego its application to burn railway ties and utilize clean residual material from the forest instead, Hilton believes 50 local jobs would be created hauling and processing the material that would be otherwise lost.

That‘s the win-win solution supported by the ad hoc group opposed to burning railway ties in the Williams Lake Valley.

A public information meeting hosted by the group in February, 2016, at Thompson Rivers University drew 150 people from across the political spectrum. Interest is high and people are seeking answers.

Some people trust the government to protect our health and public interest, but as one former Ministry of Environment employee points out, theory doesn‘t always work out in practise. She says human error, wearing out of equipment, and shareholder pressure to cut costs and maximize profit inevitably lead to failure.

Atlantic Power needs assurance for a secure fuel supply.

The citizens of Williams Lake need assurance their health and well-being won‘t be sacrificed for corporate profits.

Sage Birchwater moved to the CaribooChilcotin in 1973. He spends his time freelancing, authoring books, and with Caterina, hanging out with their dog and cat, gardening, and being part of the rich cultural life that is the Cariboo-Chilcotin Coast.

By Jacinta D'Andrea

W

e are all connected. People. Pets. The planet.

Cows. Cats. Chickens.

Songbirds and honey bees. Monarch butterflies. Old growth trees…

I was eating an apple in first year biochemistry class, when I was taught one of the most relevant truths of my veterinary education: ―We are what we eat.‖ The foods we consume literally become our physical bodies. Our dogs‘ dinners become their teeth, joints, and bones and our cats‘ kibbles are transformed into their skin, fur, and friskiness. While I clearly remember the great ‗aha‘ that came with this understanding, my awareness of the impact diet had on health did not really hit home until a number of years after graduating.

The subject of animal nutrition is perched on a mountain of questionable research and intense debate. Whether discussing grain and grass or kibble and raw most experts do not agree on what constitutes the ‗best‘ diet for any species. We know all animals evolved extracting the nutrients they needed by eating the whole foods their bodies were designed to eat.

Indeed, for 99.99 per cent of their time on this planet cats and dogs have survived eating diets largely based on uncooked meat (protein/fat/vitamins), raw bones (minerals), and small amounts of vegetation in the form of foraged fruits, grasses, grains, seeds, and pre-digested plant matter found in the gut contents of prey. Classified as everything from scavenging carnivores to opportunistic omnivores, dogs undoubtedly have survived on a wide variety of foods since their domestication. Although most of the dogs sharing our hearts and homes today are a far cry from the wolves they descended from, their digestive systems remain essentially the same.

But, Buster! What big (pointy) teeth you have. What wide-opening mouth and forward-facing eyes. But Buster! What highly acidic stomach and relatively short digestive tract you have… All the better to digest raw meat and bones and destroy pathogens with, my dear.

Like most health care providers trained in Western culture, my understanding of medicine was built mostly upon germ theory and genetics. With this perception, I unwittingly became a participant in the war on disease. Treating countless cases of itchy skin and infected ears with antibiotics and anti-inflammatories, I did the best I knew to help ease the suffering of animals coming to me for help with a variety of conditions. Still, I was losing the battle.

While the pills I had to offer would temporarily reduce symptoms, they continually failed to address underlying causes. Beyond this, with many drugs carrying the risk of serious side effects and mounting evidence on the dangers of antibiotic resistant bacteria, I really began to question the wisdom of treating anything but life threatening diseases with these powerful pharmaceuticals, particularly those that translated as ―Pertaining to (tic) NO (anti) LIFE (bio).‖ We can all agree many factors influence health. From germs and genetics to stress levels and the state of the environ-

Photo: Bryce D'Andrea

ment, distilling disease is a daunting task to say the least. Yet with chronic and degenerative diseases skyrocketing through our pet populations and a recent report that our canine companions have the highest rate of cancer of all mammals on the planet, perhaps we are wise to carefully consider the influence our furry friends‘ food has on their health.

I‘ll be honest. As a vet I was dead set against feeding real foods to pets. Terrified of potential pathogenic bacteria, parasites, and the possibility of creating imbalances in the body, I truly believed diets needed to be scientifically formulated and processed to be safe, ‗balanced,‘ and ‗complete.‘ It‘s been a long journey to get to the point where I no longer buy into the perpetuated lie that feeding nourishing, real, whole, raw foods to animals designed to eat them is bad. In fact, I‘ve since found the opposite to be true. This doesn‘t mean I believe raw foods are right for all pets, all people, and all situations, but I do think we need to start taking a good look at what we consider good food.

Which brings me back to biochemistry and biological truths. Ancestral diets of cats and dogs were based on protein and fat in the form of raw meat, organs, and bones. Our pets have no known nutritional need for carbohydrates. Recognizing this, isn‘t it possible feeding them carb-heavy, high-heat processed foods built from the by-products of our global agriculture system may not be serving their nutritional needs as well as we had hoped? Beyond this, acknowledging the ancestral diet of cows was grass, isn‘t it also possible fattening them in feedlots on highly ―-cide‖ sprayed GMO monocrops may not be serving their nutritional needs, never mind the needs of those consuming them?

While clearly a step up from the meat meals that were making them ‗mad,‘ modern research backs the fact that rangeraised and grass-grazed animals have

higher nutritional value than their conventional cohorts. As an aside, what of ―cides?‖ Translated: ―death,‖ is it any wonder bees are declining with the widespread use of insect-i-death? Clearly the issues are complex.

Both pragmatic and powerful, I believe whether discussing our furry friends or the animals being farmed for food, species appropriate diets have benefits that are shared throughout the food web. Restoring Animal Wellness (RAW) is a better acronym than the previously popular Biologically Approp riate Rea l/R a w Foods (BARF), which mirrors what we know of evolutionary diets, and can provide optimal nutrition for creating health and wellness in our pets. Getting to the root of many of the chronic debilitating dis-eases being treated in vet clinics across the country, it is extremely important, however, the key words ―biologically appropriate,‖ are understood. While real, whole foods are full of nutrients (both known and yet-to-be discovered) operating synergistically in the body to promote health, devastating imbalances can occur if basic guidelines are not followed. Just feeding raw meat to your pet

is absolutely not appropriate and will result in health problems over time.

The scientific community has been doing its best to determine what constitutes ‗complete‘ and ‗balanced‘ diets for domestic species for a couple of hundred years.

Clearly, without the freedom to choose their own foods most animals in our care are entirely dependent on us providing all the ‗essential‘ nutrients. Yet, it‘s important to remember these needs are neither static nor fixed. All animals, like people, are individuals. The nutrients they require will change throughout the seasons and cycles of their lives. An in depth look at AAFCO standards, those by which all pet foods in North America are formulated, shows we still have insufficient data to establish maximum and minimum values of many known nutrients for most species—never mind those we‘ve yet to discover and measure. Beyond this, these standards are based largely on formulating meals from fractions of foods these animals never evolved eating. As BSE (mad cow disease) clearly illustrates, following evolutionary guidelines likely serves the health of all beings better than trying to recreate with nutrients what species appropriate whole foods have always offered.

To this end I have been working with the meat processors of British Columbia to help establish guidelines for safely feeding raw foods to pets. Available at www.bcsbestrawpetfood.com/communityline.html, it is my hope these guidelines act as a stepping stone to create a community of conscious consumers able to support their pets‘ health with biologically appropriate real foods. Beyond this, my intension is to build a bridge upon which veterinarians and other animal healthcare providers can comfortably consider the potential for real whole foods to revitalize animal wellness. Seeking to co-create long-term, sustainable change in our food production systems, this is about more than pet food.

It‘s about understanding the deep connections shared by all life on the planet and nourishing health through the understanding of food as medicine.

Jacinta D’Andrea is a vet, mother, and nature lover. Understanding the health of all animals is deeply connected to human health and the health of the environment, it is her mission to create understanding of the vital roles real foods, clean air, and fresh water play in nourishing wellness for all beings.

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utting good household recycling options into place for residents is only part of the picture for the Cariboo Regional District‘s (CRD) current Solid Waste Management Plan (SWMP). The CRD is also actively working to divert more commercial recyclables, product stewardship items (i.e. tires, electronics, small and large appliances, batteries, beverage containers, etc.), construction and demolition waste, food waste, and yard and garden waste from CRD landfills.

Three years into a 10-year solid waste management plan, the CRD has successful household recycling systems in place and is focusing on educating the public on how to best use all programs available to them. ―We‘ve just started a wood waste reuse permit program where residents can sign a waiver and take wood waste from any CRD controlled site,‖ explained CRD Solid Waste Management supervisor Tera Grady. ―Most popular are things like pallets, old doors, and lumber.‖ Wood waste that remains at most sites in the central Cariboo area is ground and then incinerated at the co-gen plant.

A landfill ban on recyclables was implemented last summer at the Frizzi Road Central Cariboo Transfer Station (CCTS); both commercial and residential users are charged $200 per tonne for loads containing recyclables. ―We‘ve had a great response from users and the waste hauled to the CRD‘s Gibraltar landfill in 2015 dropped by 10 per cent from the year before,‖ said Grady.

Some of the other waste reduction initiatives at CCTS include concrete and rock stockpiling to grind up and use on site for road base and a pilot to compost yard and garden waste on site.

She said the CRD still has its work cut out for it. ―Right now the waste landfilled at CRD sites equates to 750kg of solid waste per person per year and the target in our Solid Waste Management plan is 500 kg by the year 2022,‖ she said.

1- composting Backyard is 800 sion tool the another diverCRD is encouraging the public 667 dized composto use. Subsiters will be offered again 432 make it affordthis year to 1 able for residents to compost at home and ultimately divert food waste from the landfills.

Grady suggested people have three main reasons for not recycling or composting: ―They don‘t know how, they don‘t believe it will make a difference, or they don‘t think they have the time. I try to start with the basics. If you don‘t know how, start with the easy things, and then grow from there.‖ When it comes to making a difference, a lot has changed in recycling. ―Yes, consumer money is spent to move recyclables around, but plastic containers, for example, used to go to China for recycling before 2014,‖ said Grady. ―Now there is a plastics recovery facility in the lower mainland where plastic containers are turned into pellets, which are used to make new packaging or products.‖

Some things haven‘t changed; glass, for example, is still recycled at United Concrete in Williams Lake where it is used for sandblasting material. ―Many people think they don‘t have the time or the space to recycle or compost, but once they set up a system and learn the basics it takes very little time,‖ said Grady. ―Changing the old habits is the hardest part, but well worth the effort.‖ According to Grady, the worst things for landfills are liquid chemicals (including paints), batteries, electronics, metal, and organic waste, all of which are recyclable or compostable. She thinks most people know chemicals and batteries shouldn‘t go into the landfill, but says some still end up there.

When organic waste (i.e. food waste, paper products, cardboard, wood waste, etc.) decomposes in an anaerobic environment it releases methane gas. Methane is a greenhouse gas 21 times stronger than carbon dioxide when related to climate change. ―All recyclables and compostables are

bad to landfill,‖ said Grady. ―These items take up landfill air space, they are made up of valuable resources, and landfilling them wastes the consumer dollars already spent to have them recycled and wastes tax payer dollars on hauling and landfilling expenses. And, they contribute to leachate production in the landfill. ―I think the household recycling access we have now is stellar for residents,‖ she said, adding that the CRD would like to focus on more than recyclables. ―Buy only what you need and when you buy ‗stuff‘, buy with little or no packaging,‖ said Grady. ―When you‘re throwing things away, think ‗How can I use this for something else?‘‖ Other things to consider are shopping second hand, trading with others, and reusing by repairing or repurposing items. ―Changing people‘s habits is difficult: we still need to educate and promote,‖ she said. ―The key is repetition—it‘s the only way to get the message across. That‘s our challenge for this year and the remainder

Cariboo Regional District Recycling Locations in Williams Lake

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Automotive batteries – Most battery retailers, Central Cariboo Transfer Station on Frizzi Rd. Automotive coolant – Canadian Tire Oil filter containers – Most auto supply stores, PetroCanada Bulk Plant on Gill Rd. Propane cylinders – Central Cariboo Transfer Station, Williams Lake Scrap Metal Recycling on Frizzi Rd. CanWest Propane on Hwy 97 S Fluorescent light bulbs – Canadian Tire Cellphones – Andres Electronics S Broadway, The Source, by Circuit City Boitanio Mall, Canadian Tire, and Staples Mobile Communication Devices – CP Electronics, 2nd Ave. Electronics – Huston Agencies (formerly Bee Line Couriers), S Mackenzie

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Consumer batteries – The Source

by Circuit City at Boitanio Mall, Canadian Tire, Andres Electronics Medications – local pharmacy Printer ink and toner cartridges – Staples Paints, flammable liquids, pesticides, gasoline – Central Cariboo Disposal Services Refrigerators – BC Hydro www.bchydro.com or (866) 5164357 to call for pick up Scrap metal – Williams Lake Scrap Metal Recycling on Frizzi Rd. Tires – tire retailer or supplier.

By Christa Mustard

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ou already know some of the benefits of using Share Sheds: donating reduces the amount of waste in our landfills, and taking items home can save you money.

Here are a few other benefits you might not have considered.

When you donate, you‘re directly helping people in your own community, promoting goodwill and a standard of living that some of your neighbours might not be able to otherwise achieve. On the coldest day in December, I met a gentleman who was understandably grateful to find a pair of wool socks—not grateful to a corporation or a manufacturer, but to a fellow Williams Lake resident. And whoever left the Canucks mittens at the Wildwood Share Shed is my hero and is keeping my hands warm. Thank you.

Share Sheds help keep the resources of Cariboo residents among Cariboo residents. On a smaller economic scale than most of us think about, when you give and take from Share Sheds they become anonymous trading posts, bypassing corporations (and even money) entirely. Trading directly with each other is more efficient than receiving a pay check from one company and giving it to another company, because none of the value is lost in corporate profit, packaging, or advertising.

You may think that there's no personal benefit to donation, and that you should

(Left) Share shed shopper Christina Mary has found housewares, tools, furnishings, Christmas decorations, furniture, and clothing at local CRD sites. "The prices are great and you can't beat the return policy," she said. "Every community should have a share shed.”

Photo: LeRae Haynes (Right) Image via @oceanguardians on Instagram, a program of Bodhi Surf School

have a yard sale instead to regain some of your costs. Of course there's a benefit pick out anything else you like! A lady I met last week was returning her daughter's outgrown winter boots to exchange them for a larger pair. And after this season I might be trading in my Canucks jersey for a Leafs jersey (just kidding). But for the cost of a little laundry soap, I get to pick out as many new outfits as I want from an infinite wardrobe, wear them until I'm tired of them, and return them washed and mended to choose something new. Same thing with furniture - bring it home, fix it

up, and bring it back when you find something more suitable. I overheard a lady telling her son, "It doesn't matter if it doesn't fit; the return policy here is great."

Share Shed use is also perfect for those who move around a lot, lack storage space, or enjoy an adventurous lifestyle. When I left the Cariboo nine years ago to go rampaging across the continent, I donated everything I owned rather than pack it around.

I got back a few months ago with just a backpack, and have furnished my entire apartment from the Share Shed: all of my furniture and dishes, most of my clothes,

even the coffee-maker. I think I might've gotten my same old dresser back. And it'll all end up back at the Share Shed when I go on my next adventure.

The most common argument I've heard against bringing things home from the Share Shed is that they're dirty, and that it‘s better and easier to just buy things new.

Absolutely, some things should be bought in a store. But all of the containers in my apartment, from the garbage cans to the plant pots, are recycled from the Share Shed and made from metal or wood; reducing the amount of plastic that has to be commercially produced keeps the world cleaner. None of us started out trading our pay checks at box stores for clothes, toys, and tools packaged in polypropylene and manufactured in Indonesia. We all started out playing in the dirt, finding and creating our own treasures, and sharing with each other.

Please respect Share Shed sites, posted rules, and hard-working attendants. You can find more information about Share Shed locations and etiquette on the CRD website at www.cariboord.ca/services/solid -waste-management/swm-overview.

Christa Mustard is a nomadic advocate for a subsistence-level peasant lifestyle. She's passionate about foraging, recycling, and the barter system, and will welcome any comments you'd like to send to christa.mustard@gmail.com.

With commitment to good recycling practices on the rise, Central Cariboo Disposal Services is busy full time collecting recyclables for baling and shipment. Photo: LeRae Haynes

By LeRae Haynes

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n the four years he has worked at Central Cariboo Disposal Services (CCDS), Barkley Baird said he has seen an enormous and encouraging increase in recycling options, awareness, and participation. ―Recycling is ten times better than it was four years ago when I started here—everybody‘s doing such a great job recycling,‖ he said.

He operates the big recycling baler at CCDS, using a John Deere and a forklift, baling five days a week, six to eight hours a day. The neatly stacked mountains of recycling bales are regularly trucked to the lower mainland and beyond for their next phase.

The baled recycled materials come from manned transfer stations in the area where there are bins or mega bags for sorted recyclables, and from curbside pickup.

Barkely explained that each CCDS truckload dumps 300-500 curbside recycling bins in the baler room per load. ―Our curbside pickup is Monday to Thursday; a single truck load will result in six bales,‖ he said. ―Takes me about an hour and a half. ―The Cariboo Regional District has such great programs in place,‖ he added. ―We have mega bags at the manned 150 Mile House, Frost Creek, and Wildwood transfer sites, and recycling bins here at this location—all with someone on hand to answer questions and provide any help needed.‖

He also explained that Styrofoam, glass, light plastic bags – anything that should be kept out of curbside recycle bins can go to the transfer station nearest you, adding that they send glass recyclables to United Concrete to be turned into sand blasting material. When possible he pulls out returnable bottles that come in with recyclables and returns them to Amanda‘s Enterprises as a donation for kids‘ sports groups.

Barkley said he finds his job rewarding and satisfying. ―I look forward to coming to work every day,‖ he said. ―I like knowing that I‘m doing something bigger than myself, and if I could say anything I‘d say, ‗You guys are doing great! You‘re asking questions and wanting to know how to re-

cycle better: that makes my job even better.‘ ―We‘re seeing an encouraging difference between the volume in the average garbage bin and the volume in an average recycle bin,‖ he said. ―When I first started here, a curbside recycle bin might be a quarter full. Now they‘re often full with the lids up. There‘s less and less going to landfill, which is helping out everybody— helping the Earth itself.‖ LeRae Haynes is a freelance writer, song writer, community co-ordinator for Success by 6, member of Perfect Match dance band, and instigator of lots of music with kids.

By Oliver Berger

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am writing this column to you today from a beautiful island off the coast of Chile called Isle de Chiloé. It is one of Chile‘s largest islands, and it is currently at the beginnings of becoming a popular tourist destination for travellers from all around the world, especially Chileans themselves.

Boasting some unique features such as the home of many wooden churches now preserved as part of UNESCO World Heritage sites, it‘s also one of the few places in Chile you can view the Humboldt and Magellanic penguins that migrate to this area for the mating season. It truly is wonderful.

Sometimes I fight with the thought of travelling to these wonderful places, though, mainly because the thought of the carbon emissions from the airplane I‘m flying in ticks in the back of my mind. All the extra plastic packaging from which they serve the airplane goodies and meals makes me cringe. It‘s hard to combat these, especially because of the restrictions on what you‘re allowed to take on airplanes nowadays. However, my trusty refillable mug served great for me when the flight attendants offered me drinks. Plus, I got much more than if you normally opt for the little throw away plastic cup.

Score.

Now as I travel around this beautiful island, I observe many things that maybe the regular tourist would not. I see garbage, not just the type you see laying on the ground no matter what country you visit, but more so the garbage cans—where they are, where they are not, how often you see them, and how they separate their basura (garbage). I observe this not only to see and participate, but also to learn and perhaps teach. I mean, I‘ve already met the local garbage truck drivers.

I have seen that Chiloé is also beginning to learning to separate different types of garbage. The more popular touristy areas have separate cans for plastic, tin cans, glass, garbage, and sometimes organics.

When you look inside the can, however, it doesn‘t seem to quite register… yet. I see an effort, though, and perhaps it‘s only an

(Top) A recycling station in Chiloe. (Bottom L) A great pop bottle re-purpose - only functionality matters here. (Bottom R) Even your garbage can deserves a second chance. (Far Right) There’s always time to say thanks to your local garbage man. Photos: Oliver Berger

opportunity to look good for us foreigners, but I think it is an excellent first step.

However, there are other habits down here that are very inspiring. Due to the lifestyle and lack of good paying jobs, people become creative.

The power of necessity can be amazing.

First off, things don‘t always have to be perfect or new, mostly just functional—like using old plastic bottles to make a seat or perhaps to become a downspout for your make-shift gutters. Left over irrigation pipe? Why not use it as a replacement fence post? If you need to make a wall hanger, you grab any piece of wood and some old cutlery or nails … because you need to, not because it‘s fashion. T h e repurpose craze going on at home now, where we buy these high priced items made out of old barn wood or salvaged metal, is not a craze down here, but more a way of life. When something breaks here, it gets fixed, not so much replaced. And then fixed again, rinse, and repeat. This is something I think our first class society forgot somewhere.

Places like the Share Shed don‘t exist, because most things that do go in the garbage really are at the end of their lives.

You will more likely find someone trying to make some extra cash off these last minute items along the street side somewhere.

I became friends with one of the local hostel owners here in the city of Ancud, and he has taken some waste diversion into his own hands. They collect batteries, have a super productive compost setup, and collect tin beer cans for recycling at a local metal place in town. Also, because there is no local recycling for glass or plastic bottles, he opts to collect these and redistrib-

ute them back to the locals who reuse the glass bottles for homemade wine, and the larger plastic bottles for homemade apple juice (chicha). I have witnessed most of these acts myself so I can definitely say this one is true and not just for show.

Recently, I went camping to a common scenic bay South of Ancud. It was a pleasant five-hour hike along the beach and then over a mountain into a little piece of paradise on the Pacific Ocean. During my stay I noticed I was pretty much the only tourist from north of the equator, which was a perfect opportunity to practise my Español.

I spoke with many people about the island and my life at home. A common question was, ―What is your job in Canada?‖ It was a tough question for me to answer specifically; however, the conversation always led into my waste management and recycling gigs. Considering the lack of recycling and waste management down here I was quite surprised at how intrigued everyone was about these topics. They had many curious questions. What I see is a society that wants to participate, and is ready to do so, but just currently maybe lacking the education or higher power initiatives.

The best thing about travelling for me really is the sharing of ideas, knowledge, and different ways of life. Keep it coming.

Mi casa essu casa.

Oliver Berger has a 34-year degree in life, starting out in the Spokin Lake area, spending adolescence in Williams Lake, and then venturing throughout the world on a quest of always learning new things.

His priorities include dedication to and education about waste management.

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here‘s a new face, a new name, and some exciting changes at Williams Lake Return-It Depot, formally Amanda Enterprises at 232 S. Mackenzie Avenue. New owner, Phil Jang, said they do more than take returnable cans and bottles. ―We‘re moving into more recycling, including electronics, and are working toward taking pesticide items and paint cans,‖ he said. ―One of the changes we‘ve made is a move to self-sorting—a change that should have happened a long time ago. We used to have five sorting tables with five staff helping five customers; this new way we have 12 tables and can help 12 customers at the same time, with the same amount of staffing.‖ Now the customers sort their own unless they‘re donating them to one of 20 or 30 charities via Williams Lake Return-it Depot, or unless they want to pay a small fee for the staff to sort for them. ―Another reason we moved to selfsorting is a health issue; people brought in a lot of dirty returnables containing things like broken glass, rotten food, cigarette butts, spit, and urine,‖ he explained. ―Now that we‘ve gone to self-sorting, the bottles and cans are a lot cleaner. ―Recycling matters; we‘re definitely getting better at it,‖ he said.―As humans we created something for our convenience that will ruin the environment, and it‘s our responsibility to fix it.‖

Owner Phil Jang and staff members Lincoln Sigsworth, Gary Martens, Daniel Burdett, Pat Cross and Sandra Nelson introduce customers to exciting, positive changes at Williams Lake Return-It Depot and look forward to expansion and new direction in the future. Photo: LeRae Haynes

For more information about Williams Lake Return-It Depot go to www.encorp.ca or www.returnit.ca or call (250) 398-6522.

By Margaret-Anne Enders

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hese days I count myself lucky.

My family and I just returned from a backpacking trip in Nicaragua. Part of our adventures there included a home stay with a rural Nicaraguan family. Miriam, Samir, and Alina were warm and welcoming and graciously shared their culture, their food, and their small home with us. Their house was simple and rustic, with cinderblock and brick walls, only beds, a table, and chairs for furniture, and no indoor plumbing. Pigs, chickens, roosters, and dogs roamed the dusty yard. Once we got to know them, they told us they were worried we would not want to stay with them when we saw their small and simple house. On the contrary: for me, being with them and sharing their space was the highlight of our trip. Despite my sketchy Spanish, we stayed up late every night talking about life and politics, hopes, and dreams.

The day after I returned home, my children and I attended an evening of dancing, drumming, and singing hosted by the Sugarcane community. The evening started with a prayer and an honour song, followed by a round dance, open to everyone to join. Then there were Secwepemc drummers, hoop dancers, and singers. Finally, the visiting Nuxalk people from Bella Coola shared some of their sacred dances.

We journeyed with them by canoe and experienced legends through various mask

dances. My heart felt full and it felt so important to share in this cultural exchange with my children.

En route from Nicaragua, we had a stopover in Los Angeles, just as Donald Trump was, once again, renewing his pledge to build a wall to seal off the Mexican border. It was, and is, distressing to see such fear and how it manifests in anger and hatred. These divergent experiences remind me how important it is to meet people on a personal level. Personal encounters break down walls, challenge assumptions, and change hearts and minds.

In the Multiculturalism Program at the Canadian Mental Health Association, in co -operation with our partners in the Racism Awareness Network, we are a month into our Dirty Laundry Campaign. This is a movement designed to challenge people to move beyond some of their assumptions by introducing them to various members of minority communities who have had painful experiences of racism. In the lead-up to this campaign, we heard countless stories of people who have been affected by racist words, actions, or systems, not just the odd time, but over and over again. Racism lives in our community and it hurts people.

However, these are not just hard-luck victim stories. The people who have volunteered to tell their stories in this campaign are strong and resilient. They have succeeded in many ways, despite the obstacles they have faced. The campaign also presents white people who share some of their

The Dirty Laundry Campaign invites people to look deeper than the stereotypes and move into curiosity about their neighbours. Photo: Gaeil Ferrar

learnings about ways in which they experience privileges because of being part of the dominant culture or how they have grown in their understanding of racism.

The Dirty Laundry Campaign uses stories to invite people to look deeper than the stereotypes and move into curiosity about their neighbours and also about their own histories. For many this will inevitably mean a step outside their comfort zone. It may mean a trip out to the Father‘s Day powwow at Sugarcane, going to an event at the Xat‘sull Heritage Village (everyone is welcome to community events and powwows!), or attending the Multicultural Festival at Chief Will-Yum on June 12 – 13. It may mean offering to billet an Elder from a different community for the BC Elders‘ Gathering occurring here in Williams Lake this July (Google this – it is a huge event and honour for our community). It may mean speaking out when someone utters a racist comment. New things are difficult and scary, but opening up in this way unveils a rich sense of depth and appreciation about the cultures in our midst. We want all people in our community to feel lucky to live here.

Yes, back to being lucky. When I think more deeply, my recent experiences are more complex than just luck. On one hand, I have the privilege of being able to afford

to travel. Not everyone has that luxury and I know the colour of my skin has, at least in part, given me a leg up for such experiences.

But I have also the desire to learn about, experience, and share with people of other cultures.

I have the will and determination to make the world a fairer, kinder, and safer world for all.

This intention is so much more powerful than luck. And when my strong intention joins with other likeminded hearts, we will and do have the power to change our society—to clean up our dirty laundry. Let‘s get scrubbing!

Watch for our campaign biweekly in The Tribune, on The Goat and Shaw Cable, on FB (Dirty Laundry Campaign and Cariboo-Chilcotin Racism Awareness Network), Twitter, and posters around town. If you would like to receive updates or are willing to display posters in your workplace, please call me at (250) 305-4426.

In her work with the Multicultural Program at Cariboo Mental Health Association, and in her life as a parent, partner, faithful seeker, left-leaning Christian, paddler, and gardener, Margaret-Anne Enders is thrilled to catch glimpses of the Divine in the ordinary and the extraordinary. Visit www.womenspiritualitycircle.wordpress.co m or on Facebook at Women’s Spirituality Circle in Williams Lake to find out more.

By Terri Smith

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madeus and I are moving to Quesnel (see my ―Confessions of a Farmer‖ article in this issue for details). We‘ll still be farming, but our days as market gardener and mascot appear to be behind us. Looking out the window at him dozing in the sun on the hill with the rest of the herd, I wonder how he will adjust to our new home. But then I think of all his public appearances, and how comfortable he is wherever we go, and my worries abate.

Amadeus has been accompanying me to town, to market, and to photo shoots for almost four years now since his birth in April 2012. Saving his life has been one of the most rewarding and most ridiculous things I have ever done. He didn‘t even learn to drink water on his own for six months! That alone seems to be a pretty good sign that he was not a creature who was really meant to live. But since surviving his rocky first year, he has thrived. He has brought joy to so many, and still fills me with joy every time I see him lower his head to his bucket of water to drink. It‘s amazing how the simplest things can bring such joy, but after so long trying to teach him to drink (usually with no small measure of disbelief that I actually needed to teach an animal to drink!), it still seems like a small miracle every time I see him take a sip of water.

Whatever the future holds for me at my new farm, you can bet that Amadeus will have a large part to play. We will still be growing food together, or rather, I will still be growing it and he will still be eating it.

And whatever my new vegetable (ad) venture becomes, Amadeus is still going to be my trusty sidekick and mascot. Though I‘m not sure an unsteady goat actually makes for a so-called ―trusty‖ sidekick.

Most sidekicks seem to be around mostly for comic relief anyhow and maybe to make the hero look good. And he does do that. Walking next to Amadeus I feel as

Me and my sidekick.

Photo: Casey Bennett

dainty and sure-footed as, well, as a mountain goat. He trips while walking on flat ground. Lying down is still something that takes him a great deal of concentration and is only executed without a nose-plant maybe a third of the time. He bumbles happily through life and his greatest concerns seem to be trying to avoid being brushed and wondering when the next handful of sunflower seeds might appear.

Moving is stressful. Tying up loose ends, packing, saying goodbyes, and making new plans is tiring. But every day when I go outside and dig my fingers into Amadeus‘ thick winter coat and he pushes his soft little nose into my face for a kiss that he hopes will prompt me to feed him, I feel the day‘s stress just wash away. He helps me to live in the moment. And wherever I am, for the rest of his life, Amadeus will be there, too.

Terri Smith is a non-certified organic vegetable farmer in the Cariboo. She is passionate about writing, art, goats, and feeding good food to good people. She believes in following your heart, living your dreams, and taking care of the planet.

"Teamwork." Pat Radolla and grandson, Gavin Reedman, preparing the veggie garden.

Photo: Deb Radolla

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he Williams Lake Garden Club is sowing seeds for a new season. The first meeting of the year was held at on Thursday, March 3. The club got off to a great start, with over 40 people purchasing annual memberships.

The purpose of the Williams Lake Garden Club is to promote, encourage, and support the horticultural interests of local residents. We do this through educational sessions that appeal to both experienced and new gardeners. Our monthly meetings include keynote speakers, networking, and contests as well as sharing of ideas, expertise, and resources. The Williams Lake Gardening Club collaborates with likeminded groups in the area to enhance our gardening knowledge.

April‘s meeting will be held on Thursday, April 7 at the Cariboo Arts and Cultural Centre (old firewall). Darryl Grams will be addressing xeriscaping, which is very timely following last year‘s searing, dry summer. Daryl will promote the use of plants that flourish in the Cariboo with minimal amounts of water.

The club will continue to meet the first Thursday of every month until October 6, 2016. The topic of the May 5 meeting will be Invasive Plants of the Cariboo, with Emily Sonntag, from the Cariboo Regional District. On June 2, John Orlowsky, greenhouse curator at the University of Northern BC, will present Plant Nutrition. July 7, Garden Club members will meet at the

Central Cariboo Arts Centre and venture off on a walking tour of the restored Potato House gardens and downtown community vegetable gardens with Mary Forbes. The August 4 meeting features a driving tour that will include stops at three unique gardens south of Williams Lake. The September 1 meeting will highlight special guest, Lorna Herchenson from the BC Fuchsias and Begonia Society. Lorna and three of her knowledgeable friends will speak about Growing Fuchsias and Begonias. The October 6, 2016 final meeting of the season will include an Annual General Meeting and a SPIN (Small Plot Intensive Agriculture) presentation with Brianna van de Wijngaard from the Williams Lake Food Policy Council.

The popular Garden Tour is back in 2016. This special event held every two years is scheduled for Saturday, July 9.

Club members, under the expertise of garden tour co-ordinator Gerry Gebert, are busy finalizing the details of this exciting tour, which will showcase a variety of colourful summer gardens around the city.

Watch for more information.

Annual memberships are still available for $10. New members can also drop in to meetings for $2 throughout the eightmonth season.

If you would like more information about the Williams Lake Garden Club, contact president Deb Radolla or vicepresident and program co-ordinator, Pat Radolla at (250) 392-2769.

By Tyler Shippit

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a rib oo a r t i s t Blocktreat is releasing a new album at the end of April, Exciting New Ventures in F***ing Up. Imagine walking along a rocky trail to your private spot while listening to Exciting New Ventures as the album mirrors a selfreflection one often gets in those quiet moments of realization—realization that no matter how small or simple we are, we are still unique in our own distorted selfmanipulations. Blocktreat is the brainchild of Williams Lake local, Brandon Hoffman.

In September 2014, Hoffman moved Brandon Hoffman (Blocktreat) has a new record out this spring.

Photo: Leah Selk back to his hometown of Williams Lake after electronic instruments, and uses the clips to living roughly ten years in Vancouver. compose an evolving mosaic of sound.

Hoffman relocated to the Cariboo to take Exciting New Ventures is more of an job offers at the Station House Gallery and electronic styled album instead of followthe Central Cariboo Arts Centre. It was ing in Blocktreat’s traditional ―anti-folk‖ right around then he direction. ―I imagine I started working on take that core essence of Exciting New Vena folk song and boil it tures, his fourth redown to its raw, emolease under the name tional feel by taking the Blocktreat. Having lyrics out of the equaspent the bulk of his tion,‖ Hoffman says, time in Vancouver referring to his traditional working on other peoapproach of chopping up ple‘s musical endeavfolk music. ours, either as a sideMy personal favourite man working in-studio from the new record, or backing them up ―Button Pusher,‖ is an live, Hoffman was relieved to have so evolving piece that uses simple layering of much time to spend on his own music. He white noise between a glistening harp samfell into a regular routine of jumping be- ple set to a driving bass line and simple tween offices as arts administrator during drum beat. Initially bringing upon a feeling the day, and meditating on his instrumental of loneliness, or sadness, the song gradusample-based musical concoctions in the ally shifts to an upbeat, high-energy floor evening. stomp, mixing feelings of melancholy, joy, Exciting New Ventures opens with a and nostalgia. Another track for the dance scattered layering of ambient noise and floor, ―Frump Rock,‖ features a heavily sporadic off-time sounds, but the underly- manipulated guitar, a head-bobbing drum ing melodies that quickly emerge easily arrangement, and a melodic calimbe samcarry the listener through its 38-minute ple. Hoffman creates interesting and complaytime. The record presents itself as a plex feelings by blending totally different confident and cohesive piece, grabbing sounds into the same piece. elements from multiple genres while mainExciting New Ventures is set to drop at taining the same continuity one would find the end of April. Check out Hoffman‘s listening to artists like Aphex Twin or Facebook page or website to stay up to Massive Attack. Exciting New Ventures date. Also keep an eye out for Blocktreat borrows elements from folk, free jazz, and shows in your neighbourhood this summer. ambient electronic, all while creating an He has confirmations from festivals like entirely original sound completely unique Robson Valley, Music on the Mountain, to Hoffman‘s vision. and Campbell Bay Music Festival, with For those unfamiliar with sample based summer dates getting added all the time. music, imagine taking a newspaper, cutting www.blocktreat.ca. out words from every article and creating ` The official Cariboo release party for your own personal story. This is similar to Exciting New Ventures will be the evening what Hoffman does with music. He starts of May 14th, at Xat'sull Heritage Village. by capturing sounds on a handheld re- Tyler Shippit is a Williams Lake local who cording device—sounds of nature, candid spends most of his time pretentiously clips of conversation, and friends jamming. claiming that The Beatles were not that He then ―chops‖ them up in the studio with good.

(Left) Kryan Haselhan (student) throwing Sensei Seeger. (Right) Solo Kata (form) practice - Eden and Aldon Barton (students). Photos: Casey Bennett

By Terri Smith

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any people who call Williams Lake home have been concerned lately with what seems to be an alarming increase of violence in our town.

People who were once comfortable walking alone here now find themselves nervous at times, even in the daylight. As I walk along Mackenzie Avenue at dusk on a Tuesday night I reflect that I used to be nervous walking alone here, too, but Aikido has changed that for me.

Walking into the Dojo (training hall), several people greet me with, ―Osu.‖Pronounced, ―Oh-sss,‖ this is a Japanese word that simultaneously means, ―hello,‖ ―goodbye,‖ ―yes,‖ and ―thank you.‖ I watch the students talking with Sensei Curtis Seeger, watch his easy, relaxed manner with them, how they all want to talk with him, how intently they listen when he speaks, and I see this is truly his calling.

With over 20 year of teaching experience, Sensei Curtis will be officially opening his new school, Aizenkan (eye-zenkahn) Martial Arts in April. The timing seems perfect. As he says, ―One of the qualities that comes out of training in Aikido is the ability to stand before anger and aggression without becoming involved in it. This almost always leads to a deescalation of the situation since an Aikido student by his or her very nature is no longer ‗prey‘ to be hunted and predators do

not engage with someone who can stand firmly before them.‖ Aikido is a non-competitive martial art and so, unlike other practices, Aikido is not about winning or losing but rather is about improving yourself and your own selfconfidence. In Curtis‘s words, ―It‘s about learning to control yourself first rather than learning to have power over another.‖ Sensei Curtis said many parents have appreciated the non-competitive aspect of Aikido for their children. Aikido is fun for kids, teaches them to look other kids or adults in the eye, and teaches them how to maintain their personal space.

With kids‘ classes being offered for children as young as four years old, Aikido also increases co-ordination and a child‘s ability to focus.

As for being green, other than a cotton training uniform and some wooden training weapons, Aikido does not require consumption of anything. It is an activity with a very tiny carbon footprint. When asked about how Aikido fits into a green philosophy, Sensei Curtis responds, ―When people are happier and better-adjusted, they become more aware of the world around them. Aikido doesn‘t seem to necessarily have a lot to do with living a greener lifestyle, but it can

help people to feel empowered and to be more aware of the world they live in, which in turn can lead to positive changes in other areas.‖ Sensei Curtis began Aikido training when he was 14 years old in Ontario. When he finished high school he was asked to apply to take the Yoshinkan Aikido Instructors course in Japan. Until that year, this course had only been open to the Tokyo riot police and no foreigners had ever received a black belt or teaching license through this program.

After completing the course over the next several years, he taught in Windsor, London, and Kincardine, Ontario before moving to BC where he first opened a school in Surrey. As .‖ many of you probably understand, Sensei Curtis soon fell in love with the Cariboo region and moved to Williams Lake two years later where he taught for several more years and then decided to take a break from teaching.

During that time, a severe arm fracture caused by a mountain biking accident caused him to put teaching on hold for much longer than he had intended. In the meantime he did youth work with the Boys and Girls Club for six years and he will soon be volunteering with them again,

teaching mindfulness and self-awareness, some of the core values of Aikido.

Now, several years later, he has decided to take his dream to the next level. With the help of Community Futures‘ selfemployment EI program, Sensei Curtis has created an awesome business plan and will be officially starting up his school in April.

This is more than just a business venture for him; it is something he feels can help make the world a better place. He will be offering classes on four days each week for every demographic from children to adults with an elders‘ class for those who want to receive the benefits of Aikido, such as improved balance and flexibility, without doing the pins or throws. Aizenkan Martial Arts shares a space with the Williams Lake Judo club at 360 Mackenzie Ave and Curtis would particularly like to say thank you to Jeff DeMarco and the WL Judo club for the help and support that has helped this vision to become a reality.

As I leave the Dojo and re-enter the dark night, I am grateful for the confidence this training has instilled in me. This town is lucky to have Sensei Curtis. For more information you can call him at (250) 3054849 or email him at aizenkan1@gmail.com.

Terri Smith is a non-certified organic vegetable farmer in the Cariboo. She is passionate about writing, art, goats, and feeding good food to good people. She believes in following your heart, living your dreams and taking care of the planet.

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he summer of 2016 is an especially important year for summer water conservation, as we recover from low precipitation levels in the fall, winter, and spring. Outdoor water use can increase up to 50 per cent in the summer months, so the Cariboo-Chilcotin Conservation Society, in partnership with Highlands Irrigation, wants to encourage the Cariboo to limit their lawn and garden water consumption as much as possible. Join us for a free drip and micro-irrigation workshop on April 30 to learn more. We‘ll also have some intro drip kits for sale at the workshop, in addition to on-site demos and sample irrigation equipment.

How Does Drip Irrigation Work?

This might be an obvious question, but drip irrigation works over a large areathrough small emitters along a water line or tape, as opposed to one emitter in the form of a sprinkler. The combination of emitter size and water pressure deliver droplet-sized water at a specific rate to adequately saturate the soil over a longer period of time. The slow and steady supply of water also minimizes the chance of runoff and overspray, which can be detrimental to your garden.

How Much Water Does it Conserve, Compared to Overhead?

Drip irrigation systems can use 30-50 per cent less water than overhead sprinklers.

This is because they deliver low volumes of water directly to plants' roots, while minimizing losses to wind, runoff, evaporation, or overspray. There are overhead options, however, that conserve water better than others, and we‘ll go over those at the workshop.

What kinds of plants can we put on a drip system?

In short, just about anything. But because of the higher level of initial time and sometimes cost to set up, as well as the fact that it is spread out in the garden, it‘s best to use drip on lower maintenance and/or lower value crops and plants. Drip works very well for most of your vegetable garden, other than high-rotation plants where drip might be a pain to remove and reapply, or crops that require some regular disturbance until mature, like potatoes. In these cases, drip tape would be cumbersome. But almost all vegetables, fruits trees, and shrubs are good candidates for drip. Even direct-seeded and transplanted varieties.

WHEN: Saturday, April 30 – 10am-12pm WHERE: Memory Garden (Carson Dr and 5th Ave) CALL: (250) 398-7929 or waterwise@ccconserv.org for more info!

By Ciel Patenaude

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pring has always been celebrated as a time of rebirth and renewal.

From the Roman festival of Floralia, Imbolc day of the Celts, and Baisakh in Nepal–the traditional New Year celebrated in the month of April– spring is seen in cultures around the world as a time to begin again, to intentionally shift our attention and actions to what is new and being reborn, and align ourselves with a changed set of priorities than those which guided our past many aphotic months.

These new priorities can take endless forms, of course, but underlying most spring-time action and reflection is the often unconscious desire for revolution, both within the self and the surroundings.

The idea of ‗revolution‘ conjures up variable images for all of us; however, times of total unrest and chaos, probably, and not in a good way. But this is what revolution becomes only when it is unmindful or lacking forethought; the violent and boorish actions of a too-long suppressed individual or community become unhinged by the pressures of their circumstance.

This is not an intelligent way to create change in any situation, and yet it is often the reactionary manner in which we respond to discomfort. We wait until situations have become unbearable to make change, and then the change itself only becomes possible because of unfiltered, unmindful reactivity … which often results in only more chaos.

There is a different way to have a revolution, however, and a backing energy is offered to us to create such revolutionary change every spring without creating chaos or just reacting haphazardly. We just have to take certain steps to make sure we‘re aligned with and aware of it: 1. Figure out what hasn’t been working.

Without a clear picture of where we have been avoiding discomfort, numbing ourselves, or distracting our attention from things that must be attended to, it‘s far more likely we will spring into action in a misdirected manner. Taking the time to self-assess–with great honesty–what areas of our lives could use some change will provide us with a roadmap or blueprint by which to guide our activities. Some areas to take a closer look at include our physical health, stress levels, creative expression, and sense of emotional connectedness.

2. Set some goals.

From a place of clearly seeing first when there is space for revolution, we can then come up with some deliberate statements that express our intentions in those areas of our lives. Writing goals down and sharing them with others is an extremely effective way of aligning yourself with positively-oriented change and keeping your focus on an incremental target. Use the SMART acronym when developing

your goals to make sure they have some power behind them, creating statements that are specific, measurable, achievable, realistic, and timely.

3. Plan for your distractions.

We all know, deep down, what it is that is going to keep us continually pulling away from a path of change and back to a place of complacency and/or avoidance.

Whether it‘s Facebook or family or the fridge, honestly recognizing the myriad of ways we distract ourselves from our intentions and goals will make it easier to plan for an appropriate response to them.

Maybe you allot yourself a particular amount of time for ‗distracting‘ activities per day so that the temptation to busy yourself with them is not there, or utilize apps like Rescue Time or Focus Booster to help you stay on task.

4. Get outside.

The energies of spring are associated with the Wood element and the liver in traditional Chinese medicine, and these are expressed through new growth and the ‗cleansing‘ action that takes place at this time of year (both within our bodies and as the old remnants of last year are integrated into the sprouting growth). Being surrounded by this energy is the best medicine, taking sunshine into our eyes (which helps to ‗reset‘ our pineal glands to the new light of this season), and enjoying the connection to a living Earth again makes us feel brand new, too.

5. Clean house.

There can be nothing new and no real revolution in our lives if there is not space for it. Too often we engage in the process of attempting change without recognizing that things must be let go to allow for what is to come. Cleaning house in a literal sense–really, spring cleaning is the most effective mental/emotional tool at the end of the winter–as well as in a more metaphorical sense (relating to our emotions, thought patterns, and habits) can ready us for a new vision of self and experience.

It may seem rather intense and morbid, but the philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche once said, ―The snake which cannot cast its skin has to die.‖ He meant this not in a literal way (although it is in fact true), but in reference to the inability of systems, individuals, and societies to adapt and change—to experience revolution. We are in need of great revolution in all of our systems at this time, outdated and failing as they are, but perhaps the work for change begins with each of us individually rather than trying to take on the whole right away. Let us all make this spring our time for revolution, shedding our old skin so that a new rendering of yourself may make itself known, and we may create a rippling of widespread change in all directions.

Ciel Patenaude is an Integrative Health & Shamanic Practitioner based in Williams Lake, BC. A highly trained and naturally gifted intuitive healer, Ciel holds a BSc in Biology, an MA in Integrative Healing, and is a certified yoga teacher & wellness coach.

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ees are essential to human life.

As pollinators of vital crops, they bring forth approximately 90 per cent of the world‘s nutrition. Yet pesticides and other environmental stressors have destroyed more than 10 million hives to date, and populations continue to plummet.

Victory Gardens for Bees is both a clarion call for protecting these vital creatures and an inspired vision for their future. Renowned bee expert, artist and garden educator Lori Weidenhammer investigates the bee crisis, offering a step-by-step guide for turning green spaces into sanctuaries where they can flourish.

Drawing on decades of experience, Weidenhammer equips readers with ten creative garden plans demonstrating how to grow bee-friendly plants – not matter your square footage – for new and seasoned gardeners alike. Topics include how to build nesting sites for bees, seasonal planting strategies for backyard beekeepers, where to find the best gardening supplies, and much, much more.

Benefitting people as much as their pollinators, each plan incorporates a range of plants with nutritional and/or medicinal value – from edible crops to fragrant ornamentals and herbs – colourful photographs for identifying bee and plant varieties, and inspiring DIY projects for home and garden.

Brimming with authoritative, buzzworthy information, Victory Gardens is an indispensible resource for rescuing bees from extinction through inspired community action. In the spirit of citizens who founded the many Victory Gardens, which offset food shortages of World Wars 1 and 2, the book invites us to put our green thumbs together and garden for the bees— before it‘s too late.

Lori Weidenhammer is a Vancouver-based interdisciplinary artist originally from Cactus Lake, SK. Her father kept bees when she was a child, and years later, she found herself pulled into the culture and science of bees and caring for beehives in her backyard. For the past seven years she has been exploring the persona “Madame Beespeaker” at venues across the country, sharing the tradition of “telling the bees.”

As an artist and educator Weidenhammer works with students of all ages on identifying native plants, eating locally, gardening for pollinators and guerrilla gardening.

Victory Gardens for Bees is published by Douglas & McIntyre, and available from your local bookstore from April 30 onwards. ***

(Left to right) 1. A collection of the artist’s round willow baskets bask in the sun to dry. 2. Raku clay pit-fire sculpture. 3. "Moon Song" Life-size raku clay sculpture with raven wing. 4.

"Shaman's Apprentice" Tera Sidge pit fire clay. 5. "Shaman" Pit fire clay sculpture with raven tail fan. (Below) “Moonlit.” Oil pastel on paper, 2015. All photos by Christina Mary

By Venta Rutkauskas

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here are no wrong turns on the way to the centre.

The artist and her muse plunge headlong into the waters of the unconscious, pulling up the dreams and tendrils of meaning, lovingly molding them into form. Sweeping aside the perspective of the other, she and her muse whirl around in the ethers, then tumble down into the material to see what will become of it. They shape and create in the round, bringing the dream into ground.

In the life of Horsefly artist Christina Mary, a pattern emerges from all this creation. It spirals and curves, and finds the contours of beauty that emerge from the natural form, the clay, and the home. There have been many turns on this road, and steadily the road leads to beauty. Beauty has presided over her art and her shift into motherhood and businesswoman. As circumstances and materials with which to work change, Christina infuses as much as she can with her ingenuity.

The space beauty holds in a life must emanate from the numinous, while the nature and nurture of family and environment help to ground it into being. For Christina, the wildness of the North-West coast and a lineage full of prolific artists provided the soil in which the seeds of her own creativity could sprout. Childhood was spent roaming beaches and exploring the coast‘s inlets, criss-crossing rivers and bay-hopping, discovering the texture of the natural world. Her father‘s family homesteaded on north Vancouver Island, and in her very early years, she describes the wonder of this place, where the forest was full of magic, goats roamed the yard, and art happened all around her. She speaks to her talented aunts as having a great influence on her appreciation for the creative, of the significant contribution art brings to a life and society. That environment awakened a recognition in Christina of her own yearning to create.

Christina‘s family lived in a few communities on the west coast, including Shearwater and Sandspit on Haida Gwaii.

It was in a grade 8 classroom in Sandspit that Christina encountered one of those blessed teachers we hope all of our children meet, the ones who truly see the young person in front of them. The teacher remarked, ―You should be an illustrator of children‘s books!‖ Christina‘s inner re-

sponse was, ―Yes! That‘s it!‖ It was a recognition by another that once again nudged her towards life as an artist. By the mid 1990s, that is exactly what she set out to do, embarking on a new chapter as a full-time artist in the Cariboo. ―It‘s an act of faith,‖ Christina Mary says about her artistic life. ―If you know you‘re pursuing your calling, you have to have faith until the end.‖ By 1997, Christina had built up a body of work and took her wares, at this time pieces of jewellery and sculpture, to a craft show in Vancouver. She made connections to shops, galleries, and distributors, who provided her with ongoing orders for her work. It became a very busy life, creating on demand. She worked at developing a rhythm, and strove to follow the words of her friend and fellow artist, Corry Lunn: ―There is a time for work and a time for play.‖ As Christina reflects back on those years, she notes, ―It was the most creative time in my life.‖ In 2001, her son was born, and the rhythm of creation was transferred to the home. As she took on the responsibilities of raising a family, the creative impulse was imbued in the everyday tasks she encountered. In this way her home became her creation, while the food and medicine she made were full of care and attention.

As her son grew, Christina became involved in teaching through the Horsefly school, sometimes designing programs for their artistic education. Later, she also got involved with the Horsefly Follies, directing several of their performances over the years. Being engaged with her local community on a creative basis, Christina devoted herself to contributing quality on a grand scale.

For years the home was the focus, and the place of business to provide a living for

her family. Now, her life is in motion once again, with a return to her artistic goals as a priority.

Christina has found herself applying for Artist in Residence opportunities, learning to put herself and her body of work out there again. ―I feel rusty,‖ she admits, after all this time.

Yet, she is hearing her artist‘s voice re -emerge. She has been documenting her work, writing an artist‘s resume, and feels the confidence building.

Christina credits a kinship with a Facebook friend for lighting a fire under her. ―She has really kicked my butt to get my work out there again,‖ she says gratefully. Writing new artist‘s statements for her applications has also helped her to imagine what she would like to create in the future.

Christina has turned to drawing and natural arts, including living sculptures and basket making. She initially learned to weave willow baskets almost two decades ago, and continues to find inspiration in this intricate craft. She is self-taught in this form, having found several good books on the subject over the years. It‘s a craft she resonates strongly with, especially as someone who is so connected to her environment and sustainability. She is a gatherer, gathering her supplies from the Earth, not only gleaning food and medicine in nature, but also the materials that can build the vessel in which to collect. ―I still have the first basket I ever made,‖ says Christina. It is weathered and beautiful, still holding strong. There is something empowering in the collecting, the building, and the weaving, sensing the willows and their flexibility. Tuning in to the material, over the years, Christina knows the willows so well—when to pick them, which branches will bend best, which will form the frame, how many thin and how many thick branches one would need for the basket design. She has learned the tricks over time, and still learns about

new ways to improve the structure and the beauty of each basket.

Christina teaches the skill now, leading dedicated participants through the intricate steps of basket building. She is patient and attentive, sharing her wisdom easily. In the teaching, another rhythm is discovered, and perhaps another level of learning, as well. The time has come for her skill and her art to be transmitted across a variety of media. In the workshop, she shares the lineage of making useful objects that are beautiful, like our ancestors did. Through Internet and social media, she is again communicating as an artist, without the limitations that physical distances or even telephone calls present for a visual artist.

Christina feels the potential. So the path turns, and she is open to the winds.

Perhaps we will next see Christina on the shores of the BC coast, immersing herself in the wildness once again, distilling the experience into her drawing or other media. Or, can you not imagine a sculptor being drawn to the richness of Italy to explore the drama and the array of sculpted forms? The open road seems to call her on, now, as a teacher and a traveller. What she and her muse might pull from the deep waters of the imagination, Christina can only playfully imagine. Will she be drawn to the visions she once carried, to craft and sculpt an installation of life size divinities in their civilization, or to the new and undiscovered ways she can express her truth?

As the spiral ever turns, the work will unfold and tumble out, bringing with it a beauty and deep appreciation for this Earth along with it.

To learn more about Christina Mary, her art, and the basket making she teaches, she can be reached through her Facebook page (Christina Mary) or by phone at (250) 620-3487.

Venta Rutkauskas is the co-ordinator for the Community Arts Council of Williams Lake (CACWL). She is an advocate and lover of the arts, and has taught drama and written plays for young children, helped co -create a gathering called Pollination, written down her dreams, and grown a baby and a garden. She is also passionate about the healing arts. Visit: www.williamslakecommunityartscouncil.co m to see more of her articles on local artists, and to learn about CACWL.

By LeRae Haynes

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hen Bruce Mattson opened the doors of Sta-Well Health Foods in Williams Lake 38 years ago, people laughed at the health food industry and thought he was out of his mind. ―This was a meat-and-potatoes town, and when I borrowed money and set up this store people thought I was crazy,‖ he said.

Self-described as a stubborn retailer in a full-spectrum store, Mattson stocks things like bulk food, produce, a full line of supplements, backpacking and survival food, body care products, treats, good coffee, and more.

People enjoy hearing his weather forecasts of the week and his fishing tips for the weekend. ―Things have changed a lot since I first opened,‖ he said. ―Today there is a lot more information out there, and people come in here knowing what they want. They get info from media, Internet and TV ads, and it really keeps us on our toes. ―We could fill a store 20 times this size, but our inventory is customer-guided, and we carry what our customers need and want,‖ he said. ―Twenty years ago a lot of what we‘re into today was considered offbeat and even crazy. Now it‘s mainstream: That‘s progress.‖ Mattson said another thing that has changed is the high number of people with sudden, unexplained allergies and sensitivities. ―We see people of all ages with things like eczema and new food allergies—it‘s very common. ―These are conditions that can‘t be explained except by antibiotics, pharmaceuti-

cals, and the pollution of the world,‖ he continued. ―On the other hand, what we have to offer has really increased, too; there are so many choices. ―One new thing I‘m excited about is something customers have been waiting for—our new line of genetically modified organism (GMO) free supplements. I think the ‗big boys‘ will change if enough people demand GMO-free products,‖ he said. ―People want labels and they want to be able to choose.‖ With all the new information, products, and options, one thing that has not changed over the years is Mattson‘s utter commitment to high quality products and good customer service. ―We have customers who have been coming in here for 38 years and we are into a third generation of shoppers,‖ he said, adding that a large number of their customers are new.

Sta-Well‘s long-time customers include many residents in Bella Coola. For the past 14 years he has also made an annual drive to deliver special orders for valley residents. ―I am blessed to be in a locale where customers 450km away still shop with me. When I deliver to Bella Coola I set up at Mountain Valley Organics in the back of the truck and on tables, like the old days,‖ he explained.

He said the big stores have really squeezed out smaller stores, but he‘s still here thanks to faith in his good customers. ―I match prices where I can and try to stay ahead of what the big stores are handling,‖ he said. ―I think it‘s so positive that this little store is alive and healthy after all these years.‖ Sta-Well is a true family business. Along with long-time employee Doris Ford, the

Bruce Mattson, Adam Richardson, Tamara Richardson, and Doris Ford, part of the staff at Sta-Well Health Foods, bring knowledgeable friendly customer service to local shoppers and visitors of all ages. Photo: LeRae Haynes

store staff includes Mattson‘s daughters Natasha Mattson, Jennifer Schick, and Tamara Richardson, and his son-in-law Adam Richardson.

Tamara said she was six months old when her dad opened the store. ―All of us daughters sat on the big stool behind the till with Dad, and now my kids do, too,‖ she explained, adding that after being away for 18 years she‘s back with her family. ―I love that people come here and know us—it‘s all about relationships,‖ she said.

Her husband Adam, who is in the store full time, agrees. ―You can find products online or in other places but here you‘ll find

someone who cares about the products and cares about you.‖ For more information about the products available at Sta-Well Health Foods phone (250) 392-7022, stop by the store at 79d Third Ave N in Williams Lake, visit the website at www.stawellhealthfoods.ca, or find the company on Facebook.

LeRae Haynes is a freelance writer, song writer, community co-ordinator for Success by 6, member of Perfect Match dance band, and instigator of lots of music with kids.

Science Matters: By David Suzuki

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any environmental campaigns over the past 50 years have aimed at getting people to care for imperilled species in wild, far-off places. The focus in Canada has often been on large, photogenic, culturally important animals, with bonus points for campaigns that include alliteration, bumper sticker-friendly slogans, and plush toys. This has been a sensible and often successful strategy.

Over the past few years smaller, charismatic critters closer to home have buzzed into the spotlight: bees. About a decade ago, beekeepers in Europe and North America started noticing serious declines in honeybee populations. Bees have lost much of their natural habitat to urbanization and industrial agriculture and face increased stress from climate change-related drought and severe winters. These threats, coupled with the global spread of diseases and pests and a dramatic increase in the use of agricultural pesticides like neonicotinoids, have resulted in unprecedented losses for beekeepers. Because bees and other insects provide ecological services like pollination, it makes no sense to declare war against all just to eliminate or control the few nuisances.

Wild Bee. Photo:Flikr/Jimmy Smith

The honeybee decline has been big news partly because they make delicious honey, but more importantly because they‘re pollinators. About three-quarters of flowering plants and more than a third of food crops worldwide depend on pollinators—from bees and butterflies to hummingbirds and bats. As a result, governments across the globe are developing strategies to protect them, including Ontario with its recently proposed Pollinator Health Action Plan.

Public attention in Canada has largely focused on domesticated European honeybees, but research indicates the honeybee crisis is part of a wider problem affecting hundreds of lesser-known but crucially important wild bee species.

Of about 800 wild bee species in Canada, more than 90 per cent have a ―solitary‖ lifestyle rather than living in large, social colonies. Two-thirds of these are groundnesters, including bumblebees, mining and digger bees that make nests in soil and under leaves and rocks. The rest are cavity-nesters like mason and carpenter bees that burrow in hollow stems, twigs, and logs.

Although honeybees get the headlines and most of the credit for pollinating flowers and crops, studies show that wild bees can be two or three times better at pollination, and some, like mason bees, can be up to 80 times more effective.

The good news is that the honeybee crisis has galvanized interest in all pollinators, inspiring thousands of groups and citizens worldwide to establish new spaces for them, from wild bee hotels and rooftop honeybee hives to pollinator gardens in parks and schoolyards.

As our communities grow, pollinator habitat is fragmented into increasingly disconnected patches that disrupt natural pathways, making the potential of connected networks of habitat within cities especially fascinating. Oslo‘s Bumblebee Highway, Seattle‘s Pollinator Pathway, and Hamilton‘s Pollinator Paradise are all great local initiatives.

Establishing an urban pollinator corridor is also at the heart of the David Suzuki Foundation‘s Homegrown National Park Project, which since 2013 has created more than 50 pollinator-friendly patches along the path of a creek now buried beneath Toronto—from small guerrilla plantings to a network of flower-filled canoe planters in

schools, cafés, churches, parks, and yards.

This spring, the Foundation will launch the Great Canadian Butterfly Way Project, to inspire bee-friendly urban innovations and neighbourhood-scale pollinator corridors across the country. Through videos, tips, and other resources, the project will profile projects nationwide that are bringing nature home, one pollinator-friendly planting at a time.

You can become part of the growing movement to protect pollinators. Head to the library (or check out davidsuzuki.org/ pollinators) to research the amazing diversity of wild bees and other pollinators in your community. While you‘re there, learn what flowers and shrubs best support those species, and what might work in your yard or on your balcony. Then check out what local groups are up to.

Want to show wild bees some love? Create a sanctuary in your yard or garden by leaving a sunny patch of bare soil for ground -nesters. Add some pithy stems, sticks, and wood debris for cavity-nesters. And be sure not to disturb the nests over winter.

Will the buzz generated by media stories and pun-filled campaigns save the bees?

Only time will tell. In the meantime, we can all help by making bees welcome in our yards and neighbourhoods.

By Brandon Hoffman

I‘m really excited to bring Rhandi‘s art to the Station House, not just because it‘s beautiful; the example she sets as a young independent artist is fantastic. Her Etsy store boasts the usual visual artist repertoire, with prints and cards of her illustrations, and then goes beyond with items like the ―Naked Girl In Socks‖ colouring book, and a hilarious little item, ―Pierre the Doll.‖ ―Pierre believes that the nipple should be free, armpit hair should be long, and the carpet should match the drapes.

This French-Canadian topless bachelor wants to go home with you tonight.‖ Pierre is one of three handmade and handpainted fabric dolls Rhandi has in production. If the medium is the message, then the message behind Rhandi‘s art is all about letting your freak flag fly.

Also on display at the Station House for the month of April is All Aboard: a group show dedicated to the people, culture, and landscape surrounding the Station House Gallery. All Aboard has contributions by Kathryn Steen, Gladys Wheatley, Jane Wellburn, Lisa Anderson, and many more. We‘re excited to celebrate our 35th year in the Cariboo, and the artwork that came in for the show does a great job of demonstrating the exuberant and inspiring community that keeps us going. Stop into the gallery to see this eclectic cross-section of local artists work, with paintings, stories, photography, and ceramics, all made specifically for the show.

I

first met visual artist Rhandi Sandford in the town of Ymir, BC leading up to Tiny Lights Music Festival. Rhandi had done the art for the festival that year, and had taken their look in a bizarre and enchanting new direction. In addition to designing all the merchandise and posters for the fest, she had some of her work on display during the festival. I know I wasn‘t the only one to get sucked into her strange little world of characters.

Absent Reverie is a collection of illustrations Rhandi has on display at the Station House for the month of April. The series depicts a community of androgynous semi-humans carrying on in their twisted little day-to-day lives. There isn‘t really a narrative to guide you through the work, and Rhandi invites the viewer to put their own life into the artwork. It is quite easy to see bits of yourself and your community tucked into the folds of Rhandi‘s work.

The fanciful little beings may have extra limbs and facial features; they may be halfmushroom, or have tentacles growing from their heads, but something about the subtlety of their expression and disposition makes them extremely relatable. In Rhandi‘s words, ―I suppose that‘s what I hope to continue to do. I create art that is visually stimulating, and that can push someone further into that creepy little door in their imagination.‖

David Suzuki is a scientist, broadcaster, author, and co-founder of the David Suzuki Foundation. Written with contributions from David Suzuki Foundation communications strategist and urban beekeeper Jode Roberts. Learn more at www.davidsuzuki.org.

By Terri Smith

T

his time my confession is big!

Are you ready? I‘m running away to join the circus! Well, alright, that‘s not entirely accurate. I‘m only going as far as Quesnel, and I‘ll really be joining the burlesque troupe. But I‘m off on a new adventure!

Packing up the farm and leaving town. By the time you read this, I will already be gone.

There are myriad reasons for my move, but to answer the question I get most often when people hear I‘m moving: yes, I will still be farming. But not the way I was farming here.

One of my reasons for this move is that after seven years of farming, I have finally had to come to the sad realization that I cannot continue to work so hard for so little. I have been running Road‘s End Vegetable Company on my own for the last three years; prior to that I had a partner who I bought the business from in 2012. I thought I could do it on my own. And technically, I did. But once the season began each year, I felt like I was jumping into the ocean and trying frantically to swim to the other side. I have had wonderful helpers, travellers from around the world, but just to manage the crew of two to four or more people and feed them three yummy meals a day was a full-time job in itself. On top of that there was the garden planning, seeding, and transplanting, tilling and making beds, setting up irrigation, endless weeding

L

ast night was amazingly clear here at Belles Lake. My sky quality meter, which gives an objective measure of sky darkness, was reading 21.9 overhead. It is typically 21.5 here on a good night. The world‘s best locations, the Atacama Desert in Chile and up Mauna Kea in Hawaii, would give readings in the 22.5 + range. That would be a full magnitude better than here.

On the other hand, skies in the city would be around 18 at best, comparable to when the full moon is out in this country.

The Cariboo-Chilcotin area is a really good choice for stargazing. Further north, the summer twilight lingers on longer on those warm summer evenings. Further south, it is more difficult to avoid light pollution and the turbulence created by the mountains, which can make it difficult to see fine details. In recent years, the smoke and haze has made the south horizon poor at the Mt Kobau star party in Osoyoos. It is still well worth attending, however. If you

and watering, mulching and compost building, not to mention marketing, office management, caring for the animals, then harvest, and market and deliveries… At the end of each day I was always grateful for this life I chose, yet I was also pretty much always exhausted.

Once the season ended I would start going over the numbers for the year and after all the expenses, found each time that I had worked so hard to just barely break even. And I would still have to find a job for the winter.

I read an article the other day about how even as Farmers‘ Markets are popping up like crazy all over North America, too many small farms are realizing that their expenses are exceeding their income and more and more farmers are calling it quits. A farmer friend of Terri and Amadeus at Roads End Farm. Photo:Casey Bennet mine used to say, ―It really comes down to whether or not the farmers the store and noticed signs posted in the can hold on long enough till people realize nearly-empty produce section apologizing how much they need us.‖ Sadly, he‘s right, for the inconvenience but that due to and many of us can‘t hold on any longer. drought or lack of transportation or trouble Many people want to do the right thing with a supplier, these vegetables will not when it comes to eating healthy and/or be available at this time. It's troubling. local, but it is more expensive to do so, and Food security should be a real issue on let‘s face it, in a depressed economy Wal- everyone‘s radar, but what with Donald mart broccoli looks very much the same as Trump running for president in the US and my broccoli and there are all those bills to the recent popularity of adult colouring pay… what difference can it really make books, who really has the time to think where that broccoli came from? To your about where their food comes from? health and to the farmer, it really makes all Okay, that was a bit cynical, but truththe difference in the world. fully, I am a bit cynical. Woman cannot Ironically, since I decided to move I live on Free Hugs alone. Hugs are nice; I have had more people than ever before love my Free Hugs sign at the market and approach me in the grocery store wanting how many people come by just for a hug, to join my box-a-week as the price of but lucky thing I grow my own food or I‘d vegetables steadily climbs. This is the have starved by now. world we are creating with our choices, That said, I appreciate each and every and more and more often I have gone to one of my customers, and it has been an

honour to get to know you and to be involved in this community. If you know me, you are not one of the people who has made me cynical; you are one of the people who has given me hope for a better tomorrow in which good food and sustainable farming practices are valued.

I long for a world in which a person can be as proud to say they are a farmer as they would be to say they are a doctor. I am proud to be a farmer, though at times I think this may stem from my being slightly delusional. I believe feeding people is a noble calling, and so is feeding yourself and your family.

So for this season I will be doing just that. Feeding my new family and a few others since I know I won‘t be able to downsize easily and a 20x50 foot greenhouse is a lot of growing room for just four people. And that leads to one of my other reasons for leaving. I have found a love that is worth leaving for. I have met someone wonderful and I am moving to his childhood home and family farm. His home is also solar-powered, also remote. It is even more silent than Road‘s End, and more peaceful because if there are any family ghosts they are not my own. It is a beautiful piece of land, and very close to the Quesnel River. We inspire each other as artists, and we love good food. I don‘t know exactly what the future will bring, but I know I will never stop growing food.

A new food venture is on the horizon; I‘ll keep you posted. Sometimes you do just have to follow your heart. In fact, I believe you always should.

have a child that has an interest in the stars, I guarantee he will want to be an astronomer after going to a star party. Maybe you have an inner child.

Jupiter is bright in the east at this time (March). It is not as bright as an unshielded yard light a km away, however. Proper shielding can light a given area more efficiently by reflecting the light downward, and your eyes work much better without the glare of the bulb.

May is going to be an interesting month. There is a transit of Mercury across the face of the sun on the morning of Monday, May 9. The sun will rise with the transit in progress. The mid point will be 7:59 am and it will be over by 11:40 am. The disc of Mercury is smaller than Venus, but transits are more frequent.

Of course, you can‘t look at the sun directly for any length of time. Sir Isaac Newton did and couldn‘t see for several days. I don‘t know if that was before or after the apple fell on him.

I and others in the area have specially

p a s t and may h a v e evolved s o m e primitive life forms. The probability of seeing such things from Belles Lake is very low, but non-zero, as they say.

We are currently in the process of creating a website here at Belles Lake. I will have a page devoted to the observatory and will post times when I think observing will be good.

My phone is (250)620-0596 and email is irwin8sound@gmail.com if you have any questions.

filtered solar scopes. We have a good view of the rising sun right from our deck here so you are welcome to come out and see it.

Perhaps a viewing from a location in W i l liams Lake m a y be organized—always weather permitting.

Mars comes close at the end of May, as it does every two years. It is going to be closer this time than last. You need really good conditions and fine optics to get much detail out of it and of course the backyard views don‘t compare to Hubble photos. But nothing can replace the thrill of seeing the solid surface of another world with your own eyes. At the least you can appreciate how small and far away it actually is. Mars was warmer and wetter in the

Terri Smith is a non-certified organic vegetable farmer in the Cariboo. She is passionate about writing, art, goats, and feeding good food to good people. She believes in following your heart, living your dreams, and taking care of the planet.

By Ron Young

Y

ogi Berra said it best, ―If you don‘t know where you are going you will wind up somewhere else.‖ If you are considering a solar energy system for your off grid home, ranch, or seasonal residence here are a few pointers to help you through the decision making process.

Solar Availability To determine what the solar availability is at your location there are a few things to consider. First of all you need a good south -facing view of the sun through the hours of 11 a.m. – 3 p.m. at a very minimum.

Solar radiation is roughly three times stronger through the middle part of the day than it is the rest of the day.

The ideal orientation of solar panels is true south not magnetic south. True south is the geographic location of the South Pole and is about 17 degrees east of magnetic south in the Cariboo.

Some types of panels such as solar hot water heating panels are less sensitive to precise orientation due to larger surface area, but where possible you should try to be as accurate as possible to get the most from your investment. If you go to www.solareagle.com you can click on a link to get a free online estimate of the solar potential of your site. We also do site visits and use tools such as our Solar Pathfinder that are helpful with particularly difficult sites involving buildings, hills, and trees. It can give us a precise estimate of your solar potential year round.

Types of Solar Panel Mounting There are basically three types of common solar panel mounting systems: roof, ground, and pole. Each has its pros and cons.

Roof Mounts If you have a south-facing roof and are considering a roof mount you will want to make sure the roof has the structural integrity to withstand the added weight of the solar panels and racking as well as any added stress that can be introduced by wind. Wind is usually a minimal consideration if you are mounting the panels flat, but if you are considering an elevated mount then wind is a big consideration.

The type and age of the roof is probably the biggest deciding factor. If you have composite shingles that need to be replaced eventually, then factor in the added cost of removing the solar panels when the roof needs re-shingling. A metal roof presents fewer complications.

Ground Mounts Ground mounts are often the least expensive method when all is said and done but they need to be in a safe location away from vehicles, livestock, wildlife, and humans and be sufficiently elevated to be clear of any winter snow pack. Although easy to clean and adjust they are also more

vulnerable to theft and vandalism. Most ground mounts can be adjusted seasonally for best performance.

Pole Mounts While pole mounts are the most expensive option they are also the most versatile.

A pole mount can easily be adjusted to optimize energy production from winter to summer. I adjust my solar panels twice a year, once in the spring and once in the fall, which involves loosening a few bolts and rotating the entire array (assembly) so it has the most perpendicular angle to the sun.

If you have a seasonal residence you can leave your PV (solar) panels hooked up to the batteries through the winter offseason to keep them charged. You will want to put your panels as vertical as possible in the winter to allow for snow shedding because once PV panels are covered with snow they pretty much stop working until the snow melts or falls off. If the PV stops working then the batteries slowly self discharge and can easily freeze.

Another advantage of a pole mount is the ability to place the pole where it is most aesthetically pleasing, doesn‘t block your view, and is in the most appropriate location for sun. You may not want to cut the trees down around your dream cottage just to accommodate solar panels but if you can mount them on a pole in a more appropriate nearby location that is a desirable outcome.

Pole mounts need to be mounted on steel poles that are set into concrete in the ground sufficiently deep enough, based on soil type, to withstand high winds.

Length of Wire Run The length of wire (conductor) from the solar panels to the charge controller, typically called the home-run wire, used to be of greater importance a few years ago when solar panels were low voltage and the charge controllers were either 12, 24, or 48v.

A conductor has to be sufficiently large enough to minimize voltage drop and home-run wire in lower voltage systems will get quite large and expensive with greater length. Nowadays most modern solar panels are higher voltage and can be strung together in series for up to 250 volts keeping the home-run wire manageably small and inexpensive. However, there are still limitations; once you get over about 60 meters, wire costs start becoming a significant percentage of system cost.

Charge Controller A charge controller is the device that monitors and controls the incoming current from the solar panels and sends that regulated current to charge the batteries. Controllers come in a lot of different sizes and types and you will want to make your selection carefully based on both present and anticipated future needs.

Simple installations with one or two low voltage panels will often use what is called a pulse width modulated (PWM) controller. These controllers are reasonably efficient and inexpensive. However in a medium size system of two or more panels, if you want to realize the many benefits of modern technology you should consider the more expensive maximum power point tracking (MPPT) controller.

(Top) Joe Lade of earthRight builds a solar panel pole mount on the ground prior to hoisting it to a pole and attaching the panels. (Bottom) earthRight uses a Solar Pathfinder to map the solar horizon at a site. This device gives an accurate representation of what obstacles are in the path of the sun on an hour by hour basis each season of the year. The reflections in the dome are plotted to a computer program that calculates the potential energy available.

Photos: Ron Young

MPPT controllers allow you to string (connect) up to six panels together in series. When you string panels together you increase the total voltage but also increase he system efficiency. MPPT controllers can take a high voltage of up to 250 volts down to your battery voltage of 12, 24, or 48 volts automatically. As previously mentioned, this configuration allows you to keep the home-run conductor small and keep the cost down while getting the added benefit of being able to locate your PV array in the most convenient location.

A further benefit of MPPT controllers is that they incorporate technology that uses more of the available solar energy than their earlier PWM counterparts. You will see increases as high as 30% more power from identical solar arrays and over time that easily pays for the added cost of the MPPT controller.

Controllers are rated in amps and the rating determines how many panels you can connect. You can buy a controller just the right size for the number of panels you have but if you think you might want to add to the array at a later date then it‘s wise to oversize the controller.

It is also possible to connect more than one controller to a single set of batteries allowing even more scalability over time.

Advanced controllers like the Midnite Solar Classic series have the ability to ‗talk‘ to each other and co-ordinate their charging programs. The Midnite controllers can also be updated online with the latest software upgrade, which is always free.

I‘ve come to the end of the allotted space for this article and still haven‘t covered some major components such as batteries and inverters so they will have wait for an upcoming column. As Yogi used to say, ―You give 100 percent in the first half of the game and if that isn‘t enough, in the second half you give what‘s left.‖ Ron Young is a renewable energy professional who designs and sells solar, wind, and micro-hydro systems. He operates the earthRight store in Williams Lake, BC and can be reached at info@solareagle.com.

Copyright Ron Young 2016

By Erin Hitchcock

P

eople around the world will voice their support for organic, toxin-free food during the annual March Against Monsanto, Saturday, May 21.

Williams Lake will be no exception, as plans are underway for a March for Food Justice to coincide with events happening across the globe. It takes place at noon that day at 327 Oliver. St., (Cariboo Growers has graciously welcomed the second annual march to begin and end from its parking lot again this year).

The Williams Lake Food Policy Council and its partners have been doing tremendous work promoting and supporting local food and farmers. It‘s hoped the march will contribute to their efforts to increase access to local food and support sustainable and healthy farming practices.

Last year, dozens of people hit Williams Lake streets raising their concerns about Monsanto and companies like it in order to inform the public about potential long-term health, environmental, and social impacts of genetically modified foods (commonly called GMOs) and food grown with pesticides—while also demanding such products be banned or at least labelled so consumers can make informed decisions.

Russia, Australia, New Zealand, Hungary, France, Spain, the U.K., Sweden, India, and Brazil are examples of some countries with mandatory labelling laws in place, with Bhutan being the first country to go completely organic. For a complete map and breakdown of countries with GMO labelling laws and bans in place, visit http://www.centerforfoodsafety.org/ge -map/.

Most GMOs are specifically engineered to either produce their own insecticide or to resist herbicides. While Monsanto owns the majority of GMO seeds around the world, other top GMO corporations include BASF, Bayer, DuPont, Dow Chemical Company, and Syngenta—these companies are also responsible for many of the chemicals in our food and in the environment.

It‘s not just the federal government that needs to listen to Canadians calling for the labelling of or an end to pesticides and GMOs, but also the grocery stores. As noted in a previous column, Whole Foods plans to label products in its stores by 2018 so customers can tell whether those products contain GMOs.

According to the Dieticians of Canada, since 1994, more than 80 GM foods have been approved in Canada, including canola, corn, lentils, potatoes, rice, soybeans, squash, tomatoes, and wheat.

Numerous health risks may also be associated with GM foods, including infertility, immune dysregulation, accelerated aging, dysregulation of genes associated with cholesterol synthesis, insulin regulation, cell signaling, protein formation, and changes in the liver, kidney, spleen, and gastrointestinal system, among others, according to the American Academy of Environmental Medicine.

It‘s not just GMOs themselves, but the corresponding pesticides the plants have been modified to tolerate. For example, many crops are modified to withstand Monsanto‘s glyp hosate -containing Roundup, which the World Health Organization has deemed to be a ―probable carcinogen.‖ Some research has also linked it to alarming increase in autism (read my last column for further info).

In addition to the potential health effects, pesticides have been polluting the environment and may also be contributing to colony collapse disorder in bees—if the bees die, you can say goodbye to much of the food you rely on and enjoy today. Due to such concerns and evidence that supports the theory, the Ontario government plans to restrict the use of neonicotinoids—a type of synthetic pesticide and neurotoxin used on nearly all corn crops.

GMOs are also believed to be having dismal effects on farmers across the globe, in part because companies such as Monsanto – creator of Agent Orange and DDT – hold the patents to the seeds they engineer. In other words, farmers are not allowed to save patented seeds to plant the following year without paying a fee, even if their crops are inadvertently contaminated due to the seeds being carried there by the wind.

More than 3.5 million people in more than 600 countries are expected to march again this year. It is my hope more local residents will take part to raise awareness and demand we have better access to clean food, in addition to having complete and mandatory transparency so we know exactly what is in the products we buy. It is critical we also help inform others of the negative effects GMOs and pesticides can have on our bodies, on the environment, and on people‘s livelihoods locally and around the world.

Erin Hitchcock, organizer of the March for Foods Justice to be held May 21, is ready to take a stand against GMOs, pesticides, and companies that may be impacting our health and environment. Some pesticides are believed to be contributing to colony collapse disorder in bees, one of the many concerns those marching hope to raise awareness about.

Photo submitted by Erin Hitchcock

While some feel their voice simply doesn‘t matter and there is nothing they can do to stop what is happening, please remember the wise words of Margaret Mead, who once said, ―Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has.‖ As more and more consumers become aware of the dangers of GMOs and pesticides, the more pressure is being put on companies and governments for transparency and for the elimination of toxins in our food supply. Though much work still needs to be done, there continues to be a noticeable increase of certified organic and non-GMO certified foods sprouting up in

the stores. To keep the momentum going, your support is needed.

I hope to see you at the march! Dressing up in costume will help the message stand out, though feel free to come as you are, and bring placards and signs to show passersby what your concerns are.

For more information and updates, visit facebook.com/ MarchAgainstMonsantoWilliamsLake or email wlmarchagainstmonsanto@gmail.com.

Erin Hitchcock is a stay-at-home mom, journalist, anti-GMO advocate, and local organizer for the March for Food Justice.

By Molly Payne

W

omen across North America are getting their hands dirty in the unpredictable and often unprofitable industry of sustainable agriculture. What is driving these shifts, and what does it mean for the future of organic farming?

Six years ago, I would have never guessed I would find myself falling in love with the feeling of my hands in the soil. I never thought watching seeds sprout from the earth would feel so gratifying to me, and that I would prefer to eat a dirt covered carrot fresh from the ground than a KitKat. My idea of a farmer was a man on a tractor with a flannel shirt, overalls, and a hunk of chew wadded up in his cheek (and that was when I thought about farmers at all, which was not very often). I wanted to move to San Francisco or New York and immerse myself in the spoils of city life any night of the week. But unexpectedly, unpredictably, and undoubtedly, I fell in love with farming.

My interest in agriculture was sparked in university, but solidified in the past year through my participation with the WWOOF program, or World Wide Opportunities on Organic Farms. The people I met and experiences I had working with food growers broke down any stereotypes I had about farmers, especially the notion that farmers are men. In fact, the majority of gardeners I met and came into contact with across B.C., Alaska, and the Yukon were women. As it turns out, this trend is no coincidence. According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Economic Research Service, women-operated farms more than doubled between 1982 and 2007. In fact, female farmers now make up the fastest-growing sector of the U.S.'s changing agricultural landscape, and nearly 1 million women, about a third of domestic farmers, list farming as their primary occupation. Many of these women are college educated and did not inherit farmland from their families, suggesting an ulterior motivation for entering such an unpredictable and demanding profession. So, what could be the drive behind this recent change to the face of farming?

I became interested in organic farming and gardening because of the gratification I get from working outside with plants every day and watching them grow into delicious and nourishing food. I enjoy the feeling of cracking a brew after work, feeling tired and satisfied from a day of tangible food production. Having grown up in Seattle then attending university where I was on the computer every day and the work was all mental, working in a garden was a refreshing change. The work with soil and seeds is concrete, constructive, and dynamic and offers the much more hands on type of education I was craving after sixteen years of school. Working with tools and engaging in physical labour has also been empowering for me, as it has felt like a defiance of gender norms to some extent.

Through working on gardens and farms, I was able to learn skills such as using a chainsaw and driving a tractor—skills I typically associate with the male arena.

Additionally, in knowing exactly where my food is coming from I am making my

Photos by: www.overgrowthsystem.com

own small contribution to making food production a healthier and more sustainable practice. Janet Whalen Zeller, cofounder and co-director of Soil Born Farms Urban Agriculture Education Project in Sacremento, California, is seeing a similar trend. "It [was] a total girl-power year around here," says Zeller in an interview with Over Grow the System. The majority of the farm‘s apprentices have been women in the past two years, and Zeller suggests it is because young women are becoming attracted to sustainable agricul-

ture because of an interest in both social justice and curbing the harmful environmental practices of industrial-scale farming. Although men are also among this cohort of new young farmers seeking to make a change in the way our food system is run, women may also have more health based motives. According to a 2013 Food and Health Survey conducted by the International Food Information Council Foundation, women are more likely to purchase organic food, think about food safety, and evaluate health, nutrition, and sustainabil-

ity in making their decisions about the food they are buying.

Although women's increased participation in organic farming has been categorized as a new phenomenon, historically women's involvement in farming is nothing new. Women have been food providers for much of human history. In many parts of the world, women are the dominant food producers. According to the FAO, in subSaharan Africa women contribute 60 to 80 percent of labour in both food production for both the household and for sale. Many of these farms are on small parcels of land and require hand tools rather than large equipment. In terms of human history, heavily mechanized industrialized agriculture is a relatively recent phenomenon.

Yet becoming a professional farmer is no easy feat. High costs of land and feed and unpredictable weather changes are contributing to thin profit margins. Although women are running farms of all sizes, the Women, Food and Agriculture Network states 75% of women farmers earn less than $25,000 per year. Leah Addock of the Women, Food, and Agriculture network says there are significant obstacles for women living in rural, remote areas.

"Farm women face three primary challenges," she said. "First there is discrimination. Then there is geographic isolation.

Many farms have no close neighbours.

Cultural isolation is also a problem.

Women in male dominated professions need to talk to each other and see others like themselves, but a network like ours exists primarily on the Internet. It's a Catch -22. Women in the most need of a network are usually in isolated areas with little Internet access and have to go to a library or community college to use a computer."

However, they also note that many women are finding the work deeply fulfilling. Their efforts are extending beyond the fields, and they are now advocating for better policies such as an increase in government support for family farms, and subsidies for local food promotion and farmers markets. Many women are also overcoming the barrier of land expenses through participating in urban gardening. It is unclear what the effect of women‘s increasing involvement will have on the future of our food, but hopes and motivations are high. ―I think the key to our future generations‘ support of women in farming is for our children to be taught what farming actually is and to see that it is a truly viable vocation for women. In order for small scale farming to survive, I also believe the key is to educate our children about what real food is and the cost of real food,‖ says Kathryn Miller of Blackbird Farm, in a guest essay on the Female Farm Project.

Molly Payne is a graduate of Quest University Canada in Squamish B.C. where she studied community based natural resource management and gender studies.

She currently lives in Seattle, WA where she works for Project Feast, a non-profit focused on empowering immigrant and refugee women through cooking and food service skills.

By Kristin Lehar

I

have recently come to Williams Lake not knowing what to expect from the community and not really intending to get involved in anyway. Coming here to live was initially a temporary plan that would allow me to save some money and finish my studies in holistic nutrition. Upon getting a job that allows for interaction with all kinds of lovely people everyday, I began to get a feel for the diverse communities of interests and after a while felt the urge to become a part of the ones that resonate with me and contribute to them the knowledge and experience I have to offer.

I chose to study holistic nutrition to discover more about that which I was drawn to, and to create and support the lifestyle that stems from it. Though I know this is only the beginning – the tip of the iceberg in terms of learning about body health on all levels – I am learning the potential to thrive in life is wildly infinite and everyone has access to it. Our society has taken an unfortunate turn or two somewhere down the road and has led us into an inefficient and destructive way of life for ourselves and for the entire planet. This is obvious and it is why I intend to discover alternate ways of living and experiencing life—in awareness, balance, and peace of mind, thereby inspiring others to do the same, because only by recreating yourself can you recreate the world around you. Choosing to study holistic nutrition is one of my steps towards this discovery.

What is holistic nutrition, exactly?

Unlike the conventional reductionist approach to food, holistic nutrition is based on the idea of holism. The essence of holism is that the whole is greater than the sum of its parts. It is defined by Oxford dictionary as, ―characterized by comprehension of the parts of something as intimately interconnected and explicable only by reference to the whole.‖ Thus holistic nutrition is more than just food, though that is obviously a huge part, as food is what connects us with every aspect of our physical world and symbolizes our connection with it. When we begin to look at food and nutrition from a holistic perspective, we begin to see connections between the food we eat and the way it makes us feel physically, mentally, and emotionally. We also see what kinds of environments are created by the food choices we make and how those environments support life on the planet. We begin to see everything as a whole.

To apply the idea of holism to our health it is important to understand that the body is not exclusively a physical entity but rather a complex interconnected system of parts, some of which we are aware of and others not so much. What I am learning more and more as every minute of life passes by, is that when it comes to a physical disease or illness, to look exclusively at the physical threats to the body as culprits and only treat our physical symptoms, we may never fully heal. The body‘s expression is more than a sum of its visible symptoms. Holistically, the expression of the body is established from the physical environment it is exposed to, its mental state, behavioural patterns, beliefs, past experiences, and the interrelationships and connections between all these factors.

Photo: www.123rf.com/profiles_belitas

When all this is considered, it is easy to understand that no two human bodies will ever be the same in their expression. This is where the conventional approach to healthcare fails because it more or less sees the human body as a sum of its parts rather than as an interconnected whole. With this perspective comes a one-size-fits-all treatment that, as we can see, seldom succeeds.

My intention as a nutritionist and a human in this life is not to tell people what to do to get well nor is it to diagnose or cure any disease (definitely beyond my scope of practice!) Rather, my goal is to empower people to make the choices they know deep inside are right for them. Today, too many people go through the day without consciously experiencing themselves. Mindless eating is all too common as is putting energy into what is on the outside rather than what is on the inside.

If a physical symptom shows up somewhere in the body we are quick to brush it off until it gets worse. When it has reached a point where it becomes too bothersome to ignore, we rush to see a doctor who will give us minutes of his time during which he recommends substances to suppress the physical discomfort, whether or not he knows the cause. My intention is to help people realize that nobody, including educated medical professionals (though their knowledge can be valuable), knows one‘s own body better than the individual. Why would you hand your power over to someone who knows less?

If individuals begin to take full responsibility for their own health and take a physical symptom as a sign of communication from the body, they will begin to live life more consciously, also knowing every choice they make will have an impact on their personal health and the health of the community and the environment around them. This is what the world needs the most today—a recreation of our relationship with our bodies, with food, and with the environment, and a perfect way to begin is to vote with our forks!

Kristin is a holistic nutritionist in training whose main goal is to live a simple and awesome life. She loves to inspire others to realize the power of the body and its amazing capabilities to restore and maintain flourishing health, to realize that nobody knows their body better than themselves, and to understand only they hold the power to bring it to wellbeing.

Having love for and being connected to the body and the language of the body is the first step on the path to a thriving life and thriving planet.

By Jessica Kirby

T

he trouble with celebratory days of observance is they beg the question of how to react to world issues the other 364 days of the year. There are cynics in every crowd who assume days of observance are largely symbolic and promote armchair social activism, but is that the case? Are the time and effort behind these days really worth it?

Earth Day falls on April 22, the anniversary of the birth of the modern environmental movement in 1970. It was a big year: war raged in Vietnam, students took to the streets to oppose it, and counterculture was at its height.

At the time, humankind‘s cultural effect on the environment was largely ignored by average people roaring off to work in their V8 cars to work 9-5 at industry jobs for companies that spewed toxic mess into the air, water, and soil. It isn‘t that no one cared; then-social culture dictated the importance of affluence, and the long-term effects of pollution an environmental degradation were not well understood by the general, mainstream public.

The first person to kick up a noticeable fuss was author Rachel Carson who took over the New York Times bestseller list in 1962 with her book, Silent Spring. She made connections between human health and the environment, called out the ill effects of pollution, and made a strong, demanding, and scientific case for public

concern for living organisms because, to her, it was worth it.

By 1969, Earth Day founder and thenUS senator from Wisconsin Gaylord Nelson had seen enough and he, too, decided the Earth was worth it. After witnessing the destruction resulting from a massive oil spill in Santa Barbara that year, and inspired by youth‘s enthusiasm and drive in the anti-war movement, he decided to leverage the desire for change and action. He launched the idea for a national teach-in on the environment, recruited conservationminded Republican congressman Pete McClosky and Harvard educator Denis Hayes, and rounded up a staff of 85 to promote events across America on April 22, 1970.

That first Earth Day observance garnered participation from 20 million Americans who all thought the environment was worth it. They filled rallies, parks, streets, and auditoriums with attention and action for a cleaner environment. The most marked aspect of this fledgling environmental movement was that it unified people who normally gathered or demonstrated under different and sometimes opposing banners. Environmentalists fighting for clean oceans, rich forests, freedom from toxic waste and superfluous freeways, the preservation of wilderness, and escape from pesticides realized they had something in common. Republicans, Democrats, the rich and the poor, executives and farmers all had a stake in the environment and saw opportunity and value in its preservation.

According to the official Earth Day website, ―by the end of that year, the first Earth Day had led to the creation of the United States Environmental Protection Agency and the passage of the Clean Air, Clean Water, and Endangered Species Acts. ‗It was a gamble,‘ Gaylord recalled, ‗but it worked.‘‖ This was the foundation of the environmental movement in the US, and it wasn‘t until 20 years later the concept went global. In 1990, environmental advocates led by Denis Hayes took Earth Day global, enlisting support from 200 million participants in 141 countries. The long-term results were drawing attention to and promoting recycling efforts, and paving the way to the 1992 UN Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro. Earthday.org says it was at this time President Bill Clinton awarded Senator Nelson the Presidential Medal of Freedom (1995) for his efforts as Earth Day founder, and for believing the Earth was worth it. This is the highest honour given to civilians in the US. Fast-forward to Earth Day 2000 when the big picture enthusiasm of the 1970 event combined with the international grassroots effort behind Earth Day 1990 to inspire 5,000 environmental groups in 184 countries to come together under the environmental banner with particular emphasis in global warming and the planet‘s dire need for clean energy. Unique in history at the time was the truly global nature of communicating the message as some demonstrations, actions, and campaigns rallied and organized largely by email, while a

drum chain carried the message from village to village in Gabon, Africa. ―Hundreds of thousands of people gathered on the National Mall in Washington, DC for a First Amendment Rally,‖ says the Earth Day website. ―Earth Day 2000 sent world leaders the loud and clear message that citizens around the world wanted quick and decisive action on global warming and clean energy.‖ Whether organized in the 1970s or the 2000s, the Earth Day movement has had its challenges. In the beginning it ran the risk of losing its importance in the mosh pit of social activism brought about by the counterculture movement, and in 2000 oil lobbyists, climate change nay-sayers, and a generally cynical public stood as road blocks against the smooth environmental transformation the planet needs.

Despite its challenges, Earth Day has become the world‘s largest secular observance and has led to many, many tangible, long-impacting campaigns toward a cleaner, healthier Earth. Today one billion people celebrate Earth Day the world over and as a result many of them spend the other 364 days of the year putting the message into practice. The environmental movement represents hard work, energy, and willingness to unite in the Earth‘s defence, and to ensure a brighter future for everyone. This year on April 22, take up the cause, or vow to work just a little harder that day and the rest of the year.

Because when it comes to our one and only home, it is absolutely worth it.

I

nvasive plants are non-native plants that have been introduced to BC and have detrimental economic, environmental, and health effects on local humans, livestock, and wildlife.

Also known as noxious weeds or alien species, they are far more aggressive than other common garden or lawn weeds. Economic impacts of invasive plants include reduced forage quality and quantity for cattle ranchers, as many invasive plants are unpalatable to livestock. Invasive plants are the second largest threat to biodiversity in the world, due to their ability to out-compete native plants; this threatens habitat for wildlife as native plants are displaced. New invasive plants to watch out for in 2016 for the Cariboo-Chilcotin and Coast regions include Common Bugloss, Hairy Catsear, Himalayan Blackberry, Large Yellow Loosetrife, Queen Anne‘s Lace (aka Wild Carrot), Butterfly Bush, Caraway, Cypress Spurge, Wild Chervil, and Mountain Bluet (see photos). If you see any of these anywhere in our region, report them immediately.

One of the most significant ways invasive plants are spread is through human activities. Cars and trucks on the highway, allterrain vehicles and mountain bikes on trail systems, and industrial activities such as logging and gravel extraction can transport and unknowingly disperse weed seeds to new areas. Many invasive plants are garden ornamentals that escape from gardens and invade natural areas (visithttp:// bcinvasives.ca/resources/programs/plantwise/ for popular alternatives). By knowing what species are considered invasive in our region, you can detect new invaders and respond quickly and efficiently. The Cariboo-Chilcotin Coast Invasive Plant Committee website has an entire list of local regional priority invasive species by subregion online at www.cccipc.ca.

What can you do?

Remember to always PLAY CLEAN GO which means checking yourself, vehicles, pets, gear, boats, and other equipment for invasive plants that may be ―hitchhiking.‖ REPORT invasive plants you see (see ad on this page for ways to report).

Properly DISPOSE of invasive plants by placing all material into a sealed plastic

Common Bugloss (Anchusa officinalis)

bag and then into the garbage (or invasive plant bin if there is one).

DON’T PLANT invasive species in your ornamental gardens.

HELP SPREAD THE WORD, not the weeds!

All these actions help prevent invasive species from forming complete monocultures and creating what is called a ―biodesert‖ with very low habitat value (food and/or shelter) for our native species of insects, birds, and animals. Monocultures of aquatic invasive plants also have impacts on our fish as these riparian species quickly choke out water ways, deplete them of oxygen, make them impassable, and shade them out.

Spring Challenge: Choose an invasive plant picture on this page, then think of someone you know whose name starts with the same letter of the alphabet as the plant.

Now, seek this person out and tell them about invasive plants and how they can help.

Visit the Cariboo-Chilcotin Coast Invasive Plant Committee website at www.cccipc.ca for more information on local invasive plant species or call (250) 855-WEED. The CCCIPC gratefully acknowledges the financial support of the Province of British Columbia.

Hairy Cat’s Ear (Hypochaeris radicata)

Queen Anne’s Lace (Daucus carota)

By Adam McLeod, ND, BSc

R

ecently there have been a surge in patients seeking alternative cures for cancer after watching the popular series, ―The Truth About Cancer.‖ This series does an excellent job of raising awareness about various natural therapies but it does patients a great disservice by discouraging patients from using conventional therapies. This documentary has given patients a biased view point and as a consequence they feel polarized in their opinion against conventional care. The problem is that the best treatment plan involves integrating these two worlds together. Both conventional therapies and natural therapies have a lot that they can offer patients but they must be used together in a synergistic way for optimal results.

Patients have the right to choose whatever treatment plan they want. As a Naturopathic physician I have always respected my patients‘ choices, even if I disagree with those choices. It is not my job to force the patient to choose a treatment plan; it is my job to give them the information and then they choose the treatment plan that feels right to them.

When developing a treatment plan the key word is ―integrative‖ not ―alternative.‖ This means using natural tools safely and effectively in conjunction with conventional therapies. An integrative approach is what any licensed naturopathic doctor would be recommending and unfortunately this documentary confuses the public by giving them the impression that naturopathic doctors are against conventional cancer treatments. By presenting such a polarized view, it often discourages patients from seeking true integrative care that could really benefit them.

Make no mistake about it: I am a big believer in the healing power of nature, but this series greatly exaggerates the effectiveness of many natural therapies. Of course, there are home runs with simple natural therapies. I have personally witnessed on many occasions patients having dramatic responses to the simplest natural therapies. Although these responses are amazing and they require further investigation, it does not mean everyone should abandon all conventional therapies in favour of an alternative approach. What the

Photo submitted by Yaletown Naturopathic Clinic

vour of an alternative approach. What the documentary fails to document is, many people have chosen to pursue only alternative therapies and have had poor responses.

Cancer is unforgiving of delays and poor choices. It is true that chemotherapy, radiation, and surgery have side effects, but cancer has side effects, too.

Many of the natural therapies this documentary chooses to highlight are not commonly recommended by experts who work in the integrative oncology field.

Things like baking soda and apricot seeds are not mainstream natural cancer therapies and have virtually no evidence of being effective.

There are countless natural therapies more effective than this, and which are well supported by scientific evidence. Not all cancers are the same and you must have professional guidance when developing a plan. Many natural therapies are completely contraindicated in certain cancers and just because it is natural does not mean that it is universally safe.

Of course, there are times when the use of chemotherapy is questionable. In some circumstances the cancer is unlikely to respond to the drug and intensive therapies are being recommended to only slightly extend life expectancy. In these cases the lowered quality of life must be weighed against the increased life expectancy.

There are certainly cases like this where the medical oncologists are only recommending such therapies because there are no other options. It is not unreasonable for patients to resist conventional care in some of these extreme circumstances.

The key thing to recognize is this does not apply to all cases of cancer. Conven-

tional cancer treatments save lives when used in a timely fashion. The study cited in the series that states the ineffectiveness of chemotherapy is not presenting this information properly. This study is questioning the use of chemotherapy in the context of a five-year survival rate. By the time many of these cancers in the study were diagnosed, the disease had already greatly progressed and it is unlikely that anyone would live for five years, regardless of what therapy they choose.

When you take the time to dig deeper into the study it is clear that in many of these cancers the patients are living significantly longer, but many of them are not living up to the five-year mark.

In this particular study, someone could live for several years with a great quality of life but if they died at four years and 11 months, the chemotherapy would be considered ineffective. Obviously if a patient is able to live longer with a good quality of life, this is a success even if they don‘t live for five years. The public is often left with this false impression that all chemotherapy leaves patients with a crippled quality of life. Certainly some chemotherapies significantly decrease quality of life but not all chemotherapy is the same. Particularly when patients are well supported they have significantly less side effects and can live with a great quality of life. It is not unusual for me to have a patient come to my office who has minimal side effects even when doing an intense round of chemotherapy because they are well supported naturally during this process.

You will never have all studies agree, as this is how science works. We cannot base our clinical decisions on one study;

we must base it on the totality of the evidence. A quick literature search will find thousands of peer reviewed studies demonstrating the effectiveness of chemotherapy for a wide range of cancers. I have had many patients in the past refuse conventional care against my advice and fly to exotic clinics around the world to receive alternative therapies. During these unnecessary delays, the cancer spread to the point that it was no longer curable. In some of these cases I was confident that the patient could have been easily cured had they not hesitated.

Natural therapies can be used to help support patients through conventional treatments. They can help to significantly reduce side effects and support the immune system. When patients have this support they respond better to therapy and are more likely to embrace both therapies as their answer to this terrible disease. Often those who are the most polarized in their opinions against an integrative approach are people with little to no experience dealing with cancer. These two worlds can coexist and it is a beautiful thing when there is true collaboration.

The bottom line is that a balanced approach is best. The extreme view that no natural therapies work is simply incorrect.

Just as the extreme view that only natural therapies should be used is inaccurate. The best treatment plan is an integrative approach that bridges these two worlds.

Many patients get scared away from conventional therapies because their oncologist presents the treatments with such a polarized point of view. When you are trained as a hammer, everything looks like a nail. This becomes obvious to many patients after meeting with their oncologist who has a limited set of tools to offer.

There are a vast range of natural therapies that can be used to help your body fight cancer, but they have to be used in the proper clinical context. A naturopathic doctor who works with oncology can help to give you a more balanced view and develop a treatment plan that utilizes the best of both worlds.

Dr. Adam McLeod is a naturopathic doctor (ND), BSc. (Hon) molecular biology, motivational speaker, and international bestselling author. He currently practises at his clinic in Vancouver, British Columbia where he focuses on integrative oncology. http://www.yaletownnaturopathic.com.

By B. Blake Levitt

F

ew people realize that the concept of the ‗smart‘ grid and its accompanying ‗smart‘ meters – which create two-way communications between utilities and customers for billing, new time-of-use rate pricing tiers, and other utility-friendly goals under the guise of green – rely on the unfettered use of nonionizing radiofrequency (RF) radiation throughout our homes, businesses, and neighbourhoods. In this new ―mesh‖ network, everything and everyone is connected, whether we want it or not.

This will, in time, include all appliances – washing machines, dryers, air conditioners, refrigerators, freezers, computers, furnaces, etc. – which will be equipped with transmitting antennas; many new appliances already come with them. People who do not wish to be exposed to such an added layer of ubiquitous RF, a known genotoxin classified as a 2 B (possible) carcinogen by the World Health Organization‘s IARC Committee, can‘t deactivate such appliances without disabling the product and negating the warranty.

Government standards in place for RF do not consider cumulative exposures from the other myriad RF-emitting devices in our midst today. Device approval is taken one product at a time. Add cell towers, cordless and/or cellphones, wireless computers, and Wi-Fi routers among other common RFemitting contributors and these become serious chronic ambient exposures. Nor do the standards factor in recent research regarding what‘s called ‗dirty electricity‘—the phenomenon of multi-frequencies coupling on utility lines to create complex energy exposures. Dirty electricity has been linked to numerous cancers, diabetes, Alzheimer‘s, and Parkinson‘s. While most ―dirt‖ is created by our own electronic devices, smart meters, using the higher frequency RF to ‗talk‘ with the central utility hub, easily couple with the extremely low frequency powerline bands to create antenna effects along wiring, including in your home. RF has been measured in short pulsed spikes far from the meter itself in rooms with no other transmission source.

Because of customer backlash, some utilities now allow customers to opt-out of smart meters, often for a fee. But that just creates a false sense of individual security unless whole neighbourhoods opt out. In the mesh network, your neighbour‘s meter affects you, too. There are also ―collector‖ meters that gather usage information trans-

BC Hydro’s claim that “smart meters communicate for about 1.4 seconds per day” was debunked by an on-site measurement of a smart meter in Richmond, BC, which shows continual emissions of microwave radiation. Full video can be viewed at https://youtu.be/vNrRIFkiHKM mitted from house-to-house until it reaches the collector. Meters can transmit thousands of times a day, sending high peak pulses of RF throughout your home. Banks of meters on apartment complexes fire constantly at close to 200,000 pulses per hour.

Critical questions that must be answered before this buildout continues: Why are governments not responding to citizens and professionals raising health/ environmental concerns about this new imposed, nondiscretionary, ubiquitous, indoor/ outdoor layer of electrosmog—a form of energetic air pollution?

Why are billions of taxpayer dollars being used for this buildout without equal research appropriations into the effects of such technologies?

Research has found a 30% increase in incidences of brain tumors in people who have used cellphones for 10 years or longer.

Living in the smart grid is like living with a cellphone turned on 24/7 in every room.

Why would smart grid proponents presume that if people oppose cell towers in their neighborhoods, they will allow something like this?

Has anyone at the federal level asked consumers if they want the utility companies ‗talking‘ with privately owned appliances?

Has any work been done about the possibility of malfunction of such systems, say, your furnace being turned up to 90 degrees or off in subzero weather by some other stray signal? The electromagnetic spectrum is a crowded place these days.

Have any precautions been taken for potentially deadly radiofrequency interference from smart systems with lifesaving devices like pacemakers, deep brain stimulators used in Parkinson‘s patients, insulin pumps, wheelchairs, hospital beds, or other devices highly sensitive to such interference?

Have privacy concerns been addressed?

Much can be known about a person via their energy use: presence/absence at home, basic living habits, appliances used. What about the sale of information to third parties?

In an age of heightened national security concerns, do smart grid proponents truly comprehend how vulnerable such systems are to hacking and how susceptible ‗smart‘ is to jamming signals, as well as more sophisticated electromagnetic pulse devices?

One Black Hat conference demonstrated that whole regions could be shut down via one smart meter. Even without nefarious human intent, the Earth‘s natural 11-year sunspot fluctuation alone could disrupt such systems far more easily than our current mechanical hardwired analog grid.

Has there been an education campaign for those customers who do want high-tech ―connected‖ homes? Makers of such wireless devices/networks have an obligation to disclose that there are hundreds of studies showing that even very low-level RF exposures are biologically active, possibly endangering health and the environment (humans are not the only species affected) far below current standards. Would such

customers then make the same purchasing decision merely for the convenience of turning down the furnace via their cellphone from work when all they need do is write themselves a note?

The various components of the smart grid have been found to actually increase energy use. Why not order grid designers back to the drawing board to create a truly safe 100% wired upgrade without the wireless component causing all the problems?

There have been thousands of complaints of billing errors after smart meters were installed, and numerous fires due to the basic incompatibility of marrying the higher frequency smart technology to the older system. No customer should trust the smart grid as currently designed. It‘s a wonder that many intelligent people are advocates. In our headlong rush toward green, we seem blinded by technophoria. But this writer has yet to find a single person who, once given the full details of what the smart grid actually entails, thinks this is smart in any way.

B. Blake Levitt, an award-winning science writer, is author of Electromagnetic Fields, A Consumer‘s Guide to the Issues. She has appeared in four documentaries; helped U.S. Congressional offices write legislation for research appropriations; and been an invited speaker at Congressional briefings.

She is currently writing a book on the smart grid and the unintended consequences of the Internet-of-Things. Learn more at www.blakelevitt.com.

April 5: Documentary: Salt of the Earth.

France, Brazil, Italy. 110 minutes. Oscarnominated film about the tragedy and beauty of the people. Presented by the Williams Lake Film Club. All profits support the Learning Disabilities Association. Gibraltar Room, Williams Lake @ 7 p.m.

April 5-15: Scout Island photography display. Photography produced during Scout Island‘s adult and children‘s nature photography workshops. Cariboo Regional District Library, Williams Lake.

April 7: Williams Lake Garden Club monthly meeting first Thursday of the month until October. Yearly membership $10, monthly drop in $2. April 7 the Cariboo Chilcotin Conservation Society‘s Water Wise program and the garden club discuss xeriscaping. Admission by donation. 7–9 p.m. Cariboo Arts Centre (90 Fourth Ave. N., Williams Lake). Phone Deb or Pat at (250) 392-2769.

April 7: Puddle Produce Urban Farms howto gardening workshop for beginners. Learn about tools, amendments, and tricks for growing in Williams Lake and area. $24. 7 p.m., Cariboo Memorial Recreation Complex. Call (250) 398-7665 to pre-register.

April 8: South Cariboo Sustainability Society Film, This Changes Everything, based on Naomi Klein‘s book. The film presents seven communities confronting climate change and asks if this is our best chance for a better world. 7:00 p.m., Community Employment Centre, 808 Alpine Ave, 100 Mile House, Admission by donation. See southcariboosustainability.com, Facebook or call (250) 791-7284 for info.

April 8: Party like it‘s 1929 at the Station House Express. All-night fundraising gala, live music, entertainment, wine and cheese tastings, auctions, and opening receptions for two art exhibitions. Tickets $25, available at the gallery. 7 p.m. to midnight. Station House Gallery (1 Mackenzie Ave. N., Williams Lake). Phone: (250) 392-6113.

April 9: Walking & Wheeling in the Puddle – Active transportation for all. Free community forum to help identify community interest, needs, and opportunities to promote and improve walking and wheeling in Williams Lake. 9 a.m. to noon, Thompson Rivers University, Williams Lake campus.

Email airqualityscoutisland@shaw.ca for more info.

April 15: Handbags of Hope Auction. $30 per person. Tickets at Women‘s Contact Society in Williams Lake. Call (250) 3924118 for tickets and more info.

April 15: Williams Lake Field Naturalists‘ Annual Fundraising Banquet: Catered dinner and Jared Hobbs presentation, ―B.C.‘s Grasslands: their beauty and amazing biodiversity.‖ Silent auction, door prizes, dessert.

Proceeds support nature education. Tickets at the Open Book, or Scout Island Nature House, Adults $40, students $15. Purchase

by April 8. McKinnon Hall, St. Andrews United Church. Call (250) 398-8532 for more info.

April 16: Gendun Drubpa Buddhist Center dinner and story. Jon Landaw tells the story

of Buddha‘s life, illustrated by images taken from his popular book, Prince Siddhartha.

6–9 p.m. Gendun Drubpa Buddhist Centre (212 Third Ave. S., Williams Lake).

April 19: Williams Lake Christian Women‘s Club monthly meeting. Guest speaker Brianna van de Wijngaard of the Williams Lake Food Policy Council and Puddle Produce Urban Farms will chat about sustainable and organic growing practices in the Cariboo. 9–11 a.m. Cariboo Bethel Church (basement). Contact Jennifer at (250) 392-7245 or griffint@telus.net to reserve a spot.

W i l l i a m s L a k e a t linda@bgcwilliamslake.com or (250) 3925730, or visit the Facebook page for info.

May 3: Documentary: Reel Paddle World Tour. The Williams Lake Film Club‘s huge finale. All profits support the Learning Disabilities Association, Williams Lake Chapter of the Association for Students with Learning Disabilities for one-on-one tutoring. Gibraltar Room, Williams Lake. Back doors open 6:30 p.m. Film starts 7 p.m.

April 19: Documentary: Unbranded. U.S. 106 minutes. Sixteen mustangs, four men, one dream. Presented by the Williams Lake Film Club. All profits support the Learning Disabilities Association. Gibraltar Room, Williams Lake. Film starts at 7 p.m.

May 5: Garden Club meeting. 7–9 p.m.

Williams Lake Garden Club welcomes those thinking about gardening to life-long green thumbs, to their monthly meeting on the first Thursday of every month until October. Yearly membership $10. Monthly drop in $2. 7–9 p.m. Cariboo Arts Centre (90 Fourth Ave. N., Williams Lake). Phone Deb or Pat at (250) 392-2769.

April 22: Public talk at TRU: PowerPoint presentation on Symbols of Compassion, Images of the Bodhisattva Path. An introduction to the art of Tibetan Buddhist images with Jon Landaw. 7–9 p.m., Room 1251, Thompson Rivers University, Williams Lake campus.

May 6–October: Farmers‘ Market. 9 a.m.– 2 p.m. Boitanio Park, Williams Lake. Every Friday from May to October, find local fruits and veggies, fresh baking, arts, crafts, plants, local meat, and more. Visit facebook.com/williamslakefarmersmarket for more info.

April 23 and 24: Two-day seminar: Following the Path of the Compassionate Buddha. Learn about the spiritual path travelled by bodhisattvas, grounded in compassion, practising the six so-called ―perfections,‖ leading to the attainment of a Buddha‘s enlightenment. April 23, 9:30 a.m.–4:30 p.m. and April 24, 9:30 a.m.–3:30 p.m.

Gendun Drupda Buddhist Centre (212 Third Ave. S., Williams Lake).

May 7: Scout Island Yard & Garden Sale.

Raised funds support bursary for graduating secondary student and educational nature programs at Scout Island. Seedlings, bedding plants, perennials, clothing, outdoor and camping equipment, books, videos and vinyl records, CDs and DVDs, dishes and kitchen equipment, gardening supplies, tools, pictures, toys, and more. Bring priced donations for sale to the Nature Centre on May 9. 9 a.m.–2 p.m. Scout Island Rd., Williams Lake.

April 24: Identifying Ducks & Geese with your kids at Scout Island Nature Centre.

Free for families and children ages four to 12. Hosted by Mary Forbes, a Scout Island naturalist. No registration required. Noon 2 p.m. Scout Island Nature Centre, Williams Lake. Call (250) 398-8532 or email themaryforbes@gmail.com for more info.

April 28: Agreement-in-Principle Referendum. For NStQ Williams Lake Indian Band members. Voting 9 a.m.–8 p.m. Your voice.

Your choice. Your future. Polling station: Elizabeth Grouse Gymnasium, Sugar Cane Reserve.

April 30: Golf Tournament. Organized by volunteers. Proceeds to Boys and Girls Club of Williams Lake. Big hole tournament. All levels. Join as team or individual. Prizes.

Lunch/dinner included. $80/golfer. Call Crystal (250) 392-5730.

April 30: Free Water Wise Garden Irrigation Workshop by the Cariboo Chilcotin Conservation Society and Highlands Irrigation. Learn about installing/using drip irrigation and water-saving tips for your garden. Drip kits on sale at workshop. 10 a.m.– noon. The Memory Garden, corner of Carson and Fifth avenues, Williams Lake. Call (250) 398-7929 or e-mail waterwise@ccconserv.orgfor more info.

May 1–7: Youth Week. Community organizations help make this week a celebration of youth a success. Numerous free events at various Williams Lake locations.

Contact Linda at the Boys and Girls Club of

May 14: Eighth annual Seedy Saturday.

Those selling/trading seeds/seedlings, homegrown flower arrangements, etc. invited to be vendors. The Williams Lake Food Policy Council seeks those selling/ trading natural garden amendments (i.e. manure), and info tables on growing/raising your own food/flowers. Tables free for vendors. Hands-on growing demonstrations and growers/producers and other gardening experts answering questions. 10 a.m.–2 p.m.

Memorial Garden, Carson Drive, Williams Lake. See facebook.com/WLFPC/ for more info.

May 14: Cariboo musicians Blocktreat kick off the release of a brand new record, ―Exciting New Ventures in F***ink Up,‖ with a live performance. 8 p.m.–1 a.m.

Overnight camping available. Xat‘sull Heritage Village, Williams Lake Rd., Quesnel.

If weather uncooperative, show will beat Central Cariboo Arts Centre. See facebook.com/blocktreat for more info.

May 14: Women's Spirituality Circle Third Annual Gathering: Cultivating Gratitude.

Join with women, young and old, from a wide range of spiritual traditions and explore gratitude through words, movement, art, and community. Tickets at Kit & Kaboodle and the Hobbit House for $40 ($10 times-are-tough rate) and must be purchased by May 9. 9 a.m.–6 p.m. Phone Margaret-Anne (250) 305-4426 for more info.

May 21: Kinikinik restaurant in Redstone reopens. 9391 Hwy 20, Redstone, BC. Phone (250) 394-6000 or visit pasturetoplate.ca May 21: March for Food Justice. Support organic food and raise awareness about GMOs and pesticides. Bring placards and dress in costume to help ensure the message is heard. Noon, Cariboo Growers (327 Oliver. St., Williams Lake). Visit facebook.com/ MarchAgainstMonsantoWilliamsLake or email wlmarchagainstmonsanto@gmail.com for more info.

May 28: Children‘s Festival at Boitanio Park and Shriners Parade. 9 a.m.–4 pm.

Phone (250) 392-4118 for more info.

June 4: Capital One Race for Kids. Teams of four adults compete in an Amazing Race style event and use pledge-based fundraising to raise funds for the Boys and Girls Club of Williams Lake programs. Prizes!

Visit www.raceforkids.ca/williamslake for more info or to register as a volunteer, make a donation, or register your team. Contact Stephanie (250) 392-5730 or raceforkids@bgcwilliamslake.com for more info.

Williams Lake Wanderers 2016 To join, come at 9:15 a.m. to the Cariboo Memorial Complex on a Tuesday, Wednesday, or Thursday. Fill out a membership form and pay the $10 annual fee. We leave at 9:30 a.m. Once you‘re a member, you will receive emails with schedule and schedule changes. Schedules and updates are also on Facebook.

April 2016 Schedule We have optimistically scheduled bike rides in April, but will be dependent on weather/road conditions. Check your schedule daily.

Wednesday, April 6 – Doc English Lake walk (off Hwy. 20) Thursday, April 7 – Chimney Lake walk (above the lake) Tuesday, April 12 – Russet Bluff hike (South Lakeside) Wednesday, April 13 – Mission Road bike (or walk too if you can‘t /don't want to bike) Thursday, April 14 – River Valley bike to the Fraser (again, some could walk) Tuesday, April 19 – Dantes Inferno hike (Hwy. 20, extended day) Wednesday, April 20 – Kitchen Sink Trail walk (Hwy. 20) Thursday, April 21 – Springfield Ranch bike (old Soda Creek Road, can also walk) Tuesday, April 26 – 108 Mile bike or walk (extended day, bring picnic lunch) Wednesday, April 27 – DeSous Mtn. walk (off Dog Creek Rd.) Thursday, April 28 – Dog Gone Trail walk (Hwy. 20) All these activities are subject to change according to weather conditions, so keep an eye on your email/Facebook.

Your Green Shopping Directory

Distribution Details

Green Locations TheGreenGazette can be found in print at the fine locations below, as well as online at www.thegreengazette.ca or by subscription .

“ Alternative Kids Clothing, 250 392-4445 65 1st Ave. South, Williams Lake Recycled (―pre-loved‖), up-cycled, locally made, fairly traded, and organic cotton products.

Clothing for 0-17 yrs., soaps, and accessories for all ages. Small maternity section. See Facebook: Alternative Kids Clothing and Accessories for hrs.

Bean Counter Bistro & Coffee Bar, 250 305-2326 180B 3rd Ave. North, Williams Lake Organic Coffee, Fair Trade, Local Foods Big Bear Ranch, 250 620-3353 Steffi, Florian, and Rainer Krumsiek Grass finished beef and lamb, pasture raised pork, and turkey. Certified organic since 2004. www.bigbearranch.com Canadian Tire, 250 392-3303 1050 South Lakeside Dr., Williams Lake Recycling Initiatives, Renewable Energy Solutions, Organic Cleaning Products: Blue Planet, Green Works, Method, Nature Clean, Seventh Generation Cariboo Growers Coop, 778 412-2667 3rd & Oliver St., Williams Lake. 100% Natural & Organic Foods, Non-Profit Farmer’s Coop Cleanway Supply, 1-800-663-5181 275 South MacKenzie Ave., Williams Lake Organic Cleaning Products Dandelion Living, 778-412-9100 271 Oliver St., Williams Lake Local & Original, Reclaimed & Repurposed, Natural & Organic Products Day Spa Champagne, 250 305-1249 124A North Second Ave., Williams Lake Quiet, relaxing, personalized atmosphere. A Zen experience. Four Types Massage, Reflexology, Manicures/Pedicures & More.

Debbie Irvine B.Sc. (Agr.) RHN Registered Holistic Nutritionist 250-392-9418 or springhousedebbie@thelakebc.ca SPRINGHOUSE GARDENS - Organically grown market garden veggies; Grass fed/ finished beef - no hormones, no GMOs. Enquiries welcome. earthRight Solar, 1 877 925-2929 3rd & Borland, Williams Lake Renewable Energy Solutions, Eco-Friendly Products, Composting Toilets

.”

Flying Coyote Ranch, 250 296-4755 Ingrid Kallman and Troy Forcier Grass-fed Angus beef No shots, no hormones, organic fertilizer By the quarter or side, hamburger .

The Gecko Tree, 250 398-8983 54 N. MacKenzie Ave. Williams Lake Serving healthy, local foods Halls Organics, 250 398-2899 107 Falcon Rd. (North Lakeside), Williams Lake Indoor and Outdoor Organic Gardening Products, Alternative Traditional Products, Teas anHerbs, Hemp Body Products The Hobbit House, 250 392-7599 71 First Ave. South, Williams Lake Juice Bar, Natural Products, Essential Oils, Teas, Crystals, Gemstones, and more.

Potato House Sustainable Community Society 250 855-8443 or spuds@potatohouseproject.com In an age of apathy and a sense that change is all talk and no action, The Potato House Project is a friendly bastion of doing, sharing, learning and playing. Call us with your ideas and to find out ways to get involved.

Scout Island Nature Centre & Williams Lake Field Naturalists, 250 398-8532 www.scoutislandnaturecentre.ca www.williamslakefieldnaturalists.ca 1305A Borland Rd, Williams Lake Nature on the city’s doorstep. Bird sanctuary, arboretum, trails, Nature House, natural history programs for children and adults.

Smashin’ Smoothies, 778-412-2112 102-41, 7th Ave North, Williams Lake Juice, Smoothies & Expresso Bar Fresh, Organic, Whole Food.

Sta-Well Health Foods, 250 392-7022 79D 3rd Ave. North, Williams Lake Organic Foods, Water Distillers, Natural Medicines, Emergency Freeze Dried Foods.

Williams Lake Food Policy Council, 250-302-5010 GROWING THE SEEDS OF CHANGE! www.facebook.com/WLFPC foodpolicycouncil@hotmail.com. Building a strong local food economy and promoting a healthy and sustainable community Williams Lake Water Factory, 250 398-5201 Pure Bottled Water. Home & Office Delivery.

955 S. Mackenzie Ave, Williams Lake, BC. Come see us on Toonie Tuesday!

100 Mile House Donex Canadian 2 for 1 Pizza Chartreuse Moose Higher Ground Nat. Foods KFC Nuthatch Books One Another Coffee House Safeway Save-On-Foods A&W 108 Mile House 108 Mile Mall 108 Mile Supermarket 150 Mile House 150 Mile Mall Husky Station Marshall‘s 150 Mile Store Alexis Creek Alexis Creek General Store Anahim Lake Anahim Lake Trading Mclean Trading Bella Coola Coast Mountain Lodge Kopas Store Moore‘s Organic Market Valley Inn & Restaurant Big Lake Big Lake General Store Clinton Clinton Coffee House Dog Creek Mount View Handy Mart Red Dog Pub/Liquor Store Hanceville Lee‘s Corner Store Horsefly Clarke‘s General Store Post Office Horsefly Hardware Horsefly Service Station LacLaHache Race Trac Gas Lac La Hache Bakery Red Crow Cafe McLeese Lake Deep Creek Service Station The Oasis Motel Cafe Nimpo Lake Nimpo Lake General Store Prince George Ava Maria Gifts and Health Foods Books and Co. University of Northern BC College of New Caledonia Quesnel The Green Tree Barkerville Brewing Bliss Cafe Booster Juice Carryall Books Holistic Health Care Clinic Karin‘s European Deli Granville‘s Coffee Shop Quesnel Bakery Quiznos Safeway Save On Foods Tourism Info Center Redstone Kinikinik

Contact us today to list your Green Business - info@thegreengazette.ca or lisa@thegreengazette.ca

Williams Lake Adorn Naturally A&W All-ways Travel Amanda Enterprises Barking Spider Mtn. Bikes Bean Counter Bistro Beaver Valley Feeds Body Connection by Joe CanWest Propane Cariboo Growers Coop Cariboo Ski Community Futures Concrete Fitness Conservation Society CJ‘s Restaurant CRD Library Creative Scissor Dairy Queen Dandelion Living Day Spa Champagne earthRight Elaine‘s Natural Foods 4 Sure Bistro Factory Direct Furniture Greyhound Bus Stop Haines Office World Handi-Mart Joey‘s Grill KFC Halls Organics Integrated Elements Wellness Clinic The Hobbit House Husky Restaurant Karamia‘s Donairs Kornak & Hamm Pharmacy The Laughing Loon The Legion Manna Cafe Margetts Meats McDonalds New World Coffee Oliver‘s Bar & Grill Porky‘s Deli Quality Tax Solutions Red Shred‘s Bike & Board Shed Rona Home Centre Safeway Save-on-Foods SBL Liquor Store Scout Island Nature Center Senior Citizens ActivityCenter Shopper‘s Drug Mart Spa Bella Station House Gallery Sta-Well Health Foods Subway Taylor Made Cakes The Gecko Tree The Open Book Tim Hortons Tourism Info Center Trattoria Pasta Shoppe Thompson Rivers Univ.

Tsilhqot'in National Gov`t Walmart Williams Lake Physio WL Veterinary Hospital Williams Lake Water Factory *please note that we are in the process of revamping our distribution process to better serve our clients. If TheGreenGazette is not being displayed at any of the above locations please contact us so that we may rectify the situation.

By Jasmin Schellenberg HEALTHY SNACKS AND WHY Sriracha Hummus Flavourful, loaded with micronutrients and with just the right hint of spice. Fantastic served with fresh vegetables. Great snack.

Ingredients 2 cups dry chickpeas ¼ teaspoon baking soda 4 cloves garlic, smashed 2½ teaspoons finely ground sea salt 1 teaspoon smoked paprika ¼ cup roasted sesame tahini ¾ cup sriracha (or chili sauce) ½ cup extra virgin olive oil ¼ cup water Method Pour the chickpeas into a bowl, cover with warm water by two inches, and then stir in the baking soda. Let the chickpeas soak, covered, for 18 to 24 hours. Drain them and rinse them well.

Dump the soaked chickpeas into a stockpot or Dutch oven, cover them with plenty of water, and boil them over high heat until softened, about 1½ to 2 hours.

Drain the chickpeas, and allow them to cool to room temperature.

Place the chickpeas, garlic cloves, salt, smoked paprika, tahini, sriracha, olive oil, and water into a food processor, and process them together until they form a smooth, velvety paste.

Serve immediately with vegetables, or store in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to a week.

NUTRIENT DENSE MEAL Crustless Quiche (serves 4) Ingredients 4 cups of seasonal vegetables including onions, cubed 6-8 eggs, whipped ½ cup shredded cheese salt &pepper Method Place cubed vegetables in a greased casserole dish.

Sprinkle with salt & pepper.

Pour in eggs and cheese.

Bake at 175 degrees C for 35 minutes, or until golden.

Great with salad and sausages.

Enjoy!

MYTHS UNVEILED The toxic stress cycle.

The basic cause of toxic stress, in most cases, is improper eating habits. Many diseases start on the plate. Choosing commercially grown meats, veggies, and processed food increases the toxin levels even more.

Improperly digested foods become toxic in the bowel, congest the liver, and then stress the kidneys. Once the kidneys fail to process the toxins, the cycle continues through all the organs.

Poor function of the digestive system results in the inability to properly digest food. This is often due to lack of enzymes, improper chewing, processed food choices, and too much food. The colon can‘t function without the proper enzyme activity; food remains undigested, can‘t be absorbed or eliminated, causing gas and putrefaction, resulting in toxic stress. Overuse of antibiotics destroys the beneficial flora in the colon, causing a greater toxic load from anaerobic bacteria, fungus, and candida.

The toxins from poor digestion travel then through to the liver and kidneys. The liver‘s key function is to maintain the immune system. Despite the phenomenal amount of work the liver does, there are limits to what it can accomplish. Whatever the liver can‘t handle will get dumped back into the bloodstream to be processed by the kidneys and urinary bladder. If they fail to do their job effectively, long-term metabolic disturbances occur.

What toxins the kidneys can‘t handle travel through the bloodstream to the lungs (here, asthma can occur). What toxins the lungs can‘t eliminate stay in the blood. Thus the circulatory system is now affected.

Because there is a lack of oxygen

in the circulatory system, not enough oxygen gets to the cells to burn sugars, proteins, and fats for energy. Now the lymph becomes congested with waste materials from the cells, resulting in swollen lymph nodes, passing greater stress onto the spleen.

From here on the toxic waste gets passed on to the heart. The heart needs lipids (special fat molecules) for its proper function. If the fats in the body are toxic due to toxic blood, the heart can be damaged. From here, the muscles and soft tissues are not getting proper oxygen for doing their job and are getting loaded down with old lactic acid, becoming very painful showing the stress in stiff muscles.

The nerve flow to all organs is affected, such as thyroid and the adrenals, which are getting overworked. The endocrine system becomes depleted both nutritionally and energetically, which in turn prevents the manufacturing of sufficient enzymes for digestion and the toxic stress cycle starts again.

How to break this cycle? Simple detox programs like a drink of 1 tablespoon of apple cider vinegar in a glass of water 2-3 times per day, kombucha, eating sauerkraut or kimchi with every meal (just a forkful will do), kefir, yogourt, and fermented bread and grains are all very beneficial for your digestion.

Chewing your food well before swallowing is also very important and gives the brain time to let you know that in fact you had enough and thus are less likely to overeat. Know where your food comes from and what the ingredients are. Stay away

from processed foods as well as artificial colours and dyes.

Choose organic food over conventionally grown food, avoiding the extra herbicides, pesticides, other chemicals, Genetically Modified Organisms (GMOs), and growth hormones. Organic food contains up to 69 per cent more antioxidants (which benefits disease prevention: Mercola).

Choose grass-finished beef rather than feedlot beef where GMO corn is force-fed.

Remember when detoxing to avoid alcohol and caffeine-containing drinks to aid the process.

If you have a serious problem read the book, The Healing Triad by Dr. Jack Tips.

He recommends several detoxing programs made by Systemic Formulas.

A WALK THROUGH YOUR PANTRY: GET RID OF: Processed foods, artificial colours, and dyes.

REPLACE WITH: Fresh, organic, whole ingredients for cooking your meals from scratch, making sure no GMOs, fertilizers, pesticides, and growth hormones are added.

Brought to you by Jasmin Schellenberg Inspired by and resourced from www.westonaprice.org and the book, The Healing Triad by Dr Jack Tips. For ―Nourishing our Children‖ newsletters of the past visit www.thegreengazette.ca.