TheGreenGazetteFeb2014

TheGreenGazette

February/March 2014

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February/March 2014

TheGreenGazette

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Contents

Issue # 25

February / March 2014

Features:

05/ Winter Storytelling Before written word, music, dance, and possibly even speech, humans and their close evolutionary ancestors were telling stories to share experiences, impart warnings, encourage success, and pass the time when winter brought longer nights.

- by Jessica Kirby 14/ Strangers in Our Homes: TV and Our Children’s Minds As a mother and a paediatrician who completed both a threeyear residency in paediatrics and a three-year subspecialty fellowship in behavioural and developmental paediatrics, I started to wonder: “What are we doing to our children’s growth and learning potential by allowing them to watch television and videos as well as spend endless hours playing computer games?” - by Susan R. Johnson, M.D 18/ Getting Garden Ready for the 2014 Season It’s amazing how close spring can feel once the holidays are done and gone. There is a period of relief once the garden is put to bed in the fall, then relaxation as there seems no end in sight to the winter months. Then January 1 rolls around and all of a sudden, it isn’t two months until March… - by Brianna van de Wijngaard 19/ Integrative Health Column: The Healthy Integrationists 10 Steps to More Love I began writing this article today—a little change from my usual column just for fun—by exploring my general distain for Valentine’s Day. I figured it would be a marvellous time to fully articulate the absurdity and redundancy I think defines the Hallmark holiday (sad as that may sound to some), and set out on an anti-love quest with great intentions of breaking down the walls of that sappy institution. - by Ciel Patenaude 24/ The Marsh Book A unique kind of book is being written at Edgewood Blue in British Columbia’s Upper Clearwater Valley. Instead of using words, paragraphs, and pages, Trevor Goward has been using water, soil, and plants. His ideas are not expressed with phrases, sentences, or punctuation but in channels, islands, and stones. - by Ray Grigg

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Publisher / Editor-in-Chief Lisa Bland lisa@thegreengazette.ca Senior Editor Jessica Kirby Contributors David Suzuki, LeRae Haynes, Jessica Kirby, Carmen Mutschele, Jenna Sipponen, Michael and Sue Furminger, Ciel Patenaude, Ron Young, Lisa Bland, Jenna Sipponen, Tricia Ramier, A.K. Amy, Jasmin Schellenberg, Terri Smith, Susan Tritt, Ray Grigg, Colleen Gatenby, Richard Case, Pat Teti, Brianna van de Wijngaard Advertising Lisa Bland Creative Directors Lisa Bland / Teena Clipston Ad Design Teena Clipston, Rebecca Patenaude Published by Earthwild Consulting Printing Black Press Ltd. Cover Photo The Invitation, chalk pastel by Al-Lisa McKay Index Photo Watching the World Change. oil pastel by Al-Lisa McKay

PO Box 164 Horsefly, BC, V0L 1L0 250-620-3419 www.thegreengazette.ca info@thegreengazette.ca TheGreenGazette is published by Earthwild Consulting. To subscribe call 250-620-3419. To view the online flipbook, visit www.thegreengazette.ca © 2014 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.

February/March 2014

Watching the World Change, Oil Pastel. Al-Lisa McKay

10/ Feature Artist: Living in the Flow with Al-Lisa Tresierra McKay Meet Al-Lisa Tresierra McKay. She lives outside the rules of ordinary existence; some might call her a visionary.

Al-Lisa brings worlds unseen into time and space and sees her role as a midwife to the realms. - by Lisa Bland

Also in this Issue: 04/ Publishers Letter: Carbon Conscious Travel - by Lisa Bland 05/ DFO Cloaks Salmon Farm Expansion in Secrecy to Bar Public Input 06/ Featured Green Business: Strong Beginnings: Focus on families - by LeRae Haynes 07/ Perspectives on Women and Depression - by Carmen Mutschele 08/ The Cariboo-Chilcotin Ecosystems Restoration Steering Committee: Serving the region since 2008 09/ Science Matters: Out of Darkness, the Light - by David Suzuki 09/ The Cariboo’s Own Agricultural Conference: Ag & Hort Leap - by Michael and Sue Furminger 12/ Youth Perspective: February 17 - Random Acts of Kindness Day - by Jenna Sipponen 13/ On Creative Discipline - by Melanie Reinelt 17/ Raising Amadeus - by Terri Smith 17/ Celebrating Multiculturalism at The Bean Counter Bistro 20/ Infernal Pollution of the Spotless Mind - by Ron Young 21/ World Water Day – March 22 - by Brianna van de Wijngaard 21/ Composting: Cariboo Regional District’s Solid Waste Management Info Series - Becoming Waste Wise 22/ Chicken Column: Flock Health Testing - by Susan Tritt 23/ Bread: Hey man, can I have some dough? - by Pat Teti 24/ Transition Town Group Hosts Films and Discussion in February and March 25/ Road’s End Vegetable Company: TheGreenGazette Grand Prize Winner - by LeRae Haynes 25/ What’s in your Well? Drinking water in Canada: Part 1 - by A.K. (Sandy) Amy 27/ Virabhadrasana 2 - Warrior 2 Pose - by Tricia Ramier 27/ A Plastic Perspective - by Community Futures Cariboo-Chilcotin 28/ Book Review: “The Great Turning: From Empire to Earth Community” - by Richard Case 29/ Quesnel Food Gardeners: Feature Gardeners - Linda and Mark Ekelund - by Colleen Gatenby 29/ Environmental Groups Launch Lawsuit over Flawed Corthern Gateway Report 30/ Courishing our Children - by Jasmin Schellenberg 30/ Calendar of Events 31/ The Green Collective

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TheGreenGazette

Letter from the Publisher

Carbon Conscious Travel Lisa Bland Publisher/ Editor-in-Chief

D

ear Readers,

The darkest days of winter are gone and although there’s no sign of green life stirring under the heavy blanket of snow, the light is returning. I notice my plants reaching higher towards the window, seeking the sun, waiting out the days until they’ll be transported outside.

In the Cariboo we are no stranger to long winters, but are so often blessed with blue skies, sunshine, and sparkling days that the season is pure magic for those who venture to the backcountry, hit the local ski hills, or head out on x-country skis or snowshoes. For others, winter seems to drag on forever and the extra work keeping the driveway clear, struggling to stay warm, and stressing over unpredictable and challenging road conditions takes its toll.

Some are lucky enough to get away from it all and venture to distant lands, and Canadians are no strangers to planning exotic escapes in the winter. Fast getaways to warm destinations are a luxury enjoyed mainly by those in the developed world, and while the ecological footprint of energy consumption and impacts on the environment are a given, the intention to travel with a green conscience can leave a positive impact on places visited, reduce social and environmental effects, and give travellers unique and authentic experiences in a local context.

According to the United Nations, annual international travel is expected to double to 1.6 billion by 2020, a quarter being long-haul journeys, or those greater than six hours. “Travelling is now part of consumer patterns for an increasing number of people in both emerging and advanced economies,” says Taleb Rifai, UN World Tourism Organization.

At their destination, with a bit of research, travellers can have positive impacts on local communities, support green initiatives and socially just practices, and sustain locals’ efforts to achieve greater health and well-being for themselves and their families. However, long haul flights are highly polluting in terms of CO2 production, and according to the David Suzuki Foundation, for a small industry, aviation has a significant footprint, accounting for between four and nine per cent of total climate change impacts caused by human activity. With an emissions increase of 83 per cent since 1990, levels of CO2 from international aviation continue to grow.

In most countries, not much is happening to limit these emissions and even those with targets under the Kyoto Protocol are only required to do so for domestic, not international flights. Only the European Union to date has been looking into a plan

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for controlling and reducing international flight emissions. Many people concerned about global emissions have chosen to travel less or not at all, or take holidays closer to home. With the attitude of “reduce what you can and offset what you can’t,” some people are choosing to lessen their impact and offsetting their carbon footprints by purchasing carbon credits.

There is a lot of buzz about going carbon neutral, and greenhouse gas emissions are a worldwide problem. Burning fossil fuels like coal, oil, and gas accounts for 91 per cent of the increase in humancreated CO2 emissions. Deforestation accounts for 9 per cent. A report by the Global Carbon Project, says global carbon dioxide emissions from burning fossil fuels will rise to a record 39 billion tons this year. In 2013, emissions from fossil fuels alone grew by 2.1 per cent, a 61 per cent increase since 1990, the baseline year of the U.N.’s Kyoto Protocol. Dr. Mike Raupach of CSIRO says, “A continuation of the emissions growth trends observed since 2000 would place the world on a path to reach 2 degrees Celsius above preindustrial times in 30 years.”

Although the concept is controversial, carbon credits and offsets are an attempt to reduce the overall carbon dioxide released into the atmosphere. Carbon credits are a trading scheme where emissions from one place are traded to finance viable carbon reducing initiatives in other places.

One carbon credit represents a ‘permit’ to emit one tonne of carbon dioxide, and if companies are regulated under a greenhouse gas cap and trade system, they can use a certain number of allowable credits to a maximum amount. If they use less credits than what they are allowed, they can trade or sell them. If they use more, they need to purchase carbon credits from companies producing offsets. Because carbon dioxide production affects the world equally in terms of climate change, both carbon offsets and credits create the same reduction in emissions. In some cases it may be less expensive for businesses to purchase offsets than to eliminate their own emissions. For example, the cost of retrofitting an existing industrial system would be much more expensive than supporting new, more technologically advanced or efficient projects in other countries.

Carbon offsets produced by projects such as wind farms, solar, hydro, geothermal, or biomass energy directly generate carbon credits by reducing the use of fossil fuels and leading to a reduction of carbon dioxide emissions. Other types of offsets include energy-efficiency projects such as methane capture from landfills or livestock, and reforestation or agricultural carbon-sequestration projects that absorb carbon dioxide.

Buyers should choose their offsets carefully, as the voluntary offset market is largely unregulated. The David Suzuki Foundation and the Pembina Institute have produced a guide for Canadian consumers, businesses, and organizations for purchasing carbon offsets. It highlights independently verified projects that meet the highest standards in the world under the Gold Stan-

Photo: Luc Willems dard, with projects that support only renewable energy or energy-efficient technologies. Currently, the Gold Standard applies to offset projects mostly in developing countries that don’t have emission reductions under the Kyoto Protocol, helping them to benefit technologically from more developed countries and providing other options from the polluting path of burning fossil fuels.

Individuals now can calculate their carbon footprint for flights, homes, car and other travel, and lifestyle choices. A handy carbon footprint calculator, see links below, calculates an amount of carbon in tons of CO2, and offers options to purchase offset credits with carbon reduction projects around the world.

With a bit of planning ahead, travellers can also reduce their carbon footprint in the countries they visit by booking ecofriendly accommodation, getting around responsibly when there, using public transport instead of private transportation, participating in sustainable tourism activities that are dedicated to protecting ecosystems, wildlife, or culture, eating locally or at markets, volunteering for worthy projects, and learning more about the environment and people and cultures they visit to enhance understanding about ways to make a positive difference.

With a tourism industry dominated by large companies, many small, grassroots, low-impact initiatives all over the world go unnoticed. Various organizations exist to promote sustainable travel options such as the International Ecotourism Society, promoting travel that “conserves the environment and improves the well-being of local people”. The Ethical Travel Guide 2013 focuses on unique local experiences, ensuring locals are supported by tourist dollars. Sustainable Travel International is a non-profit organization helping travellers identify credible eco-label and ecocertification programs with a directory of hundreds of sustainable options from ecolodges to places to volunteer. The Ethical Traveler promotes travel that’s good for the environment as well as human rights.

Of course, the ideal choice is to reduce our carbon footprint by staying at home or venturing into our own backyards, but for those of us with a spirit of adventure who still want to see the wonders of the world but who don’t feel great about the impact, making eco-friendly choices at our destinations and purchasing carbon

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credits to offset our footprint is one way of easing one’s conscience.

For more info on going carbon neutral visit: http://davidsuzuki.org/what-youcan-do/reduce-your-carbon-footprint/gocarbon-neutral/ and http://davidsuzuki.org/ publications/resources/2009/purchasingcarbon-offsets/.

For further reading on the subject matter above visit: www.co2now.org, www.cdmgoldstandard.org, www.carbonfootprint.com, www.carbonfund.org, www.terrapass.org, www.carbonneutral.org, www.ecotourism.org, www.tourismconcern.org.uk/ethical-travelguide.html, www.sustainabletravel.org, and www.ethicaltraveler.org.

Wishing everyone a happy February and March!

To receive regular posts and updates from TheGreenGazette like us on Facebook and visit our website at www.thegreengazette.ca to view feature headlines, our full-colour flipbook, community events calendar, Green Community Collective Listings, and more. If you are interested in writing or advertising with us please contact me at lisa@athegreengazette.ca or visit our website for advertising rates and submission guidelines.

February/March 2014

Winter Storytelling

By Jessica Kirby, Senior Editor of TheGreenGazette

“

After nourishme nt, shelter and companionship, stories are the thing we need most in the world.” —Philip Pullman

These are the coldest months of the year. They spread out grey before us with the sparkle of Christmas left behind and the promise of spring just out of reach. As we hunker down by fires and in feather blankets, taking solace from icy sidewalks and darker days, we are drawn into the perfect storm of yearning, nostalgia, and coziness.

Before written word, music, dance, and possibly even speech, humans and their close evolutionary ancestors were telling stories to share experiences, impart warnings, encourage success, and pass the time when winter brought longer nights.

We know for sure that stories arrived with speech, and the archaeological record suggests the use of pictures, grunts, or gestures to communicate simple concepts may have preceded language.

“Stories have to be told or they die, and when they die, we can’t remember who we are or why we’re here.” ― Sue Monk Kidd, The Secret Life of Bees In each of Canada’s six distinct cultural regions of First Nations, storytelling and oral tradition played and continues to play an essential role in sharing knowledge, moral teaching, education, and entertainment. Through stories, songs,

Spawning Salmon, by LeshaBu dance, and ritual, First Nations pass along their history, relaying tales of adventures, ancestors, land, and animals to younger generations.

Among many First Nations, Canada’s long dark winter nights made them ideal for storytelling and it was during this season the craft was most often used for entertainment and to foster family connections. Cold temperatures and darkness threatened survival and confined people to their dwellings, increasing the need for high-caloric intake and heating fuel.

“Despite winter's hardships, this was also the time for some forms of socializing and entertainment,” says author Harvey McCue. “This was the time for stories.”

According to McCue, in some First Nations, certain men and women had a greater gift for storytelling than others and travelled the camps in storytelling season, imparting their gift. They carried a bag filled with props and teaching tools—a doll made of corn husks or a crow feather—and would show it to a group to begin a tale.

Stories often contained an openended, indirect moral lesson the listener is

TheGreenGazette left to explore on his or her own, such as a Cree story that tells of a young girl asked by her grandmother to fetch water from the river.

She is warned not to swim because a giant fish may eat her, but the granddaughter shrugs off grandmother’s warning and those of several animal friends and jumps in to cool off. When she doesn’t return home, grandmother trusts that the granddaughter can take care of herself, until she heads to the river to catch some dinner and finds a large fish in her net: “She started cutting up all the fish.

When she finally got to the big fish, she slid the knife into the belly. Beulah [granddaughter] jumped out, very much alive. At first, Gookum was startled, but she quickly realized it was Beulah, who was covered head to toe in slimy, sticky fish innards. She shook her head at Beulah, and began to laugh at her. “I told you, I told you not to swim in the lake.” Beulah bowed her head and said nothing. She just went to the lake to clean off all the smelly fish slime.

“If history were taught in the form of stories, it would never be forgotten.” ― Rudyard Kipling, The Collected Works Hopi poet and artist Ramson Lomatewama says the winter months, beginning with the Solstice, signify storytelling season and a sacred time “filled with mystery and power, because it is a time of reverence and respect for the spirits,” he said in an interview with Arizona Public Radio.

He recalls the signs of kyaamuya, a time of reverence for spirits, marked by the Solstice, when it was taboo to cut ones hair, dig a hole, whistle, make loud noises, or wander about after dark.

“I remember going back to the reservation this time of year and spending weekends with my grandmother,” he says.

“A wood stove kept us warm. We had an old lantern that hissed and had a soft light … I remember those nights when old men came to visit. They’d eat supper with us but well before the table was cleared, someone

would ask if they could stay and tell stories.

And we always passed around a yucca sifter basket filled with kutuki, the Hopi version of popcorn. Some of the stories were long and could take hours. Some of the stories were short like ones about coyote, who would fall victim to his own plots, like the time he wanted to make his tail long like the snakes, but ended up burning it off. It wasn’t until much later that I made the connection between our stories and all those roadrunner cartoons.”

Lomatewama says he feels grateful to have experienced the kyaamuya stories, because they are no longer being told as often. Many appear in print, but it isn’t the same. This is the plight of Aboriginal people around the world, struggling to retain their language and with it, cultural traditions and identity.

“Maybe it’s that we don’t experience kyaamuya quite the same way anymore,” says Lomatewama. “Maybe the reverence that many of us grew up with has been diluted by the loud cheering at basketball games or by the attraction of Christmas bazaars. I’m fortunate because those old men knew how to plant their seeds, their stories. As I grew older, those stories took root inside of me, little by little. I grew to become the adventure, the tragedy, and the journey. 9ow I realize that I am the hero of my own story.”

Embrace the darkness this time of year and connect with family and loved ones, kindling a shared experience and connection with the power of storytelling. Preserving the tradition is a tribute to Aboriginal and ancient cultures the world over, and might just warm your heart during these long, cold, winter nights.

“Stories may not actually breathe, but they can animate … Stories animate human life; that is their work.” ― Arthur Frank, Letting Stories Breathe (2010)

DFO Cloaks Salmon Farm Expansion in Secrecy to Bar Public Input The federal government is acting in secrecy to expand salmon farms on the British Columbia coast without public input, according to Living Oceans Society. The Department of Fisheries and Oceans continues to drag its heels on releasing information, even in response to Access to Information Requests, effectively shutting out public scrutiny of its handling of salmon farms.

Eleven new applications have been received by DFO since Fisheries Minister Gail Shea told the salmon farmers in October 2013 that the industry had a green light. First Nations were informed of the policy change to permit new farms in early January 2014; otherwise, there has been no public notification that DFO was prepared to abandon its moratorium on new salmon farms. A BC government website that normally publishes new tenure applications and changes to existing ones shows only 4 of the 11 new applications.

“The lack of transparency on the part of DFO appears designed to exclude public comment from the expansion of salmon farms on the coast,” said Will Soltau, Salmon Farming Campaign Manager for Living Oceans. “We have no way of knowing when these applications are filed unless governments disclose the fact.”

February/March 2014

For example, in May 2013 and without announcing any policy change, DFO approved the expansion of two salmon farms owned by Marine Harvest Canada in Queen Charlotte Strait, which is a key migratory corridor for whales, dolphins, seabirds, and fish—especially Fraser River sockeye salmon. The Marsh Bay and Shelter Bay salmon farms were allowed a 45 percent increase in capacity and together are now licensed to raise 7,000 tonnes of Atlantic salmon. Living Oceans filed an Access to Information Request with DFO in June 2013 to learn the reasons for its decision.

DFO replied to the information request by granting itself an extension of 210 days beyond the statutory 30-day limit and has still not replied. Similarly, repeated requests from Living Oceans and its colleagues in the Coastal Alliance for Aquaculture Reform that DFO publish the basic information about salmon farm performance, that was previously published by the province, have gone unanswered.

“There are important public resources that are being impacted by these applications and we have a right to be informed and to comment on them,” said Soltau. “This government is behaving as if public consultation were a frill rather than the fundamental tenet of social licence.”

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TheGreenGazette

Featured Green Business

Strong Beginnings: Focus on families

By LeRae Haynes

M

elissa LaPointe from Strong Beginnings Family Wellness and Consulting Services is opening an office in Williams Lake, providing a range of holistic services for women and children with an emphasis on paediatrics and prenatal and postnatal care.

An occupational therapist, educator, and speaker, and an advocate for women, LaPointe began by doing office and home visits for clients, and running mom and baby groups out of Stay Yoga and a prenatal class out of Essence Pilates. She says this past year for her has been ‘nose-to-the-grindstone’ research and training.

Her mission statement is to improve the quality of life for women and children through inspiration, education, and awareness, and she states her approach is unique for paediatrics.

“My passion is in child development and paediatrics, and in the past two years I have taken all the work I’ve done in understanding the science of attachment, in sensory processing, in the power of movement, and in understanding brain development and trauma,” she says.

“I’ve been focusing on intervention – on when things go wrong – working to understand what body language and non-verbal communication means in young children. That’s what tells us what’s really wrong. There is a lot of detective work involved!

“As I’ve been learning all these things what keeps coming back to me is all the things that can happen during the pre-natal period.

The more I studied, the more I became aware of the enormous gap between what current research tells us about pre-and-postnatal, and how this information is being sent to front-line workers and families.”

LaPointe has been learning from and working with Kim Barthel, author, consultant, occupational therapist, and owner of Labyrinth Journeys. Barthel is also a neuro-developmental treatment-OT instructor and a teacher of sensory integration therapy, with postgraduate study in neuro-sciences and a range of complementary healing practices. She recently authored the paediatric textbook, “Evidence and Art: Merging Forces in Paediatric Therapy.”

“I met with her last October and presented the work I am doing, and she gave me a list of people I needed to connect with, including a physical therapist (PT) in Los Angeles leading the way in women’s health, a PT in Ontario, and researchers in Texas and Alberta,” LaPointe explains. “She believed me and told me to keep moving forward, and I am now the

first OT registered with the Holistic Pediatric Alliance.”

LaPointe notes that when she became pregnant, her learning and research went straight to a ‘consumer’ standpoint. “I was shocked at how little information there is about preparing for childbirth—the movement, strength, and brain development of the baby.

For example, three months before a woman conceives, biology research suggests that her environment, the toxins she’s exposed to, her thoughts, feelings, and her stress level all impact DNA selection in her baby,” she explains.

“My work with clients includes preconception counselling and prenatal support, and educating prenatal women on how to maximize healthy development in their babies and in themselves.”

Keywords for LaPointe are, “move, breathe, play, connect, relax, and feel,” and she says she works with moms who are interested in knowing more about minimizing complications and making childbirth the most positive it can be.

She also works with older clients in stress and chronic pain management, facilitates workshops, and works one-on-one and in small groups. She consults with other practitioners, service providers, and policy makers.

“I support not just the child—I work with mothers with new babies, with families, teens, and parents. Based on my training I know that you can’t work with a child in isolation, and I encourage the whole family to come along when I see a child,” she continues.

“We used to think we don’t remember anything during the first two years of life, but we know that the memories in those early years are stored in our bodies and our cells—it’s called ‘implicit memory.’ Memory becomes the driving factor in how we respond to the world for the rest of our lives. It’s our default programming and is hardwired in us. Our bodies remember.”

She adds that she learned first-hand with her own baby that we have to look after ourselves.

“Once we have a baby we focus on the infant and forget about the mom. It takes so long to recover after childbirth and your baby needs you. You’re sent home with the responsibility for an infant, but with very little information about looking after yourself. If the mom is feeling uncomfortable, stressed, and not confident it passes to the infant; they’re so sensitive in the first few months,” she says.

“I help women understand what move-

Melissa LaPointe from Strong Beginnings Family Wellness and Consulting Services, pictured here with Aryanna Roy. ments and postures, prenatal and postnatal, are important for them and their babies.

My focus is on therapeutic touch and rhythm, such as drumming and music, which is soothing and provides balance to the left and right sides of the brain.”

The first 30 days after you have a baby is the most important time for recovery, according to LaPointe. “It’s an important window for moms that we don’t emphasize enough. I do a lot of work helping people understand how stress impacts infants and young children, and helping them understand normal sleep. It’s normal for a baby not to sleep through the night at one year. Infants shouldn’t be sleeping through the night because of their constant need to self-soothe, and also because of the size of their stomach,” she explains.

“Especially after a traumatic birth experience, it’s not unusual for an infant to need to ‘shut down’ and sleep longer hours. Instead of seeing this as a red flag, we congratulate the mom for having a ‘good baby’ who sleeps long stretches of time. We put so much pressure on parents for their babies to sleep through the night, asking, ‘Do you have a good baby who sleeps through the night?’

“We need to support the parents instead,” she says. “Not everyone has a ‘village’; you need to consciously create one.”

She adds that it doesn’t matter if you’re feeling really healthy or really sick; there are things that she can do to help you feel that much better.

“I’m supportive of all the safety nets we have in the Cariboo Chilcotin region. We have many in place to help catch women and children when they slip through the cracks. What was eye-opening to me, however, was where we need resources to help women and children thrive and be healthy: not just to prevent, but to promote.

“We’re all working to become healthy and whole. Life throws curveballs at us, and the more we work on our strengths the more resources we have to deal with the curveballs,” she says.

“This is what I want for the world and I want it to start at home. Williams Lake is already on the map for what we’re doing for the health of women and children. We’re already leaders.”

For more information about Strong Beginnings, including a free consultation for new clients, phone 250-302-1856, email info.strongbeginnings@gmail.com, learn more on Facebook, or visit www.strongbeginnings.ca. Strong Beginnings is located at #102-325 Oliver Street, in Williams Lake, above Shopper's Drug Mart.

LeRae Haynes is a freelance writer, songwriter, co-producer of “Pursicles,” and the community co-ordinator for Success by 6. She is also the instigator of a lot of musical shenanigans in Williams Lake including “Borderband” with kids and is a member of the “Perfect Match” dance band.

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February/March 2014

TheGreenGazette

By Carmen Mutschele

M

y first contact with depression occurred when my grandmother, who lived with us, waded into the local river fully clothed in an attempt to kill herself. I still remember coming home from elementary school that day listening to my parents’ depiction of what had happened. My grandmother was labelled depressed, and disappeared into the psychiatric ward of the local hospital for several months.

This event highly stigmatized her and our whole family, as we were accused of having brought on my grandmother’s depression; after all, it was the 70s in a small, predominantly conservative town. She would struggle with depression for the rest of her life, and looking back I am astonished to see the total lack of accompanying psychotherapy or the recognition of her social context. On the contrary, her illness was looked at from a condescending stance, and empathy for mental health issues was not part of the mainstream culture at the time. Fortunately, things have changed since then and mental health issues have been gaining more recognition even though there is still somewhat of a stigma attached.

“Depression is a relatively common condition, affecting about 8 per cent of Canadians at some point in their lives (Bland, 1997). The World Health Organizations ranks depression as the leading cause of years of life lived with disability worldwide, and a federal government report concludes that, “because of their high prevalence, economic cost, risk of suicide, and loss of quality of life, mood disorders represent a serious public health concern in Canada” (Health Canada 2002b, 6) (Davis, 2006, p. 41).

It’s important to state that the causes of depression are complex and range from genetic predisposition and hormonal imbalance to various kinds of trauma experienced at some point in life. The contributing factors can be hard to identify at times, and even amongst professionals there is much debate about the causes of depression. While depression affects both men and women, it is significantly more prevalent in the female part of the population. Santrock et al. (2008) argue that, “inequities such as low pay and unequal opportunities have contributed to the greater incidence of depression in females than males” (Whiffen, 2001. p. 12).

Looking at postpartum depression, for instance, shows how strongly this condition is linked to a woman’s individual birth experience. Over time, the medicalization of pregnancy and birth has disconnected women from the wisdom of traditional birth attendants, such as midwives. Through the hospitalization of childbirth in the early 20th century, this innately female experience was put into the hands of a male dominated medical system, and more and more women traded a natural, self-directed birth experience, for the safety of a medical institution.

Caesarean sections became more frequent and soon new mothers became used to this new approach and some even demanded it. While there is a time and place for Caesarean sections and many of these medical interventions helped save lives, they also produce problems and unnecessary surgical procedures. In 2007 the C-section rate in Canada was at 26.6%, which is one of the major factors for developing postpartum depression (Niino, 2011, p. 141).

In her book, A woman’s worth (1993),

February/March 2014

Author Marianne Williamson goes even further in her analyses of depression among Western women, looking at the oppression experienced throughout the centuries and the effects on the collective psyche. In her opinion, depression is almost a sane reaction to the persecution of the feminine in our world— where women either find their voice in outrage and/or, succumb into depression to numb the pain of being a second class citizen.

At a recent Pacific Aids Network (PAN) conference in Vancouver, psychologist Dr. Ross Laird delivered a riveting presentation that had everybody on the edge of their seats. Referring to Jungian psychology, which is informed by archetypes, spirituality, and the importance of stories to communicate deep psychic truths, Dr. Laird talked about the importance of mentorship and inspiration when working with youth in mental health and addiction. He is convinced that the major cause of depression in general is the avoidance of the “call” as he puts it.

According to Laird, several times in life, with the first usually being between the age of 15 and 24, we hear the call—a nudge, trying to propel us into the direction of what gives us purpose and fulfillment. (www.rosslaird.com). But our predominantly mentally driven Western culture doesn’t make following our calling a priority; it is too busy training us to fill our respective positions in the mighty machine of an industrialized nation, fuelled by capitalist ideals. So, if we negate the call, and avoid taking that necessary leap of faith, over the course of our lifetimes we may find many reasons why not to follow it. Then, in a tragic sequel of events, the call will begin to fade, or may be numbed by a variety of drugs and self-destructive behaviours. And because everybody around us is doing the same thing, we call this normal.

Women around the world have always heard a calling to live a meaningful and authentic life, but cultural conventions or internalized oppression may have prevented many from following it. In this context it is no wonder that women may choose to self-medicate to numb the pain of unlived potential. That is not to say that everybody’s call is a grandiose one, or that following it will immunize against depression in general; however, the limitations that women have encountered throughout history and time have left their mark on the collective psyche. In her book, Women who run with the wolves (1992), Jungian analyst Dr. Clarissa Pinkola Estes looks into the deeper meaning of stories and folk tales, and how they relate to modern day women.

“Within every woman there is a wild and natural creature, a powerful force, filled with good instincts, passionate creativity, and ageless knowing. Her name is Wild Woman, but she is an endangered species. Though the gifts of wildish nature come to us at birth, society’s attempt to “civilize” us into rigid roles has plundered this treasure, and muffled the deep, life-giving messages of our own souls. Without Wild Woman, we become over-domesticated, fearful, uncreative, trapped.” (Pinkola Estes, 1992, book cover).

If we believe therapists such as Dr. Laird and Dr. Pinkola Estes, then there may be a vital part of ourselves that we’re not living or able to express within the limiting parameters of modern culture. All of this, aside from well established factors such as hormonal imbalance, biological predispositions, and the quality of one’s birth experience, can attribute to depression and post-partum depression in general. The real tragedy could be seen to unfold when we are not only prevented from

photo: imatter.silvercross.org

Perspectives on Women and Depression

living according to our nature, but when we have forgotten who we actually are. A woman’s yearning for connection, her desire to express her power in an equal partnership, and see her values represented in the cultural mainstream, could all contribute to a healthier collective female psyche.

In my grandmother’s case, her depression was never addressed in a way that allowed her to explore how past trauma or experiences might have contributed to her condition. The genetic lottery was blamed, and the fact that she wasn’t able to control it was seen as a weakness. For some, depression is a dark companion that silently slips into one’s life and stifles the spirit with a heavy blanket of despair. If unaddressed it can work its dark

magic uncensored, leading us into a paralyzing darkness. However, depression can also be a chance to bring to light issues that have been buried deep inside and prevented us from living a fulfilled and self-actualized life. The good news is that in today’s world there are a vast range of therapies and approaches available, helping to uncover underlying issues in women and men alike, enabling them to embark on a journey of self-discovery and personal growth.

Carmen Mutschele lives in the Cariboo Region. She is looking forward to longer days, more sunlight to avert the winter blahs, and is reminding herself to follow her bliss to help navigate through the darker days of winter.

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TheGreenGazette

The Cariboo-Chilcotin Ecosystems Restoration Steering Committee: Serving the region since 2008

By Cariboo-Chilcotin Ecosystem Restoration Committee

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hy is ecosystems restoration important?

In the fire maintained ecosystems of BC’s interior, decades of wildfire suppression and the absence of prescribed fire has contributed to trees encroaching onto historic grasslands, as well as excessive in-growth of trees in previously open forests. Throughout the province, hundreds of thousands of hectares of open forest and grasslands have been affected by this ecological change, causing a reduction of ecosystem resiliency to climate change pressures and a loss of biodiversity.

Since the early 1900s forest encroachment has been occurring in many grasslands throughout the province. Before this time period many more “cool” fires occurred every 7-20 years, killing off most of the small, thin-barked trees, and maintaining open forests with grassy understories that merged with native grasslands.

Covering less than one percent of BC, native grasslands are home to the highest diversity of at-risk plant and animal species.

In response to changes in ecosystems and loss of biodiversity, increasing measures are being taken throughout the world to rehabilitate or restore ecosystems. Ecosystem restoration is recognized internationally as the process of re-establishing ecological characteristics, species composition, and natural processes of degraded or destroyed ecosystems.

Locally, in the interior of BC, the benefits of ecosystem restoration reach far beyond ecology. Restoration provides many economic, social, and cultural benefits such as: recognition of managed fire as an inherent First Nation land use technique reduction of excessive fuel loads to lessen catastrophic wildfires improved air quality by managing emissions through prescribed fire opposed to emissions resulting from a wildfire potentially occurring during less favourable atmospheric conditions improved long-term timber harvest values through spacing over dense, stands while also providing a potential bioenergy source increased natural forage to sustain wildlife and livestock and their related industries increased resilience of community water•

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sheds to maintain potable water supplies improved recreational and aesthetic values.

A 2007 report found that forest encroachment on arid grasslands and open range in the Cariboo-Chilcotin had become widespread because of intentional suppression and management of natural wildfires for public safety. As trees spread and their density increased, they reduced the abundance and diversity of understory grass species. With an eye to restoring historic grasslands, the Cariboo-Chilcotin Ecosystems Restoration Steering Committee (CCERSC) has been working to identify and restore critical grasslands in the region since 2008.

What is the Cariboo-Chilcotin Ecosystems Restoration Steering Committee?

Early in 2008 the CCERSC dedicated its initial efforts in the region to the Cariboo Chilcotin Grasslands Benchmark lands. These benchmark areas were identified in the Cariboo-Chilcotin Land Use Plan Grasslands Strategy (2001). Today, the CCERSC has widened its scope of ecosystem restoration to areas beyond the Benchmark lands to include community forests, mule-deer winter range sites, and other sensitive habitats.

The CCERSC is a collaborative initiative between First Nations and various stakeholders in the region. The committee is made up of representatives of three provincial ministries (Forests, Range and Natural Resource Operations, Agriculture, and Environment); three First Nations groups (Tsilhqot’in, Carrier Chilcotin, and Northern Shuswap); the Department of National Defense; four cattlemen’s groups (CaribooChilcotin, Clinton, Quesnel, and South Cariboo); three non-profits (Grasslands Conservation Council of BC, Cariboo-Chilcotin Conservation Society, and BC Wildlife Federation), and the Fraser Basin Council, all of whom use or promote ecosystem restoration as a land management tool.

What does the work of the CaribooChilcotin Ecosystems Restoration Steering Committee accomplish?

The restoration of grasslands and open forests contributes to the region’s rich biodiversity by providing habitat for a wealth of species, many of which are at risk because habitat has been lost or degraded. These plants provide forage and browse for domestic cattle, elk, deer, and bighorn sheep in the region.

Restoration has economic benefits for ranching, forestry, hunting, guide-

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Big horn sheep in the Cariboo-Chilcotin benefit from ecosystem restoration.

Photo: Lisa Bland

A controlled burn in the Cariboo-Chilcotin Region.

Photo: Cariboo-Chilcotin Conservation Society

outfitting, tourism, recreation, and communities.

Through ecosystem restoration management, controlled burning in areas close to communities mitigates wildfire risks. All communities and First Nation governments are notified through the appropriate channels when burns are scheduled in their area or territory.

How is ecosystem restoration carried out in the Cariboo-Chilcotin?

Ecosystem restoration in the CaribooChilcotin involves a combination of machine thinning and hand slashing as well as industrial logging to remove excess trees from grassland and open forest sites.

Sites are logged, machine thinned, or hand slashed depending on the size, density, and current commercial value of trees on site.

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Trees are sold as sawlogs, chipped for pulpwood, made into pellets, piled and burned, or left scattered on the ground as biomass.

Tree removal is followed by prescribed burning to maintain grassland and open forest sites.

The Wildfire Management Branch’s Fire Centre uses some prescribed burns as training activities. This shared cost strategy makes ecosystem restoration less costly, resulting in more sites being restored.

Would you like to know more about ecosystem restoration in the Cariboo-Chilcotin?

Please contact erobinson@fraserbasin.bc.ca.

February/March 2014

TheGreenGazette

Science Matters

Out of Darkness, the Light By David Suzuki

February/March 2014

By Michael and Sue Furminger, conference co-ordinators g & Hort Leap, the regional Conference on agriculture, returns to Quesnel in February after successful events in 2011 and 2012. After a year off this Conference is more than twice as big and is being held over two days. The wait has not been in vain!

Ag & Hort Leap offers workshops on keeping chickens, cattle, pigs, and bees. More unusual topics include two workshops on the relationship between producers and restaurants and a workshop on how to build a root cellar. There are also workshops on the bigger issues of how to obtain land for farming and one on the expanding export of hay to the Far East. The range of subjects covered at the Conference is huge and it’s all available in Quesnel.

We are grateful to all of the Conference sponsors who have made this event possible including the Cariboo-Chilcotin Beetle Action Coalition, the BC Ministry of Agriculture, Community Futures North Cariboo, and the Quesnel Community and Economic Development Corporation.

We’re often asked what the Conference is about. Most obviously, it’s about agriculture, but there are many aspects to that. The Conference has several underlying themes.

One of the most important objectives of the Conference is to encourage new entrants to agriculture. This is one basis of the reference to “leap” in the Conference name. We see people “making a leap” into the agricultural sector.

A particular local aspect of this is the “bug kill” challenge to the lumber industry causing many people locally to look for viable alternative incomes.

The average age of farmers is increasing across North America and the Cariboo is no exception. Sons and daughters are following their parents in the family farm to a much lesser extent than before. Young people new to agriculture have not learned about farming and the opportunities to do so are limited, especially locally.

As an organization, FARMED wants to do all it can to encourage and equip new farmers. FARMED is the informal name of the North Cariboo Agricultural Marketing Association. The letters stand for Farming, Agriculture, Rural, Marketing, and Eco-Diversification. FARMED seeks to promote agriculture in the North Cariboo.

Another important objective of the Conference is to assist in a wider effort to increase local food producing capacity. Here is another basis for the reference to “leap” in the Conference name: it is hoped that BC, and the Cariboo in particular, can make a leap in the production of its own food.

For example, BC imports 75% of its vegetable consumption and 70% of that comes from the US. There is no reason why we cannot produce and store many more of our vegetables in the Cariboo. There are obvious economic and environmental reasons why such a course is desirable.

A further aim of the Conference is to give local producers a good opportunity to network—to build relationships with other producers, suppliers, and customers, both new and old. Many producers across the Cariboo are relatively isolated. There’s no better way to build relationships than over a cup of coffee or, better still, a good meal. The Conference agenda deliberately sets aside lots of time for coffee breaks and good locally produced meals—including this year’s Conference Dinner on the Saturday night. Talking about farming is hard work!

Finally, the Conference seeks to stress the importance of diversification by producers. Some markets are becoming tougher and less profitable. Others are growing. There are some brand new opportunities out there for producers. Perhaps the most dramatic example is the expanding export of hay to the Far East. It is important for local producers to see the need for diversification and to gain an overview of at least some of the options available. Associated with this topic, the Conference will also promote FARMED’s own brand for local producers, “Grown for You.” By the time this article is published, it will be too late for many readers to attend the Conference. But all is not lost. Plans are already being made to hold another Conference next year, perhaps in a different centre in the Cariboo.

We hope next year’s Conference will be bigger and better again. There are already suggestions that the 2015 Conference covers areas not covered this year including cheese-making and that it gives more emphasis to horticulture. It has also been suggested that the relationship between local food and health be promoted and that schools are involved. These are all ideas that can be pursued.

FARMED is delighted to have been given this opportunity to share about Ag Hort & Leap in a regional publication. The Conference wishes to reach out to the whole of the Cariboo.

FARMED welcomes questions and suggestions about the Conference, which should be sent to the Conference co-ordinators at aghortleap@live.com.

The Conference also has a Facebook page at Quesnel Ag. & Hort. Leap.

FARMED has a website at farmed.ca. We look forward to hearing from you.

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el son Mandela, who in December died at age 95, was sentenced to life in prison in 1962 because he fought for justice, equality, and democracy. He was finally released 27 years later, in 1990. South Africa’s racist apartheid system fell and Mandela served as president from 1994 to 1999. The tributes after his death rightfully celebrated him as a forgiving, compassionate humanitarian and a great leader.

Closer to home, on December 1, 1955, in Montgomery, Alabama, Rosa Parks refused to obey a bus driver’s order to give up her seat to a white person. She was arrested for violating Alabama’s segregation law. It wasn’t the first challenge to U.S. racial policies and prejudice – it wasn’t even her first – and that act alone didn’t change laws and attitudes. But it catalyzed the civil rights movement that led to massive social change.

In Canada, in 1965, Everett George Klippert was sentenced to “indefinite” imprisonment for having sex with other men. ThenJustice Minister Pierre Trudeau later said, “There’s no place for the state in the bedrooms of the nation,” and sexual activity between same-sex, consenting adults was decriminalized in 1969 (although Klippert was imprisoned until 1971). Now, same-sex couples can get married in Canada.

We pride ourselves on our democratic traditions, but in Canada, women couldn’t vote until 1918, Asians not until 1948, and First Nations people living on reserves not until 1960.

We’ve come a long way. It’s hard to fathom that such widespread, often statesanctioned discrimination occurred so recently—much of it in my lifetime. My childhood memories include a time when the government confiscated my family’s possessions and exiled us to a camp in the BC Interior, just because my grandparents were from Japan.

We still have discrimination and many other problems, but these examples show change is possible—often quickly, after reaching a critical mass of public support. Studies show discrimination, murder, and other violent crime rates and death from war have all declined over the years.

Throughout history, we’ve faced challenges and adapted to changing conditions.

We’ve renounced practices that, in hindsight, seem foolish and often barbaric. We’ve overturned economic systems that no longer meet our needs or that our increasing wisdom tells us are destructive or immoral.

Often, resistance to calls for greater social justice or environmental protection is based on economics. When momentum to abolish slavery in the U.S. started building in the mid-1800s, many feared the economy would fail without free human labour. People fought a war over what they believed was a right to enslave, own, and force other human beings to work under harsh conditions for free—in a democratic country!

The Cariboo’s Own Agricultural Conference: Ag & Hort Leap 2014—February 8 and 9

Photo:wikimedia commons

“In real life we deal, not with gods, but with ordinary humans like ourselves: men and women who are full of contradictions, who are stable and fickle, strong and weak, famous and infamous.” – 3elson Mandela US President Ronald Reagan and UK Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher opposed sanctions against apartheid South Africa in part because of concerns about trade. Fortunately, Canada’s Prime Minister Brian Mulroney stood firm on sanctions, despite pressure from his allies.

Economic arguments are also often used to stall environmental progress— something we’re seeing with climate change, and pipeline, mining, and fossil fuel projects, among other issues. They were employed in the 1970s, when scientists found that chlorofluorocarbons, or CFCs, were contributing to a weakening of the ozone layer, which protects us from the sun’s rays. Despite opposition, world leaders signed the Montreal Protocol on Substances that Deplete the Ozone Layer in 1987, and today, it’s starting to recover.

We now face many other global challenges in addition to regional ones. Our impacts have multiplied as population, trade, and communications have grown to encompass the planet.

World events viewed in isolation may make it appear as though humanity is moving backward. We still suffer wars, unimaginable violence, prejudice, environmental devastation, foolish politicians, greedy industrialists, and selfish individuals. But we also have new ways to communicate widely at lightning speed, wisdom acquired from millennia of experience, and people everywhere reaching out to encourage respect and kindness for each other and all life sharing our planet.

Change is never easy and it often creates discord, but when people come together for the good of humanity and the Earth, we can accomplish great things. Those are the lessons from Nelson Mandela, Rosa Parks, and all those who refuse to give up in the face of adversity when the cause they pursue is just and necessary. Happy 2014!

With contributions from from David Suzuki Foundation senior editor Ian Hanington.

Learn more at www.davidsuzuki.org.

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TheGreenGazette

Featured Artist

Living in the Flow with Al-Lisa Tresierra McKay

By Lisa Bland

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Messenger, acrylic painting. By Al-Lisa McKay

Winter Companion, chalk pastel. By Al-Lisa McKay

Depth of Feeling, mixed me dia. Featured in upcoming Station House Gallery show, From Sea to Sky in May 2014. By Al-Lisa McKay

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rtists and visionaries throughout the ages have stood at the edges of worlds unseen— gatekeepers to parallel universes, reminding us of the myths, dreamscapes, and mysteries that exist within and around us in every moment, yet lie just beyond our reach. The trust and courage required to stand fully and authentically in the center of one’s creative flow and allow it to dictate the structure of life is a remarkable task in today’s modern paradigm of security-focused consciousness.

Imagine you could walk in two worlds— parallel universes, where the fabric of reality blended with inklings from other dimensions, and dreams and symbols were your guides, insistently whispering on the wind. Imagine that the rules of linear existence were like the confines of a cage and you had no choice but to walk away and live completely outside them.

What would life be like if you made time for nature and voices and images to move through you and committed yourself so completely to the creative path that it coloured your world and the worlds of everyone you touched? For most of us this is only a dream. But for some it is very real.

Meet Al-Lisa Tresierra McKay. She lives outside the rules of ordinary existence; some might call her a visionary. Al-Lisa brings worlds unseen into time and space and sees her role as a midwife to the realms.

She is at once ethereal and grounded, serious and playful: a paradox. Creative expression is her goal, and process, not product is her guide. She is a modern day shape shifter, and in surrendering completely to the creative flow of the moment she invites us to do the same. With humility, respect, and gratitude Al-Lisa serves her community by offering her art in its myriad forms. Whether she is painting mystical worlds on canvas, creating clay sculpture, designing spirit dolls or puppets, blending graphic images with ancient designs, singing lyrical messages, painting children’s faces, or decorating sacred spaces, Al-Lisa acts as a living bridge between material and spiritual realities.

I spoke to Al-Lisa this winter from her forested retreat dubbed Moon Base Studio in Errington on Vancouver Island. There, she’s working on exhibition pieces for her two upcoming shows, From Sea to Sky at The Station House Gallery in Williams Lake in May, and a multicultural pieces show called Herstory at Worth Every Penny Gallery in Williams Lake, tentatively set for June.

Al-Lisa was born in Squamish, BC and raised in the William’s Lake area. Her artistic nature got her into a lot of trouble as a child and even as an adult—

Al-Lisa Tresierra McKay at the Rudy Johnson Bridge on the Fraser River. Photo: Dr. J. ultra dreamy and easily bored with the mundane lessons of linear teachings, school was like a prison for her free spirit. Being forced to think in ways that didn’t come naturally and eventually being judged for her inability to fit into a mold she didn’t resonate with, Al-Lisa’s favorite memories (except for art class ) were her walks home from school, when her imagination could soar once again, unbridled, uninhibited, and free.

As an adult, Al-Lisa applied to the Emily Carr Art Institute, where she was flatly turned down and told that she that she was not and would never be an artist. With a sense of self-knowing beyond any disappointment, she realized that once again, the school or institution was not her place for creative growth. The idea that anyone could judge whether another could be considered an artist didn’t compute. What the experience did provide her was a deep passion for continuing on an artistic path of her own free will and the desire to ignite the creative spark in others. Al-Lisa believes that we are all artists and are infinitely creative and ‘drawing’ from the same source.

Inspired by mystical experiences, nature, dreams, cross cultural folklore, spirit, symbolism, and inner and outer mysteries, Al-Lisa has brought visions

This Moment. Acrylic and black light paint produces a three-dimensional image in the dark. By Al-Lisa McKay

www.thegreengazette.ca

February/March 2014

TheGreenGazette of mystical faeries and metaphysical dimensions to life. In her more recent work she is realizing the importance of touching everyone, not just some.

“Nature is such a universal language and, especially now, it needs all the positive attention it can get,” she says. “I am drawn to the human condition and our relationship with nature and I want to help create a bridge between them. There’s a separation happening as we’re become more of a cyber and scientific world. I want to focus on what is organic and natural. My paintings are like a tangible prayer for the healing of the Earth and for a deeper human understanding to ground that notion.”

Al-Lisa resonates with her Scottish/Irish (Gaelic) side in her connection to the unseen faerie realms, and at the same time feels rooted in her Shuswap heritage, honouring the natural world, plants, animals, and medicines.

“I feel as an artist, it is my calling to re-awaken the importance of spirituality and creativity in our culture” she says. “I am inspired by the diversity in life and am drawn to that which may not be tangible to the naked eye. Finding a way to express these other realities, energies, and living forms that are interweaving with us as they connect us as a whole and guide us individually is a challenge. I think it is important for people to realize and honour these sacred and integral parts of being and existence.”

Living in a world dictated by material values has always been challenging for Al-Lisa. “I feel like English is my second language, yet it’s the only language I know. I have an abstract way of thinking – it seems that I look at the world like an inverted negative photograph – and there’s no way to describe it.

The English language doesn’t allow me the freedom to express what art can. I can’t do superficial small talk very well. I want to talk about what is real. What most people want to avoid, I want to talk about. I don’t think there’s anything more important than how you are truly feeling and what is truly going on with the planet. I want to talk about real life; that’s what makes me feel connected and is what inspires me.”

Al-Lisa’s success has evolved over time as she’s found creative ways of staying afloat financially and in her devotion to following her artistic path— persistence has paid off. “I take risks, and if people ask me to do something, I’ll find a way. As more and more people are resonating with what I do, I’ve finally made it to a place in my life where my art is supporting me, but I am still learning and changing and striving for new techniques and ways of expression. I still feel like an infant in the creative realm and do not rely on skill so much as I do trust. I don’t claim to be a great artist or even a very skilled one. I am just being and sharing. That is all.”

From commissioned art pieces and portraits of people and children to indoor and outdoor murals and individualized face and body painting at markets and festivals, Al-Lisa’s creativity takes many forms.

Along with her equal love for creating music and lyrical expression and dance, she creates functional art pieces, works with fabric, clay, and mixed media as well as grows medicinal tea blends and is an avid wild crafter.

“I feel like I’m maturing into what it is to actually be a Pisces,” she says. “I’ve let go of the struggle of trying to fit in and appease people and society. I do what it is I feel called to do and surrender happily to that.

“When I paint, I’m on the cusp of a concept. It is really just a feeling, not a picture in my mind. I don’t see any of what I’m creating. I just start. I feel like I am guided; just dipping into the source. It’s awkward for me to take credit for it as I don’t randomly paint from my imagination. I only know that the outcome will be a mystery solved and I feel I’m just watching the process unfold. It is just as much a surprise to me as to anyone else. I feel like painting is tangible prayer. I do it because it is another way for me to give thanks for all of creation, and say Thank You for my life.”

February/March 2014

Al-Lisa’s upcoming show at the Station House Gallery, From Sea to Sky is about honouring and reclaiming those elements that need prayer—our oceans and our air. “I want to honour the cycling process of the Earth’s water in the oceans and its interactions with the sky,” she says. “The union between them is a reminder of the beauty we need to protect and be mindful of. I want people to look at how life is sustained by these other elements of our living world, and what is at stake for all of existence with the chemicals and radiation that have become part of our reality.”

She is also the feature artist and musician at the ‘on water’ stage for the grand opening at Worth Every Penny Gallery in Williams Lake this June. Her collection, Herstory, is a multicultural celebration of the spirit of women through ancient tradition.

When asked about some of her greatest challenges on the creative path, Al-Lisa says, “I’m married to spirit and my path, so it makes relationships hard for me. I go to few social functions and I’m not very domestic in my relationships. I have a hard time abandoning my purpose and whenever I do or get distracted for too long I become unhappy. I lose my luster and sparkle.”

Al-Lisa’s ultimate goal is to put all of her skills towards one focal point in creating an experience that is not just entertainment, but food for people’s spirit.

She plans to travel abroad as a one-woman show with her musical theatre company, White Spider Presents, creating her own puppets, musical scores, and stories woven together with existing mythology of multicultural and indigenous peoples from around the world.

Al-Lisa creates her puppets using clay sculpting, fabric, beading, and silversmithing, but insists they create themselves. “I am reaching over though the veil and reassembling them on this side,” she says with a laugh, “and they have a story to tell.”

Al-Lisa’s vision is about opening the doorways to other cultures, while at the same time giving something back from her own cultural traditions. “I don’t want to go and just look; I want to go there and give,” she says. “The more we become mixed multiculturally, it’s important to remember what each brings.

Historically, every culture was a steward of the Earth in some way and has something to teach. These cultural lanterns need to keep being lit.

“I want to be a fire-keeper and help honour traditions and cultures. I want to remind people to be playful and feel the wonder of a child. I think it’s where our answers lie. It’s really about love and feeling connected and feeding our spirit in a way that’s not just a distraction or being entertained. As an artist, I feel it is my responsibility to come from love. ” Although it’s hard to imagine living our lives so far outside the norms of society, what if, like AlLisa, we listened to the winds shifting in and around us and embraced the extra-ordinary in every day?

Maybe we might look more deeply at the fabric of what we once perceived as reality, and, guided by our muse, awaken a sense of play, wonder, and awe, and co-create a different kind of world. Whatever our paths, creative visionaries like Al-Lisa can give us glimpses into what divine inspiration looks like in vibrant living form.

A piece from Al-Lisa McKay’s upcoming multicultural show, Herstory, at Worth Every Penny Gallery in Williams Lake, tentatively set for June, 2014.

Swan Puppet. Handmade by Al-Lisa McKay

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Page 11

TheGreenGazette

Youth Perspective: February 17: Random Acts of Kindness

By Jenna Sipponen

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ometimes you get a chance to go out of your way to help someone else. And t he t ho ug ht crosses your mind: “Should I do it?” We all admit that sometimes we choose not to. Maybe we are feeling a little shy; maybe we’re in a hurry to get somewhere. But when you do choose to randomly help someone out, the benefits are endless. In this article you will find out more about Random Acts of Kindness Day, and how to participate.

Doesn’t it just make you feel all fuzzy and warm inside when someone puts effort out to help you in some way?

Don’t you just feel like… oh, I don’t know—passing it on to someone else?

Well, ladies and gentleman; this February you have the perfect chance to pay back a nice deed someone may have done for you.

February 17 is officially Random Acts of Kindness Day, focused on being unselfish and helpful. You’ll notice there are some people who have no trouble assisting others. It’s almost like they have a talent to seek out those in need.

The key to making this day a success is to make sure you are doing this good deed entirely out of pure selflessness.

Being selfless means putting your ego aside and looking at the situation from a different angle. If you were two dollars short of change while paying for a coffee, you would definitely be thankful if someone behind you humbly handed a twoonie over to the cashier. After someone does this for you, you never forget about it. That’s the beautiful thing about reaching out and helping someone! You leave an impression on their day, and their entire attitude changes. It’s the exact same feeling when you do something for somebody else. You get a positive feeling no matter what side of the deal you’re on!

This is the core of the practice—the idea that both sides get the same positive vibes. One of the major ideas humans need to improve on is sticking together and making life a group effort.

At work, I decided to try out this concept of making someone’s day easier.

A woman had ordered food, and the total came out to be an average cost. It turned out that her card wasn’t working, so I offered to pay for her meal. She absolutely refused to let me pay for her meal, and she did not have any other method of payment. A coworker intervened and informed the woman that the food would be thrown away anyway. The woman

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gave in and took her food, saying she would take it as long as I wasn’t paying for it.

Does this prove both people must put away their egos for a gesture like this to work? The woman probably believed it was a burden on me to pay for her food, when really it was quite the opposite. I would jump at the chance to do that for someone, and it makes it easier when the recipient of the good deed is compliant. That way, the positive feelings aren’t hidden under other confused feelings. This example teaches us that humans also need to learn to accept gifts from others.

I will take some time to show you a couple stories posted on the “Pay it Forward” website, to give you some inspiration for something you could do: • “A woman had a 10 minute neck and shoulder massage and left money and a PIFD card so the next person could have a massage for free.”

• “One boy noticed a car was just about to receive a ticket. He asked his mum if he could top up the parking meter to stop the person getting booked. It saved someone a $79 fine.”

Sometimes, as seen above, you can be anonymous while doing your good deed. So on February 17, make it a goal for you to give to others. Remember this day is simply a reminder to us that we could do Random Acts of Kindness more often. The reason we do it after all, is because both people benefit. The person receiving the Random Act of Kindness gets a refreshing, uplifting, boost to their day. The person doing the Act of Kindness gets reminded of their potential to help others. You never know when you get a chance to spontaneously help someone out, so keep your eyes open!

Jenna Sipponen is in Grade 12 and lives in a cute little valley called the Similkameen. Her hobbies include procrastinating, theatre, and yoga in random places.

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February/March 2014

On Creative Discipline

By Melanie Reinelt

W

hat is discipline?

Imitation and Self-Discipline In her boo k, “Beyond the Rainbow Bridge,” Barbara J. Patterson explains the *Rudolf Steiner concept that children are imitative beings who cannot help doing what they see grown-ups doing. This suggests that the most effective form of discipline for the young child (0 to 7 years) has to do with the continual growth and self-development of the adults in the child’s life. Erich Gabert in “Education and Adolescence” says: “I can give to children to the same degree that I work on myself.” Everything we do in the presence of a child goes very deeply to their innermost core and being.

Far more powerful than demanding of a child: “What do you saaaaay?” which inevitably proves to them that offering empty “please” and “thank yous” is an efficient routine to getting what they want, we instead model that request and gratitude ourselves.

I can recommend, “Speak To Me Like You Love Me” with Rachelle Lamb or “Wild Peace Family Camp” with Ingrid Bauer for working on your Self.

Scolding, smacking, yelling, threatening, and preaching at a child causes him to erect a barrier against the anger we are emanating and leaves him unable to hear our message. In “Raising Cain” by Kindlon and Thompson, the authors discuss the enormous power adults have over children in strength, size, and smarts. “When we fail to make the connection begging to be made with the child and instead resort to harsh discipline, we in fact pass up that ‘teachable moment’ altogether.”

How else can we reach children in a positively constructive way that is in line with these values?

Reforming the Space When children misbehave, it usually means they have “fallen out of the form” of the moment. When a child becomes too loud or silly in her kindergarten, Barbara Patterson simply stands near the child and begins to straighten her chair, placemat, cup, plate… ordering toys on shelves, retying hair, tucking a shirt in. In other words, “re-forming” the space around the child. Many times this alone will help to restore harmony without a word having been spoken or a “look” having been given. She suggests that we save our “nos” for situations where children are doing something harmful to either themselves or someone else. Instead of “No” or “Please don’t do that”… parents, teachers, and other adults are encouraged to say what the children may do. We get to be more creative and redirect their energy so their play can continue without interruption. For example, if kids are “shooting” each other with stick guns or hitting each other with sticks, we may join them in collecting more sticks to build a bon fire that everyone can delight in. This gives them a sense of contribution and purpose without ever making them wrong or self-conscious for experimenting with the world around them.

February/March 2014

Clear Messages with Limited Choices Our communication with children needs to be clear. Questions starting with, “How about you…?” “Can you/ Would you…?” “Do you want to…?” implies that there is a choice to do as we ask or not. With these questions we call the “I want” aspect out of their personalities prematurely. Patterson assures us: “The child feels most secure when she knows that her parents/teachers know what is best for her.” Alternatively using the word “may” as in: “You may hang up your coat now.” Is not authoritarian or permissive and invokes a quality of privilege.

Rudolf Steiner expands on this further by underlining the harm done to children when we give directions and then reverse these directions.

Similarly staying calm and centered through a child’s temper tantrum is absorbed by the child and restores harmony. Reasoning and explaining too much to children under age seven prematurely awakens the capacity for reason that is not yet formed and pulls them out of the dreamy world of childhood. Rudolf Steiner said it is impossible to awaken a child’s sense of right or wrong before his fifth year of life.

Between the ages of two and four, young children can be very stubborn. It is best to overlook some of their negative reactions and go with the child and help him do what you want him to do without anger or lots of discussion.

Establish Consistent Rhythms Each Day In Waldorf education, the importance of rhythm in the lives of young children is also used with discipline. Rhythms hold children in secure balance. Shea Darian in, “Seven Times the Sun,” reminds us to start by recognizing the daily rhythms we already have and incorporating new rhythms and rituals one at a time.

The Importance of Warmth Warmth supports life and is a foundation for health and development. I have had some really successful experiences with curbing destructive behaviour by dressing my child in warm layers.

Consequent Action But practically, how do we deal with unacceptable behaviour in a consequential way?

How do we deal with hitting, biting, scratching, spitting, and kicking? And this is where I found Barbara Patterson’s beautiful little book to be most useful… I am grateful for her loving, warm, and healing but also very practical approach to discipline.

“If hands are hitting, we wrap the hands in a silk cloth and let the child sit next to us until her hands are warm. We say to the child: ‘When your hands are warm and strong, they don’t hit.’ With kicking feet it is the same. A child who bites can be given a large piece of apple or carrot and must sit beside us to eat it. ‘We bite the carrot, not our friends.’ For a child who scratches, we bring out the healing basket and trim the child’s nails. ‘Kittens scratch,

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“Definition of Hell: To have children and think there is such a thing as a good parent!” ~Marshall Rosenberg, Ph.D.

Portrait of the author and her three children (one still in her belly!) Original artwork by: Katherine Phethean but not children.’ A child who spits may be taken to the bathroom to spit into the toilet.”

We demonstrate the caring we want children to show toward others. We acknowledge their inner life that they do not yet have the words to express and show them other means of dealing with the turmoil inside. This is especially important for little boys.

Both boys and girls require time outdoors each day where they can move and delight in their bodies, discovering new abilities. The Cariboo offers a perfect setting for fostering a reverence for Nature.

Using Real Work to Process Anger Patterson also suggests involving the violent or tattling child in real work.

There is something immensely healing about helping another human being do her work. Marshall Rosenberg in, “Nonviolent Communication – A Language of Life,” believes that by contributing to the wellbeing of others, we satisfy our most powerful need: the need to contribute to Life.

The work is not intended as punishment, but to feel an adult’s creative strength and focus. For examples of how punishment does not work in the long term, we need only look to our country’s retributive justice system.

Some forethought on our part will be required, but it is usually possible to set a little person up so they can do their work next to us. Washing dishes is a great healer for strenuous situations. Pouring warm soapy water from cup to cup is so soothing. Baking has a similar effect; instead of play dough Waldorf kindergartens use bread dough.

Sometimes, and we all know this, the best thing is just to hold and rock our

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little one for a while and everything will be better for both child and parent.

Who Holds the Parents so They, too, May Grow?

Most importantly, be gentle with the parents in your life. Every parent has challenging days with their young children. They are doing the best they can.

Support, comfort, and encouragement from neighbours and friends are infinitely valuable to young parents and help build a supportive, safe environment for learning and self-improvement. Criticism and judgement, on the other hand, provoke resistance and self-justification or depression and self-doubt, simultaneously eliminating any possibility for connection and growth. Just as it takes a village to raise a child… it takes a whole community to stabilize a parent, so they may continue to be there for their children in the best possible way, helping them develop into contributing, mindful members of our shared world.

The most invaluable gift to myself is spending time with other parents with similarly aged children, sharing stories and learning from each other. *In 1913 Rudolf Steiner founded Anthroposophy – ‘the knowledge of the true nature of the human being.’ Nowhere is the need for such an awareness greater than in relation to our fellow human beings and to the life and work we share with them.

Melanie Reinelt is an accomplished birth doula and celebrates having enjoyed the magic of a sacred water-birth at home in the Chilcotin for each of her three children. She feels very passionate about the values of mindful connection between human beings.

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TheGreenGazette

Strangers in Our Homes: TV and Our Children’s Minds

By Susan R. Johnson, M.D.

T

his is a condensed version of a paper that was presented at the Waldorf School of San Francisco on 5/1/99 as part of a senior project. The full version can be found at h t t p: // w w w . t he li zl i br a r y. o r g/ li z/ johnson.html. It may be freely copied and distributed.

“TV rots the senses in the head! It kills the imagination dead! It clogs and clutters up the mind! It makes a child so dull and blind. He can no longer understand a fantasy, a fairyland! His brain becomes as soft as cheese! His powers of thinking rust and freeze!”

- Charlie and the Chocolate Factory,

By Roald Dahl, 1964 As a mother and a paediatrician who completed both a three-year residency in paediatrics and a three-year subspecialty fellowship in behavioural and developmental paediatrics, I started to wonder: “What are we doing to our children’s growth and learning potential by allowing them to watch television and videos as well as spend endless hours playing computer games?”

I practiced seven years as the physician consultant at the School Health Center in San Francisco, performing comprehensive assessments on children, ages 4-12, who were having learning and behavioural difficulties in school. I saw hundreds of children who were having difficulties paying attention, focusing on their work, and performing fine and gross motor tasks.

Many of these children had a poor selfimage and problems relating to adults and peers. As a paediatrician, I had always discouraged television viewing, because of the often-violent nature of its content (especially cartoons) and because of all the commercials aimed at children. However, it wasn’t until the birth of my own child six years ago that I came face to face with the real impact of television. It wasn’t just the content, for I had carefully screened the programs my child watched. It was the change in my child’s behaviour (his mood, his motor movements, his play) before, during, and after watching TV that truly frightened me.

Before watching TV, he would be outside in nature, content to look at bugs, make things with sticks and rocks, and play in the water and sand. He seemed at peace with himself, his body, and his environment. When watching TV, he was so unresponsive to me and to what was happening around him, that he seemed glued to the television set. When I turned off the TV he became anxious, nervous, and irritable and usually cried (or screamed) for the TV to be turned back on. His play was erratic, his movements impulsive and uncoordinated.

His play lacked his own imaginative input.

Instead of creating his own play themes, he was simply re-enacting what he had just seen on TV in a very repetitive, uncreative, and stilted way.

“Could television be causing attention problems and learning difficulties in children?” What are the capacities we are losing or not even developing because of this TV habit? I then started to read, attend lectures, and ask a lot more questions.

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How does a child’s brain develop and how does a child learn?

Joseph Chilton Pearce in his book, Evolution’s End, sees a child’s potential as a seed that needs to be nurtured and nourished to grow properly. If the environment doesn’t provide the necessary nurturing (and protections from over-stimulation), then certain potentials and abilities cannot be realized.

In the developing child, there is a progression of brain development from the most primitive core (action) brain, to the limbic (feeling) brain, and finally to the most advanced neocortex, or thought brain.

There are critical periods for brain development when the stimulus must be present for the capacity to evolve (for example, language). For this reason, it is imperative that the growing child receives developmentally appropriate input from their environment.

For example, young children who are in the process of forming their motor-sensory pathways and sense organs (the action brain) need repetitive and rhythmical experiences in movement. Children need experiences that stimulate and integrate their senses of sight, hearing, taste, smell, and touch. Their senses need to be protected from over-stimulation, since young children are literally sponges. Children absorb all they see, hear, smell, taste, and touch from their environment.

The left hemisphere dominates when a child reads, writes, and speaks. It specializes in analytical and sequential thinking and step-by-step logical reasoning.

It analyzes the sound and meaning of language (e.g., phonic skills of matching sound to letters of the alphabet). It manages fine muscle skills and is concerned with order, routine, and details. Even though we emphasize which functions of learning are performed by which hemisphere, there is a crucial connection between the two hemispheres. Gross motor activities like jumping rope, climbing, running, and circle games, and fine motor activities like form drawing, knitting, pottery, origami, woodworking, embroidery, and bread-making are crucial and lead to more flexible manipulation of ideas and a creative imagination.

What is so harmful to the mind about watching television?

Watching television has been characterized as multi-levelled sensory deprivation. Television really only presents information to two senses: hearing and sight. In addition, the poor quality of reproduced sound presented to our hearing and the flashing, coloured, fluorescent, overstimulating images presented to our eyes cause problems in the development and proper function of these two critical sense organs (Poplawski 1998).

Our visual system, “the ability to search out, scan, focus, and identify whatever comes in the visual field” (Buzzell 1998), is impaired by watching TV. Children watching TV do not dilate their pupils, show little to no movement of their eyes (i.e., stare at the screen), and lack the normal saccadic movements of the eyes (a jumping from one point to the next) that is critical for reading. The lack of eye movement when watching television is a problem because reading requires the eyes to

Photo: Alamy

continually move from left to right across the page. The weakening of eye muscles from lack of use can’t help but negatively impact the ability and effort required to read. In addition, our ability to focus and pay attention relies on this visual system.

The rapid-fire change of television images, which occurs every 5 to 6 seconds in many programs and 2 to 3 seconds in commercials, does not give the higher thought brain a chance to even process the image.

Reading a book, walking in nature, or having a conversation with another human being, where one takes the time to ponder and think, are far more educational than watching TV. The television – and computer games – are replacing these invaluable experiences of human conversations, storytelling, reading books, playing “pretend” (using internal images created by the child rather than the fixed external images copied from television), and exploring nature.

What can we do to help our children’s brain develop?

Keep the television turned off as much as possible, avoiding television as much as possible for the first 12 years of your child’s life. It helps to cover the TV with a cloth or store it away in a closed cabinet or closet. When the television is on, then try to neutralize its damage. Select the programs carefully and watch TV with your child so you can talk about what you see. Keep a light on when the TV is going since that will minimize the effects of the reduced field of vision and provide a different light source for the eyes. Try to sit at least 4 feet from the television and 18 inches from the computer screen. Plan to go outside (to the park, woods, or beach) after viewing television. Read a lot of books to your children (especially ones without lots of pictures) and tell your children lots of stories. Children love to hear stories about our lives when we were little or you can make them up.

Telling our children stories helps to stimulate their internal picture making capabilities.

Nature! Nature! Nature! Nature is the greatest teacher of patience, delayed gratification, reverence, awe, and observation. The colours are spectacular and all the senses are stimulated. We only truly learn when all our senses are involved, and when the information is presented to us in such a way that our higher brain can absorb it.

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Pay close attention to your senses and those of your child. Our environment is noisy and over-stimulating to the sense organs. What a child sees, hears, smells, tastes, and touches is extremely important to his or her development. We need to surround our children with what is beautiful, what is good and what is true. How a child experiences the world has a tremendous influence on how the child perceives the world as a teenager and adult.

Have children use their hands, feet, and whole body performing purposeful activities. All the outdoor activities of running, jumping, climbing, and playing jumprope help develop our children’s gross motor skills. Performing household chores, cooking, baking bread, knitting, woodworking, origami, string games, finger games, circle games, painting, drawing, and colouring help develop fine motor skills.

Finally, the future of our children and our society is in the protection and development of our children’s minds, hearts, and limbs. What we are aiming for in the thoughts of our children is best summarized in this fine verse from William Blake’s “Auguries of Innocence”: To see a World in a Grain of Sand And a Heaven in a Wild Flower Hold Infinity in the Palm of your Hand And Eternity in an Hour Susan R. Johnson is an assistant clinical Prof of paediatrics, div. of behavioural/ developmental paediatrics, UCSF / Stanford Health Care and graduate of San Francisco Waldorf Teacher Training Program of Rudolf Steiner College.

Look to the next issue of TheGreenGazette, for a notice about an upcoming spring Storytelling Workshop with Waldorf inspired Chickadee Early Childhood and Learning Center in Williams Lake as well as an article on the importance of storytelling for our society and our families and the key role it plays in Waldorf Education.

On February 15, Chickadee Early Childhood and Learning Center will be holding an information session about supporting children and families through Waldorfinspired Education at the CRD Library in Williams Lake from 1:30 to 2:30pm.

Please contact Claire at 250 305 0279 or email cwestmatt@gmail.com

February/March 2014

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February/March 2014

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February/March 2014

Raising Amadeus

TheGreenGazette

By Terri Smith

T

he sun is just beginning to peak over the hill behind the house. Curtis left for work a few hours ago and I’ve been sitting on the couch since then teaching myself to crochet vegetables. So far I’ve made a radish, a carrot, and a green onion. Outside the living room window Amadeus is curled up in his box of hay. I finish my last stitch and tie it off just as Amadeus wakes up, stretches, yawns, sees me through the window, and gives a small, “I’m hungry,” cry. I ignore him and get up to feed the cats and begin the morning chores.

It wasn’t always easy to ignore Amadeus in his Christmas finery with Jessica Knodel, Tatjana Lauzon, and him. When he was little and spent so Terri Smith outside Cariboo Growers' Co-op in December during the Co-op fundraiser, which raised $110. much of his time in mortal danger I always had the feeling that the one time I didn’t respond to come upstairs where he still has his own special water his crying would be the time he was actually in trouble. So bowl. Sometimes he even gets to sleep inside if it’s really much of the time when he cried for me he really was in cold out or if his grandma happens to be house-sitting… trouble. I remember one time when I heard him crying but that’s a whole other story. pitifully when he was about three or four months old and I Amadeus is healthy and happy and barely needs tried to ignore him. His cries became louder and more inme any more. He lives in that in-between space between sistent and at last I left the garden only to find him at the two worlds. Some nights he sleeps out in the hay with the bottom of the irrigation ditch, which fortunately had been rest of the herd and some nights he comes trotting up the turned off the week before. He was wet and muddy and back stairs to curl up in the box of hay that he shares with very upset though as he had tumbled in and landed in a the dogs on the balcony. There are days when he just pool of water. He was perfectly safe and the pool he had wants to be close to me and he’ll come trudging through climbed out of and was now standing beside was only the snow-covered forest behind the dogs as we go for our about six inches deep, but the banks of the ditch around morning walk; and, there are other days when he’ll decide him were too steep for him to climb and to get back to he’s just another one of the herd and will lay in the sun where he could easily get out he would have had to get his chewing his cud and completely ignoring me as I walk feet wet. When I reached him he did a happy little dance past. And then there are days when he happily gets into and then waited for me to help him out. the truck for a ride to town like last month when we But over time my inability to ignore his cries cre- hosted a fundraiser outside Cariboo Growers’ with him in ated a little monster. He knew that if there was trouble he his Santa Hat and jingle bells. He still loves his social had only to cry and wait for me to come save him. And outings, though at home he has at last begun to make trouble included everything from actual peril to wanting a friends with some of the younger members of his own handful of sunflower seeds or some company. I began species. sneaking up on him when he’d cry rather than just dropBut whether he’s crying for attention or ignoring ping everything and running to his rescue. Watching him me entirely, he will always be my special little goat. There one day like this when he didn’t know I was looking I saw is something about the bond I accidentally formed with him raise his head and let out the most heart-wrenchingly this strange little creature that goes beyond logic or commelancholy cry, he then calmly grabbed a few mouthfuls of prehension. Though I never wanted goats in the first place grass, chewed calmly, swallowed, ate some more, then and never planned on my claim to fame being that I would again raised his head and let out another cry that sounded become known as, “the goat girl,” I am happy that he arexactly like a goat being eaten by a cougar—then again rived in my life. For all the moments of fear or worry or calmly resumed eating. I left him to cry and went back to doubt, my life is richer because of loving this little creathe garden. His problem: there were no other animals ture. And since the life expectancy of a goat is apparently within 20 feet of him and he was lonely. I put up with his on average 8 but maximum 30 years, he will probably cries for the rest of the day though I felt like a horrible continue to enrich my life for a long time to come. person and was utterly exhausted by the time I had finished However, I’m going to put aside this article for the bed I was weeding and went inside to make dinner. awhile now. Amadeus is raised and there are some other After awhile I found that ignoring his cries no things I would like to tell you about. I am going to be belonger made my heart hurt and he stopped crying so much ginning a series of articles on the ups and downs of being for no reason. Some lessons take awhile to learn and, a young farmer in a world where farmers have been going really, its better I learn this now with a goat kid than later out of style. I hope you’ll enjoy reading about the humourshould I ever have some that are human. ous side of farm life as much as you’ve enjoyed reading So this morning I ignore him and he calmly leaves about Amadeus, who will, I am sure, find his way onto the the balcony to rejoin the rest of the herd at their bale of page still. From Amadeus and I, thank you for reading. hay. Everyone is happier now that we all know our place on the farm. I provide the food and water to all of the herd, Terri Smith is an organic vegetable farmer in the Cariboo he stops acting like the sky is falling and in return he gets with Road’s End Vegetable Company. She has a Bacheto come for walks with me and the dogs and then gets to lor’s degree in Literature and a diploma in Art.

Celebrating Multiculturalism at The Bean Counter Bistro The Bean Counter Bistro and the Canadian Mental Health Association Multiculturalism Program will be teaming up for the 2014 book launch of Spicing Up the Cariboo, a cookbook compiling stories of 49 Cariboo residents and the cultural recipes they brought here.

If you have lived around here very long it is more than likely you know some of the book’s contributors or their families. The book features recipes from over 40 countries and four First Nations. The Bean Counter Bistro in Williams Lake has been featuring weekly recipes from Spicing up the Cariboo since December, 2013, and on Tuesday, February 18 the restaurant will feature three recipes from Spicing Up the Cariboo in a special book signing event to celebrate multiculturalism. The event will take place from 10:00 a.m. to 1:30 p.m.

Come down and have the best hot drinks served in Williams Lake, sample great recipes from Spicing Up the Cariboo, purchase a book, have it signed by the authors, and support the Canadian Mental Health Multiculturalism Program. All proceeds will go to CMHA and future Multiculturalism Program projects.

February/March 2014

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TheGreenGazette

Getting Garden Ready for the 2014 Season

By Brianna van de Wijngaard

Seed Sources:

I

t’s amazing how close spring can feel once the holidays are done and gone. There is a period of relief once the garden is put to bed in the fall, then relaxation as there seems no end in sight to the winter months. Then January 1 rolls around and all of a sudden, it isn’t two months until March… it’s EIGHT WEEKS! That’s it? Where did the time go?! Oh, that’s right: I spent it sleeping in, eating, and possibly subscribing to a 3etflix trial account.

Ok, that’s fine. Everything is still under the snow anyway, insulated and protected from the harsh winter temperatures. There are a few garden “spring cleanings” and preparations we should plan to do when the snow does melt, however, so that our gardens are happy, healthy, and ready for seedlings. Before getting our hands dirty, see below for a list of reliable, non-GMO seed sources as you plan.

Mid-March: as temperatures warm, the microbial populations in your soil will start to wake up from a sluggish season, completing the partnership between the abiotic (rocks and their breakdown products) and environmental (wind, water, air) components of your soil. The living organisms in your soil are truly what bring it to life: the nutrients are always there, but it is living organisms that mobilize and transmute nutrients present in the environment into a soluble form for plants. Go, microbes!

As such, now is a good time to incorporate any debris you have left on your garden from the previous fall into your soil, if the ground has thawed: leaves, grass clippings, harvested plants, cover crops, and the like. It will have had some level of decomposition between fall and spring, and now that the microbes are becoming more active, three to four weeks before planting is the minimum amount of time they need to complete the breakdown of materials before direct seeding or planting out. If you cleared your garden beds in the fall, just add this step next year—it is beneficial nutrients for your soil, just as Nature intended!

This step has another purpose: turning the top layer of soil, when it is still somewhat wet in the early spring, allows it to dry much quicker. You can add an extra week to your planting schedule, if conditions remain favourable. Just make sure the soil isn’t sopping wet, to avoid compaction. Use a shovel and turn the top 4” to 6” of your garden patch.

This is a list of seed suppliers that have made the Safe Seed (ie: no GMO) pledge – Canadian suppliers are near the bottom: http:// www.councilforresponsiblegenet ics.org/ViewPage.aspx? pageId=261

Image source: http://www.soilsensor.com/soiltypes.aspx

Now comes the fun part! Take a look at the soil texture triangle (see the above image): with your composite percentages, you can determine what kind of soil you have.

• • • •

Find 60 on the side for sand (bottom line of the triangle) Follow that axis until it lines with your silt percentage (35) Do the same for clay (5) The spot where the three lines cross is the soil texture. In this example, the soil texture classification is sandy loam.

Knowing the texture of the soil you are working with, if you don’t already, is a great first step as a gardener in the spring. Happy Planting!

Brianna is a certified organic gardener from Victoria, BC, living in Williams Lake. She operates Puddle Produce Urban Farms, growing vegetables in city backyards and lots: www.puddleproduce.ca

Mid-April: if all goes well, and the snow is behind us, we can look at getting the soil ready. If you’ve never done a soil test in your garden, or are prepping a new plot, now is a great time. A soil test at home will not tell you what kinds of nutrients are present, but will tell you the texture of your soil. This is good for determining what kinds of drainage your soil has, what kinds of plants to plant, and how to amend the soil. Here’s what you will need: • •

• • •

Stellar Seeds 2750 30 Ave. N.E. Salmon Arm, British Columbia VIE 3L2 Tel: 250-804-0122 Email: info@stellarseeds.com www.stellarseeds.com High Mowing Organic Seeds 76 Quarry Rd. Wolcott, Vermont 05680 Phone: 802-472-6174 Hope Seeds 6473 Hwy 1, RR 3 Granville Ferry, Nova Scotia B0S 1K0 Phone: (902) 665-4905 Seed Savers Exchange 3094 North Winn Rd. Decorah, Iowa 52101 Phone: (563) 382-5990

A tall glass jar with lid Enough soil to fill jar about 1/3, You want to collect soil from below the litter layer: pick out any organic matter and stones Water to fill jar ¾ full 3-5 tbsp biodegradable dishwashing liquid A pencil, ruler, and good spot to leave the jar undisturbed for a few days

Salt Spring Seeds PO Box 444, Ganges Salt Spring Island, British Columbia V8K 2W1 Tel: 250-537-5269 www.saltspringseeds.com

Once you have added the soil sample and water to your jar, add the soap: this will suspend the soil particulates in the water, allowing a better sedimentation to take place. Shake vigorously for 5-10 minutes.

Set the jar down quickly to allow sedimentation in even layers.

After 1-2 minutes: sand will settle out. After 1-2 hours: silt will settle out. After 1-2 days/weeks: clay will settle out.

Measure the entire soil depth, not including any floating organic matter. Then measure each layer individually.

Divide each layer by the depth of the soil.

For example: total soil depth = 10 cm (100%) sand layer = 6 cm (60%) silt layer = 3.5 cm (35%) clay layer = 0.5 cm (5%)

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But research the seed company before you buy: the seeds may not be GMO, but could still come from questionable sources.

Purchasing seed direct from seed farms who support non-GMO seed saving and exchange, such as those listed below, are your safest bet:

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February/March 2014

TheGreenGazette

Integrative Health Column

The Healthy Integrationist’s

By Ciel Patenaude 10 Steps to More Love

I

began writing this article today— a little change from my usual column just for fun—by exploring my general distain for Valentine’s Day. I figured it would be a marvellous time to fully articulate the absurdity and redundancy I think defines the Hallmark holiday (sad as that may sound to some), and set out on an anti-love quest with great intentions of breaking down the walls of that sappy institution.

I was doing this, I believed, to not only firmly place myself in the camp of No Roses or Chocolates, thank you very much, but so that I could then swoop in with some profound nutritional or meditative advice to cancel out the banality of it all, saving the day from greeting card companies. I felt it was my duty to fully explore all the reasons why we should be searching and serving love every day instead of reserving our affection for an arbitrarily designated one, and so dedicating a thousand or so words in all of our minds to that cause seemed like a worthy pursuit.

A few sentences in, however, and I realized that what I was creating felt like a grand waste of all of our words, thoughts, and time, not to mention that I sounded like a pompous ass. And then, in really reflecting on what I was trying to do, I saw clearly that creating such an article would be an act entirely misaligned with what I intend this year to be about, and with what I feel Valentine’s Day actually holds the potential for.

I have recently committed these future 12 months and my practice as a human being to placing my energy into things and experiences that I want to get bigger. To giving my attention and work to encouraging that which I want to grow and progress rather than avoiding or fighting that which I don’t want. This act and focus, as I see it, is in direct juxtaposition to the experience and practice of either pulling energy out of that which you want to go away or despising things so intensely that you try to beat them out of your life. I’ve certainly done that in the past (sometimes it works for a while; most of the time it’s an abysmal failure), but no more. This is now the time for positive purpose and action.

So, in a roundabout way, what I’m trying to say is that I have committed to not longer despising Valentine’s Day. I have been converted (to what, exactly, I’m not entirely sure. Valentism?), and I am here to tell you instead that this silly day is a good thing and a wonderful possibility, and that it holds within it some great, profound potential for wisdom. The key is that this wisdom shall not be written by the Hallmark Gods, however, but is etched within the beautiful folds and creases and softness of your own heart, should you look for it there.

And so in these next couple hundred words we’re going to work to bring that wisdom out. Here are ten tips to cultivating, supporting, nourishing, and expressing love in your body, mind, commu-

February/March 2014

nity, and spirit this Valentine’s Day, none of which have anything to do with chocolate.

1. Find your awe. The sensations of awe and wonder are housed not in the mind (though they certainly can begin there through a general sense of amazement at the world), but in the heart, and emanate from there throughout the body and into our surrounding community. We need awe like a plant needs sunshine, for it serves as the fuel with which we maintain our curiosity, verve and passion for life, no matter what our age. It keeps our hearts and minds open. Try spending some time thinking about the vastness of everything, looking at your own eyeball in the mirror, or type ‘awe’ into YouTube and set aside a few minutes to visually explore the phenomenon that is our planet.

2. Love your heart. Cultivating a sense of love must include our physical body, and our heart is an area that often doesn’t get supported until very specific conditions show up later in life. Try a Hawthorn berry tincture and a good quality Fish oil to give your physical heart a boost, getting it ready for the rapid influx of love that’s going to be coming your way.

3. Express gratitude. Actively training our mind to see the good in life results in more of it, as our Reticular Activating System (look it up online; it’s a very cool part of the brain) will seek out whatever it is that we purposely place our minds and senses on. There is always something to be grateful for.

4. Express you. Whether that might mean dancing, singing, making art, or cooking a beautiful meal, find some way to get yourself—your innate, beautiful, perfect, creative, and unique self—out into the world today. This is the highest expression of self love, I believe, as you are saying that what is held within you is fantastic, and deserves to be let out.

5. Do something randomly kind. It might seem small, but try experimenting with the possibility of a random kind act today, and then notice how your body and mind respond afterwards. Buy a stranger a coffee, give the biggest smile you can muster to someone on the street, or dedicate your day to telling people all the good you see in them. We may only receive that which we give.

6. Breathe. At some point on February the 14, take five minutes out of your day to breathe. Yes, I do realize that you are breathing all the time, but today we will engage with the practice of mindful breathing, feeling fully the sensation of inhaling and exhaling into your lungs and body, and invigorating ourselves with that energy.

This may also naturally lead to another experience of awe if you spend a minute thinking about what’s really happening inside of you with every inhale and exhale.

7. Visualize. Our brains and bodies do not discriminate between that which we see in ‘real’ life and that which we imagine, and within this fact is the magic of visualization. Perhaps at the end of your breathing

experience take a minute to imagine that there is a light within your heart, and that with every inhale you are able to make that light brighter, warmer, and more unwavering, and just see how that feels. Just FYI: my S ha ma ni c teacher informed me recently that at some point human beings are going to start being bioluminescent (walking, talking gl owwor ms, basically), so if this starts happe ni ng while you’re practicing, please email me because I really want to see it.

8. Hug a tree. It might be a very icy and cold tree right about now, but you could find a houseplant if you prefer that, too. The point is to actively culti1873 Pierre Auguste Cot, Oil on Canvas, Le Printemps vate a sense of connection and love for something that might not immediately give this one) does miraculous things for both it back to you, though you are receiving our physiology and theirs, increasing neuthat gift in the form of oxygen, food, and rotransmitters and hormones associated with long life, decreased stress, and inenvironment in every moment.

9. Seek out beauty. Depending on your creased resistance to disease. Just please particular aesthetic, this may take the form make sure the affection is welcomed, as of a poem, song, or piece of art, or that scientific studies show that hugging people houseplant you accosted a minute ago. The who don’t want hugs often results in exact heart seeks beauty while the brain seeks opposite effects. reason, and while the brain is great for many things and experiences when it Ciel Patenaude is an Integrative Health & comes to love it really has no idea. Invigo- Shamanic Practitioner based in Williams rate the heart by actively seeking that Lake, BC. A highly trained and naturally gifted intuitive healer, Ciel holds a BSc in which you seek for its beauty alone.

10. And finally, touch someone. Wow, that Biology, an MA in Integrative Healing, sounds both hilarious and creepy—sorry. and is a certified Yoga Teacher & WellBut all jokes aside, the act of making ness Coach. physical contact with another being (I’m afraid your houseplant won’t quite cut it for

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Page 19

TheGreenGazette

Infernal Pollution of the Spotless Mind By Ron Young

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hile much of western society has become overweight and unhealthy from the food we consume we have also become obese with information; it’s just not as evident. Great selections of edible products masquerading as food have become easily available at low cost. That faux food can fill us up and feel satisfying while robbing our bodies of essential nutrients, leading to fat, undernourished, and unhealthy bodies. It is a constant struggle to navigate the literal minefield of bad food, which in many cases is merely a chemical construct of some thing that stimulates our taste buds, fills our stomach with bulk, and feels like food but in fact is just garbage. I could go on and on about food but what I’m really thinking about right now is how we have inundated our minds with bad information and over stimulus in the same way we have polluted our bodies with bad food.

Microelectronics and computer technology, which have enabled our 21st century life, have led to an embarrassment of riches of information. While it seems we can become instant experts on every subject using the vast electronic libraries linked to our brains via tablets, phones, and computers the truth is really the opposite and it brings to mind is the phrase, “a little knowledge can be a dangerous thing.” It seems Sir Francis Bacon first came up with this concept in the 18th century and Alexander Pope further elaborated it with the comment: “T’was well observed by my Lord Bacon, That a little knowledge is apt to puff up, and make men giddy, but a greater share of it will set them right, and bring them to low and humble thoughts of themselves.”

Did Pope really mean a greater share of knowledge or a greater depth of it? In the aptly named information age of today we perceive information as nutrition for our

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brains when in fact it is more often like junk food that costs us our life force and is too shallow to develop understanding and intellect. What we may think of as nutritional information such as current events, news, documentaries, and science programs all becomes junk when the volume increases to the point where none of it can properly be processed or understood before the next barrage of information arrives.

But what happens when you accustom yourself to a certain level of background noise and that noise keeps increasing in incremental bits? To put it another way, as the urban legend goes, if you drop a frog into hot water it will jump right back out but if you slowly bring the water from room temperature up to high temperature the frog will remain in the pot until it is overcome by the heat.

Most people I have met over the years who have chosen to live off the grid have done so to reduce the level of background noise and live a simpler life style, uncluttered with the pestering drum of advertising, organizing, and frantic activity characterized by urban life. In the beginning they didn’t have phones but eventually acquired a bag phone or radio that could be used to communicate with the outside world in an emergency. They didn’t have TV reception of any kind but sometimes owned a TV with a VCR for watching an occasional movie. They definitely did not have computers or Internet or Facebook and Twitter. But even the off the grid purists have become polluted with information overflow. Now nearly everyone who lives remotely has satellite Internet and many have satellite TV. The clatter and funk has beaten its way to their door and barged right on in.

Junk info, like junk food, can become downright addicting. As we watch movie after movie, exciting reality programs, new and addicting series, follow our friends’ antics online, tune in on the latest conflict or disaster in Bugawhereverland, we find these things increasingly determine our schedules. If there’s ever a quiet moment we feel the need to crank up the volume, listen to a radio program, switch channels, or log into something… anything.

Seldom do we shut it down, step away, and internalize the content. So often you read something or watch something that invokes emotion or thoughtfulness, but before you can follow the path and examine the landscape some other distraction appears.

In 1869, while doing experiments searching for the location of the soul, German physiologist Friedrich Goltz demonstrated that a frog that has had its brain removed will remain in slowly heated water, but his intact frogs attempted to escape the water. I honestly don’t know how Friedrich managed to remove a frog’s brain and keep it alive to demonstrate this. However, today, in 2014, I think it is possible to demonstrate that without removing a humans brain you can observe how it will remain in a slowly rising flood of information until it loses it’s faculties or thought processes. Is it possible that the reason zombies fascinate many of us is because we are witnessing the loss of independent thought in our culture?

A documentary called Web Junkies, now premiering at the Sundance film festi-

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val, describes how Internet addiction and social detachment is striking nationwide concern across China. In an effort to stamp out Internet addiction disorder (IAD) China has established military-style camps where persons afflicted with compulsive Internet use (CIU) are kept behind bars, guarded by soldiers, to go cold turkey. I had to read that several times before I believed it and further research revealed that IAD camps also operate in Japan, Korea, and the US. It’s maybe time, as a New Year dawns, to give serious thought to going truly off the grid in the only way possible for most of us. Turn off the TV, the tablet, the computer, the radio, and the phone. Take a break, look out the window, talk to someone, or just enjoy the moment. Start small, just a few minutes now and then, and build up to longer periods, just like being on a diet. Step away from the electronic grid. I saw a billboard sign a while ago that gave me pause for thought. All it said, in simple white letters on a black background was, “this is Your life.”

I’m saying this is Your mind.

Copyright Ron Young.

Ron Young is a Renewable Energy specialist and owns the earthRight store in Williams Lake established in 1993. A series of articles on the basics of solar energy can be found at his website www.solareagle.com.

February/March 2014

TheGreenGazette

World Water Day – March 22

By Brianna van de Wijngaard Cariboo Chilcotin Conservation Society

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ow that many people already have their 2014 calendars hanging on their walls, many will notice some of the annual international observances. Most will be religious, cultural, or lunar, but you may notice others such as World Environment Day, International Youth Day, Human Rights Day, and even International Day of Happiness.

The events cited above are only 4 of 122 days of observance initiated by the United Nations. They serve two purposes: one is community level involvement through themed events, campaigns, fundraisers, and initiatives, and the other is international stakeholder involvement through policy development, collaboration, conferences, and consensus-building.

Each year typically brings a new and current focus for discussion. Let’s look at World Water Day, for example. International campaigns focus on a different water-related issue each year: water co-operation in 2013, water and food security in 2012, water for cities in 2011, and so on. On the UN World Water Day website, you will find for every year’s campaign new promotional materials that individuals and groups can use to run their own World Water Day event at the community level.

Turns out these initiatives do have an impact: as much as life-limiting water issues remain for many global south countries worldwide, there have been great accomplishments since the UN declared March 22 as World Water Day in 1993. In 2008, the UN appointed a senior advisor on water issues for the first time ever, sending a message to the world that water issues are now at the forefront. This senior advisor was Canadian water rights activist Maude Barlow. In 2012, the UN reported that between 1990 and 2010, over two billion people gained access to improved drinking water sources, reducing the number of people without access to clean

Composting

drinking water by half. This is an amazing achievement because it is one of the first Millennium Development Goals to be met, and ahead of schedule at that. Lastly, there is now an acknowledged human right to water and sanitation. On July 28, 2010, following many years of discussion, debate, and negotiation, 122 countries formally acknowledged the right to water in a General Assembly resolution. The human right to water is not enforceable at a national level until incorporated into national legislation, but it is recognized in formal international human rights law.

At the community level, we have also made some significant achievements to date. Since 2006 – CCCS Water Wise Program’s inception – City of Williams Lake water users have reduced their consumption on the city aquifer by 20%. This is a huge achievement, of which we should be very proud: nation-wide, the average Canadian resident reduced their water use only slightly, from 335 litres per day in 2001 to 327 litres per day in 2006. So we’re pretty awesome!

The Way Forward Even with these accomplishments, there are still many challenges ahead for water-starved communities, as close to a billion people worldwide – 99% of whom are in global south countries – still lack access to a clean water source. Water is different than every other resource: crucial to the existence of all life. Like the air we breathe.

We – Canadians, British Columbians, Caribooans – consume some of the highest quantities of water, per capita, in the world. Even though most of our water consumption – 30.6 billion cubic metres of it in 2009 – is industrial use, personal usage has two important impacts, aside from environmental: cost and policy development. Changing behaviour and conserving at the community level is important because it shows we recognize its inherent value. Currently, British Columbians pay some of the lowest rates in Canada for water – less than $17/month for close to 27,000 litres per household – but this will change if we squander it. Personal

Part of the Cariboo Regional District’s Solid Waste Management Info Series Becoming Waste Wise Waste Wise is a program run by the Cariboo Chilcotin Conservation Society in partnership with the Cariboo Regional District and City of Williams Lake

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hen you hear a reference to composting do you think of gardening? Perhaps it is the connection between composting and gardening that keeps many of us from composting at home. We assume that if we don’t have a garden, we don’t have a place for the “heaps” of food waste, or a location to use the finished compost.

It’s time for those of us who don’t have a garden to let go of this assumption and embrace the fact that you don’t have to garden to compost.

Backyard composters can be placed anywhere outside. You could even place one in a sunny spot in your front yard and advertise that you are actively composting. Finished compost takes up a fraction of the space of food waste, so there won’t be much material to handle if you spread it out on

February/March 2014

your lawn or give it away once a year. If you don’t have access to a yard, there are indoor composters available such as Vermicomposters that use red wriggler worms to break down fruit and veggie waste.

Why should you change your habits and re-direct your veggie and fruit waste out of the garbage? Because leaving it in the garbage creates methane gas, increases landfill leachate production, takes up space in the landfill, costs money to transport, and wastes the nutrient content of the food.

In the oxygen deprived environment of the landfill, organics don’t get a chance to break down into compost or soil; rather, they slowly decompose and release methane gas in the process, which is a greenhouse gas 21 times stronger than carbon dioxide when it comes to causing climate change.

All landfills create leachate, but

water conservation sends a message to legislators and our internationa l s p o k e s p e o p le that we care about the stewardship of this resource. Legislation for industrial use could be Left: Be water wise! Faucets account for 17% of our daily indoor water more strict in the consumption. Right: A family bathroom in Mali. With only 1 or 2 town future if we send pumps, water is conserved due to the work involved in harvesting. that message, and, Photos: Brianna van de Wijngaard as one of the most water-rich landscapes on the globe, this about 1.5 buckets by the average Ethiopian. should be reflected in our support for other The majority of our household water use nations and communities that are not as lucky comes from toilets, washing machines, fauas we are. cets, showers, and leaks (respectively), so to So international observances are meet this challenge, set up buckets or wash more than just a date on the calendar. In the basins the night before for all your water UN’s own words, “United Nations obserneeds of the day: skip laundry, obviously, but vances contribute to the achievement of the use one bucket for dishes and washing up, purposes of the UN Charter and promote one bucket for bathing, and some water in the awareness of and action on important politifridge or on the counter for consumption. cal, social, cultural, humanitarian, or human You might be surprised by how efficient you rights issues.” As signatories, they commit us can be when you do not have access to to keep working towards a better world, plumbing. When I lived in Mali, West Africa through every success, however big or small. for three months, we bathed from a 20 litre At the Cariboo Chilcotin Conservation Socibucket every day. All you need is a smaller ety (CCCS), we run the Water Wise program bucket to douse yourself but I was amazed to because we recognize the intrinsic and imfind that it was totally sufficient. measurable value of water for our commuIf you take on this challenge, tell us nity and ecosystems, and want us all to work ab o ut it! Ema il us at was tetogether to keep it that way. wise@ccconserv.org and let us know what worked, what didn’t, and how many litres CCCS World Water Day Challenge you used. There’s a CCCS prize for each Personal challenges are great. The story we receive! If you cannot take on the odds are always in your favour: you’re the challenge, perhaps you can still celebrate only competitor, so if you make your best water with us: we are sponsoring a FREE effort and succeed, you win every time. swim on Saturday, March 22, at the Cariboo Pretty good for the ego! I am committing to a Memorial Recreation Complex in Williams personal challenge for March 22, 2014, and I Lake from 1:30 to 4 p.m. Happy World Wahope you will too: the challenge is to NOT ter Day, everyone! turn on your tap for the entire day.

Anyone who has seen one of our Brianna van de Wijngaard is the Community Water Wise presentations will know that, on Liaison for the Cariboo-Chilcotin Conservaaverage, we consume about 55 10 litre bucktion Society, and can be reached at ets of water per day. This is compared to 250.398.7929. leachate production can be limited by the amount of moisture that is present in the waste. Organics contain over 60 percent moisture (by weight), which turns into leachate as the organics decompose. The leachate travels through the other waste in the landfill and collects contaminants. If the landfill doesn’t have a leachate collection system these contaminants could move into the land. If the landfill does have a leachate collection system the contaminants must be managed or removed, which is a costly process.

The lifespan of a landfill is measured in volume by how many years of waste will fit into the existing landfill footprint. If we are able to reduce the amount of waste going into each of our landfills, it gives us more years of use—an excellent reason to divert as much as we can from our landfills.

Organic waste is heavy because of the moisture content, and waste disposed of at transfer stations is hauled to a regional landfill, which is often paid for by the tonne. This is another good incentive to divert the heavy organics out of our garbage and into our yards.

The nutrients from food waste cannot be harnessed if they are mixed up in landfill leachate, but they can in your compost. Even

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if you only turn your finished compost out onto your lawn or place it around the base of the trees or shrubs in your yard, the nutrients will be put to good use.

The CRD and its member municipalities want to help you change your food waste disposal habits and will be subsidizing backyard composters and counter top containers ag a in in 2 0 14.

E ma il t a lktrash@cariboord.b.c.ca to get the details or call the CRD’s Solid Waste Management team at 250-392-3351 or toll-free 1-800-6651636.

Waste Wise education is delivered to students in the CRD, but the CRD would like to make waste education available to everyone, as we all have the ability to change our waste handling habits for the better. For more info on Waste Wise call 250-398-7929 or find details on Waste Wise activities and events at http://www.ccconserv.org/.

Please join us this year to become Waste Wise and make a difference. For direct access to our monthly topics “Like” us on F ac eb o o k at ww w. fac eb o o k. c o m/ caribooregion, chec k o ut www.cariboord.bc.ca, or look for our articles in your local paper. .

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TheGreenGazette

Chicken Column

Flock Health Testing

By Susan Tritt

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n issue raised among chicken enthusiasts, small flock keepers, and breeders is whether birds that have been treated for an illness (undiagnosed) and brought back to a level of flock health with the use of Tylan or Baytril should be reintroduced to the breeding program, and whether the chicks or hatching eggs should be sold without the end user being notified of the undiagnosed illness.

When I spoke to the provincial poultry vet last summer, they said if they went out and tested all the flocks in BC, 6 out of 10 would test positive for Mycoplasma Galasepticum (Mg). Do people see this as a problem?

So what is Mg? According to the “Small Flock Poultry Health Manual,” funded by Growing Forward, the province of British Columbia, and the federal government, Mg is a bacteria-like organism.

These organisms have no cell walls so they can only reproduce and survive within their host and are susceptible to changes in culture conditions such as heat, drying, and disinfectants. The organisms can survive for up to three days in feces, up to 30 days in an egg yolk, and can be transmitted in semen. This makes Mg highly contagious and usually presents as a chronic respiratory disease (CRD) and can wipe out an entire flock.

Birds may present with watery, bubbly eyes, nasal and respiratory congestion, tracheal infection, and a “Darth Vader” gurgle. Infections can also be complicated with co-infections such as E. coli. If you have a young flock it is likely Mg will infect the whole flock in a very short time.

You can try to treat them with antibiotics and some may recover, but they are likely carriers for life. Their immune systems become compromised and when the birds are stressed they are susceptible to a reoccurrence of the illness. The stressors may be something as simple as a change in temperature, move to a new coop, or new additions to the flock. They are also shedding the disease in their poop. The hens usually lay fewer eggs and fertility in both hens and roosters goes down and mortality in chicks goes up.

If you are raising meat birds they tend to eat less feed and the butcher weight goes down, not to mention issues relating to the use of antibiotics through the chicken’s life to treat reoccurring out-

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breaks of Mg. Turkeys are more affected than chickens, and Mg is a notifiable illness in turkeys, which means if you have Mg in your turkey flock you must report it so that proper biosecurity measures can be taken and proper clean up can be achieved.

This disease is especially dangerous because it can be passed by the hen through the egg to the chick, and infection may occur with semen from contaminated roosters. A person hatching eggs may think they have perfectly healthy breeding stock because their hens and roosters may be carriers and may never be symptomatic.

I should also mention: a big contaminator of domestic flocks are wild birds. So those who free range may contract the organism from wild and migratory birds.

After the conversation established what Mg is and who it affects, another discussion occurred regarding breeding for hardiness or breeding for resistance. If held to its true ideals, this is a concept I fully support. In a nutshell if a bird gets sick you either isolate it and see if it gets better on its own, or you cull it. You don’t use antibiotics to achieve a level of health that makes the bird appear clear of any health concerns. By treating an undiagnosed bird you don’t know if it is now a carrier of disease that may now be passed onto chicks. For me, as a breeder who sells chicks, this is a real problem.

One issue facing modern medicine right now is the overuse of antibiotics, and this is apparent in the home diagnoses and treatment of small poultry flocks right across Canada and the US. I am on several poultry forums and, daily, you see postings from concerned, what we in the industry affectionately refer to as “crazy chicken ladies,” posting things like: “I don’t know what’s wrong with Henriette.

Her wings are droopy, she has no energy, and I can’t get her to eat.” Any number of “homegrown” veterinarians will respond, “Just give her some Superboost in her water for a few days and she’ll be fine” … or Oxytetracycline, or Baytril, or Tylan, or one of the many other antibiotics that are readily available online, but most say consult a veterinarian.

Foodsafetynews.com is reporting that a study funded by Merriam-Powell Center for Environmental Research and the Ecosystem Science and Society Center and conducted at the Northern Arizona

Mg positive flock carriers can appear to be healthy. Photo: Susan Tritt

University showed organically grown chicken had “antibiotic-resistant bacteria levels just as high as conventional chicken.” How do we know that some of these people using antibiotics on their backyard flocks are fully aware of the consequences, and are selling either medicated meat birds, or medicated hatching eggs?

So what is the answer? All the literature I have studied and the professionals I have spoken to say the only way you can ensure hatching Mg-free chicks is by confirming you have Mg-free parent stock. How do you confirm this? A simple serum test.

I took a selection of eight of my birds, one from each breeding pen, to have them serum tested to make sure our flock is clean of Mg. We didn’t have any sick birds, but healthy birds may still be carriers. The procedure for doing this was very simple, and the cost was not great. You take your birds to a veterinarian with a lab to have the blood drawn, where they have a centrifuge and can spin the blood into serum. They will send the serum to the provincial poultry lab for testing and the lab will send you the results. The lab charges $3 per bird for testing and the veterinarian will charge for blood collection.

I chose to do this for peace of mind. Two of my birds tested positive as carriers in my small coop, and all the birds in my large coop tested negative. Because of the high rate of contamination of Mg, knowing that those birds that tested positive could be shedding the organism and infecting my entire flock, I chose to cull all 14 birds in that coop. As recommended, I have also retested birds in my

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negative coop to make sure I have not cross contaminated. It was a tough decision, but I have heard several stories over the past year of people having to cull their entire flocks because they were sold birds with Mg. I will feel better knowing that if someone buys one of my birds they are getting Mg-free birds.

Many breeders that have a lot of money tied up in their breeding stock are not going to test, because they are not going to cull birds that have no symptoms.

Another issue is the cost. In my opinion, if you are setting up a business and taking on the responsibility of advertising and selling healthy chicks, you have a responsibility to make sure that is what you are in fact doing. The total cost for me to assess my Mg flock health to date has been under $300. That is less than one small incubator load of chicks. Although there are varying ideas about this issue, one thing is for certain: a lot of work needs to be done on public education.

Susan and her husband Rudy have shared a passion for hobby farming since they met almost 30 years ago. “Our goal at Funky Fowl Farm is to grow everything we need to live, and to grow as naturally as possible.”

***

February/March 2014

Hey, man, can I have some dough?

TheGreenGazette

By Pat Teti

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ew foods ev ok e such a variety of memories and meanings as the ancient com bina ti on of grain, water, and bacteria that we call “bread.” The purpose of this article is to get you thinking more about the many aspects of this staple food—what’s in the bread you eat, where it’s from, how much it costs, its implications for your health, and how “green” it is.

Maybe it will inspire you to try a new recipe or make bread for the first time. If one person does that, this article will have been worth it. The aroma of freshly baked bread at home is not as elusive as you might think!

I grew up on white, sliced sandwich bread that my mom bought at the grocery store. For special occasions we had Italian style white bread, which wasn’t baked in a loaf pan and had more flavour. Now I bake bread at home at least once a week and it usually includes at least two very nonWonderbread ingredients like whole wheat, rye, millet, corn, oats, potatoes, pumpkin seeds, turmeric, or wheat sprouts and that doesn’t count the tasty ingredients that can go into quick breads or on pizza. If you are too busy to bake your own bread, perhaps this will get you thinking more about the bread you buy. You can improve your relationship with bread in small steps. I changed from eating factory white bread to delicious and healthy homemade bread in small steps over many years. Let me share some of the things that work for me.

You don’t need a bread machine or a stand mixer. I try to minimize the number of appliances in the house and I enjoy kneading by hand while listening to the radio or thinking. I find kneading dough mentally relaxing while providing a bit of upper body exercise.

Kneading by hand might feel hard or awkward if you’re not used to it. A ball of dough resists your push as you incorporate more flour. My tip for making kneading easier is to let it squish out to your left and right into a baguette shape and when it gets too long, just fold it over on itself. Kneading this way takes less force because a long, sideways cylinder has a smaller internal cross sectional area than a ball of the same volume and the force you exert creates a proportionately larger internal shear stress on the dough. OK, no more physics.

One of the simplest and most versatile breads you can make is flatbread for pizza or focaccia. It’s easy because a small batch of dough is easily kneaded by hand,

Above: Sweet potato and pumpkin seed whole wheat bread. Below: Gruyere, cheddar and rosemary focaccia. Photos: Pat Teti

makes a lot of meals, and can be made with just all-purpose flour. What kind of pan do you need? For years, I used a pizza pan with a solid bottom, cookie sheets, pans with punched holes, and a pizza stone. Then I discovered the pizza screen, which is made of fine wire mesh like a window screen. It’s cheap and works best for me. However, anything that’s flat and a little smaller than your oven rack, to allow for air circulation, is fine.

Whoever first wrote “let rise until double in bulk, about 2 hours” probably wasn’t a Canadian home baker! Dough can be ready for baking in two hours if it’s kept at 25 to 28 degrees Celsius but this isn’t practical, especially in winter. So, my next tip is to start all dough at least one or two days ahead of time. The temperature in my kitchen averages around 16 degrees Celsius in winter and dough rises adequately at this temperature in 24 hours but I generally let pizza dough rise for two days. This requires a bit of planning but it isn’t more work. In fact, it reduces the uncertainty about when the dough will be ready, requires less yeast, can be done at a cooler temperature, and develops more flavour. With a long, slow rise, the dough will be very forgiving about when it is ready for baking. I suggest that you get a digital meat thermometer so that you can get used to how your dough behaves at different temperatures and start exercising some control over the rising, or “proofing,” process.

In the next article, I’ll share my pizza recipe. Meanwhile, the above might give you something to chew on.

Pat Teti was a research scientist with the BC government for 18 years and has always enjoyed making things.

February/March 2014

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TheGreenGazette

The Marsh Book

By Ray Grigg

A

unique kind of book is being written at Edgewood Blue in British Columbia’s Upper Clearwater Valley. Instead of using words, paragraphs, and pages, Trevor Goward has been using water, soil, and plants. His ideas are not expressed with phrases, sentences, or punctuation but in channels, islands, and stones.

Goward’s “book” is the painstaking restoration of a dying marsh, a meticulous and loving effort to return an incredibly rich ecological feature to its former biological glory. This lifetime of work is his “marsh book.”

Goward’s project has been huge, complex, and ambitious. Edgewood Blue has been blessed with a naturalist’s rare combination of exceptional knowledge and remarkable perseverance, together with a remembered ambition to transform this place, as Goward notes, into a kind of “biological storybook” where naturalists young and old can learn to read and enjoy tales from “the green living world.” Lately he has begun to invite teachers, community leaders, parents, and others to Edgewood Blue so they can encourage young people to reconnect with the land.

His marsh book, of course, will never become a published manuscript. Neither will it be completed. Changes will write themselves. Refinements will continue indefinitely. New characters will arrive and interact in surprising and innovative ways. More chapters will unfold as time passes. The plot that Goward has relinquished to nature will always be thickening and deepening in complexity and beauty, forever playing with the unfolding elements of weather, light, and seasons.

Goward is known for other things besides his marsh book. For many years he has been a naturalist with an intimate knowledge of the flora and fauna of nearby Wells Gray Provincial Park. He is an internationally known lichenologist with sophisticated knowledge, rare insights, and published scientific papers about this most amazing botanical phenomenon. But the other passion in his life is Edgewood Blue, a four-hectare property where, for nearly 30 years, he has been turning a marginal landscape into a vital and living paradise.

His project has been audacious—a

creative and bold exercise in gentle biological engineering that has been both sensitive and brave. Working always with the belief that enhancing biodiversity is preferable to lessening it, he brought in excavators to reestablish the open water as the marsh’s principal aquatic component, stacking the dredgings in heaps that would eventually become eleven islands. The pond and connecting channels had to be deep enough to prevent re-occupation by plants such as sedges and cattails, yet shallow enough for other vegetation to nourish the diverse life so characteristic of such a rich and vital place.

The heavy and monstrous excavators must have caused initial havoc. When the basic structure of the new marsh was established and the land had dried sufficiently for the excavators to return, they began their final strategic task of carefully landscaping and contouring the planned details as they retreated. Attention to the particular was remarkable. Elevations were kept low so native bushes and vegetation could flourish. A few of the islands were mounded high enough to grow trees, providing nesting habitat for such birds as warblers and vireos. An occasional flat stone was even placed carefully at the water’s edge – Goward's attention to punctuation – so visiting ducks and geese could shuffle out for preening and sleeping.

Today, Edgewood Blue’s marsh looks as if it has always been there. Except for the occasional walkway and the boulders and benches of Story Island, nature has softened every trace of human influence.

The marsh now comes alive each spring with plants and animals native to the area.

The expanse of Sky Pond is a prime landing area for the approximately 20 species of waterfowl that now arrive seasonally for food, nesting, and resting. Visiting ducks and geese commonly paddle the passages.

Elusive sandhill cranes breed here and can be seen strolling the levees. Muskrats busy themselves with eating and digging. Dragonflies patrol for insect prey. Frogs and toads of four species squat serenely on lily pads or wait patiently among the sedges for unsuspecting meals. The bird count at Edgewood Blue is 155 different species, making it the most biologically diverse ecology in the area, including nearby Wells Gray Provincial Park.

Goward’s property is also on the migration path of moose and wolves, deer,

Left top: Trevor Goward, during one of his "enlichenment" walks near the marsh.

Right: Open patches of the marsh immediately in front of Trevor's house. Photos: Ray Grigg Bottom: Aerial photo of the Edgewood Blue marsh. Photo: Fritz Schaer

and cougar, black bear and grizzly, all travelling seasonally between the mountains to the east and the lowlands to the west—both protected within Wells Grey Provincial Park. For their passage through the wetlands and beside the marsh, he has considerately provided a trail complete with a stretch of sand that records their footprints—it’s raked every morning to become, as Goward playfully calls it, “The Daily News.”

Many people in many ways and places are attempting a version of Goward’s caring and nurturing. Organizations are restoring salmon spawning beds, rehabilitating damaged streams, and removing obstructions in rivers so fish can reach new rearing areas. Groups are protesting pollution and protecting forests from destruction.

Individuals are leaving bushes and trees on their property as hiding and nesting sites for birds. Gardeners and homeowners are providing foraging crops and flowers for bees.

Even apartment dwellers are filling patio containers with blooming plants to create

micro-ecologies that invite and nourish wild creatures such as butterflies and hummingbirds. Even those with just a yard or a bucket are composting or growing worms to generate a tiny bit of life-giving soil in return for food.

Edgewood Blue is exceptional. But it is also instructive. No one needs to be as ambitious as Trevor Goward. His decades of considered and caring effort to write his marsh book represents more dedication than most of us can muster. However, we can each write a page, a paragraph, a sentence or a few words—perhaps just a brief note of appreciation to a planet that needs all the love it can get.

Ray Grigg is a weekly environmental columnist for the Campbell River CourierIslander. He is the author of seven internationally published books on Oriental philosophy, specifically Zen and Taoism.

Transition Town Group Hosts Films and Discussion in February and March Central Cariboo Arts Center (old fire hall) / Films start at 6:30 p.m. Doors open at 6:00 p.m. / Come early to browse our extensive lending library / Share snacks and join the discussion Monday, February 17 - “Chasing Ice” - 80 minutes “Chasing Ice” is the best-produced and most important environmental documentary since Al Gore’s, “An Inconvenient Truth.” Initially a global warming skeptic, James Balog on assignment with 9ational Geographic brought his finely-honed photographic skills to bear as he created the Extreme Ice Survey—a project to document the melting of ice across our planet. Balog’s images are as jaw-dropping as the courage he demonstrates and the sacrifices he makes capturing beatific, tragic images of ice and its melting. The cinematography is amazing with time lapse cameras that capture images over several years. The filming takes place in several locations around the globe The film's publicity includes a statement by Robert Redford: “You’ve never seen images like this before... It deserves to be seen and felt on the big screen. If you can get yourself to a theater showing “Chasing Ice,” please do so… and bring some oxygen with you because the images and vistas are absolutely breath-taking.

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Monday, March 17 - “Plastic Planet” - 99 minutes We live in the age of plastic. It’s cheap and practical, and it’s everywhere—even in our blood. But is it a danger to us? Every industrial sector in the world today is dependent on plastic. The amount of plastic we have produced since it was invented would be enough to cover the entire globe six times over. But this inexpensive and convenient substance comes with a price. Plastic stays in the ground and water system for up to 500 years and it is found on every beach in the world.

This feisty, informative documentary takes us on a journey around the globe – from the Moroccan Sahara to the middle of the Pacific Ocean, from a factory in China to the highest peaks of the Alps – to reveal the far-flung reaches of our plastic problem. Interviews with the world’s foremost experts in biology, pharmacology, and genetics shed light on the perils to our environment and expose the truth about how plastic affects our bodies and the health of future generations. Interspersing animated sequences and old commercials, this eyeopening film reveals how the world has wholeheartedly embraced the convenience of a substance it knows nothing about.

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February/March 2014

TheGreenGazette

Road’s End Vegetable Company TheGreenGazette’s Grand Prize Winner

By LeRae Haynes

T

he grand prize winner of TheGreenGazette’s “It’s 3ot Easy Being Green” contest, topping the green charts with environmental initiative and practices, is Terri Smith from Road’s End Vegetable Company. She is a local farmer who has turned conviction and passion into holistically grown garden vegetables to feed her community and inspire future generations.

She is a farmer with Cariboo Growers Market, president of the board of directors, and works in the store. She has been manager of the Oliver Street Market, which has grown from running on Friday afternoons and evenings to operating a storefront in Boitanio Mall.

She runs a non-certified organic market garden located on Knife Creek Road near 140 Mile House. Road’s End produces 50 varieties of vegetables, and besides selling at the Growers Market, Terri also runs a “box-aweek” program for customers that includes fresh, in-season vegetables, a newsletter, and recipes.

More than a livelihood, holistic farming is a lifestyle and a passion for Terri who lives in the house her parents built when she was one year old. “I left here at 18 years old for Vancouver and was never coming back to Williams Lake,” she says. “I did a lit degree and an art diploma and planned to teach in the city for 10 years.

“There came a point when I realized that the world was falling apart, and that I wanted my life to meet my daily needs,” she says. “Most importantly, that I needed to not

hurt the earth. I starting looking at what I really wanted to do.”

She began looking into biodynamic farming, lived in a camper van, and spent time at three farms in BC’s lower mainland, as well as at Mackin Creek Farm in the Cariboo.

These experiences helped her make the decision to move back to the Cariboo and apply her passion and beliefs to home soil.

Biodynamic farming is described as a spiritual-ethical-ecological approach to agriculture, food production, and nutrition. First developed in the early 1920s, it is based on the spiritual insights and practical suggestions of Austrian writer, educator, architect, and social activist Dr. Rudolf Steiner.

Biodynamic farming today encompasses successful gardens, farms, vineyards, and agricultural operations of all types and sizes around the world in a wide variety of ecological and economic settings.

Biodynamic farmers work to create a balanced, diversified farm ecosystem that generates fertility and health as much as possible from within the farm itself. Smith explains that the goal is to get 10% or less of what you need from off the farm.

She says there are seven homeopathic preparations that biodynamic farmers use.

They are made from fermented manure, minerals, and herbs and are used to help restore and harmonize the vital life forces of the farm and to enhance the nutrition, quality, and flavour of the food being raised.

“You also plant by the moon—this is my fifth season following a biodynamic calendar,” she adds. “It can make all the difference for a successful crop. The vegetables are much more vibrant than other organic farm produce.

They’re just that much better.

What’s in Your Well?

Drinking water in Canada: Part 1

By A.K. (Sandy) Amy

W

ater is our single most precious resource. People can live without food for as much as two weeks, but 72 hours without water is usually fatal. For infants, this time-frame shrinks to 24 hours.

Globally, 30,000 deaths occur daily from water-related diseases.

In developing nations, 80% of illnesses occur due to contaminated water.

And something else that is seldom considered: there is no “new” water. The water on earth today, whether salt or fresh, or in vapour, liquid, or solid state, is all the water there will ever be. The scientific community is still not in total agreement about whether the water we have exists from the Earth being bombarded by water-bearing comets and asteroids during the formation of the planet, or whether nature once found a way to combine atoms of hydrogen and oxygen to form water, or if it was even some other yetunknown process. And of that very limited amount, less than 3% is fresh water.

So what exactly defines good drinking water?

In Canada, water quality guidelines are issued by the Federal-Provincial SubCommittee on Drinking Water. These recommend maximum acceptable levels of mineral, microbial, radiological, and chemical contami-

February/March 2014

nants, The Guidelines, are based on information that shows that water containing contaminants in amounts in excess of these maximums are likely to cause adverse health effects. The Guidelines are used by government agencies to effectively assess water quality problems and are subject to review and revision as new information becomes available.

In the case of municipal or civic water distribution systems, water treatment and monitoring is provided by that particular municipality, with oversight by Public Health Authorities for the public’s protection. Recently, The Guidelines have come under increasing criticism because, unlike in the United States, where the United States Environmental Protection Agency’s (USEPA) maximum contaminant levels in water are standards enforced by law, Canada's Water Quality Guidelines are recommendations, which do not necessarily have the force of law behind them.

Additionally, individual owners of private wells are not included in this process. The responsibility is theirs alone to ascertain the quality of their water.

The South Cariboo region presents some special concerns for well owners and users, from minerals in the groundwater to agricultural run-off. Wells in this area are a total roll of the dice, where two wells relatively close to each other can have radically

Terri Smith from Road's End Vegetable Company 'Eat (y)our vegetables' is a familiar face at the Oliver Street Market and at Cariboo Growers Market. Photo LeRae Haynes

“This approach is huge in places like Australia, New Zealand, and Europe and is just getting started in North America.”

Farming on her family property, which includes a solar heated house, makes sense for Smith. “My parents rented out the 80-acre farm forever; I came home and began farming here,” she says.

One goal for Road’s End is a focus on educating the public and Smith says it’s encouraging to see more people wanting to know where their food comes from and caring about what’s in it. “This change in our society is positive: people have less trust in industrialized food as a whole and are beginning to see that it’s worth it to pay a little more for something that tastes better and is better.”

Absolutely against genetically modified organism (GMO) practices, she said it’s about more than health—it contaminates the world’s seeds. She adds that you can’t just trust what it says on a label.

“This is about transparency,” she says.

“When you buy local you know the farmer— we are our own labels. We always invite customers to come and visit the farm and see ex-

different depths, flow rates, and water composition. Even though your neighbour’s well may have been tested and found to be safe, this does not mean your well water is alright.

Water quality depends on surface and underground geology, the depth and construction of the well, and other factors. Localized areas in the region with concentrations of unusual contaminants like arsenic and uranium are not unknown.

As a private well owner, what can I do?

Typically, groundwater is naturally clean and safe for consumption. Because the overlying soil acts as a filter, groundwater is usually free of disease-causing microorganisms. However, contamination may occur following improper installation of well casings or caps, after a break in the casing, or as a result of contaminated surface water entering the well. Contamination can also occur if wells are drilled in fractured bedrock without an adequate layer of protective soil and with less than the recommended minimum casing length.

Proper siting, location, construction, and maintenance of your well will help to minimize the likelihood of contamination. The well cap should be checked regularly to ensure that it is securely in place and watertight.

Joints, cracks, and connections in the well casing should be sealed. Pumps and pipes should also be checked on a regular basis, and any changes in water quality should be investigated.

Surface drainage should be directed away from the well casing, and surface water should not collect near the well. The well itself should not be located downhill from any source of pollution.

Remember to test your water after replacing or repairing any part of the well system (piping, pump, or the well itself.) Also

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actly where the food comes from.”

Making a good connection with her local community and providing the best products possible is important at Road’s End. The recipes Smith includes with her box-a-week customers are designed so any vegetable you need is in the box. “Recipes for in-season veggies can be a challenge,” she explains. “I’ve used recipes for things like frozen coleslaw, carrot soup, salads with watercress, green onion soup, and sautéed radishes with maple syrup.”

Road’s End Vegetable Company boxa-week customers can expect standards like beautiful carrots, potatoes, and salad mixes, but will also be delighted with treats like fennel, kohlrabi, patty-pan squash, and bouquets of crunchy, sweet radishes.

Congratulations, Terri, for being the winner of TheGreenGazette contest. You inspire us and make us proud!

For more information about Road’s End Vegetable Company phone 250-296-4409, email roads.end.csa@gmail.com, or follow le ar n m or e on Fa c eb oo k at www.facebook.com/roads.end.vegetable.co.

test if you notice a change in your water’s look, taste, or smell. To prevent illness, wells should be properly maintained and the water regularly tested for the presence of microbial contaminants. Well water should also be tested occasionally for possible inorganic and organic chemical contaminants.

Testing your private well’s water quality on a regular basis is an important part of maintaining a safe and reliable source. The test results allow you to properly address the specific problems of a water supply. This will help ensure that the water source is being properly protected from potential contamination, and that appropriate treatment is selected and operating properly.

It is important to test the suitability of your water quality for its intended use, whether that is for livestock watering, chemical spraying, or drinking water. This will assist you in making informed decisions about your water and how you use it.

Well water should be tested for bacteriological quality regularly and for chemical contamination if it is suspected. In addition to regular tests, well water should be tested immediately if there is any change in its clarity, colour, odour, or taste, or if there has been a change in the surrounding land use. Only through regular assessment and testing of drinking water, can the microbial and chemical safety of your well water be verified.

Stay tuned for the next article: Testing your well water.

A. K. (Sandy) Amy has over 40 years of laboratory experience in Analytical Chemistry and Trace Analysis. As the proprietor of Safe Well Water Consulting, he provides well water quality, well performance testing, and water treatment consulting services to private well owners in the South Cariboo region.

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TheGreenGazette

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February/March 2014

TheGreenGazette

Virabhadrasana 2 (veer-ah-bah-DRAHS-anna) - Warrior 2

By Tricia Ramier

S

Entering the Asana (posture) 1. Stand in the middle of your mat, grounding yourself in Tadasana (Mountain Pose). Initiate your training as a spiritual warrior here as you let go of life’s external influences and distraction. Bringing awareness to your core and solar plexus chakra (manipura), which is related to the ability to be confident and in-control of our lives.

2. Step the feet one leg-length apart with toes facing forward and heels aligned to one another. Engage the thighs as you firmly ground down through the feet. Keep your arms and shoulders relaxed and place hands on the hips.

Hips stay facing forward and remain level. Bring your awareness to maintaining a Tadasana torso and allowing the focus to initially be on the legs.

3. Rotate your left leg out 90 degrees from the hip socket.

Rotate the right foot in just slightly. Heel of left foot aligns with the arch or big toe knuckle of the back foot.

4. Legs stay firm; torso and hip points remain facing forward. Become aware of your breathing, establishing your own natural rhythm. Breathe fully and gently, in and out, inhale and exhale.

5. Inhale and lengthen through the torso.

6. Exhale, bend the left knee, and align the knee over ankle. Adjust your stance accordingly. Be sure to keep your big toenail visible. To keep the knee joint safe and to avoid twisting and collapsing in the front knee, take your left hand onto the inside of left knee and gently guide it toward the little toe side. Full pose: the left thigh is parallel to the floor and the shin is perpendicular.

February/March 2014

What Makes Plastic Bags Harmful to the Environment?

Plastic bags are made of a variety of toxic chemicals and most plastic bags are not biodegradable. They usually end up in landfills where it takes hundreds of years for plastic bags to decompose. Although a process known as photo degradation can help the process of breaking down the plastics, the particles still release harmful toxins that affect our soil, water bodies, and wildlife.

teady and strong, with strength and stamina.

Virabhadrasana 2 can teach us a lot about the dynamics of bringing wisdom into the actions of our everyday lives. It is a powerful pose, no doubt, but as you explore the pose’s alignment and inner attitude, the heart of the peaceful warrior begins to reveal itself offering confidence to face your fears, courage to move forward, and compassion to embrace one another.

Benefits Virabhadrasana 2 strengthens the legs, ankles, knees, arms, and shoulders and aims to increase elasticity in the back and groins. Overall circulation in the body is developed, mental focus plus stamina is gained, and the three doshas – kapha, vata, and pitta (Ayurvedic science that aligns the mind-body-spirit) are brought back into balance.

Baba Hari Dass is a silent monk and guru who was classically trained in the tradition of Ashtanga Yoga. He is a yogi and a quiet scholar who has remarkable skills in sculpture, music, architecture, yoga philosophy, writing, storytelling, and Indian cosmology. He is a leading exponent of Ayurveda, the ancient Indian science of health, an author, a monk, and is proficient in half a dozen languages. He has maintained a continual vow of silence since 1952. He and his teachings have inspired the Mount Madonna Center and Mount Madonna Institute near Santa Cruz, California, The Salt Spring Centre in British Columbia, and the Sri Ram Ashram in Haridwar, India.

When Baba Hari Dass was asked about the pose he wrote: It is good to work with the vayus, especially apana (with the necessary lifting of the pelvic floor and bringing in the lower belly to stabilize the trunk of the body) and udana (with the head turned to the side and the pressure put at Vishuddha chakra).

Virabhadrasana 2 tones udana, prana, apana, and samana vayu. The Five Vayus (udana, prana, samana, apana, vyana) are the energies (prana) of the body that regulate and control all bodily functions. The word vayu means “wind,” so the vayus can be thought of as the “energy winds” of the body. When these energies are balanced, the body is healthy and all of its functions are optimized. Through understanding our own imbalances of these pranas, we are able to restore the balance of these energies and the health of the body.

A Plastic Perspective

Small Businesses: how can you help?

Switch to reusable shopping bags: Reusable bags are environmentally friendly as well as convenient; they come in a variety of sizes and styles for all types of shopping needs.

Have a sales display set up at your front checkout for customers to purchase if required.

Tricia demonstrates Virabhadasana 2 (Warrior 2) using a chair as a prop. Photo: Jana Roller Photography

Recycle your plastic bags: Look into incorporating a program at your small business where you will recycle your logo bags for reuse of future customer purchases.

www.janarollerphotography.ca 7. Inhale, raise the arms out to the sides, shoulder height and parallel with the floor, palms facing up, eye of the elbow facing the ceiling. Then with the rest of the arm stable, turn your palms down from the forearm. Keep the shoulders and chest centred over the hips. Then turn your head, and gaze toward the left hand. Breathe, feeling the length of your inhaling and exhaling.

8. Explore the feeling of your body weight from front to back. Distribute the weight evenly between the legs.

Connect through all of the corners of your feet while lifting through the arches, discovering a point of equilibrium.

9. Maintain the natural curvatures of the spine, not leaning too far forward or back. Avoid over arching the low back by engaging into the core and lifting the lower belly button up, lengthening the spine. This action will awaken your centre, so you can begin to extend out of your lower back and expand the whole torso.

10. Draw shoulders down from the ears, lengthen out through the arms.

11. Continue to be aware of your breathing, steady and slow for 3-5 breathes. It is in the clear space of awareness that the wise actions within each moment can be found.

In the deep lunge and open arms of Virabhadrasana 2, you may hear your internal warrior teacher giving you insights to bring you into balance not only in the present moment, but in your life as a whole.

Customers: how can you help?

As consumers you can help make a change by having your own reusable bags or packsacks.

Or, invest a few extra dollars and purchase a reusable canvas bag, available at most supermarket checkout stands.

While out shopping and offered the choice between paper and plastic, opt for paper. Paper bags biodegrade in a matter of weeks, and can go into compost, yard waste piles, or the recycling bin.

Did you Know you can Recycle the Following Plastic Items?

•

• •

• •

Newspaper / flyer bags, dry cleaning bags, transparent bread bags Dry fruit and fresh or frozen produce bags Overwrap plastics on toilet paper, napkins, tissues, paper towels, bottle water cases, soft drinks, juices, and snacks Rinsed milk containers And any plastic bags labeled with #2 or #4 Submitted by Community Futures Cariboo Chilcotin

Coming out of the Asana 1. Bring hands to the hips; stabilize through the feet.

2. Inhale, straighten the left leg. Exhale, turn toes back to parallel.

3. Heel toe feet back together.

4. Return to Tadasana and repeat on the other side.

Modifications Allowing the hands to rest at the hips, shortening your stance, or your gaze can remain in the direction the chest is facing. You may also initiate the posture from a kneeling position or utilize props: Chair: a) rest your arms on b) sit on Wall: a) place the body against b) back foot pressing into wall Tricia is a 200 hr graduate of the Salt Spring Centre of Yoga and a RYT 500 hr graduate of Mount Madonna Centre in California. She is trained in classical ashtanga and hatha yoga systems, yin yoga, earned a diploma in Human Kinetics, and is excited about her path to become a yoga therapist. In her yoga classes, Tricia weaves together mindfulness, alignment, strength, and softness in a flow style practice. She guides students in a rhythm that allows them to move in harmony with their breath and to discover the obstacles / opportunities that are waiting to be met. The word Satya means truth and she invites you to discover your truth.

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TheGreenGazette

BOOK REVIEW “The Great Turning: From Empire to Earth Community” by David C. Korten (2006)

By Richard Case

H

umanity seems headed for trouble: struggling economies, a growing debt that can never be repaid, more expensive and dangerous oil, more frequent climate disasters, and the end of growth. Some say we are at the end of an era.

How did we get here? What lies ahead? If you are like me, you look for explanations that are hopeful and give direction, while asking the bigger ecological and spiritual questions. “The Great Turning” does this and makes the case that we humans are a choice-making species that faces both the opportunity and the imperative to choose our future as a conscious collective act. If you want food for thought, you will like this book.

Korten’s qualifications for writing the book are broad. He earned his MBA and PhD from Stanford, was a faculty member at Harvard Grad School of Business, spent years as a specialist with the Ford Foundation in International Development in Asia and Central America, and was a member of the Club of Rome. He participated in the NGO Forum at the UN Conference in Rio, contributed to producing the Earth Charter, is founder of Positive Futures Network, board chair of YES Magazine, and has been an advisor to USAID. His other books include the best-selling “When Corporations Rule the World” and “The Post Corporate World: Life After Capitalism.” His publications are required reading in university courses around the world. He is a popular international speaker and regular guest on talk radio and television.

Korten says we face a choice between two contrasting models for organizing human affairs. He gives them the generic names Empire and Earth Community. He speaks harshly of Empire, which organizes by domination at all levels, from relations among nations to relations among family members. Empire brings fortune to the few, condemns the majority to struggle in servitude, suppresses the creative potential, and appropriates much of the wealth to maintain the institutions of domination.

The primary institutional form of Empire over the millennia (civilizations) has morphed from the city-state to the nation-state to the global corporation. The powerful control and institutionalize the processes by which it will be decided who enjoys the privilege and who pays the price—a choice that commonly results in arbitrarily excluding from power whole groups of persons based on race and gender. He argues that corporate consolidation of power now occurring is merely a repeating of what has occurred by military or religion numerous times over the past 5,000 years. Increasingly destructive of children, family, community, economy, and nature, the narrow ways of Empire are never sustainable and always lead to environmental depletion and collapse.

Earth Community, in contrast, is based on an egalitarian democratic ordering of relationships based on the more mature principles of partnership. In nature Korten sees five potential levels of consciousness whether in an individual, a nation, or an ecosystem. He sees he transition to Earth Community now underway as the move to level 4. It unleashes the human potential for creative co-operation, where the goal is to share resources and surpluses for the good of all. This new emerging era of human affairs is possible and it must be nurtured. It fosters local self-sufficiency and happiness that is not based on the accumulation of material wealth or position.

It is inclusive and not self-centered. It honours the power of life and love, it seeks to balance feminine and masculine principles, and it nurtures a realization of a more mature human nature.

Empire on the other hand argues that we humans are, by nature, self-centered, materialistic, and driven to violent winner-take-all competition. Coercive hierarchy and unrestrained market competition are therefore necessary to maintain economies and social order. The favoured institutions then create a self-fulfilling prophecy by cultivating and rewarding behaviours that by their reckoning define our human nature. Korten disagrees and says human nature is much more complex and that the institutions of the emerging Earth Community, in contrast to violence and greed, nurture and celebrate higher human capacities for love, co-operation, and service to community and this defines our true nature and potential.

Empire’s power, he contends, depends on its ability to control the stories by which we humans define ourselves

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and our possibilities. Who ever controls the economy, communications, security, and meaning stories that define the mainstream culture, controls the society. The key to changing the human course is to change the story and this must be from the bottom up. He believes the dominator hierarchical model is not the natural and/or essential human order and it will never change itself.

Healthy, happy children, families, communities, and natural systems are the true measure of prosperity. Money and material possessions as a prime goal beyond personal needs ultimately leads to imbalance for the whole and happiness, when finally understood, must be defined differently.

To end poverty, Korten says we must turn from growth as a defining economic priority. We must eliminate harmful activities such as military, advertising, sprawl, and financial speculation while increasing the beneficial: food and energy self-reliance, personal health, and productive investment.

Korten says an awakened human consciousness is generating a need in people for participation in The Great Turning and this is leading people to create a new cultural and economic story from the bottom up. This can be seen in the hundreds and thousands of groups and movements for peace, justice, clean food, and environmental stewardship emerging in every country of the world.

The crisis we now face, he says, is poised to bring a dramatic restructuring of every aspect of modern life. We have the power to choose whether the consequences play out as a terminal crises or an epic opportunity. The Great Tuning is not a prophecy. It is a possibility and it is already well underway. Korten’s perspective is that this time around the democratic ideal, coupled with advances in travel and communication technologies, has set us up for a new level of global consciousness that was not possible in earlier times.

The work is beginning in our minds, says Korten, with an awakening to the reality that the drive to connect with life and the evolutionary processes in a mutually affirming relationship is hardwired into our nature. It makes us happy. We are getting a wake up call we cannot ignore. I like his metaphor of the caterpillar gestating into the butterfly. I look forward to reading his other books and following him at YES Magazine and at h is w e b s it e www.livingecononiesforum.org.

Richard Case is a semi-retired ecologist living on a small farm in Beaver Valley (energy independent and no animals).

He actively promotes a local Transition Town and shows awareness films to generate discussion about the future once a month throughout the winter months. For more info contact him at rcase@laketown.net

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Quesnel Food Gardeners: Feature Gardeners - Linda and Mark Ekelund

By Colleen Gatenby

3

estled in a valley at the end of Zschiedrich Road lies the home of Mark and Linda Ekelund. When the property was purchased about 20 years ago with Mark’s sister and cousin, Mark and Linda chose the old farm house in which to raise their young family of three girls and a boy.

I arrived that snowy, white, January morning to discuss Linda’s 32 years of growing and storing food because I knew she would be an inspiration to those of us trying to do a better job ourselves.

After chatting with Linda in her beautiful new kitchen and admiring the view of Dragon Mountain across the snowy fields, I got to see the heart of her home: the family’s food storage system. They are devout Mormons and as such are encouraged to at least know how to grow their own food and to have a year’s supply in their home. I gazed lovingly at the shelves of canned beef, beets, and salsa in the cold room, the boxes of potatoes and carrots (layered in paper) in the root cellar, and the plastic bins of store bought staples (flour, oats, etc.). I knew the freezer would be full of beans and tomatoes.

Linda’s garden and their three cows go a long way toward feeding her family.

Last year they even had enough potatoes to supply the growing families of two of her daughters until March. It’s hard work, but she loves it and would have it no other way.

Linda decided early on that she would have a large garden and can and preserve what she could. Fortunately, there was a garden plot there already. Unlike nearby Kersley with its sandy soil, Ekelunds have clay soil that today is beautiful and fine due

Left: Linda shows off her carrots layered in newsprint and stored in her root cellar. Right: Linda with samples of her home canning and the family's stored food. Photos: Colleen Gatenby to generous additions of their own cow manure and compost.

Today, her 60’ by 90’ garden grows potatoes and carrots, beans, raspberries and strawberries, and zucchini. She has a combination herb and lettuce garden near the house. The greenhouse holds cucumbers, eggplants, and tomatoes. They grow grapes and Mark has two espaliered apple trees and one cherry tree that grow around the base of Linda’s laundry stand. One of the old original apple trees produced a bumper crop several years ago so this year they plan to try rooting a branch to grow a new tree.

Her season begins as early as the end of January when she starts her heritage tomato seeds indoors. They will be moved into the greenhouse by the end of April and produce fruit for July. She has given up planting tomatoes outside as she says the variable summer weather causes problems.

Last year it held 60 plants and supplied them with salsa for all year. As the tomatoes ripen she freezes them on cookie sheets, then puts them in bags in the freezer. They are available whenever she wants them.

She rototills once at the beginning and then lays out her 60’ rows. She hates weeding so mulches the rows with grass clippings and waters the plants only. When the farm house burned down several years ago Mark salvaged the copper pipes and has since built her a drip irrigation system that gets rotated every day and is frugal on water.

Linda tries not to use any chemical fertilizer and instead relies on their cow manure and compost. Mark has set up black bins and blue barrels, which collect their household compost and garden clippings and are then added to the garden in the fall.

Recently she had trouble growing peas and

after a variety of unsuccessful soil tests, has decided to send a sample to the US for examination.

The raspberries that Mark loves so much are from the original farm and the Ekelunds simply divide the plants every few years. They have had chickens in the past and still raise three cows a year for their own meat.

Colleen Gatenby is a retired teacher and avid food gardener. Along with members of the Quesnel Community Garden she works towards mastering the skills of food production, preservation, and seed collection. She hopes to encourage others to garden by writing articles about local food producers and conducting 'Food Garden Tours' in the summertime.

Environmental Groups Launch Lawsuit over Flawed Northern Gateway Report VACCOUVER—Environmental groups have launched a lawsuit to block Cabinet approval of the proposed Northern Gateway pipeline. The Joint Review Panel’s (JRP) final report, the groups say, is based on insufficient evidence and does not satisfy the Environmental Assessment process.

Ecojustice lawyers representing ForestEthics Advocacy, Living Oceans Society, and Raincoast Conservation Foundation, filed the lawsuit in January at the federal court level. The groups, participants in Northern Gateway’s 18-month review hearing process, seek a court order to prevent Cabinet from relying on the flawed JRP report to approve the proposed pipeline.

“The JRP did not have enough evidence to support its conclusion that the Northern Gateway pipeline would not have significant adverse effects on certain aspects of the environment,” said Karen Campbell, Ecojustice staff lawyer. “The panel made its recommendation despite known gaps in the evidence, particularly missing information about the risk of geohazards along the pipeline route and what happens to diluted bitumen when it is spilled in the marine environment.”

For example, in January 2014, a federal report confirmed that diluted bitumen – the substance tankers would carry along the British Columbia coast – sinks in oceanlike conditions, suggesting that a potential spill would be even more difficult to clean up and have serious environmental impacts.

“We have no choice but to go to court and challenge the JRP’s final report,” said Karen Wristen, executive director of Living Oceans Society. “The panel’s recommendation was made without considering important evidence that highlights the threat Northern Gateway poses to the BC coast.”

The panel also failed to meet legal requirements under sec. 79(2) of the Species at Risk Act when it decided to not consider the final recovery strategy for humpback whales, and failed to identify mitigation measures that would reduce the impacts on caribou as required by the Act. The humpback whale recovery strategy identifies toxic spills and vessel traffic as two threats to the iconic species’ survival and recovery—all relevant information that should have been considered during the review hearings.

February/March 2014

“The proposed tanker route travels directly through humpback whale critical habitat identified in the recovery strategy. Yet the panel refused to consider this potential conflict when making its recommendation,” said Dr. Paul Paquet, senior scientist at Raincoast Conservation Foundation. “The federal government will be required to legally protect the humpbacks and their habitat beginning in April, so the panel’s failure to consider the project’s likely adverse impact on the whales makes no sense.”

Although the environmental assessment’s terms of reference excluded consideration of upstream impacts – the result of oilsands development associated with the pipeline – the panel’s final report concluded that 35% of Northern Gateway’s economic benefit will come from upstream oilsands development. No consideration of the environment impacts associated with that oilsands development was included, despite a clear request to do so.

“The panel cannot consider the so-called economic benefits of oilsands expansion tied to this pipeline but ignore the adverse impacts that expansion will have on climate change, endangered wildlife, and ecosystems,” said Nikki Skuce, senior energy campaigner with ForestEthics Advocacy. “The environmental assessment process is supposed to consider both sides of the coin, and in this instance the panel failed.”

In its environmental assessment, the panel found that Northern Gateway was not likely to have significant adverse environment effects, with the exception of cumulative impacts on some caribou and grizzly bear populations.

“The panel reached that conclusion without considering all the necessary and available science,” Campbell said. “This report only tells part of the story, and we are asking the court to ensure that this flawed report doesn’t stand as the final word on whether Northern Gateway is in the national interest.”

Cabinet’s decision on whether to accept the panel’s recommendation and approve the pipeline is expected sometime in the next six months. Under the new environmental assessment framework forced through by the 2012 spring omnibus budget bill, Cabinet has final decision-making power over Northern Gateway, but is bound by the 209 conditions laid out in the JRP report.

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EVENTS

NOURISHING OUR CHILDREN

By Jasmin Schellenberg HEALTHY SCACKS ACD WHY Honey-coconut spread Ingredients: (can be made in quantities in advance) 3 Tbsp raw honey 3 Tbsp coconut oil.

Instructions: Warm up in hot water bath and mix well.

Use on rice crackers to make a quick, healthy snack and provide the important fats to your children when they need energy fast.

CUTRIECT DECSE MEAL Kimchi Ingredients: 1 large Chinese cabbage, chopped in large chunks 4 carrots, diced 1/2 daikon, diced 3 Tbsp sea salt 1 onion, sliced 6 cloves garlic, sliced 3-inch piece ginger, minced ¼ cup fish sauce 4 Tbsp sauerkraut juice or whey 4 Tbsp chilli powder 2 teaspoons sugar or honey 2 cups water Instructions: Mix all ingredients together in a large bowl and let stand overnight. Fill into jars and ferment in a warm place for three days and then place into fridge.

MYTHS UCVEILED (Synopsis of PhD Stephanie Seneff’s article from Wise Traditions magazine, Fall 2013 issue) Are the increase of GMOs (genetically modified organisms) in our food chain and the increase of autism accidental? Their increases not only overlap; they are almost identical over the past two decades.

GMO producer Monsanto claims GMOs do not affect the mammals. What about the microorganisms in our gut flora? It’s the gut flora that gives us our immune system (good or bad).

How do GMOs work? Seeds are modified to resist the herbicide, “Roundup” so the crop still grows but not the weeds. Glyphosate, the active ingredient in “Roundup” weakens the weeds’ immune systems by not letting them absorb certain minerals. Therefore, soilborne organisms, which would be fended off by the healthy plant, will kill it. When “Roundup” is sprayed on GM crops like corn, canola, soy, and many other GMO crops, their mineral intake is compromised but they survive. Such sprayed crops are also missing some key amino acids (tryptophan, tyrosine, and phenylalanine), which we need since we do not produce them ourselves.

Tryptophan is the precursor of serotonin, and serotonin deficiency is implicated in many of today’s diseases includi n g a u t i s m,

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Alzheimer and depression.

Autism, a condition characterized by cognitive and social deficits, is alarmingly on the rise in the last decade. A characteristic feature of children with autism is an overgrowth of pathogenic bacteria in the gut, which can lead to neurological defects arising from exposure of the brain to toxins produced by these bacteria. It is alarming to see that the two “Roundup” core crops of the processed food industry (corn and soy), share the same growing rate over the past 20 years with autism.

Stephanie Seneff saw the striking pattern linking glyphosate to specific pathogens like Clostridia difficile (C. diff ) and Pseudomonas aeruginosa, which are currently causing a major crisis in hospitals in the US and elsewhere due to their increased prevalence and multiple antibiotic resistance. Pseudomonas is among the very few bacterial forms that can metabolize glyphosate. A breakdown product is formaldehyde, a known carcinogen and neurotoxin. Formaldehyde may, however, be preferred over glyphosate as the lesser of two evils. So she surmises that this bacterium is allowed to survive in the gut precisely because it can dispose of glyphosate, but then you have to suffer the consequences of formaldehyde toxicity.

Autistic children have been found to have only one third as much free sulfate in the blood as their peers not affected by autism. A loss of heparan sulfate in the gut lining results in protein leaks into the blood, which can then induce gluten and casein intolerance, which are common among autistic children. Glyphosate competes and interrupts with sulfate transport and creates other problems.

Glyphosate may be the single most important factor in the autism epidemic.

The best way to minimize glyphosate exposure is to strictly adhere to a completely organic diet, grow your own garden, know your farmer and stay local and seasonal.

A WALK THROUGH YOUR PACTRY: GET RID OF: Soft drinks that contain high-fructose corn syrup. It’s for certain that is out of GMO production.

REPLACE WITH: Make your own kombucha. It’s easy to make and healthy for your gut flora. Boil 3 liters of water. Add 4 bags of green tea, 2 bags of black tea, and 1 cup of organic cane sugar. Let cool and drain into a glass container. Add the kombucha culture (available online or at Kinikinik restaurant in Redstone). Let ferment for six to seven days in a warm place, bottle it, and keep in a cold place. Reuse culture.

Brought to you by Jasmin Schellenberg Inspired by and resourced from “9ourishing Traditions” by Sally F a l l o n ; a n d : www.westonaprice.org For “9ourishing our Children” newsletters of the past visit w w w . p a stu re to pl at e. c a o r www.thegreengazette.ca

Calendar of Events – February and March 2014 February – Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays. Williams Lake Wanderers meet at 9:30 a.m. to ski, walk, or snowshoe until snow conditions change in March. To join, just come down to the Cariboo Memorial Arena about 9:15 a.m. to get registered - $10 for the year. See us on Facebook.

February 6, 13, 20, and 27. Dance like no one is watching-Soul Dance. Dance as a moving meditation and ecstatic dance expression. No experience necessary. Thursdays 7:20 p.m. to 8:35 p.m. at Satya Yoga Studio Williams Lake. For more information visit www.satyayogastudio.ca.

February 7 - March 1. The Station House Gallery in Williams Lake presents Coyotes, Cheshires, Angels, and other Complications, Main Gallery Artist, Cat Fink. Interconnectedness Matters, Upper Gallery Artist, John Youds. Call 250-392-6113 for more info.

February 14. Friday Coffee Klatches at the Ag Center - Join us for coffee and treats every Friday at 10 a.m. at the South Cariboo Ag Centre office in 100 Mile House (far right of the historic Lodge building behind the Red Coach Inn). Browse our library of informative books. Everyone is welcome. For more information call Sherry Stewart at 250-397-2436 or 250-395-0781.

February 15. Gourmet Cross Country Ski, Wells Snowman 2014. A non-competitive gourmet cross-country ski tour to enjoy international cuisine served at various pit stops along the way with mountain culture and adventure films to cap the night. Registration at 10 a.m. at the Bears Paw Café on Highway 26 in Wells on Saturday. Event Starts at 11 a.m. Prizes: Best Poker Hand, Best Dressed (costuming is encouraged), and more. Tickets $50 per person, (Children 7-11, $25). Limited tickets available, on a first come first served basis. Call 250-994-3330 for information.

February 15. Chickadee Early Childhood and Learning Center will be holding an information session about supporting children and families through Waldorf-inspired education at the CRD Library in Williams Lake from 1:30 to 2:30 p.m. Please contact Claire at 250-305-0279 or email cwestmatt@gmail.com.

February 15. Central Cariboo Beekeepers’ Association AGM meeting, Saturday 10 a.m. to 12 p.m. at 450 Mart Street (Rick Hansen Room, Williams Lake City Hall). Chris Hutton, city planning technician will discuss the new City Beekeeping Bylaw and registration for a Beginner’s Beekeeping course. The meeting is social and informative for all beekeepers. For more info call Ann at 250398-7250.

February 17. Williams Lake Transition Town Group hosts film, “Chasing Ice” (80 minutes) at the Central Cariboo Arts Center (old fire hall) Monday at 6:30 p.m. Doors open at 6:00 p.m. Come early to browse our extensive lending library, share snacks and join the discussion. For more info contact rcase@laketown.net.

February18. Celebrating Multiculturalism at the Bean Counter Bistro in Williams Lake, 10:00 a.m. to 1:30 p.m., featuring three recipes from “Spicing Up the Cariboo”. Come down and sample the great food, purchase a book, have it signed by the authors, and support the Canadian Mental Health Multiculturalism Program. All proceeds go to CMHA and future Multiculturalism Program projects.

February 22 and 23. Dance as a Healing Art weekend workshop, 12:30 - 4 p.m. Saturday and Sunday at Satya Yoga Studio in Williams Lake. For more information go to www.satyayogastudio.ca or contact Claire at cwestmatt@gmail.com.

February 23. Healthy Bite Monthly Vegetarian Supper Club, Sunday at 6 p.m. A food and fun event focused on health and nutrition. No reservations needed and friends are welcome! Entrance fee is a large vegetarian dish to share with others, and the recipe. Recipes will be copied and shared.

Held at the Fellowship Room at 782 N 9th Ave., Williams Lake. For more information call 778412-5279.

February 28 - March 1. Psychic and Wellness Fair at The Hobbit House. Friday 11a.m. to 7 p.m. and Saturday 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.. Psychic readings, tarot, oracle, wellness practitioners and wellness products. Call 250-392-7599 for more information. 71s 1st Ave., Williams Lake.

March 17. Williams Lake Transition Town Group hosts film, “Plastic Planet” (99 minutes) at the Central Cariboo Arts Center (old fire hall) Monday at 6:30 p.m. Doors open at 6:00 p.m. Come early to browse our extensive lending library, share snacks, and join the discussion. For more info contact rcase@laketown.net.

March 22. Celebrate World Water Day at a free swim sponsored by the Cariboo Chilcotin Conservation Society on Saturday, March 22, at the Cariboo Memorial Recreation Complex in Williams Lake from 1:30 to 4 p.m. For more information email wastewise@ccconserv.org.

March 28 and 29. Women’s Spirituality Circle Event and Workshops. Join with women from the Williams Lake community engaged in respectful dialogue and creating a safe and welcoming space for sharing and learning about the spiritual journeys and traditions of others, and offering meaning, direction, and hope while building peaceful relationships in our community, and working to reduce racism, violence and intolerance. For more information call Margaret Anne Enders at 250-3054426.

March 29. 3rd Annual Thompson Rivers University’s Let’s go, Gatsby Gala in Williams Lake. This 1920s glitz and glitter themed evening raises money for scholarships and awards and features cocktails, dinner, and dancing, and a live and silent auction. Tickets $120/person at TRU. March 30. Healthy Bite Monthly Vegetarian Supper Club, Sunday at 6 p.m. A food and fun event focused on health and nutrition. No reservations needed and friends are welcome! Entrance fee is a large vegetarian dish to share with others, and the recipe. Recipes will be copied and shared. Held at the Fellowship Room at 782 N 9th Ave., Williams Lake. For more information call 778-4125279.

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February/March 2014

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Your Green Shopping Directory

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The Green Collective “Thinks, Creates, or Sells Eco-Friendly Products.”

Bean Counter Bistro & Coffee Bar, 250 305-2326 Halls Organics, 250 398-2899 180B 3rd Ave. North, Williams Lake 107 Falcon Rd. (North Lakeside), Williams Lake Organic Coffee, Fair Trade, Local Foods Indoor and Outdoor Organic Gardening Products, Alternative Traditional Products, Teas and Herbs, Body Health 4 All, 250-297-0089 Hemp Body Products Cola Carter njretrac@gmail.com www.bodyhealth4all.com Better health by balancThe Hobbit House, 250 392-7599 ing body PH. Independent Distributor of LiPH 71 First Ave. South, Williams Lake Products Juice Bar, 9atural Products, Essential Oils, Teas, Crystals, Gemstones, and more.

Canadian Tire, 250 392-3303 1050 South Lakeside Dr., Williams Lake Potato House Sustainable Community Society Recycling Initiatives, Renewable Energy Solutions, 250 855-8443 or spuds@potatohouseproject.com Organic Cleaning Products: Blue Planet, Green In an age of apathy and a sense that change is all Works, Method, 9ature Clean, Seventh Generation talk and no action, The Potato House Project is a friendly bastion of doing, sharing, learning and Cariboo Growers Coop, 778 412-2667 playing. Call us with your ideas and to find out ways 3rd & Oliver St., Williams Lake. 100% 9atural & to get involved.

Organic Foods, 9on-Profit Farmer’s Coop Rona Home Centre, 250 392-7767 Cleanway Supply, 1-800-663-5181 298 Proctor Street, Williams Lake 275 South MacKenzie Ave., Williams Lake "ECO" cleaning & gardening products, LED bulbs Organic Cleaning Products & energy-efficient building products. Responsible disposal available for recycling of paint, stain, Dandelion Living, 778-412-9100 CFLs, batteries, saw blades & more.

271 Oliver St., Williams Lake Local & Original, Reclaimed & Repurposed, 9atu- San Jose Cattle Company, 250 296-4592 ral & Organic Products Clint and Karen Thompson Sustainable Agriculture, Raised 9aturally/Local Day Spa Champagne, 250 305-1249 Beef, 9o antibiotics, hormones, chemical fertilizers 124A North Second Ave., Williams Lake or herbicides.

Quiet, relaxing, personalized atmosphere. A Zen experience. Four Types Massage, Reflexology, Scout Island Cature Centre & Williams Lake Manicures/Pedicures & More. Products: Aubrey Field Caturalists, 250 398-8532 Organics SoapWorks/SpaRitual. Local feather & www.scoutislandnaturecentre.ca semi-precious stone jewelry. www.williamslakefieldnaturalists.ca 1305A Borland Rd, Williams Lake Debbie Irvine B.Sc. (Agr.) RHC 9ature on the city’s doorstep. Bird sanctuary, arboRegistered Holistic Nutritionist retum, trails, 9ature House, natural history pro250-392-9418 or dirvine@thelakebc.ca grams for children and adults.

EATI3G YOUR WAY TO EXCELLE3T HEALTH! Smashin’ Smoothies, 778-412-2112 Presenting nutritional seminars which inspire and 102-41, 7th Ave North, Williams Lake educate to address health concerns.

Juice, Smoothies & Expresso Bar Fresh, Organic, Whole Food. earthRight Solar, 1 877 925-2929 3rd & Borland, Williams Lake Sta-Well Health Foods, 250 392-7022 Renewable Energy Solutions, Eco-Friendly Prod79D 3rd Ave. North, Williams Lake ucts, Composting Toilets Organic Foods, Water Distillers, 9atural Medicines, Emergency Freeze Dried Foods.

Flying Coyote Ranch, 250 296-4755 Ingrid Kallman and Troy Forcier The Williams Lake Water Factory, 250 398-5201 Grass-fed Angus beef Pure Bottled Water. Home & Office Delivery.

No shots, no hormones, organic fertilizer 955 S. Mackenzie Ave, Williams Lake, BC. By the quarter or side, hamburger .

Come see us on Toonie Tuesday!

The Gecko Tree, 250 398-8983 54 N. MacKenzie Ave. Williams Lake Serving healthy, local foods Good Guys Gardening Center, 250 392-2069 250 Mackenzie Ave. South, Williams Lake www.goodguysgardening.com Your One Stop Indoor Gardening Shop. Offering a wide selection of Organic and Eco-friendly 9utrients and Additives.

Zed-Tech Electric, 250-267-4868 For all your residential and commercial needs.

Joe Zombori zedtechelectric26@gmail.com Zirnhelt Ranch, 250 243-2243 www.zirnheltranch.ca or susanzirnhelt@yahoo.com Producers of Grassfed/Finished Beef. Pasture Raised Pork.

Contact us today to list your Green business - info@thegreengazette.ca or 250 620-3419

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