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mothernaturenetwork: 7 things you can make instead of buying

The Midas Touch by Lewis H. Lapham

In both the periodical and tabloid press these days, the discussion tends to dwell on the bread alone—its scarcity or abundance, its price, provenance, authenticity, presentation, calorie count, social status, political agenda, and carbon footprint. The celebrity guest on camera with Rachael Ray or an Iron Chef, the missing ingredient in the recipes for five-star environmental collapse. Either way, sous vide or sans tout, the preoccupation with food is front-page news, and in line with the current set of talking points, this issue of Lapham’s Quarterly offers various proofs of the proposition that the belly has no ears.

vicemag › vicemag

vicemag: Worldwide, we generate around 20 – 30 million tons of e-waste every year. It’s a whole lot of cell phones/smart-phones, TV sets, and computers—and iPads and e-readers and all of the many, many, many things the industry is concocting to sell you in the future—being sent off, largely to overseas recycling centers often of poor repute. (Please read Motherboard’s piece from earlier this year about the messy and ugly e-waste recycling market.) And no one should be surprised that the massive concentrations of heavy metals disturbed, via unsafe/crude disposal practices, in these overseas “recycling” centers have the capability of causing disease in their neighboring/host communities. A team of researchers have just published a study examining air conditions in Taizhou in Zhejiang province, China — an area that handles about 2-million tons of e-waste a year with the help of about 60,000 employees. Indeed, the study found that, yep, the air in Taizhou has the capability of causing cancers and other problems. Basically, they took air samples from two locations around the city and exposed it to lung tissue. They looked at levels of Interleukin-8, a chemical marker of inflammation, damaging Reactive Oxygen Species, and expressions of the p53 gene, a marker that cells are being damaged. All three were significantly high. Continued at: YOUR OLD LAPTOP IS KILLING CHINESE PEOPLE

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benxsaker: AMERICA

grapevinetwine-deactivated20120 › grapevinetwine-deactivated20120

grapevinetwine: Not the Fifteen Healthiest Foods EVER, because that’s a silly statement to make. All food is good for you (I say food as in actual, natural, real food), and you need a wide variety of it, so I just wanted to give examples. I know if this gets reblogged at all, everything I write will be deleted, but I figured I’d go ahead and leave some helpful information on the original post for anyone who is interested (yes I write too much): Please note that all produce should be organic, since produce derives its nutrition content from soil and conventionally-grown produce is therefore largely devoid of nutrients. Also note that while seeds and nuts are good for you, they are best raw and soaked in water for a few hours, which rids them of their enzyme inhibitors and phytic acid, helping our bodies properly digest them and absorb their nutrients. Cultured dairy like kefir or Greek yogurt has important probiotics that help our intestinal flora flourish, and they’re rich in protein and calcium. Just be careful to read the label of what you buy since many yogurt products are nutritionally-deficient and laden with sugars. Sprouting releases seeds and beans from their dormant state and makes them full of life. “Once sprouted, grains, seeds and beans have 15% - 30% more protein, up to 10 times the B-vitamins, more vitamin C, vitamin E and K, beta-carotene, calcium, phosphorus and iron.” Sprouting is fun and easy to do at home, and is a great way to get fresh nutrition during times of the year when it’s hard to find. Fat is important and beneficial when it’s in the form of mono- or polyunsaturated fat, like avocado, nuts, and seeds. Nuts and seeds are also rich in fatty acids like Omega-3 and -6. These fats benefit the heart, skin and brain, and help your body absorb other nutrients. Coconut is high in saturated fat, but it is not the same as saturated fat as in animal sources, and the presence of lauric acid allows it to be utilized by the body in a beneficial way rather than stored as excess fat. Plus, coconut water is loaded with natural electrolytes and glucose (i.e. if you’re hungover, drink coconut water). Grains are important and I don’t condone zero-carbohydrate diets. Simple carbs like refined breads are nutritionally devoid and should be avoided, but whole grains like millet, barley, oat, spelt, wheat, rice, etc. have a slew of benefits. Quinoa is my favorite as it’s the only grain that is a complete protein. Superfoods are my favorite. They pack such a punch of nutrition into such a little package and are such an easy way to give your body more of what it needs. Wheat grass, goji berry, raw cacao, spirulina, bee pollen, and many many more. Listing all of their benefits would take up way too much room here. Legumes are rich in protein, soluble fiber, folic acid, copper, iron, and magnesium. They’re cheap, filling, and great for you. Bioavailability comes into play quite a bit when you get into nutrition. What’s the point of eating something if your body won’t absorb it? Beta carotine, for example, is fat-soluble, meaning your body can’t really absorb it unless it’s paired with something that has fat. Good examples of nutritional pairings for bioavailability are peaches and walnuts, or kale and avocado. I eat meat, but I didn’t add meat in because it’s really not that important, and if you buy it from a grocery store, chances are it’s from shady, unhealthy origins. Sure, lean meats have a lot of protein, but there are way better ways to get that. They’re also often highly processed (deli meat anyone?), which does our bodies no good. I also didn’t add seafood, because, well, our oceans need a rest and we need to eat less fish. We can get all the same nutrition without it. I also didn’t add soy in, because it’s a tricky subject. Whole soy products like edamame, and fermented soy products like tempeh and miso are wonderful and I love them. But highly processed soy like milk and tofu should be consumed in moderation for its effects on estrogen levels and the thyroid. Plus, if you don’t buy organic soybeans, there is a very high chance they’re genetically-modified and from Monsanto.. which is the antithesis of health (FYI, Silk soymilk stopped using organic soybeans).

maxistentialist › maxistentialist

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vicemag › vicemag

vicemag: AN INTERVIEW WITH SETH FLUKER Seth Fluker is a Canadian photographer who lives in London. For the 2010 Photo Issue he took this picture of some pink swirly stuff. Click below to find out what it is. Vice: Tell us about your picture in the Photo Issue.Seth Fluker: That image is from my book called Before Things Change. It’s a series of photographs I took while working at Whole Foods. It’s the contents of my sink over a five-month period. In total, I shot about 1100 photos, which I edited down to 14. What was your job at Whole Foods?My job at Whole Foods was kitchen porter, which meant I washed a lot of dishes and took out garbage and just… fuck, it’s just the worst job you can actually think of. Wait, don’t use that. It’s just a shitty job. Pretty boring. Did taking the pictures help you get through the day?Oh for sure! I was so bummed when the series was done because, after that, going to work just felt so much shittier. Like, when I was doing the photos, I would go in thinking, “man, I hope there’s tons of plates for me to wash today.” So when I stopped doing that, it was definitely not as fun. Are you still working there?Yeah, but I only have one more week left. Four more shifts. It feels pretty good. Read the rest of the interview (and see more of his nice photos) here.
chemicalfreeskinny: GENERAL INTEREST: How to Start an Organic Garden in 9 Easy Steps Grow your own delicious, healthful organic food. Tips on planning, composting, watering, weeding, harvesting, natural pest control and more. <CLICK PHOTO FOR MORE>