Mark
www.RawFoodHowTo.com

I've always recommended organic produce. Not only is organic produce grown without chemicals, it also has more nutrients, is good for our environment and just plain tastes better.

Well now, the "organic" foods standard is at risk of being lowered by a "sneak attack", a combination of large corporations, agri-business interest groups (lobbyists) and our government. Below is the background of this threat directly from the Organic Consumers Association. Please take a moment and take action to help maintain the highest standards for organic farming as possible. If the standards are lowered organic integrity will be comprimised and consumers will lose faith in organic foods. Our health, the health of all Americans are at stake. Thank you!

After 35 years of hard work, the U.S. organic community has built up a multi-billion dollar alternative to industrial agriculture, based upon strict organic standards and organic community control over modification to these standards.

Now, large corporations, such as Kraft, Wal-Mart, & Dean Foods--aided and abetted by the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) and members of the Organic Trade Association, are moving to lower organic standards by allowing Bush appointees in the USDA National Organic Program to approve a broad list of synthetic ingredients and processing aids that would be allowed in organic production. Even worse these proposed regulatory changes will reduce future public discussion and input and take away the National Organic Standards Board’s (NOSB) traditional lead jurisdiction in setting standards. What this means, in blunt terms. is that USDA bureaucrats and industry lobbyists, not consumers, will have near total control over what can go into organic foods and products. (Send a quick letter to your Congresspersons online here)

During the next week, acting in haste and near-total secrecy, the U.S. Congress is being lobbied by industry to vote on a rider in the House/Senate Conference Committee to the 2006 Agriculture Appropriations Bill that could take away control over organic standards from the National Standards Board and put this control in the hands of federal bureaucrats in the USDA (remember the USDA proposal in 1997-98 that said that genetic engineering, toxic sludge, and food irradiation would be OK on organic farms, or USDA suggestions in 2004 that heretofore banned pesticides, hormones, tainted feeds, and animal drugs would be OK?).

For the past week in Washington, OCA has been urging members of Congress not to reopen and subvert the federal statute that governs U.S. Organic standards (the Organic Food Production Act: OFPA), but rather to let the organic community and the National Organic Standards Board resolve our differences over issues like synthetics and animal feed internally, and then proceed to a open public comment period. Unfortunately most members of Congress seem to be listening to industry lobbyists more closely than to us. We need to raise our voices. (Send a quick letter to your Congresspersons online here)

In the past, grassroots mobilization and mass pressure by organic consumers have been able to stop the USDA and Congress from degrading organic standards. This time Washington insiders tell us that the "fix is already in." So we must take decisive action now. We need you to call your Congressional Representatives and Senators today. We need you to sign the following petition and send it to everyone you know. We also desperately need funds to head off this attack in the weeks and months to come. Thank you for your support. Together we will take back citizen control over organic standards and preserve organic integrity.

Call the Capital Switchboard here: 202-224-3121, and tell your Congresspersons not to support any ammendments to the ag appropriations bill that would lower organic standards. You can send a quick letter to your Congresspersons online here: www.organicconsumers.org/rd-ofpa.htm

Read more about the status and what's at stake at the Organic Consumers Association web site.

To your best health!

Mark
Vegan Raw - The Ultimate Diet For Weight Loss, Health and Life

We know how delicious and good fruit is for you. Here's a study showing another benefit... seeing.

A recent study published in the June 2004 issue of the Archives of Ophthalmology indicates that eating 3 or more servings of fruit per day may lower your risk of age-related macular degeneration (ARMD), the primary cause of vision loss in older adults, by 36%, compared to persons who consume less than 1.5 servings of fruit daily.

In this study, which involved over 70,000 women and over 40,000 men, researchers evaluated the effect of consumption of fruits; vegetables; the antioxidant vitamins A, C, and E; and carotenoids on the development of early ARMD or neovascular ARM, a more severe form of the illness associated with vision loss.

Food intake information was collected periodically for up to 18 years for women and 12 years for men. While, surprisingly, intakes of vegetables, antioxidant vitamins and carotenoids were not strongly related to incidence of either form of ARM, fruit intake was definitely protective against the severe form of this vision-destroying disease.

To your best health,

All good things!

Mark

Would you like to make a difference for our environment and save money on your transportation as well?

Consider this - fuel your car with vegetable oil!

Sound impossible? I was surprised to learn that you can convert almost any diesel car, truck, SUV or RV to run on used (or pure) vegetable oil (which you can most likely get for free from local restaurants since they have to pay to have it disposed) for under $1,000.

Very interesting concept. The benefits claimed are:

• reduced emissions
• lower driving costs
• no difference in auto performance/power
• lower dependence on foreign fuel
• better for the environment
• your exhaust smells like french fries (that's what they say!)

Read more about Grease Cars.

All the best for your health (and driving)!

Mark
http://vegandiet.blogspot.com

Another study from Harvard Medical School has linked eating meat with breast cancer in women. This study of 90,000 women found that the more meat women ate in their early years, the more profound was the occurance of breast cancer as they aged the next 12 years. The authors also noted that eating meat was already associated with colon and other cancers and strongly urged the reduction in meat consumption.

This should come as no surprise since, as the authors noted, cancer has already been linked to many other cancers. With this knowledge, the continued increase in breast cancer cases doesn't make sense, does it? In today's world there is more funding, both charitable and public, to find a cure for breast cancer, but the cases continue to rise.

Based on these studies alone, the answer has always been right in front of us. Diet. What you eat and how you treat your body will dictate how it reacts. Studies have confirmed this for years. They always find that when you elimated meat from your diet, the occurances of disease drop dramatically. The China Study, one of the largest ever found that people who eat a diet high in fruits, vegetables, grains, nuts and seeds are significantly healthier.

Why spend millions on new drug research when a simple campaign to educate people will save more lives than any drug could. The answer to better health and near elimination of disease is to change your diet. Eat mainly fresh and organic fruits, vegetables, nuts and seeds, drastically reduce or eliminate meat and processed foods and watch your life change.

To your best health!

Mark

P.S. To learn more about the vegan raw diet, visit RawFoodHowTo.com where you'll find articles, videos, recipes, resources and more.

One of the things I've noticed since transitioning to a raw food diet is that the hunger 'pangs' I'd had in the past... stayed in the past :).

Sure, I may feel like eating something, although I no longer have intense feelings of hunger. I can often eat some fruit throughout the day and a nice salad for dinner and feel satisfied. More importantly I feel full of energy, light on my feet, relaxed and grounded.

This is how our bodies work naturally... and why eating fresh, organic and raw foods is optimal for your health... and longevity.

One of the reasons those on the SAD diet (standard american diet) get hunger pains is in part the additives in processed foods (MSG for example) and in part because the normal American stretches their stomach far beyond their normal size. Emotions and stress play a factor as well.

Go raw and feel great!

All the best for your health,

Mark

This is a colorful and delicious italian style recipe - Raw Ratatouille! It's fast and easy to make, great for a filling fall dinner.

Here's what you'll need:

1 Avocado
2 Tomatoes
1/4 cup of Cilantro (optional)
2 cloves of Garlic
1 Squash
1 Tblsp Raw Tahini
1 Tsp Raw Honey
Celtic Sea Salt to taste

Here's how you make it:

Chop up all vegetables and put in serving bowl. In a separate bowl, add tahini, honey and celtic sea salt. Mix well. Top the vegetables with this thick and tasty dressing! Serves 2.

The dressing can also be used for other dishes, including salads.

Inspired by Storm and Jinjee from their Garden Diet series.

Enjoy!

Mark
Vegan Raw Diet