July 2008 Newsletter

Dates for camp: Monday – July 14
Wednesday – July 16
Tuesday – July 22
Thursday-July 24

For just 4 days in July, I’ll be offering a unique day camp for grown ups that will include meditation, arts and crafts along with cooking demos and of course, a delicious lunch. Learn about sustainable agriculture and help out with the SunRaven Mindful Gardening project. Soak up some Vitamin D, reconnect with your inner child with great art projects such as tie dye, beading, watercolor and collage.

Register for one day of camp for $50 or all four days for $175 and save $25.
Limit of 12 campers so register early!
Camp will run from 10am to 2pm and will include lunch.

For more info and to sign up, call me at (914) 864- 1293 or reply to this email. Spread the word! Tell your friends!!

Do you have a baby close to age 1? Then this class is for you! By special request I created this class for moms of babies 9 months- 15 months of age.

Is your baby a picky eater or eating poorly? Or does your little one eat just about anything? I’ll share with you some proven recipes and strategies to help you and your little one avoid health issues and show you how feeding your family can be simple and delicious. Moms of older kids tell me they wish they had this info when they were just starting out.

Friday July 18th
11:30-1
Fee: $40, includes lunch.
For more info and to sign up, reply to this email.

Come join me in NYC for this fun and informative class on teaching nutrition to kids.

Calling all parents, teachers and school administrators! If you have a hunger to turn the tide on the growing epidemic of childhood obesity and the decline of children’s health, this is the class for you. I will show you how to teach nutritional concepts to children of all ages using fun and engaging techniques that include as examples: how to read a food label in order to identify healthy and unhealthy ingredients/elements; how to recognize the foods that are in season; how to play the “picky eater” game; and more. These creative coaching methods, together with a complementary workbook filled with comprehensive lists of internet resources and entertaining activities for your children or students, will empower you to ignite their desire for a healthy relationship with food.

Tuesday, July 15, 6:30 – 8:30 p.m.
Fee: $45; Two People: $80
Please contact the Natural Gourmet Institute for more information:
Telephone: 212-645-5170
E-mail: info@naturalgourmetschool.com

Natural Gourmet Institute is located at
48 W. 21st St., 2nd floor
New York, NY 10010
(between 5th & 6th ave.)

In July and August, I make a point each week to take at least one day off to spend at the beach. It’s good for my body and my spirit to be near the ocean. I grew up near the NJ shore, you could say I still have sand between my toes.

Studies are showing that sunshine is more important to our health than we once thought. It’s the best source of Vitamin D– a powerful anticancer agent.

The sun can lower our utility bills too. One of my friends recently told me that his electric meter is now going backwards and he is receiving checks from the electric company for his solar panels. Makes me wanna pop some panels on my roof!

You can even use the sun to cook your food, here are some ways to create a solar oven, a fun project to do with your kids. Check out my interesting solar links in the Links to Make You Think section on the right.

I’m thrilled that the July issue of Bedford magazine is featuring some of my favorite summer recipes that are easy on your waistline and your wallet.

Click on this link to Bedford Magazine and you can download them too. Enjoy!

This year more than ever, now that I’m paying more than $4 a gallon for gas with no relief in sight, I’m thinking about independence. Independence from foreign oil and independence from the big food industry that guzzles up as much oil as our cars do.

Years back, my grandparents grew victory gardens because it was the patriotic thing to do for their country and it gave them food security. Perhaps it’s time to challenge ourselves to work on creating food Independence Days this year. Imagine how the world would change if each of us tried to do one thing every day to create Food Independence.

That means in each day or week, try to:
1. Plant something. It could be as simple as some herbs in a window box or some pumpkins for the fall.
2. Harvest something. See if you can harvest something from the garden or the wild every day you can. I can’t think of a better way to be aware of the bounty around you to realize that there’s something – even if it is dandelions or wild garlic for a salad – to be had every single day. Check my blog post on eating my fresh organic weeds! Independence is really appreciating and using the bounty that we have.
3. Preserve something. Sometimes this will be a big project, but it doesn’t have to be. It doesn’t take long to slice a couple of tomatoes and set them on a screen in the sun, or make some sauce or pickles for the winter. The time you spend now is time you don’t have to spend hauling to the store and cooking later. Independence is eating our own, and cutting the ties we have to agribusiness.
4. Prep something. Hit a yard sale and pick up an extra blanket. Purchase some extra beans and oatmeal. Sort out and inventory your pantry. Find a way to give what you don’t need to someone who does. Fix your bike. Clean, mend, declutter, learn a new skill. Independence is being ready for whatever comes.
5. Cook something. Try a new recipe, or an old one with a new ingredient. Sometimes it is hard to know what to do with all that stuff you are growing or seeing at the farmer’s market. So experiment now. Can you make a whole meal in your solar oven? How are stir-fried pea shoots? Stuffed squash blossoms? Independence is being able to eat and enjoy what is given to us.
6. Manage your reserves. Check those apples and take out the ones starting to go bad and make sauce with it. Clean out the freezer. Use up those lentils before you take the next ones out of the bag. Find some use for that can of whatever it is that’s been in the pantry forever. Sort out what you can donate, and give it to the food pantry. Independence means not wasting the bounty we have.
7. Work on local food systems. This could be as simple as buying something you don’t grow or make from a local grower, or finding a new local source. It could be as complex as starting a co-op or a farmer’s market, creating a CSA or a bulk store. Why not have some fun and start a guerilla garden in a vacant lot. Maybe you’ll invite people over to your garden, or your neighbors in for a homegrown meal, or sing the praises of your local CSA. Maybe you can get your town to plant fruit or nut producing street trees or get a manual water pump or a garden put in at your local school. Whatever it is, our Independence days come when our neighbors and the people we love are food secure too.

I’m not suggesting you should do all these things on any day (heck that’ s impossible) – but every day try and do one of them – or every week, or every weekend, if that’s what your schedule allows. It takes practice to live and grow and eat this way – so let’s do it now while we’ve got the time and energy and each other for support.

I got this idea from the many blogs I’ve been reading, most notably, Sharon Astyk’s Ruminations on an Ambiguous Future. The more I read, the more convinced I am that we are going to have to start thinking about the big picture of food and start creating more local sustainable systems to get our dinner on the table. and to assure that our kids and grandkids have food to eat.

Let me know about your success and challenges in creating Food Independence for yourself and your family.