The Candida Connection

There are both good and bad bacteria throughout your digestive system.
The balance btween these systems is important to our health.   When the balance
is tilted toward the bad bacteria, health suffers. Candida is one of these bad bacteria
when it is out of balance.  Candida is a tiny yeast that inhabits our intestinal tract. Because of anti-biotics and an over-abundance of sugar in the standard American diet, Candida overgrowth has become a common malady, often unrecognized and undiagnosed.

“Candia itself produces toxins that some people seem extremely sensitive to. Imbalances in our digestive flora are tied to all sorts of diseases, from heart disease, arthritis, autoimmune diseases and more.”
-quoted from one of my favorite health blogs on the net: Read the rest of Dr. Scott Olson’s informative article on candida at http://olsonnd.com/sugar-and-candida

Too Corny

Sounds like the popular Corny Ethanol Solution is not so good good good. after all! Below find excerpts from articles I have gathered on the subject.

From: http://www.motherjones.com/news/outfront/2007/11/the-ethanol-effect.html
“Everything about ethanol is good, good, good,” crows Iowa Senator Chuck Grassley, echoing the conventional wisdom that corn-based ethanol will help us kick the oil habit, line the pockets of farmers, and usher in a new era of guilt-free motoring. But despite the wishes of Iowans (and the candidates courting them) the “dot-corn bubble” is too good to be true.
Click on the image to enlarge and see a great summary of corn ethanol as an inefficient alternative for our fuel needs.

Excerpts from http://www.gimme-five.com/2007/06/ethanol-is-bad-ethanol-from-corn-is-worse

I wrote an article a while ago about the downsides of producing ethanol as a transportation fuel. These downsides, in short, are:

• Ethanol has a negative energy balance. Ethanol from corn, switchgrass, and wood biomass requires 29%, 50%, and 57% more energy, respectively, to create the ethanol than the energy contained within the fuel.
• Because ethanol production requires a significant amount of energy, and most energy in the US is produced from coal, the small reduction in CO2 and other polluting emissions from burning ethanol versus gasoline will be more than offset by the power needed to produce the ethanol.
• Ethanol crops have a notoriously low energy yield per hectare. Thus, it requires a large amount of land to produce a meaningful amount of ethanol. Last year, 20% of the total corn crop was used to produce ethanol, and it offset only 1% of US oil use.

I still don’t believe that switchgrass-based or any type of ethanol will be the transportation fuel of the future. Switchgrass may not be as bad as corn, but the technology needs to dramatically improve before it is a viable option.

Another interesting point is that plants capture something like 0.1% of the sun’s energy, whereas photovoltaics capture around 10%. This really makes me feel that electric vehicles, once batteries are developed further, could make a huge difference in reducing our oil dependence.

I agree that ethanol from sugarcane is more efficient than corn. However, the US can’t emulate Brazil’s ethanol success because of two factors. First, to grow sugarcane, a warm climate is needed, and much of the US is too cold to grow it. Secondly, Brazil’s total fuel demand is very small compared to the US in per capita and aggregate terms, so much less land is needed to grow fuel. US Transportation fuel demand is huge in both aggregate and per capita terms.
Read the full article and comments here.

Logical Science

Many ethanol critics will point to a study performed by Berkeley’s Tad Patzek and Cornell’s David Pimentel which says corn ethanol requires 29 percent more fossil energy than what you can get out of it… Yet the USDA reports say ethanol is a net energy gain. Why the discrepancy? Well to make a long story short the USDA is doing some fancy accounting with by-products. The widely referenced chemical engineer Robert Rapier says: “The only way the energy balance gets into positive territory is that by-product credit.” This by-product credit is plant matter that is processed into makeshift animal feed.

The calories are counted as fuel energy and added on top of the ethanol that is produced. Without this animal feed corn based ethanol is a net loss of energy. If you add this animal feed in you get into the positive but the amount of gain is not very significant.
Read the full article at: http://www.logicalscience.com/technology/bad/Ethanol.html

Food Crisis Largely Due to Biofuel Production

Posted on: Wednesday, 30 April 2008, 10:40 CDT

A group of food scientists called for a reconsideration of plans to use foods such as corn and soybeans for biofuels….

Joachim von Braun, Director General at the International Food Policy Research Institute in Washington, the policy arm of CGIAR, said that more research should be done on developing non-grain crops, such as switchgrass, into biofuel.

He added that the United States and other countries have to make a hard choice between fighting high fuel prices and fighting world hunger.
Read the full article at: www.redorbit.com/news/science/1364358/food_crisis_largely_due_to_biofuel_production

U.S. eyes shift away from corn ethanol

Chicago - America’s love affair with corn-based ethanol is cooling – at least in Washington.

Some legislators blame the rising use of corn as a biofuel as a key factor behind high food prices. Others want to freeze the federal mandate on biofuels production at current levels, reversing legislation passed just a few months ago that increases it through 2022. Still others are pushing to shift tax incentives away from corn-based to cellulose-based ethanol in the nearly completed farm bill.

These moves represent a dramatic backlash against corn ethanol, which until a few months ago was widely viewed as a boon for both farmers and consumers.
Read the full article at: http://www.csmonitor.com/2008/0501/p03s03-usec.html

Read more great articles on corn and other subjects at http://willtaft.com/blog

Alternatives to shopping at Whole Foods

I have often written to keep it organic whenever possible. I have always had easy access to fresh organic foods, but many of my readers might ask - Where do I get organic produce? Health food stores are but one option. Like many, I have a love/hate relationship with Whole Foods Market. They are just so expensive! I shop at Farmers Markets whenever I can. But there is one more option.

If you are lucky enough to live in certain cities, you can have organic produce delivered to you on a weekly or bi-weekly basis. An additional benefit is that this produce is usually fairly local and in season. Try getting that from any grocery store! The fresher the produce, the longer it lasts. I have focused here on local delivery.

I found a lot of good links and info at www.greenpeople.org

Check the websites below to see if they deliver in your area.

United States

Arizona
Boxed Greens
Organically Grown For You

California
Guerilla Organics
Planet Organics
LOVE (Los Angeles Organic Vegetable Express) My personal fave

Colorado
Door to Door Organics, Colorado

Florida
Orlando Organics
Harvest Cycle I love this one: they deliver by bicycle!
Off the Vine Produce
Delicious Organics

Illinois
Oakville Organics
Garden on Wheels

Michigan
Door to Door Organics

Minnesota
Biologique Foods

New York/New Jersey
Organic Direct
http://www.doortodoororganics.com
Home Delivery of organic produce, fruits, vegetables, wheatgrass, bulk organic produce, organic fruit baskets and sprouts throughout PA, NJ, MD, WV, CT and NYC
Full Plate Farms Collective
Snow Bird Natural Organic Foods This one has some non-organic meats, poultry - “Natural” not being equivalent to “Organic”
My Farm Share
Bogo Food
Teri’s Dairy

North Carolina
Absolute Organics

Oregon
Organics to You
Organic Wagon
Home Grown Deliver

Pennsylvania
Door to Door Organics

South Dakota
Rosin Organics: Some delivery services available, but no website yet. 605-649-724

Texas
Windy Acres Farms: Located in North Texas - Not sure if they deliver - Phone: 972-757-0554

Washington
Wildly Organic
Blueberries and More Organics

Wisconsin
Keewaydin Farms Not sure if they deliver.

Canada

Alberta
Fresh Organics

British Columbia
Ladybug Organics
Organics at Home
Sunshine Organics
Share Organics

Manitoba
To Your Door Organic Store

Nova Scotia
Sunset Acres

Ontario
Green Earth Organics
New Terra Natural Food
Organics Delivered
Nature’s Way Organics

Europe

United Kingdom
Zonker
Abel Cole

Spain
Ecolur

Australia

Frank’s Organics
Abundant Organics
Green Line Delivery

India

Panchvati
Aarogyam - Farmers’ Initiative for Organic Foods: Call 91 9969022192

Please comment if you have tried any of these services, if you find wrong information, or if you know of any other services not mentioned, so I can add them to the list.