By: Anita Kaiser
So often when one thinks of the environment we have a long list of things that are negative in focus.
Over and over again we hear about all the toxins in our food and personal care products that are bad for us or are destroying the earth and often it can seem that things that are beyond our control.
This month I thought I would try and put a bit more of a positive spin on things and talk about some of the amazing changes I’ve seen here in this fine city of Hamilton.
When I began selling MiEssence products 7 years ago – there were very few natural or organic options out there. Take organic food for example - there was a grand total of one organic farm that I knew of, Plan B (http://planborganicfarms.ca/). If you weren’t getting their CSA box you would be hard pressed to find a local source for organically grown produce.
Nowadays Plan B is not only still standing and thriving but there are a variety of additional organic farms that have been added to the mix. Mano Run (http://www.manorun.com/) and Simpler Thyme both also run CSA’s. If you are unfamiliar with that term it means, it’s Community Shared Agriculture.
With a CSA you pay a set amount for a share of whatever the farmer produces – and you receive a variety of vegetables that are in season, fresh and ready. Originally, a large payment was made up-front to give the farmer the funds he/she needed to get things going at the beginning of the season.
Some folks are still working with this model but others have a more flexible payment schedule for those of us who find it difficult to come up with four months’ worth of grocery payments in one month. For organic meat, there are a few local options as well; Fenwood Farms
(http://www.fenwoodfarm.com/) and Morden’s Organic and Wild Meats (http://mordensorganicfarmstore.com/).
In addition to these great food options Hamilton is also home to two fabulous eco stores, Ecomystic (http://www.ecomystic.ca/) and Simply Zen. Both of these stores carry of wide variety of eco-friendly products and fabulous green clothing lines. The expansion of green clothing has also been tremendous. Remember when buying hemp clothes meant baggy pants or t-shirts?
These days you can find the most fashionable of items done with
eco-friendly fabrics and dyes.
Although I always try and support my local independent farmers and stores I am also pleased to be seeing more organic items in our regular grocery store as well as at Costco. The growth is exciting and amazing and
I hope we continue to see lots of businesses, both large and small becoming more environmentally conscious.
Anita Kaiser
www.MiOrganic.ca
www.Anitakaiser.com
By: Anita Kaiser
While living in Windsor I owned a store specialising in eco-friendly products. One of my favourite parts of running the store was being able to meet other people who were on their “green” journey. Some people had been on the path for a long time while others were just beginning to re-think what they put on or in their body. Often the first products that someone was willing to try and switch to a more natural alternative were toothpaste and deodorant.
In mainstream toothpaste, there are two ingredients in particular that I am concerned with. The first item is fluoride. Although there are benefits to fluoride in terms of topical application of the teeth, I felt that since I was ingesting fluoride in the water I was drinking, any additional fluoride was not necessary for me or my family.
There is a lot of controversy around the issue of fluoride. Many folks believe that there are benefits to adding it to our drinking water but when I reviewed studies done in both communities with fluorinated water and those without, I did not see results showing that fluoride (provided in any form other than topically) has any benefit at all.
In fact, the studies that I have reviewed state that in communities with high fluoride concentrations in drinking water, many children have shown lower IQ scores. Too much fluoride can also result in dental fluorosis (a defect of the teeth marked by increased porosity of the enamel) as well as calcification of the pineal gland. Another ingredient of concern was FD&C colouring.
“FD&C” means that the colorants have been approved by the US Food and Drug Administration for use in food, drugs and cosmetics. “D&C” signifies the colours can be used only in drugs and cosmetics, but not food. All of these colours are made from synthetic ingredients that are most often petroleum based. The mere fact that these colorants are used in all three applications of food, drugs and cosmetics makes me wonder about them.
These days we are exposed to five times more colorants than we were in 1955. Many of the more common childhood diseases (ADHD, ADD, Asthma, OCD, ODD, etc.,) we are now seeing have direct links to these ingredients. If you are interested in finding out more about these dyes and some of the potential side effects, check out these studies by colour:
(http://diet-studies.com/).
If you are looking for information about ingredients – here are two great links for you to check out.
http://chemicaloftheday.squarespace.com/home/
http://anitakaiser.miessence.com/en/miessenceStory/ingredientsWeShun
Anita Kaiser
Pure Unrivaled Organic Goodness
www.MiOrganic.ca
