Recently in Fun and Joy! Category

Your immune system is a tremendously sustainable system! But we can exercise it with a dose of... laughter.

John Cleese takes us on a tour of a laughter therapy practice in India.

Laughter promotes stress reduction, community bonding, stronger immune system... and joy. What a simple solution!

Seasonal affective disorder (SAD) is a form of severe depression that occurs annually in the fall and winter seasons.

Behavior Therapy reports research results by University of Vermont psychologist Kelly Rohan of a study of the long-term effects of different treatments for SAD.

The first year Rohan randomized 69 people with SAD into one of four groups: light therapy treatment, cognitive behavior therapy (CBT), a combination of the two or a wait-list control.

Depression Results One Year Later

She then surveyed participants on how they were doing the next winter - one year later.

Of those treated with cognitive behavior therapy, only 7% had a recurrence compared to 36.7% of people treated with light therapy.

The recurrence rate for the combination group was 5.5 percent.

When Rohan looked at the severity of the depression that did occur, however, CBT was associated with less severe depression than those treated with either light therapy or a combination of both.

The changing face of American farming is feminine!

Women always played important roles on the family farm. They kept the books, milked the cows and fed the children, often juggling another part-time job while the men worked the fields. Sometimes, they ran the farm after their husbands or fathers died.

But increasingly, women such as Stinar are turning to farming on their own. According to the 2007 U.S. Census of Agriculture released this year, more than one in every 10 U.S. farms is run by a woman. In Maryland, the number of farms in which a woman is the principal operator jumped 16 percent between 2002 and 2007. In Virginia, female-run farms also grew by 16 percent. (Source: Washington Post)

A growing number of female-focused farming organizations have popped up in Vermont, Connecticut and Maine. In Pennsylvania, membership in the Women's Agricultural Network, which is affiliated with Penn State's College of Agricultural Sciences, grew from 100 members in 2005 to 1,000 in 2008.

While men tend to run larger farms focused on such commodity crops as soybeans and wheat, women tend to run smaller, more specialized enterprises selling heirloom tomatoes and grass-fed beef to well-heeled, eco-conscious consumers. These smaller enterprises have gotten a boost from the popularity of farmers markets and programs in which people pay in advance to receive weekly produce baskets, as well as renewed consumer interest in buying locally.

Programs designed for small farms and urban farms include programs such as The Farm to Plate (F2P) Initiative.  They  direct the Vermont Sustainable Jobs Fund, working in collaboration with the Sustainable Agriculture Council and other stakeholder groups, to develop a 10-year strategic plan to strengthen Vermont's farm and food sector.

Here are a few of the women's agriculture resources scattered across the US:

California farming organizations for women include:
California Women for Agriculture
www.cawomen4ag.com/

California Women for Agriculture Salinas Valley
Serving Monterey County regarding agricultural issues in the state and county, and helping with agriculture education and scholarships.
www.salinascwa.org/

Women on U.S. Farms Research Initiative
http://agwomen.aers.psu.edu
These vivid maps and reports make it easier to interpret the ways that American women are involved in farming.

Women and Sustainable Agriculture: Interviews with 14 Agents of Change
By Anna Anderson, 2004, McFarland Publishers
Farmers, researchers, and farm advocates--all the women in this book have dedicated their lives to improving the American food system.

Herstory: Women in Organic Agriculture
Summer 2002 CCOF Newsletter of California's certified organic farmers
www.ccof.org/archives.php

Changing the Way America Farms: Knowledge and Community in the Sustainable Agriculture Movement
By Neva Hassanein, 1999, University of Nebraska Press
Focusing on Wisconsin, this book explores the function and importance of social networks in the sustainable agriculture movement.

MaryJanes Farm
100 Wild Iris Lane, Moscow, ID 83843
888-750-6004;
www.maryjanesfarm.org
Talk about enterprising: here's a stylish magazine that combines home, garden, and farm tips with a catalog of organic farm products.

Women in Winegrowing Calendar
811 Jefferson Street, Napa, CA 94559
707-944-8311, www.napagrowers.org
The Napa Valley Grapegrowers have created a calendar that features 21 community and sustainable farming leaders.

Vermont Women's Agricultural Network
617 Comstock Road, Suite 5
Berlin, VT 05602
802-223-2389
www.uvm.edu/wagn

Maine Women's Agricultural Network
University of Maine Co-op Extension
24 Main Street
Lisbon Falls, Maine 04252
207-353-5550 or 1-800-287-1458
www.umaine.edu/umext/wagn

Pennsylvania Women's Agricultural Network
Pennsylvania State University
302 Armsby Building
University Park, PA 16802
http://wagn.cas.psu.edu

North Carolina State University has been in the forefront of sustainable agriculture at U.S. colleges.
Nancy Creamer, PhD, is director of the Center for Environmental Farming Systems (CEFS), a 2,000-acre farm near Goldsboro. The research farm is a joint project of NCSU, NC, A&T University, the NC Department of Agriculture, the NC Farm Stewardship Association, and other organizations, farmers, and citizens.

Kristin Reynolds is a research assistant at the University of California Small Farm Center and one of the writers of Outstanding in Their Fields: California's Women Farmers

ATTRA is funded through the USDA Rural Business-Cooperative Service and is a project of the National Center for Appropriate Technology (NCAT),

What Science Says About Beach Sand and Stomach Aches

By washing your hands after digging in beach sand, you could greatly reduce your risk of ingesting bacteria that could make you sick. In new research, scientists have determined that, although beach sand is a potential source of bacteria and viruses, hand rinsing may effectively reduce exposure to microbes that cause gastrointestinal illnesses.

"Our mothers were right! Cleaning our hands before eating really works, especially after handling sand at the beach," said Dr. Richard Whitman, the lead author of the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) study. "Simply rinsing hands may help reduce risk, but a good scrubbing is the best way to avoid illness."

Scientists measured how many E. coli bacteria could be transferred to people's hands when they dug in sand.

They analyzed sand from the shores of Lake Michigan in Chicago. Using past findings on illness rates, scientists found that if individuals were to ingest all of the sand and the associated biological community retained on their fingertip, 11 individuals in 1000 would develop symptoms of gastrointestinal illness.  Ingestion of all material on the entire hand would result in 33 of 1000 individuals developing gastrointestinal illness.

In a further laboratory experiment, USGS scientists determined that submerging one's hands four times in clean water removed more than 99% of the E. coli and associated viruses from the hands.

In recent years, USGS scientists have discovered that concentrations of E. coli bacteria in beach sand are often much higher than those in beach water.

Beach SAND is not monioried for E. coli 

Follow-up research at beaches around the nation by many scientists has resulted in similar findings, although the amount of bacteria in sand varies depending on the beach.  Although beach water is monitored for E. coli as mandated in the Beaches Environmental Assessment and Coastal Health Act (BEACH Act 2000), beach sand is not currently monitored for contamination.

Recent analysis of seven beaches across the nation by the University of North Carolina -Chapel Hill and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency showed that beachgoers digging in sand were more likely to develop gastrointestinal illness after a day at the beach compared to those not digging in sand. The association with these illnesses was even stronger for individuals who reported being partially covered up in sand. 

Because children played in the sand more frequently and were more likely to get sand in their mouths, they were more likely to develop gastrointestinal illness after a day at the beach.

"The excess illnesses we observed among those exposed to sand generally consisted of mild gastrointestinal symptoms, but it is a good idea to be sure to wash your hands or use hand sanitizer after digging or playing in the sand," said Chris Heaney, lead author of the UNC study.

E. coli is an indicator of recent sewage contamination and if it is present, pathogens harmful to human health are also likely present.  The origin of these bacteria is often unknown. They can persist throughout the swimming season, remaining a potential contamination source to beach visitors.

Results of these studies highlight the need to intensify efforts to determine sources of microbial contamination to beaches and associated risk of playing in beach sand.

USGS provides science for a changing world. For more information, visit www.usgs.gov.

These are not politically correct suggestions!  They are the result of asking why little things like not using bottled water or plastic bags have taken over our imagination.  We need some big solutions for some really big problems. 

We're using FOUR times the natural resources as other folks in the world.  We would need TWO to FOUR planets for everyone to keep pace with our western "lifestyle" choices.  So...we need FOUR X the solutions!  How about these as a starting point for discussion:

Top Ten Things YOU can do to reduce climate change, gluttony, lawlessness, violence, over population...etc. etc. etc.

1. Green your job - be an inside champion to find solutions to green your decisions, purchases, facilities, and company policies.  Business decisions have SO much more leverage than your decisions at home (but don't neglect home, either)

2. Cut the number of children you have to one or none. And encourage young family members to think before they cut the condom.
 
3. Cut down the amount you eat...and eat healthy foods only. Skinny people are healthier.

4. Get exercise by walking where you need to go. If it's too far to walk, use the phone or internet.  At least most of the time.  Reduce your mileage by 80%.

5. Reduce water consumption for bathing, irrigation.  Bird baths work fine on odd days and desk jockey, lazy days. 

6. Use shared transportation as much as absolutely friggin' possible.  You'll  learn a lot about people!  And we need some new and improved people skills! 

7. Buy green, energy efficient products made as locally as possible.  Transportation of all the parts and assembled sub parts and supplies and retail distribution and landfill graveyards add up to a huge number of miles.  Just cut the krap.

8. Build mutually sustainable, positive relationships with everyone in your family, tribe and community.  What we want and need and desire most is human friendship and companionship. So just go for it without all the faldaral.  Shake. Cuddle. Smile. Be nice!

9. Abide by our cultural structure of laws.  Be a good citizen and allow others to live up to their potential as well. A nation of laws cannot survive if it's so corrupt that honest men and women can't make a living.  Enuf said?

10.  Enjoy laughter, joy, natural wonders, people, the arts, and simple pleasures - they pollute less, use less and produce more happiness than any manufactured gadgets!

When we get to this point, we'll all be so happy we won't need gadgets and renewable energy and electric cars and recyclable bottle caps.  We'll be responsible about living and breathing and making a real home and a real community and a real world that can survive our onslaught.  We'll actually be happy.  Simply happy.