Dear Earthlings,

Bees must be protected.  They are vital to our survival!  Please sign this petition and share it in your circles....the info below came from Cause:

http://www.causes.com/actions/1686797-ban-the-use-of-neonicotinoid-pesticides-before-they-devastate-bee-populations-in-the-usa?reposter=62120&utm_campaign=activity_mailer%2Fnew_repost&utm_medium=email&utm_source=causes#

Ban the use of neonicotinoid pesticides before they devastate bee populations in the USA

• Posted to Bee The Change
• September 23, 2012
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To: Lisa Jackson, EPA Administrator, jackson.lisap@epa.gov

Neonicotinoid, known as “neonics” for short, is a farm pesticide produced primarily by the German chemical giant Bayer, widely used in the U.S. to coat a massive 142 million acres of corn, wheat, soy and cotton seeds. They are also common ingredients in many home gardening products. However,...

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Healthy bee populations are essential to the production of our food. Bees are attracted to floral nectars and help pollinate the plant, allowing it to reproduce. Therefore, without honey bees, our lives would be impoverished by a general lack of fruits, vegetables, flowers, and other bee-pollinated plant products like corn, apples, oranges, lemons, broccoli, onions, blueberries, cherries, avocados, and many more.

Unfortunately, our widespread use of neonicotinoid pesticides is causing a dramatic decline in honey bee populations. The USDA projects that this year's corn crop will cover 94 million acres, all of which will be planted with seeds treated with neonicotinoid pesticides. In small doeses these pesticides damage the bees' immune systems and homing abilities; in large doses the pesticides are lethal.

Sign the petition to put pressure on Lisa Jackson at the EPA to ban the use of these pesticides in order to protect the long-term health of our food system!

Click to find out more about or nation's bee populations and the imminent threat posed by neonicotinoid pesticides:

-http://www.ars.usda.gov/SP2UserFiles/Place/53420300/AtlasoftheHoneybee.pdf
-http://www.soilassociation.org/wildlife/bees/householdpesticides
-http://www.pan-uk.org/home-garden/list-of-home-and-garden-pesticides-containing-neonicotinoids
-http://usnews.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2012/03/29/10921493-neonicotinoid-pesticides-tied-to-crashing-bee-populations-2-studies-find?lite

Coconut Kefir Harvest

Making coconut kefir sounds complicated at first...but once you try it out...you will see that it's not as complicated as it looks...it may require several steps to harvest your creation, but the reward is worth the time invested....and it's so nutritious!  Below are some pictures showing how I harvested our homemade batch once it was ready and then how I used it with other food....

First you need a plastic strainer, I guess kefir grains do not like metal, so you will also need a plastic or wooden spoon to push the creaminess through the strainer....push!!!

Sometimes it's super thick, but keep pushing!!

Once you pushed hard enough, voila! You have fresh and nutritious coconut kefir to devour!  Ours tasted very much like sour cream....

Then I made some purple polenta using blue cornmeal and water...it's done super fast....I highly recommend polenta for those days when you don't have much time to cook but need something filling in your tummy....

Then I crushed up some Brazil nuts with raw garlic....tastes like parmesan!

Sprinkled some of Ofelia's homemade pomegranate molasses....

And bon appetit!

Got Milk? You Don't Need It.

Hello everyone, it has been quite a while since our last post but I am thrilled to share an infographic about milk that was shared with us.  It was put together by a team of designers and researchers.  Please check it out and share it with your loved ones and check out their page: www.learnstuff.com.

For years, we’ve been told that milk does a body good. But does it really? Though touted as the healthier option at home and in restaurants, milk has roughly the same calorie count as soda and 2% milk contains the same amount of saturated fat as french fries. Given these two facts, the correlation between high milk consumption and high rates of Type 1 diabetes and heart disease makes sense. Even though one-third of Americans are lactose intolerant, the U.S. still consumes nearly 9 times the amount of milk that China does. So why do we drink so much milk? Because cows are making more of it. With the introduction of growth hormones like rBST, milk cows are producing nearly twice as much as they did in 1970.

Milk – bad for us, bad for cows.

Got Milk? by LearnStuff.com is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-
NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License.

Montana Bear Tragedy

I received this email from a friend of mine...her sister's comment is below the picture. My friends comment is below that. Pretty hilarious.

Email reads:

Everybody should heed the warnings not to feed wildlife because they become dependent and don't forage for themselves any longer. It is such a tragedy to see what has been done to our country's wildlife.

The photo below captures a disturbing trend that is beginning to affect U.S. wildlife. Animals that formerly were self-sufficient are now showing signs of belonging to the Democrat Party. They have apparently learned to just sit and wait for the government to step in and provide for their care and sustenance. This photo is of a black bear in Montana turned Democrat. He's nicknamed Bearack Obearma. It is believed that he has become a campground organizer. My friend's version: Owing to greed and arrogance, this Republican black bear, known around the campgrounds as Herman "Raisin'" Cain, killed and ate 99% of the tourists who visited his park and now has to sit and wait for meals to be brought to him. Unfortunately, his lazy and incompetent colleagues, the rest of the 1%, have never had a moment's experience gathering or preparing a meal, and would be too selfish to share if they did. Raisin' would eat his young, if he could, but his wife left him after numerous sex scandals. Sorry, dude, you're fucked.

Healing of the Nation Event Canceled!

I regret to inform you that the event which was happening on Sunday, September 11, 2011, "Healing of the Nation: Reggae and Yoga Festival" has been canceled until further notice....The City of Long Beach still has some growing up to do!

California Coastal Cleanup Day 2011

It's time to make a difference! Join us for California Coastal Cleanup Day on Saturday, September 17 from 9:00 AM to 12:00 PM. This annual event, sponsored by the California Coastal Commission and the City of Long Beach, is designed to increase public awareness about marine debris and inspire community action. Coastal Cleanup Day is a great opportunity for volunteers of all ages to help keep our beaches clean and healthy.

All you need to do is show up at any of our six beach cleanup sites and sign in. Cleanup supplies and free parking will be provided at each site. To limit the amount of bags we use, we encourage all participants to bring their own reusable bag or bucket to pick up trash.

Alamitos Beach
Ocean Blvd., at Alamitos Ave.
Belmont Pool
4000 E. Olympic Plaza
Bluff Park
Ocean Blvd., at Coronado.
Colorado Lagoon
E. Appian Way at Colorado St.
Mother's Beach
E. Appian Way under the 2nd St. Bridge
Pierpoint Landing
200 Aquarium Way

For more information visit http://www.longbeach.gov/naturecenter/ccd.">http://www.longbeach.gov/naturecenter/ccd. What you clean today can have a positive impact for our beaches for years to come. Please join us on September 17 and help make a difference.

Long Beach Events!!

For those of you virtually vegans who like to have fun and maybe try out Kundalini yoga below are some events you might be interested in checking out...some are happening these weekend....and below those are listed ongoing dates for Kundalini!! I highly suggest you try this amazing style of yoga and Christine Cox is a wonderful teacher who will guide you through it gracefully....hope to see you around!!

Saturday, September 1o, 2011
3pm - 9pm
3rd Annual Latin American Day Parade
PARADE: Pine Avenue Between 6th - 3rd / FESTIVAL: Promenade Between 3rd and 5th.
Sirena Serpentina Closes this Event with Tribal Fire Bellydance!!

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(Aldana Mica will have a booth at the event below....)

Sunday, September 11, 2011
10am - 8pm
Healing of the Nation: Reggae and Yoga Festival
Alfredo's Beach Club at Cherry Beach
Long Beach, CA

A Healing and Educational Celebration
FREE!!
Live Music
Fire Dancin'
Yoga
Healing Arts
Food
More!!

Sopurkh (ME) will be sharing Kundalini Yoga & Meditation 5:30pm

Sirena Serpentina Firedance Performance at Dark!

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Monday, September 12, 2011
9pm - 12am
Full Moon Kundalini Kriya and Drum Circle
Trilogy Yoga
3141 E. Broadway
Long Beach, CA, 90803

Pisces Full Moon Celebration
Come Meditate and Manifest all of your creative powers! The Pisces Full Moon reminds us to DREAM BIG and let our truth shine on and on and on!

Kundalini Yoga and Meditation
Drumming and Dancing
Yogi Tea and Treats
Fun!
Suggested Donation:: $20

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ONGOING CLASSES

Mondays
Sunset Kundalini Yoga
6-7pm
Bluffs - Corner of Junipero and Ocean, LBC
Donations Welcome

Tuesdays
Morning Kundalini Yoga
9-10am
Bluffs - Corner of Junipero and Ocean, LBC
Donations Welcome

Tribal Fusion Bellydance
7:30-8:30pm
Omadawn Yoga Studio - 1650 PCH, Seal Beach
$17 or Class Package

Thursdays
Morning Kundalini Yoga
9-10am
Bluffs - Corner of Junipero and Ocean, LBC
Donations Welcome

Saturdays
Hoopdance
12-1pm
Bluffs - Corner of Cherry and Ocean, LBC
Donations Welcome

LB Surfrider giving away reusable bags!!

LB Surfrider is giving out reuseable bags this weekend! In support of the single use plastic bag ban, the Long Beach Chapter of the Surfrider Foundation is giving away reusable shopping bags at two upcoming events. If you're having a difficult time affording reusable shopping bags stop by our table and get one for free! We hope to see you this weekend and one of our events: Friday August 19, 9AM - 12 noon, McBride Park Free Food Giveaway. California Recreation Park, 1550 Martin Luther King Junior Avenue, Long Beach, CA 90813. Saturday August 20, 10am - 12 noon, Food 4 Less, 6700 Cherry Ave., Long Beach, CA 90805. longbeach@lbsurfrider.org • Surfrider Foundation Long Beach Chapter

Meatless Monday in EWG's New Study: A Meat Eaters Guide to Climate Change and Health!

Following is an email I received from Meatless Monday which I would like to share with you all...please read and pass it on! Also, I attached some really cute pictures of our kitty Silvi...he loves nori!

Hi Everyone-

Some of you may have already heard, but today the Environmental Working Group released a lifestyle analysis of the links between meat consumption and greenhouse gas emissions.

The Meat Eaters Guide to Climate Change and Health can help you to determine which protein sources are the most and least carbon friendly. At www.ewg.org/meateatersguide you can take their quiz and see how much you know as well as find great educational materials to learn more. They embrace the Meatless Monday concept and even recommend the recipes on MeatlessMonday.com (which come from you!) to improve personal and planetary health.

We hope this new research (re)inspires you to commit to go without meat, one day a week!

Happy Monday!

The Growing Experience featured in the LA Times!!

I'm pleased to let you know that The Growing Experience was featured in the online version of the LA Times Home Section today. Here's the link:

http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/home_blog/2011/07/growing-experience-urban-farm-long-beach.html

It's a great write-up about our local Long Beach farm and the programs they operate for the community. Check it out if you have a minute, and please leave a comment at the end of the article-there's a possibility that they could be featured in Sunset Magazine, if there's a lot of interest. That would be great to put Long Beach on the map! As usual, thanks for your support.