9 22 11 boulderganic by Boulder Weekly

FALL 2011

Bringing self-sufficiency and sustainability home

YOUR AMAZING BODY Back to basics with exercise, diet and herbal medicine PLUS: The truth about pesticides and pregnancy

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FALL 2011

Bringing self-sufficiency and sustainability home Susan France

staff

Jade Sabatino, owner of Boulder Family Farms Inc., has a local produce stand at 1005 Cherryvale Rd. in Boulder.

Publisher, Stewart Sallo Editor, Pamela White Director of Sales & Marketing, Dave Grimsland Director of Operations/Controller, Benecia Beyer Circulation Manager, Cal Winn Editorial Managing Editor, Jefferson Dodge Special Editions Editor, Elizabeth Miller Associate Editors, David Accomazzo, Quibian Salazar-Moreno Sales Retail Sales Manager, Allen Carmichael Inside Sales Manager, Jason Wing Account Executives, Mike Cutler, David Hasson, Andrea Craven Production Production Manager, Dave Kirby Art Director, Susan France Graphic Designer, Mark Goodman General & Administrative Marketing Manager & Heiress, Julia Sallo Office Manager/Advertising Assistant, Francie Swidler Circulation Team Dave Hastie, Dan Hill, George LaRoe, Jeffrey Lohrius, Elizabeth Ouslie, Rick Slama 11-Year-Old, Mia Rose Sallo

contents Food & Garden 6 Wild meat

Sustainability 18 Ecosystematic

Business 24

Drinking to better business practices

Health 30

Wisdom from the Stone Age

’Tis the season to be good to you

hether you view the body as a temple, a gift or a tool, you’ve probably realized that if you’re good to your body, it will be good to you. A body that is well cared for can often live longer and provide a higher quality of life for its caretaker. Care comes in many forms — feeding yourself healthy food, treating yourself to some good-for-you goodies, exploring the ways to work out with

Boulder Weekly Boulderganic Fall ’11

your body, even building a community around you that will support a healthier lifestyle and a healthier future for you and your children. In this issue of Boulderganic, we explore ways to care for your remarkable human body, taking a look at a workout that recalls the way we got in shape long before “get in shape” was on anyone’s list of goals, ways to prep your immune system for the flu season, and giving your children a head start by being cautious about exposure to pesticides

during pregnancy. We also bring you the latest from some local businesses that are getting back to basics — letting people pick their own produce, drink authentic hard cider, save their own seeds and pay with cash only. It’s a bountiful season, a time to make the most of what the earth provides and use the plentiful produce abounding in our local farms to connect a healthier planet to healthier people. Respond: info@boulderganic.com September 22, 2011 5

Susan France

Mark Monette, executive chef of the Flagstaff House Restaurant

Thanks for the local harvest Flagstaff House chef shares seasonal recipes by Clay Fong

ention the Flagstaff House, which celebrates its 40th anniversary this October, and most will note its spectacular views, topshelf service, world-class wine list and nationally recognized fine dining fare. What may not immediately come to mind, however, is this restaurant’s use of local ingredients in many of its specialties. These include a starter of Cure Farm Ruby Red Beets, Colo6 September 22, 2011

rado rack of lamb and pasta prepared with Haystack Mountain goat cheese. “There’s definitely a big movement towards using the best local stuff,” says Flagstaff House co-owner and Executive Chef Mark Monette. Monette describes himself as someone who “grew up in the restaurant business.”As a child, he was a busboy at his father Don’s restaurant, the Viking, on 28th Street. After that, he made his way up to busboy and waiting tables at the Flagstaff House,

also owned by his family. Monette then followed his father’s advice for his next career step, which he quotes as, “If you want to be in this business, you gotta know how to cook.” Following this counsel led the younger Monette to undertake an educational journey that included cooking stints in California, Beaver Creek and France. The availability of freshly harvested game and produce in the three-star Michelin kitchens where he worked left an indelible

impression. Consequently, he came to embrace the underlying French culinary philosophy of “using everything local you can get.” Today, Monette takes the lessons of France to heart by getting ducks and eggs locally, and he sources sweet corn from Munson Farms, among other area suppliers. Chef and farmers collaborate with one another to make sure that ingredients possess the right size and quality for restaurant meals, and this cooperation

Boulderganic Fall ’11 Boulder Weekly

Susan France

makes for long-lasting business relationships. For example, he’s purchased produce from Anne Cure of Cure Organic Farms for more than a decade, and he rattles off just some of the items he gets from this local purveyor: “beets, arugula, tomatoes, radishes, baby carrots, mizuna and bok choy.” Locally sourced produce shows up in the Flagstaff House’s turkey Thanksgiving dinner that the Flagstaff House offers as a take-home meal. After witnessing his mother-in-law toil over a Thanksgiving feast, Monette wanted to offer something “to make it easy on people.” The result is a three-course dinner with such trimmings as a winterspiced tomato jelly, port wine sauce, herbed stuffing and even chestnuts to garnish the soup. The following recipes are part of the Flagstaff House’s Thanksgiving take-home dinner, with the exception of the turkey, which comes from the Monette family recipe. Butternut Squash Soup with Winter Spices (Serves 6-8 people) For this recipe, Monette prefers to use Butternut Squash from Cure Organic Farm. Step 1: 1 large butternut squash Cut in half, length-wise, and place on buttered sheet pan seed side down. Bake at 300 degrees for 20 minutes. Remove from oven and let cool. Take out seeds and peel squash. Set squash aside in bowl. Step 2: 1 onion — cut thin 2 oz. ginger root — cut small 1 carrot — peeled and cut small 1 large yam — peeled and cut small 1 bulb garlic — separated and peeled

Stuffing with Herbs Monette relies on herbs from his own garden for this preparation. Ingredients for stuffing: 4 cups diced, dry bread 1 tsp. fresh, chopped sage 1 tsp. fresh, chopped thyme 1 onion peeled, julienned and carmelized 1/2 cup chicken broth Directions: In a large mixing bowl, combine bread, herbs and onion. Mix thoroughly, add chicken broth and season with salt and pepper. Take mixture and spread in casserole dish, cover with foil, and bake in oven at 350 degrees for 30 minutes. (For crispy stuffing, bake uncovered.) Take all of the above and place them in a large pot with 1/8 lb. butter. Sauté ingredients until tender. Step 3: Put squash in pot with the other ingredients and add water until all ingredients are covered. Simmer for 2 hours. Step 4: As soup simmers, add 1/4 tsp. cayenne, 1/2 tsp. nutmeg, 1 tsp. cumin, 1 tsp. paprika, 1 tsp. salt, 1 salted white pepper, 2 bay leaves, and 1/4 cup maple syrup. Step 5: After soup has simmered for 2 hours with ingredients added, blend small batches in blender and strain. Finish with 1/2 cup heavy whipping cream. Season to taste and adjust consistency with water or your favorite liquid. Monette Family Turkey Recipe Step 1: Brine turkey (optional): 2 cups kosher salt

Boulder Weekly Boulderganic Fall ’11

Rinse turkey and submerge in a large pot of cold salt water for 4-24 hours. Drain and pat dry or allow to dry thoroughly. Step 2: Truss turkey (optional): With twine, tie leg bones together. Cinch twine forward across thighs and wings and secure over flap of skin in front of bird. Step 3: Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Line roasting pan with 2 onions, 3 carrots and 3 ribs celery all cut into 1-inch pieces. Add 1 cup water. Stuff a bundle of thyme into cavity of bird. Rub 2 tablespoons butter onto skin of bird. Roast for 40 minutes with breasts covered by a loose aluminum foil “tent.” Remove from oven, remove foil and baste. Return to oven for 20 minutes, then baste again. After 20 more minutes, baste one more time and after final 20 minutes check internal temperature of breast to be 165 degrees and thigh to be 175 degrees. Remove from oven and allow at least 20 minutes to rest before carving.

Pumpkin Cheesecake Monette recommends making this dessert with pumpkin from Munson Farms. Ingredients for pie filling: 1-1/5 cup cream cheese 2 eggs 2/5 cup sugar 1 teaspoon vanilla extract 1/2 cup pumpkin puree Ingredients for Macadamia Nut Crust: 2 cups toasted, chopped macadamia nuts 4 tablespoons white chocolate Step 1: Crust Melt white chocolate. Add to nuts until blended and press in mold evenly. Step 2: Filling Beat eggs, sugar and vanilla together until well blended. Add cream cheese and pumpkin puree and mix until incorporated. Pour mix into 9-inch pan. Bake in water bath at 350 degrees until set (approx 15-20 min). Respond: info@boulderganic.com September 22, 2011 7

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Wild meat

Hunting makes a comeback by Tate Zanstra

entiments often thought to be the province of survivalists are gaining popularity among people sick of factory-farmed meat. Grab a gun and get out in the woods, they say, and hunt. “I spend my days thinking about new ways to cook and eat anything that walks, flies, swims, crawls, skitters, jumps or grows; I am the omnivore who has solved his dilemma,” says Hank Shaw, author of the book Hunt, Gather, Cook: Finding the Forgotten Feast. Unpredictable weather patterns and foreign demand have driven

beef prices up. With outbreaks of E. coli and a growing awareness that factory-farmed meat may be unhealthy, there is a growing movement for organic meat. But with grass-fed and hormone- and antibiotic-free meat too expensive for many consumers, more people are advocating hunting as a means of procuring topquality organic meat. With a limited number of wild animals to go around, however, hunting may not be able to provide food for a sizable percentage of the U.S. population. “There is a nationwide decline in hunting,” says Jennifer Churchill of Colorado Parks and Wildlife. “Maybe

Boulder Weekly Boulderganic Fall ’11

the movement for healthy meat will bring the numbers up.” Hunters are a necessary factor in managing elk and deer herds, Churchill says. What if more people, enough to make a difference to the beef industry, went hunting, as Hank Shaw suggests? “Would there be enough elk? That’s a good question,” Churchill says. “We could certainly take a lot more people out hunting.” Ranching elk is expensive and problematic because they are wild animals, unlike cattle, which have been bred into domesticity. Fencing

for elk must be very high in order to pen them, and they cannot be run on free range then gathered up later and moved to new pastures. Additionally, they are highly vulnerable to ailments like chronic wasting disease, which is similar to mad cow disease, and Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease, a strain of which kills humans. If elk is to be a reliable red meat substitute, it must be hunted in the wild. “We’re really lucky to have these large animals to hunt. Not many countries do anymore. In Europe there’s see HUNTING Page 10

September 22, 2011 9

HUNTING from Page 9

barely anything left,” Churchill says. Colorado leads the nation in elk hunting, with hunters taking up to 50,000 animals each year, according to the Department of Wildlife. The priority of Colorado Parks and Wildlife, according to Churchill, is to manage herds for health and longevity. “We’re really proud of our elk, and we hope to always have an enduring population,” she says. Colorado elk, which had ranged nearly the entire state prior to the advent of European settlement, were nearly eradicated by early hunters a century ago. Elk were found in such low numbers as to be biologically inert. It was hunters, Churchill says, most notably former president Theodore Roosevelt, who recognized the peril that the species was in and began relocating animals from other states. Eventually elk were reestablished in Colorado, and the U.S. Department of Wildlife was formed to help manage populations of wild animals around the nation. Today, Colorado elk herds are relatively strong, but the animals still face modern pressures they weren’t designed for, namely a patchy, constantly shrinking territory. “Habitat infringement and frag-

mentation is an issue,” Churchill says. “Elk have to migrate great distances, from high pasture in the summer to low-lying valleys in the winter.” Parks and Wildlife is working with a variety of people and groups to ensure migration corridors for elk, she says, but overpopulation will become a more crucial issue as more good land is taken for development or cattle ranching. Some biologists fear the pressures may be too great, and with more people hunting, elk herds may be brought back to the lows of a century ago. “It’s ridiculous,” says Kieran Suckling, executive director of the Center for Biological Diversity. “If you run the numbers, we couldn’t possibly sustain a significant number of people through hunting. There just aren’t enough animals.” At the Center for Biological Diversity, it’s his business to look at wild animal populations — what benefits them and what hurts them. “It’s great that some people want to live off-grid, but everyone can’t,” he says. “It’s not the future of the U.S.” It’s alternatives to meat — not just farmed beef — that need to be established, Suckling says. “We should be converting away from meat. It’s a disaster for people

Hunting for herbivores

Wild mushrooms are plentiful and delicious by Tate Zandstra

10 September 22, 2011

and animals. Disease is rampant, the animals are pumped full of antibiotics. There’s a huge E. coli problem, and massive water pollution,” Suckling says. But the ranching industry is an entrenched and powerful one. Factory-farmed beef, despite its troubles to both human health and the environment, won’t be going away. “If we’re looking to reform food, 99.99 percent of the work is in ensuring organic food, both vegetables and meat,” he says. “I never eat factory meat. ... I’ll eat wild meat every once in a while, but people eat way

ant to get outside and hunt but don’t want to kill anything? Become an amateur mycologist and hunt mushrooms instead. You won’t need any equipment, but you will need some skill in identifying the good and the bad species. The common puffball mushroom, for which heaps of recipes (from simply frying in olive oil to currying) exist, will gain far better reviews at your next vicarage soiree than, for example, the poisonous mushroom called the Sickener. Mushrooming is practiced all over the world and some species have become delicacies. Colorado isn’t home to the famed truffle, but many types of edible mushrooms can be found from spring until late fall. According to mushroom-appreciation.com, mushrooms are 20-30 percent protein, high in fiber, contain various vitamins and minerals, and are rich in the anti-

too much meat in general. They don’t need it.” Neither hunting elk and other wild animals nor eating factoryfarmed meat is the best answer to the debate, he says. To clean up the environment and the health issues, people need to stop eating so much meat altogether. “People spend so much money on ‘green’ things, like a Prius,” he says, “but there’s nothing more important they can do than to change their diet.” Respond: info@boulderganic.com

oxidant selenium. If you aren’t ready to take your chances with the Sickener, you can join the Colorado Mycological Society on a foray into the woods to “stalk wild mushrooms” or for an ethnomycology lecture, which will teach you which mushrooms are edible and which are not. Additionally, the society will be offering its annual Fungi Feast at the Boulder Cork restaurant on Oct. 16 for $55. Coloradomushrooms.com offers a free android application to help you identify wild mushrooms and an extensive photo catalogue of mushrooms in the state with brief descriptions of their properties. It pays to know. The Amanita Muscaria, a white-spotted, vibrant red species, looks much like the edible King Boleta, but is said to be Colorado’s only hallucinogenic mushroom. According to the description, however, “those who try it often regret it.” Boulderganic Fall ’11 Boulder Weekly

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Pick it yourself

Local farms let patrons pluck their own produce by Jefferson Dodge

oulder County has plenty of farms and roadside stands where one can buy fresh fruits and vegetables, but a growing trend is allowing patrons to get them even fresher — by picking them off the plant. “Every year we get more,” Tom Lopez says about the number of pickers who come to his Lone Hawk Farm west of Hygiene. “It’s catching on.” Lopez and his wife, Kristin, have operated their farm since 1975, but they only started the “U-pick” operation five years ago. Their roadside garden is on the south side of the property, about four miles west of Hygiene on 49th Street. It operates on an honor system, and Lopez says he gives patrons 30 percent off if they pick their own produce, as opposed to taking it from the refrigerated unit at the site. They decided to adopt the honor system after seeing a similar farm stand on nearby Nelson Road. “We’ve had no indication that we’ve been ripped off,” he says. “If anything, people leave a little more.” Sometimes people will leave a note saying that they are a buck or two short, and that they’ll make up

for it next time. “Some people are confused with the fact that they are trusted,” Lopez says. He says the growing popularity of U-pick programs may be related to a desire to get kids to understand that their food doesn’t originally come from the grocery store. “It’s an escape from the city, in a way,” Lopez adds. Organic produce available for picking at Lone Hawk this fall includes corn, beans, peppers, Swiss chard, kale, collards, tomatoes, lettuce and spinach. According to Lopez, his U-pick operation is popular with gardeners who need a particular type of produce because theirs died or isn’t yielding enough. He describes it as both “a neighborhood convenience and a destination.” Farther south, Bob Poley of Hoot ’n’ Howl Farm says his self-serve raspberry patches have proven popular as well. “We sell out our raspberries quite regularly,” he says. “And we have three acres of them. Sometimes our customers pick them clean.” Poley, whose farm is located at 6033 Jay Rd., is selling red and gold

Boulder Weekly Boulderganic Fall ’11

raspberries for $6.40 a pound until the first hard frost. He and his wife Janet plant more and more raspberries each year on their 73-acre farm to meet the growing demand. “I will probably die before I get them all developed with raspberries,” he laughs. Next summer, they may add strawberries and blackberries to their U-pick options. And Poley says they haven’t ruled out letting people pick their own pumpkins this fall. Asked about the appeal of picking your own produce, Poley says it’s a good outlet for those who don’t raise their own fruits and vegetables. “A lot of people don’t have time to grow a garden or don’t have a place to grow a garden,” he says. “But they enjoy doing something out in nature that’s associated with food.” And like Lone Hawk, Poley says his U-pick operation has an honor system — patrons weigh what they collect, tally the cost on a calculator and leave their money in a box. Plus, they can eat while they harvest. “We don’t tell people that they can’t eat berries while they’re picking, but we want them to be fair,” he says. Chris Munson of Munson Farms

says his customers can pick their own flowers and their own pumpkins. The farm, located at the corner of Valmont Road and 75th Street, sells flowers at four stems for a dollar until the first freeze of the season. “It’s a nice walk through the flower fields,” Munson says of the appeal of U-pick, which his family has been offering since 1977. “It’s just nice to be out there in a large field, a very productive field.” Munson adds that while some local farms turn their pumpkin patches into a “carnival,” even shipping in pumpkins from elsewhere, his family farm takes a more traditional approach, selling pumpkins that people can take off the vine themselves. “We keep it authentic,” he says. The farm, which spans more than 100 acres, is famous for its sweet corn as well. Some people associate early fall only with produce like corn and pumpkins, but the month of September is actually prime time for an array of other vegetables and melons, Munson says. Many assume the growing season is largely over at the end of the summer, but, he explains, that’s when it’s beginning to be at its best. Respond: info@boulderganic.com September 22, 2011 13

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longtime Colorado microbrewer has launched a hard cider company that has a mission to go local at

its core. Brad Page, who was brewmaster at Coopersmith’s in Fort Collins in the 1990s and is still a partner in that microbrewery, launched the Colorado Cider Company in April. His goals include returning to the traditional way that hard cider used to be made — using only apple juice — and obtaining all of his apples from Colorado orchards. His gluten-free “Glider Cider” is available in regular and dry varieties in several Boulder liquor stores, including Pettyjohn’s Liquor and Wine, Liquor Mart and Boulder Wine and Spirits. It’s also on tap at Oskar Blues Homemade Liquids and Solids in Longmont. Page, who started brewing at Wynkoop Brewing Company in Denver in 1988, says his cider company is technically a winery, not a brewery, since he’s using 100 percent juice. Most mainstream hard ciders, like Woodchuck, are what Page calls “apple beer” because they contain malt and other beer ingredients. Much the same way companies like Coors and Budweiser turned to cheaper ingredients like rice and corn for their beer decades ago, over the years cider makers drifted away from using only apple juice because it was costly. “Anything fruit-based is more expensive to do,” Page says. “But it’s real different flavor-wise.” Now, authentic cider — the kind they used to make in Great Britain, France, Spain and Colonial America — is making a comeback. As the company’s slogan says, “It’s a no-grainer.” Page started working to create the Colorado Cider Company in 2009, after a three-year stint opening a brewery in Buenos Aires. The company is a three-person team that includes Page’s wife, Kathe. They do

Brad Page of the Colorado Cider Company

Apple of Colorado’s eye

Brewer goes local, back to basics with new cider by Jefferson Dodge their own distributing along the Front Range using a company van, but Page is in talks with a distributor that will take them to the rest of the state. The company is based in Denver, but Page has a fledgling orchard on the Western Slope. This year, due to a limited apple market in Colorado, only about half of Glider Cider is made with Colorado apples. (The rest come mostly from Washington state, plus a small percentage from Michigan and New Hampshire.) But when his orchard starts yielding fruit in a few years, Page says, he hopes to get closer to using 100 percent Colorado apples.

Boulder Weekly Boulderganic Fall ’11

Most of Colorado’s apples come from the North Fork Valley (the area surrounding Hotchkiss and Paonia), and Page says apple production has shrunk tenfold over the past two decades, as demand has declined and farmers have pulled up apple trees in favor of other crops like peaches and grapes. There are many varieties of cider apples, and they’re not the kind that you’d use to keep the doctor away because they are high in tannin, making them pretty sour and bitter. “It’s the opposite of what you want when you eat an apple,” Page says. The alcoholic content of the cider

is just under 7 percent — anything above would trigger higher tax rates, which would jack up costs. Originally the name “Glider Cider” referred to the kind of glider that you sit in on your front porch, eliciting feelings of a pleasant, easygoing afternoon, or what Page calls “movement without effort.” But he says the artwork for the gliding chair just didn’t work, so they put an image of an airplane glider on the label instead. Now, at festivals, they give away small balsa wood gliders imprinted with their logo. The apples Page uses are pressed in Palisade and shipped to the company warehouse at West 2nd Avenue and Bryant Street in Denver, where the cider is placed into large, cylindrical vats like those used in breweries. But unlike breweries, where the malt in the beer is broken down into sugar, Page’s main concern is simply the chemical balance of the cider. Different varieties are blended to achieve specific, acidic pH levels, and then it takes 10 to 14 days to ferment. Afterwards, it is aged in a refrigerated room for three to six months. Finally, it is filtered and then carbonated in another vat called a “bright tank.” Page has a four-head bottling machine that allows the company to produce up to 120 cases a day. (Each case contains a dozen 22-ounce bottles, which are priced at $7.99 each.) He’s doing some experimenting with the taste, storing some cider in wooden wine barrels, even injecting some with hops and lemongrass. Page says he’s happy with the reception that Glider Cider has gotten so far. A barbecue restaurant in Colorado Springs is even making a reduction sauce with the stuff. Glider Cider will be the official cider at Lakewood’s Cider Days, held Oct. 1–2 at the Lakewood Heritage Center. For more information, visit www. coloradocider.com. Respond: info@boulderganic.com September 22, 2011 15

Seeds of a brighter future

Seed collection revitalizes farms, gardens, open space by Elizabeth Miller

orget farm to table. It’s time to start thinking seed to seed. Across Boulder County, whether you’re looking to expand your garden’s selection or restore wild habitats, there are opportunities to learn the remarkably simple art of seed collection and build a supply for future summers. At Abbondanza Organic Seeds and Produce, Shanan Olson and Richard Pecoraro plant close to 80 percent of their own seeds, Olson says.The other 20 percent come from hybrids or varieties they’re experimenting with. “The standard of GMO is one thing, what really needs to happen is people need to take back their food system,” Olson says. “Rather than saving heritage seeds and maintaining them as heritage seeds, we need to embrace heirloom seeds and actually start working with them and adapting them to the nation’s bioregions.” This year, they experimented with melons, distributing seeds to other backyard gardeners. In early September, they started getting some of those melons back. “There’s this element of ‘Wow!’” says Olson, who has been farming in Boulder County for nine years. “It’s a farm-to-gardener project, instead of a farm-to-table project.” Abbondanza is developing a practice of sharing seeds between their farm and local gardeners, building a regional seed cooperative or seed-swap that gardeners can source for seeds that are smart about growing in this area.The idea starts with reinvigorating the craft of seed-saving, Olson says. “Every seed has a memory, and every growing season, every cold night, every high sunny day, every hail storm, every single moon cycle has an impact on how every plant grows,” she says. “As we select for the strongest plants

that survive the hailstorms and survive the powdery mildew and survive the drought days and survive the hard rains, every one of those will be better adapted to stand up to those challenges the next time.” It’s not that a Colorado seed won’t grow in North Carolina or France. It’s that every generation that a seed has a chance to learn about an area, to adapt to the specific microclimate of one farm or backyard, it’s better prepared for next year. “Crops that are marginal, for example a pepper or a tomato, that can be grown here, but were not necessarily made to grow here, can be trained in a relatively short period and modified without a petri dish,” Olson says. Select for the seeds from the more colorful, flavorful produce, and that’s likely to be what emerges next time. That was the melon experiment this year.They planted 50 varieties of cantaloupes and watermelons and identified 10 of each that really, as Olson says, “had spunk to them” — were vigorous, produced more fruit and were flavorful.Those will be regrown in isolation, learning in another generation how to adapt to the cooler nights, higher UV and shorter growing season. “In five years’ time we’ll have varieties of fruits and vegetables that are well-trained and well-adapted to our area, that are trained to produce better in our backyards,” Olson says. The project was an exercise in organized chaos, a big bang theory for gardeners, and was undertaken with similar spontaneity immediately following an event this spring that included Gary Nabhan, an original founder of the Seed Savers Exchange, visiting the farm. Nabhan inspired Olson and the 50-some people attending the event. At the end, Pecoraro, who has more than 30 years of farming experience, talked about wanting to work with backyard

Boulder Weekly Boulderganic Fall ’11

gardeners. About 10 people volunteered to take melon seeds home to their backyard gardens. “Everybody knew what kind of melon they were taking home, but nobody had specific instructions on what to look for and what to do,” Olson says. Now people are just showing up with seeds at the farmers’ market. “We’re just now starting to sit down and look at this, and go ‘Wow, people are really excited about this,’ ” he says. “How can we cultivate this interest in seeds?’” Saving seeds is either a process of simply removing, cleaning and drying the seeds, or a wet process that involves soaking the seeds, letting the bad seeds rise to the top to be poured off, and collecting the good seeds from the bottom. “It’s a little sloppier and at the same time kind of fun,” Olson says. “Cucumber seeds is like a spa treatment, and at the end of the day you’re just covered by cucumber glop. … It was stinky and it was dirty, but you feel so supple by the end of it.” It’s a simple thing to learn to do, and a natural evolution for a gardener. “It’s the ultimate kick in the teeth to the GMO industry, because we’re actually rolling up our sleeves and getting this done,” Olson says. They’ll have volunteers in to clean seeds this fall, and will have workshops over the winter on garden planning. On the wild side of things, the Wildlands Restoration Volunteers work in partnership with Boulder County to collect seeds for future restoration projects for the city and county. “A lot of times the problem with restoration is you have so many weeds, invasive species coming in that they try to out-compete,” says Amy Ansari, Wildlands Restoration Volunteers na-

tive seed collection coordinator. “So we try to give Mother Nature a little jump start.” They look for generalist seeds that would survive in different areas and save those seeds for the time they’re needed. “Anybody can learn how to collect seed,” Ansari says.“We teach all of our volunteers on site the type of seed that we’re collecting that day, and we talk about what other plants might look like. … It takes about 10 minutes to learn.” They collect native bunch grasses and wildflowers — plants like sulphur flower, sleepy grass, Canada wild rye, scorpion weed and beardtongue. “You’re in these big, beautiful fields. … You’re just out and part of nature, and you feel like you’re just part of it all,” Ansari says. Sometimes, seed collecting means standing and collecting the seeds and moving on quickly. Sometimes, a collector can lay out a mat and collect seeds from one spot for 45 minutes. “It’s kind of Zen-like, really,” she says. Volunteer sessions range from three to six hours and can stockpile thousands of seeds. “It’s fun for the whole family,” Ansari says. “It’s community-building as well.You go to these projects and you immediately are friends with the person next to you who you never met before.” Sessions start in July and continue through the end of October. “There are so many educational moments out there,” she says. “It’s the perfect place to learn more about the restoration of different lands and how to connect more with them and be good stewards.” For more information on Wildlands Volunteers, visit wlrv.org. For more on Abbondanza, visit eatabbo.org. Respond: info@boulderganic.com September 22, 2011 17

Fired up about cleaner fuel CU students hope to spread biodiesel by Christie Sounart

n a society inundated with prospects for saving the environment, it is easy to become overwhelmed by the numerous offerings. But a handful of students at the University of Colorado Boulder have found enduring passion in one aspect of conserving the planet’s resources: biodiesel. The student-run group CU Biodiesel is dedicated to educating both students and the Boulder community about the positive effects that non-toxic, biodegradable biofuel can have on the planet. Biodiesel is often made from recycled vegetable oil and can be used to fuel all diesel engines. “[Biodiesel] doesn’t have the noxious fumes that diesel has,” says Kallie Barnes, CU Biodiesel’s education director. “It’s a cleaner, safer fuel.” A senior double-majoring in ecology/evolutionary biology and environmental studies, Barnes says she has a passion for the environment and wants to see the public become more informed on the beneficial uses of biofuel. To promote the use of the fuel within the community, CU Biodiesel has partnered with several local middle schools and high schools to give a biodiesel presentation. Barnes and other members of the group also hold workshops once a month in a chemistry lab on CU’s campus. She says students and community members are invited to the workshops through wordof-mouth, classroom visits, student emails and social media. Once at the workshop, they are given a thorough run-through of biodiesel, often heading home with their own handmade sample. “It’s something very tangible for people who want to do their own 18 September 22, 2011

Photo courtesy of CU Biodiesel

rather than feedlots. One such agency, Sustainable Oil Service, partners with CU Biodiesel. The Boulder-based company recycles restaurants’ waste oil and makes it into biodiesel. In addition, CU Biodiesel has partnered with the cooperative Boulder Biodiesel, which is also dedicated to producing biodiesel from the waste oil of local companies. “We are proposing to CU to sign with a local [biodiesel] contractor,” Sawchak says. “For a green campus, this is very important.” Several years ago, the group From left are Jan Laesecke (CU Biodiesel director of operations), Brett Sawchak (outreach was able to help provide the unidirector), a visitor from Singapore at CU Biodiesel’s booth at the National Biodiesel Board versity’s Buff buses with biodiesel Conference, and Alex Blaine-Zimberg (alumni research and development director). due to a large awareness of the thing,” she says. “The idea is that we could pull group on campus and their own Jan Laesecke, senior environmeninto the desert and still brew biodiestudent-made biodiesel processor. tal engineering major and the direcsel,” says Brett Sawchak, CU BiodieNow CU Biodiesel does not have the tor of operations at CU Biodiesel, sel’s outreach director and a senior means or funds to continue the pracsays he hopes their group can make environmental studies major. tice. Instead, the Buff buses run on a an influential impact on biodiesel In addition to reaching out to the tank comprised of one-fifth biodiesel use around the nation. As a means community, CU Biodiesel is focused sourced from a local company. CU to achieve their goal, CU Biodiesel on the hundreds of gallons of waste Biodiesel has hope that they will gain members have constructed a mobile vegetable oil that CU’s dining services federal funding someday from the biodiesel reactor from an old hot dog and local restaurants produce daily. National Science Foundation or other stand they call ESTER, which stands That waste oil generally goes to a organizations to help expand their effor Environmentally Sustainable Trans- company from Boulder that will send forts at CU and in the community. portation Education and Research the oil to feedlots around the country, Despite their rapidly approaching Laboratory. where it is sprayed on crops to fatten graduation dates, Barnes, Laesecke They hope to bring the reactor to cows, according to Sawchak. and Sawchak say they will continue the public to make batches of biodiesel “The important thing is to keep to be involved with the group beyond and demonstrate its beneficial properit local,” he says. “Restaurants have college because their passion for the ties to local onlookers.The group also the ultimate choice of where their environment is strong and CU Biodiewill showcase ESTER at Louisville’s vegetable oil goes. Do they want it to sel’s intentions are clear. Sustainability Tour on Oct. 2, Laesecke go to feedlots or to biodiesel?” “We are promoting simple, sussays, and show off the solar thermal CU Biodiesel’s newest objectainable fuel,” Sawchak says. “There’s panels made by the company SunTrac tive is to convince CU to keep their not too much to it.” Solar they recently installed.The panels waste cooking oil from their cafeteTheir next workshop is Oct. 8. provide the energy needed to transrias and dining halls in the Boulder Contact sawchak@cubiodiesel.org for form the waste oil into usable fuel at area by persuading them to give more information. no cost to the environment. the oil to a local biodiesel agency Respond: info@boulderganic.com Boulderganic Fall ’11 Boulder Weekly

Aquaponics nonprofit struggles with funding

Facility would serve as resource to farmers by Sara Brody

Longmont nonprofit is hoping to launch a program to teach industrial farmers alternative techniques that would make conventional farms more sustainable and have less impact on natural resources. “Grow Your Own Meal could be a major educational resource to all local farmers ready to transform their food production sustainably,” says Marion Murphy, founder of Grow Your Own Meal, Inc. The nonprofit promotes and teaches sustainable food production solutions by focusing on renewable energy, decreasing water use, appropriate use of plant science and technology that will allow for socio-economic benefits to industrial farmers. The group’s first project is to launch a facility that will house an aquaponics operation — but organizers need more funding to get out of the planning stages. Aquaponic growing operations are self-contained, self-maintaining systems that combine aquaculture (the farming of fish) with hydroponics (the soil-less growing of plants). The fish waste products provide nutrients to the plants that then filter the water, which is returned to where the fish live. “This solution is 100 percent organic, consumes no energy to transport, and produces two different types of food,” says Murphy. For three years, she has been fighting the ecological downfalls of industrial farming by providing an equally profitable alternative. She hopes to re-empower the local community economically by trying to build the aquaponics-based food production facility in Longmont, she says.

“With the support and a donation from the city, the project has acquired a property location at the city’s wastewater treatment plant,” Murphy says. “The facility will help fulfill the nonprofit’s mission.” The nonprofit has also assembled the staff needed to make the facility a reality. However, Grow Your Own Meal still lacks the financial resources to move forward with the project. “Without the proper funding, the project will stay at a stand-still,” Murphy says. The project has been preceded by other successful aquaponics systems in Boulder County. “Aquaponics is a system that must be done right,” says Sylvia Bernstein, founder of AquaBundance, a provider of aquaponics equipment and educational forums. “In order to be successful in aquaponics, you must have the guidance necessary. Without the proper education, industrial farmers could easily fail in this new sustainable way of producing food.” Bernstein has a small-but-productive system in the backyard of her Boulder home. Not only are her aquaponic gardens producing organic produce, but they are also producing tilapia. “The only thing I really do to keep the system going is feeding the fish every day,” Bernstein says. But it’s a system that requires a balance of knowing how to get started and actually getting to work. On the Grow Your Own Meal project, Bernstein says, “Farming is not something that can just be talked about; it has to done. Aquaponics is not an easy system to master.You need the guidance to do it right.” For more information, visit www. growyourownmeal.org. Respond: info@boulderganic.com

Boulder Weekly Boulderganic Fall ’11

September 22, 2011 19

Sucking the grid dry The energy vampires in your home by Jessie Lucier

ost energy-conscious Coloradans are aware of the big energy suckers in their homes: electric dryers and stoves, refrigerators and furnace fans. But even many of the energy-attuned may be naïve to the numerous products in their homes that are constantly pulling power from the grid, even when they appear to be off.Your microwave, although sitting idle, is drawing power, albeit minimal, right now. And, your VCR or TiVo, programmed to record your favorite show later today, is drawing a lot more. “Few people realize how much energy their devices are using when they are ‘off’,” says Brad Queen, the energy division director for the Center for Resource Conservation. “One watt of continuous power adds up to 8.76 kilowatt hours per year. If every one of the 120,000 homes in Boulder County saved just one watt of energy, we’d reduce the county’s annual energy use by over a million kilowatts — that’s roughly 427 tons of coal.” The Conscious Consumer Blog reports that the average American residence houses about 40 products that are constantly eating electricity, whether in active use or not. The EPA estimates those perpetually sucking electronics total about $10 billion in annual U.S. energy costs. “The average home loses about 10 percent of its energy to ‘vampire’ electronics and appliances — products that suck energy from the grid even when they appear to be off,” says Kristen Hartel, the city of Boulder’s residential sustainability specialist. “These devices are not off, but in either passive or active standby mode.” The electronics to really watch out for include plasma TVs, gaming consoles and devices that are programmed to record like VCRs and

20 September 22, 2011

DVD players, because these devices are constantly in active standby mode, consistently using power, according to Hartel. Luckily, there are some simple actions that the energy-conscious can take to understand and reduce the amount of energy that their home appliances and electronics consume. First, Hartel suggests checking out a power meter from the public library. Plug the power meter into an outlet and then plug an appliance into the power meter. The information can then be uploaded to a computer to give you an idea of what electronic devices are consuming the most energy. “Power meters are cool because they give you a real, tangible sense of how much energy something like a phone charger uses,” Hartel says. She also suggests walking around your home and touching all the appliances you have plugged in to check temperature. If your phone charger, for example, is warm, it is an indication that it’s using electricity. Finally, she recommends investing in power and smart strips. Plugging the devices that require energy in their standby modes into power strips allows you to switch off the power strip rather than unplugging all the appliances you’re not actively using. Smart strips are power strips that have a single controlling socket. When the device that is plugged into that socket is turned off, power is shut down for all other sockets in the strip. Choosing more energy-efficient devices, replacing computers less often and completely powering them down when not in use will also cut energy use. “The good news,” Queen says, “is reducing vampire energy is one of the easiest and least costly things you can do to reduce your energy consumption and carbon emissions.” Respond: info@boulderganic.com

Boulderganic Fall ’11 Boulder Weekly

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‘Let’s Talk Local’ at Boulderganic After-Hours

Event features City Council candidates

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oulder Weekly will celebrate the release of the fall edition of Boulderganic at 5:30 p.m. on Thursday, Sept. 22, at The Dairy Center for the Arts. All Boulder City Council candidates have been invited to attend this meet-and-greet event. Catering will be provided by an all-local collection of vendors, including Greens Point Catering, Third Street Chai, 303 Vodka and Pie in the Sky Bakery. Greens Point, which sources local, seasonal foods fresh from the farm, will provide appetizers. Organic wine from Liquor Mart will be available, as will teas from Third Street Chai and a signature cocktail by 303 Vodka. Pie in the Sky Bakery will serve gluten-free sweets from their line, which includes cakes, pies and cheesecakes in classic, strawberry, blueberry, chocolate mousse and pumpkin flavors. The Boulder City Council candidates are Mark Gelband, Fenno

Hoffman, Jonathan Hondorf, Kevin Hotaling, Tom Johnston, Suzanne Jones, George Karakehian, Dan King, Lisa Morzel, Tim Plass, Ken Wilson and Daniel Ziskin. Karakehian, Morzel and Wilson are incumbents running for re-election. The top five vote-getters will gain seats on the council. Boulderganic After-Hours will give Boulder residents an opportunity to mingle with and ask questions of the council candidates in a fun and informal setting before casting a ballot in November. Boulder Weekly’s coverage of the election will include the upcoming Vote Guide, which will be released on Oct. 6. Boulder City Council candidates have been asked to address questions on a range of issues, including open space, business development, environmental concerns, transportation, taxes, economic planning and the proposed municipal utility. The Vote Guide will also cover other county races and the initiatives appearing on the ballot. Boulderganic is published three times a year, in the spring, summer and fall.

Boulder Weekly Boulderganic Fall ’11

In Boulder County, of the $947 million we spend on food each year, less than two percent is actually grown or produced within the county. We’re inviting everyone—individuals, families, businesses, schools, restaurants, and institutions— to devote up to 10 percent of their food budget to local food, to food that is raised, processed, cooked, distributed and sold by people in your community…people that you know and trust.

To take the Pledge, and find out how it works, visit

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For more information, 303-494-1521 or www.TransitionColorado.org.

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Boulderganic Fall ’11 Boulder Weekly

Photo courtesy of Kelly Simmons

rowing a garden through the practice of permaculture is like attending yoga class while trying to live a yogic lifestyle — it is a small but important piece of a much bigger practice. Permaculture design systems utilize ecology and ethics for a permanently sustainable life. By mimicking natural ecosystems that work together without overconsumption and manipulation, homes and communities can thrive by living with the land, not off it. A home designed by permaculture meets the needs of a family by harvesting food; maintaining soil fertility; catching and distributing rainwater; implementing animals such as bees, fish, and poultry; and applying other design techniques that use all aspects of energy without creating significant waste. Every element should fulfill multiple functions by design. “There is no monoculture in nature,” says certified permaculture designer and teacher Kelly Simmons, “only ecological systems.” Imagine an untouched ecosystem such as a forest. Soil, water, plants, animals, insects and the sun’s energy are all part of a web maintaining life in cooperation. Permaculture’s design foundation starts here, while also implementing distinct principles and ethics. Bill Mollison, co-founder of the permaculture movement, outlined the three principles — fair share, people care and earth care — in his 1981 Permaculture Design Course guidelines. “Fair Share” is the practice of taking only what is required, while sharing the excess, and realizing the limits of consumption. Growing fears of global food crises in a post-peak oil world is concern enough to be knowledgeable on alternative means to grow food. “Permaculture is not about food for production but responsibility for yourself in food raising, providing for your needs, and not taking more than that,” says Simmons, who also manages the Sustainable Practices Program at CU-Boulder. “We must meet our needs — and thrive — but in a way that is regenerative and sustainable

Kelly Simmons and her backyard garden

Ecosystematic Permaculture is planning for permanent living by Amy Moore-Shipley that shares with the rest of nature.” “People Care” maintains that people must work together to effect change and in doing so the surrounding environment will succeed. “A goal of permaculture is finding solutions to problems. For example, how do we design an urban setting to be sustainable?” Simmons says. Care of people is about uniting communities to work together in solving shared problems. “Earth Care,” or soil care, strives to maintain a healthy soil — permanently — that can support the life it holds. Soil nutrients vital to plant growth such as nitrogen and potassium, trace minerals, microorganisms and organic matter are often depleted through today’s fossil-fueled agriculture and land use. Soil depletion can lead to famine and mineral deficiencies in humans that artificial fertilizers cannot replace. Permaculture farming employs a technique of sheet mulching, a method that saves soil fertility and allows soils to flourish through a bio-mimicry process. “It’s one of my favorite techniques I’ve learned at Willow Way so far,” says Charlie Angelo, an intern with Willow Way Permaculture Farm and Herbal CSA in Niwot. “It’s easy for everyone to implement this approach to gardening at home.”

Boulder Weekly Boulderganic Fall ’11

Traditional garden bed preparation includes tilling the grass bed, which disrupts present microorganisms. In sheet mulching, cardboard is placed on the grass, which blocks sunlight and begins the decomposition process that adds nutrients to the soil. More nutrient-rich soil is added in layers and, eventually, the bed resembles forest soil and is ready to grow seed. Other soil-enriching practices include planting fungi around crops that cause increased absorption of inorganic compounds, or utilizing nitrogen-fixing legumes around plants. Another water- and soil-saving technique is a drip irrigation system. The system allows rainwater to be stored legally while watering plants more efficiently. “It’s illegal to catch and store rainwater unless it is connected to a drip system,” says Katy Liebhold, a Willow Way intern. In a drip system, tubes with small holes are buried into the soil and deliver the caught rainwater. This process allows for precise watering directly to the roots while greatly reducing the amount of watering required, compared to traditional methods. “Working with what you have is another aspect of design,” says Angelo. At his home he used “a giant pile of sandstone” that eventually helped create a type of greenhouse built into

the earth. “I dug out a south-facing piece of land into the hillside, then lined it with the sandstone,” Angelo says. After additional minimal construction, the pocket of earth holding extra heat via the sandstone and south-facing alignment was used to grow tomatoes and peppers in the colder months. Although there is no formalized or credentialed body that oversees the permaculture design certification process, it is shared belief among those practicing permaculture that curriculum at places teaching permaculture like Willow Way must meet certain criteria created and distributed by founders David Holgren and Mollison, along with 72 hours of instruction. Those who are certified often teach or continue to design at their homes and in the community. Regardless of certification intent, Angelo believes this knowledge is vital and “everyone should know it.” Not all workshops are the full certification. Some may just be a day of instruction. Even without obtaining the certificate, it is still important to “learn piece by piece,” says Angelo. “It is worth it to pay, to network with other people doing the same work, and to get the hands-on experience in the course with experienced instructors,” Angelo says. Willow Way has several workshops through the fall, including a presentation of permaculture group design projects by students at Willow Way on Oct. 2. CU-Boulder’s Sustainable Practices Program will also offer a one-day seminar on permaculture regenerative design in December. Although Willow Way interns Liebhold and Angelo are new to permaculture, they are sure of its practice. Angelo hopes to teach children these principles and ignite passion someday. “They may have a better idea that we need to change the way we are living,” Angelo says. Liebhold says her experiences with Willow Way graduates are that “once you start [practicing], you can’t go back.” Respond: info@boulderganic.com September 22, 2011 23

Photo courtesy of Teatulia

Drink to better business practices

Teatulia contributing to sustainable growth of tea industry by Elizabeth Miller

mong all the roles tea has inherited — the ceremonies, practices and political connotations — its ability to reshape communities in developing countries could emerge as a role for its future. Small tea plantations are battling back against the pressures of a market dominated by a few international corporations to provide organic teas that provide tea drinkers both a pleasant beverage and peace of mind in how their tea was grown and how its garden affected its local community. Kazi Anis Ahmed created the Kazi & Kazi Tea Estate, a 100 percent organic tea estate, in a poverty-stricken area of northern Bangladesh to give back to the community by creating thousands of jobs and aiding in the environmental reclamation of an area previously mined for gravel to make concrete. “Over five, six years, through composting and all of these really amazing nature farming methods, they turned a barren wasteland into this lush forest, lush tea garden,” says Linda Appel Lipsius. Native species are returning, and water bodies that were drying up are refilling. Lipsius partnered with Ahmed to run the Denver-based Teatulia, the organic tea company that sells Kazi & Kazi teas. The company has worked to transform not just the landscape, but the community.The estate runs programs 24 September 22, 2011

that include interest-free microloans in the form of cattle; distributing herbal and medicinal plants, health and recreation equipment, and latrines; and running an adult literacy program. “The real cornerstone of the social side is the cattle-lending program,” says Lipsius. Supporting a 1,200-acre organic tea garden requires a lot of natural fertilizer, so Kazi & Kazi started a micro-loan program that loans cows to women in the community to tend. The women repay the loans with manure and, over time, own the cows outright — while the garden gets all the fertilizer it needs. “There are women who are on their fourth and fifth cow now,” Lipsius says. “There are women who are sending their children to university.They’re able to buy little solar panels to put on their roof so they can be productive during the evening hours. It’s been really kind of incredible.” Lipsius has visited the garden and seen the programs in action. “We’re asking the ladies how the literacy program has affected them, and they said just simple things, first of all they can sign their name, they can count to 10.We said, ‘OK, what does that mean to you?’ and they said they won’t be cheated at the market anymore. “Just being able to see that and hear that was just so cool,” she says. “We met ladies in the cattle-lending program … and the pride — there was just such pride.”

An employee picks tea leaves on the Kazi & Kazi Tea Estate.

This success comes out of a dark history for teas. The industry has a rough past — one that has included child labor, poor working conditions, low wages and discrimination against women. The market is dominated by a few international corporations that benefit from low market prices, but those low prices and increasing production costs have left workers underpaid, according to Solidaridad Network, an international organization that works to build sustainable supply chains and improve working conditions for the poor in developing nations around the world. Tea growing is often heavily pesticide- and fertilizer-reliant, and processing requires lots of firewood, leading to degradation of forests and erosion, according to Solidaridad. Larger tea corporations have developed plans for more sustainable production, but they are focused on carbon footprints and packaging waste. They’ve been unable to successfully resolve the problems addressing the tea industry, according to Solidaridad. Jeffrey Dorchaide, co-founder of the wholesale distributor Five Mountains Heirloom Organic Teas, looks for tea gardens that grow local cultivars.

“I tend to stick to teas that were brought naturally to those areas, not ‘colony teas.’ … They tend to be more labor-intensive and not so PC,” he says. Local gardens also tend to pay more attention to their local communities, he says. Indigenous tribes, which are often marginalized, are instead turned to as a source of wisdom. “There really is a lot of room and a lot of opportunity to empower and just provide general services — education, hygiene — to the community,” Lipsius says. “There are definitely huge opportunities to do things, and do things better.” Teatulia teas are sold at the Boulder Alfalfa’s,Whole Foods on Baseline, Lucky’s Market and Black Cat. Lipsius says letting retailers and consumers know the whole story of where Teatulia comes from has boosted sales. “People want to know more and be in touch with origin and what is happening with accountability and purity, as well as supply chain, and our supply chain is very short,” Lipsius says. “It is the whole picture, and the fact you can have confidence that at origin, things are really being done differently.” Respond: info@boulderganic.com

Boulderganic Fall ’11 Boulder Weekly

Susan France

Credit cards won’t buy you a free lunch Some local business owners take only cash by David Accomazzo

.O.B.S. Diner on Main Street in Louisville is a colorful, ’50s-style diner, complete with red vinyl stools with black-and-white checkered shoulders and a menu heavy on the milkshakes and cheeseburgers. Golden oldies stream out of the speakers, and paintings of a “Route 66” sign and a drive-in theater adorn the walls. But the decor is not the only thing that’s old-school about B.O.B.S. The diner doesn’t take credit cards, and the reason is simple: To offer credit cards as a payment option to customers costs merchants money, and it’s a price owner Bob Thiele would rather not pass onto his customers. “The bottom line for me is that I would

need to raise my prices 15 percent or more to cover the extra cost,” Thiele says. “To cover the cost of the fees — you’re talking a small place like mine, you’re talking $2,500 a month in credit card fees — the only way you’d make that back is to increase my prices.” Credit card companies charge numerous fees, Thiele says. There’s a flat transaction fee for each purchase, and, depending on the business, the credit companies might also take a small percentage of each sale as well. They also charge several hundred dollars for the machine used to scan the cards, and mer-

Bob Thiele, owner of B.O.B.’s Diner

chants have to pay extra for the keypad that allows customers to use their debit cards. It’s a cost that Paul Nashak, managing partner see CASH Page 28

Local, healthy snacks to soothe a sweet tooth by Blair Madole

reat news for those with a sweet tooth:There are snacks and candies from local companies that won’t ruin your goals of eating natural, gluten-free or vegan. Here are a few of the stars in the local, healthy sweets department. JJ’s Sweets One night, recently unemployed JJ Rademaekers dreamt of a Wonka-like character puttering around his candy lab. In the dream, Rademaekers noticed a ginseng-flavored Jolly Rancher. Upon awakening, he knew he had a great idea — creating old favorites, like caramels and hard candies, with healthy and natural ingredients. After a few years of experimenting and creating, JJ’s Sweets now offers a variety of candies, all of which are gluten-free and vegan.The selection includes Cocomels (caramels made with

coconut milk and natural and organic ingredients) and a unique set of hard candies with flavors like Lemon Gingko “Study Buddy” and Tangerine Dream with Lavender. Rademaekers’ favorite? The chocolate-covered Cocomels, particularly the Fleur de Sel (sea salt) and Espresso flavors. His creations, he says,“are a marriage between art and science. … I totally geeked out on making candy.” For more information, visit the website at www.jjssweets.com, or stop by their stand at the Farmers’ Market. Outrageous Baking Pamela Fletcher wanted to create a product that was beyond good … something outrageous. Five and a half years later, Fletcher says she feels she has accomplished that goal with Outrageous Baking. Fletcher began creating glutenfree, dairy-free baked goods when her

Boulder Weekly Boulderganic Fall ’11

daughter developed eczema. Fletcher wanted to avoid treating the condition with medicine and sought a healthier way to address the issue.After her first success with a family recipe for coffee cake altered to be gluten-free, Fletcher began expanding her testing ground. “I realized there was a need for this,” Fletcher says.“The company grew from need, but now we’re creating great products.” Products include chocolate zucchini bread and pumpkin bread (Fletcher’s daughter’s favorite), all of which are gluten- and dairy-free. For more information, visit www. outrageousbaking.com. Olomomo Nut Co. Olomomo Nut Co., founded by Justin Perkins, has a goal of creating a happy and healthy snacking experience for its customers.All of Olomomo’s nuts are gluten-free, natural and vegan.

The first batch of Olomomo nuts was created in Perkins’ backyard with a nut roaster he purchased online.Two years later, Olomomo has become a favorite stop for nut lovers at the Farmers’ Market and can be found in coffee shops throughout Colorado. Olomomo offers spiced almonds in four flavors: Chai Bliss, Mango Chipotle, Cinnamon Cayenne and Cherry Vanilla. The Mango Chipotle Almonds, featured on the Cooking Channel, are Perkins’ favorite.According to Perkins, they produce an explosion on the palate — first fruit-forward, then tart, then sweet, then a light burn in the back of the mouth. In the future, Perkins says he hopes to revisit the possibility of sustainable packaging and 100 percent organic nuts, and plans to introduce new flavors. For more information, visit www. olomomo.com Respond: info@boulderganic.com September 22, 2011 25

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26 September 22, 2011

Boulderganic Fall ’11 Boulder Weekly

arketers know that a few references to greenness and the environment improve just about any product’s sales. But knowing which companies are actually socially responsible isn’t easy.What if you could read the label on the company you’re buying from as easily as the contents of the products you purchase? Enter apps like Better World Shopper and GoodGuide, which aim to lend a hand when consumers wonder if they’re comparing apples to apples, or apples to hand grenades that just happen to be shiny and red. Better World Shopper, a tool for giving consumers simple answers about the social and environmental impacts of their purchases, displays a list of companies in a particular industry and letter grades from A+ to F. “I wanted to create a project that would synthesize everything we know in one place,” says Ellis Jones, creator of Better World Shopper. “It would really tell you who the good guys and the bad guys are.” GoodGuide is a more recent startup by University of California Berkeley environmental science professor Dara O’Rourke.The two are a study in contrasts. Better World Shopper is just Jones and his spare time; GoodGuide has a large staff backed by venture capital. Jones, who received his Ph.D. from the University of Colorado, draws on publicly available scores from groups like the EPA, Business Ethics magazine and the Human Rights Campaign. GoodGuide employs experts in biology, chemistry, environmental science, sociology and engineering. Better World Shopper casts a wider but less fine net. It grades companies — not specific products — in more than 70 categories, from frozen dinners to airlines. GoodGuide vets particular products in everyday areas like baby formula and breakfast cereal. Better World Shopper takes into account five factors: human rights, the environment, animal protection, community involvement and social justice.

Making the grade Apps aim to inform conscious consumers by Steve Weishampel GoodGuide gives 0-10 scores in health, environment and society, as well as an overall average. It also offers consumers filters like pollution, animal welfare, labor rights and climate change to narrow products down. Both systems can help consumers send a message to corporations. “The world of corporations is a world of power, and yet this power is not really held accountable,” Jones says. “We have the ability to hold that world accountable because they operate based on consumer dollars.” “Consumers are a point of leverage over brands and retailers,” O’Rourke says. “We as consumers have not exercised our potential power in the marketplace.” The two are both available in several forms — Better World Shopper online, as an iPhone app and in print; GoodGuide online, as an app and in a browser toolbar. GoodGuide’s app lists products and scores, like Better World Shopper, and also allows users to scan bar codes to view scores. The GoodGuide toolbar works on Amazon.com and will expand soon to five other sites. On a product page, it displays GoodGuide’s rating and better-rated comparable products. O’Rourke says the next step is to place ratings on store shelves, product packages and websites. Jones envisions

Boulder Weekly Boulderganic Fall ’11

the same for Better World Shopper. The two groups started relatively recently. Jones says he filled a gap left in 2000 when the Council on Economic Priorities folded and stopped publishing its Shopping for a Better World. In 2007, he was joined in the field by GoodGuide. Jones highlights GoodGuide’s categorization of particular products rather than companies. “I think to get started on responsibility you have to send messages to companies as a whole,” Jones says. “Otherwise they’re not going to get the message.” In GoodGuide’s system, he says, a particular Kraft-produced cracker might get a high grade, while Kraft as a whole rates as the second-worst corporation he ranks. O’Rourke says GoodGuide wants to help consumers make the best choices for them. “The goal is providing information to consumers and letting them choose products that better match their values,” he says. But they do agree on at least one thing: Boulder’s reputation as a green city is well earned. “The market for green and socially responsible products is strong,” he says. “And Boulder is the heart of that movement.”

“Boulder-based companies do really well in the rankings,” Jones says, crediting Boulder’s pro-environment ethic and tendency to reject international corporations. “Smaller companies tend to do better than larger,” he says. That holds true for companies headquartered in Boulder: Celestial Seasonings tea company rates as a B+, and Whole Foods, which has a regional office in the city, earns an A. On GoodGuide’s scale, Celestial Seasonings’ parent company, Hain Celestial, draws a perfectly average 5.0. Its products average a 5.7, generally losing points in openness and transparency and gaining points for environmental impact and product safety. Better World Shopper gives high marks to many Colorado companies. Fort Collins’ New Belgium brewery, which earns an A+, leads Jones’ beer category and is 13th best overall. Denver’s Chipotle boasts an A. Colorado’s lowest-rated corporations include King Soopers/City Market, at a D+, and Quiznos and Qdoba, which both earn C- grades. Jones says there are signs of hope that corporations can shift from destructive to sustainable. “What’s inspiring to me is to see that really large companies can actually do good,” he says. “It’s rare to find really large companies that do good.” O’Rourke, meanwhile, sees a few positives in particular areas — transparency and green products — but not much general progress. “Transparency is a starting point,” O’Rourke says. “The world is getting more transparent.There’s progress. “But the global environmental problems and health problems continue to get worse,” he adds. “The obesity epidemic, type 2 diabetes epidemic, climate change, pollution, conditions of work — not a lot of progress in the big, big problems we’re trying to take on.There’s a lot of work to be done.” For more information, see www. betterworldshopper.com and www. goodguide.com. Respond: info@boulderganic.com September 22, 2011 27

Vote to make

BouldEr

CASH from Page 25

Colorado’s 30th municipal utility

Susan France

Barbara

Community Control and Less Coal

Pays for the required engineering, legal, and financial work to finalize plans for the utility.

Authorizes forming a municipal electric utility, but only if financial, reliability, and environmental safeguards are met. We CAN do this!

Fort Collins, Colorado Springs, Longmont, Lyons, and 25 other Colorado communities already have municipal (“muni”) electric utilities. Boulder has a national reputation for environmental leadership and some of the world’s leading experts in energy. We can and should move our electric system into the 21st century. “Boulder, join the muni club! Fort Collins has cheaper power, utility lines underground, extremely high reliability, and lots of clean tech innovation.” – Jim Welch, CEO and founder, Bella Energy; former board member Fort Collins muni

We SHould do this!

We want to leave a sustainable legacy for our children. Xcel is financially committed to at least 50 more years of coal. A municipal utility sets us on the path to cut carbon emissions by 50%, increase renewable energy to 40%, maintain competitive rates and reliability, and responsibly serve the needs of future generations. “Boulder does great things when we come together as a community. That’s how we got open space, bike paths, and recycling… we’re a ‘can do’ community. We should take control of our electric utility for a clean energy future.” – Allyn Feinberg, Board President, Eco-Cycle, former City Council member

We have nothing to lose and EVErYTHING To GAIN!

The utility will only be formed if costs of acquisition and start-up are low enough so that rates at startup do not exceed Xcel’s. As with other munis, experienced professionals will run it, with oversight from a utility board made up of resident and business representatives. In addition to a lower carbon footprint, we will gain economic development through local generation, efficiency programs, and clean energy entrepreneurial opportunities. And the cost to determine whether to move forward is only about $1/month for the average residential customer. “Approving 2B and 2C will allow us to determine the real costs, and ensure that if we go forward with a ‘muni’, it will be a sound decision both fiscally and environmentally.”

YES 2B & 2C

– Susan Osborne, Boulder Mayor

The Choice is Clear — Boulder Light and Power

VOTE YES ON 2B and 2C

ENDORSED BY: Current City Council: Matt Appelbaum, KC Becker, Macon Cowles, Crystal Gray, Lisa Morzel, Susan Osborne (mayor); Former City Council: Robin Bohannan, Cindy Carlisle, Dan Corson, Gwen Dooley, Allyn Feinberg, Dick Harris, Spense Havlick (Deputy Mayor), Linda Jourgenson (Mayor), Sally Martin, Shaun McGrath (Mayor), Don Mock (Deputy Mayor), Françoise Poinsatte, Steve Pomerance, Bev Sears; Boulder County Government: Stan Garnett (District Attorney), Cindy Domenico (County Commissioner), Ben Pearlman (County Commisioner), Will Toor (County Commissioner); Colorado State Government: Deb Gardner (State House), Dickey Lee Hullinghorst (State House), Tom Plant (former State House, GEO), Dorothy Rupert (former State House/Senate), Ron Tupa (former State House/Senate); Organizations: 21 Wheels, Boulder County Democratic Party, Communities Engaged in Global justice, CoSEIA – Colorado Solar Energy Industries Association, Eco-Cycle, Earth Guardians, Everybody Eats!, New Era Colorado, PLAN-Boulder County, Positive Energy, Rocky Mountain Peace and Justice Center, Sierra Club, Unity of Boulder, Votelink.com; Businesses: Alta Shot Photography LLC, Backyard Agrarian, Black Cat Farm Table Bistro, Barry Erdman + Associates, Inc., Beyond Rock, Boulder Book Store, The Boulder Outlook Hotel, The Catalyst Institute, Charley Cropley N.D., Inc., Coco’s Chocolates, Cool Energy, Congruity Technologies, Dale Rose Pottery, Diana Caile, Realtor Keller Williams Realty, EcoBuild Inc., eGo CarShare, ElephantJournal.com, Equinox Consultancy LLC, Evolutions Massage, Farmer John’s, Five Star Consultants, GAIA Video Productions, Good Sense Health, Green Bein’ Gardens, Hanuman Chai, Hartman Ely Investments LLC, HL Holland Designs Inc, HumaNature Architecture, LLC, Jim Morris Environmental T-Shirts, Kallgren Dermatology Clinic, Language of Fish Collective Arts, Living Dialogues LLC, McKenzie Landscape, Lumos Solar, Management Services, Namasté Solar, Paul’s Lawn Service, PEC (Progressive Energy Concepts), Perry Shoe Shop, Point High Investments, ThaiMassageMelissa, Tom Cannon Art, VMWP/Van Meter Williams Pollack, Whole Systems Consulting, Wild By Design; Citizens: Over 450 of your neighbors, visit www.RenewablesYES.org to see their names.

Paid for by Citizens for Boulder’s Clean Energy Future (CBCEF), Bill Briggs – Treasurer. A copy of our report is filed with the City Clerk, Boulder CO. www.RenewablesYES.org 28 September 22, 2011

of the cash-only SouthButterworth, owner of ern Sun, would rather The Book not face. Cellar in Louisville “[Not taking credit cards] allows businesses like ourselves to keep prices cheaper,” Nashak says. “What most restaurants do is roll that 2 to 4 percent charge right into their menus.” Nashak and his partners at the Southern Sun/Mountain Sun/ Vine Street Pub restaurants try to make up for the potential inconvenience of a cash-only policy by offering an ATM with a $1 charge. For those who don’t want to use the ATM and don’t have any cash, they give them a “karma envelope” and ask them to pay the bill via mail. “I think in this day and age, it’s a breath of fresh air to see a business operating from a position of trust,” Nashak says. “You’re going to have a small percentage [of people not returning the karma envelopes], but it’s always less than what we would be paying if we were taking credit [cards] and were paying that 2 to 4 percent.” Another issue for merchants is the growing proliferation of rewards credit cards. It turns out the credit companies charge merchants an additional fee for those, on top of what they charge for regular credit cards. So credit card users end up paying, in the form of increased prices, for the “rewards” they receive. But the real losers are those who pay in cash only. A 2010 report by the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston found that cash, check and debit card users subsidize credit card users to the tune of $150 a year, thanks to increased prices due to swiping fees. Since low-income consumers make up the largest proportion of those using cash, and high-income households are the ones using the bulk of the rewards cards, the report says, consumers unwillingly participate in a transfer of wealth from the

poor to the rich when they use cash for purchases. Of course, consumers can avoid this transfer by patronizing cash-only businesses, but that’s easier said than done. So what’s a merchant to do? Credit cards are more common than ever. And merchants could not charge a minimum price for credit card use without violating their card agreement and facing thousands of dollars in fines — until recent credit card reforms allowed the practice. “I try to educate my customers on where their money’s going,” says Barbara Butterworth, owner of The Book Cellar in Louisville. “One of the things that we ask for when they are special ordering the books is to use cash because of the charges.” Thiele’s store is located within walking distance of an Elevations Credit Union and a Chase ATM, so it’s relatively easy for his customers to get free cash. But for the ones who use different banks, Thiele will cover the ATM fee by giving away a soda or an order of fries. “We try to make amends that way with people,” Thiele says. “I probably lose out-of-town business, but that’s not who I’m going after. I go after the local people who are here, and they know that.” Respond: info@boulderganic.com

Boulderganic Fall ’11 Boulder Weekly

Bamboo for boobies

Local company demonstrates that bamboo can cover more than floors By Jessie Lucier

any Rocky Mountain moms will be happy to learn that there is a locally sourced, reusable and supersoft option for a nursing necessity: the breast pad. Bamboobies, on the nursing market since 2010, are a bamboo-derived breast pad that is washable, cost effective, made in Denver, and hailed by nursing moms as the “cashmere of nursing pads.” These super-soft pads contour to the breast, allow for no visible lines and are a socially and ecologically sound alternative to a largely disposable item. They are also said to outabsorb their competitors. Owner and mother of three Kerry Gilmartin began making Bamboobies after the birth of her second child when leaky, scratchy, cotton breast pads were causing her discomfort and embarrassment. Searching for another option, she came across a soft, ultra absorbent, bamboo-derived fabric used for cloth diapers and thought that it would make a better alternative to the cotton pads she was using.The construction of the perfect pad took her about six months of trial and error, but in February 2010 Bamboobies were finally unveiled to Boulder moms. So far the nursing pads have received rave reviews for their environmentally sound design and the comfort they provide. “Nursing moms say it is really soft and absorbent,” says Stephanie Moore, a registered nurse and board-certified lactation consultant who owns Boulder-based Becoming Mothers, where Bamboobies are sold. Becoming Mothers is the kind of small store where if moms weren’t happy with a product, they’d bring it back, Moore says. That’s not the case with Bamboobies, she says, and she sells tons of them.

“People really love that it’s local,” says Moore. “And from a lactation perspective, the softness of the fabric is very good for new breastfeeding mothers.” While the soft and absorbent properties of the pad are the primary lure for customers, the eco- and socially conscious mom might also purchase the pad instead of another with a similar design because of how and where they are made. Bamboobies are hand-sewn in Colorado, and the company employs about seven women to oversee the construction of the pads and the business operations. “We’re paying for real people to make a real, living wage and to have insurance, which is important,” says Gilmartin. All Bamboobies pads are made from certified organic fabrics and water-based dyes and are free of toxic chemicals. Bamboobies are also competitively priced, and may even save new moms some money. A standard package of Bamboobies, which includes three sets of regular pads for day use and a set of overnight pads, cost just under $30. A six-pack of just the day pads is also available for $10 more. Comparatively, a nursing woman using the leading disposable pad for nine months can expect to pay roughly $360. Other reusable pads, which Moore of Becoming Mothers explains also sport some great designs but are not as ecofriendly nor as soft, retail for as low as $10 and can cost as much as or more than Bamboobies. “If a woman is looking to save money and is also looking for washable pads that are good for the environment, are not visible through clothing and do not leak, she should try Bamboobies,” says Gilmartin. “These pads are special.” Respond: info@boulderganic.com

Boulder Weekly Boulderganic Fall ’11

September 22, 2011 29

Tate Zandstra

Vic Verdier practices a MovNat balance drill.

Wisdom from the Stone Age

How eating and exercising like a cave man could lead to a healthier future By Tate Zandstra

e modern humans are the weak ones. In an age before television, cars, refrigeration, an age even before farms, our ancestors “were stronger than the strongest athletes,” says Erwan Le Corre, founder of MovNat. “They were fast and fierce, but we have lost much of their ability.” It need not be so, he says. We 30 September 22, 2011

are adapted to be wild, but force ourselves into social molds. “Many people today have become zoo humans,” Le Corre says, “living in boxes.” A fitness system that eschews most standard fitness theories, MovNat is designed around the idea that as a species, we evolved over millions of years to function seamlessly in any environment we found ourselves in. Early humans became

strong not by lifting dumbbells or getting on an elliptical machine, according to Le Corre, but by living in nature, which is damned hard work. So, no prolonged stretching, no equal weights or sets of repetitions. In MovNat you must perform an activity until you are either finished or exhausted. It is designed to be practical, Le Corre says, because “very rarely will anyone ever say, ‘Quick, yoga for your life!’”

MovNat, Le Corre’s training system, is one aspect of a growing, loosely affiliated diet, fitness and lifestyle movement labeled Paleo. The name is a shorthand reference to the Paleolithic era, the stone age, a time when hominid species lived in caves. The Paleo movement, however, is no Luddite cult, but an all-encompassing lifestyle that examines how we live, comparing our modern lives to the theories of how and why we evolved

Boulderganic Fall ’11 Boulder Weekly

Tate Zandstra

Vic Verdier and Erwan Le Corre spar on the beach near the MovNat training grounds in Thailand.

to get a better sense of how to cure the diseases of affluence. Accordingly, on the first day of the $3,000, week-long course, Vic Verdier, a former French commando and MovNat instructor, took his students’ shoes. MovNat trainees would henceforth spend their days throwing rocks, climbing trees and running. Going home each day, the small group of assorted Europeans, Americans and Australians, were faced with a choice: Walk barefoot through the jungle darkness, or make an exhausting swim through dark water filled with hazards like sharp coral and sea urchins, finally climbing a small cliff out of the sea. It was a lesson in the constant endurance event which is life in the natural world. Our ancestors, according to Le Corre, were strong, fast and fierce not because they trained to be, but because they had to be. Physical training aside, the other major component of MovNat is a diet phenomenon called variously the Paleo Diet, or Paleo Solution. In a superficial sense the diet is reminiscent of other low-carb fads: Cut out refined foods like starches and sugar, add vegetables and meat. The twist to the Paleo is that the diet is based

on the concept that hunter-gatherers were well prepared by their long march across the world to live on wild foods, including some meat, a lot of roots and vegetables, occasionally some fruit. The diet completely cuts glutinous grains, which are thought never to have been a staple of our ancestral diet. The Paleo Diet can be seen to be a spin-off from other so-called “caveman diets” in that it shares the ancestral foods philosophy, but in a much deeper sense, the Paleo movement is a response to overwhelming commercial food conglomerates. The lifting of weighted objects, running barefoot and climbing have all been done before. Getting off the sugar, grain and dairy food addictions to lose weight and fight disease are also nothing new. What is new, perhaps, is the examination of the very structure of our society, asking the question, why have we become so unhealthy? “Whenever you go to a farmers’ market, you’re engaging in a Paleotype activity,” says Glen Cordoza, a professional athlete turned full-time author who has been at the heart of the newly emerging Paleo movement. On some primal level, he says,

Boulder Weekly Boulderganic Fall ’11

going to a farmers’ market exhibits traces of hunter-gatherer activity, which alone doesn’t make it Paleo, because the Paleo lifestyle has become something more than a diet; it has become an ideal. “It’s eating something grown locally, organic and not sprayed with poisons,” Cordoza says. “Something fresh, rather than something that came from who knows where and it’s three weeks old, frozen and thawed by the time you eat it.” Cordoza’s guru, strength coach and dietitian Robb Wolf, released The Paleo Solution: The Original Human Diet in 2009 under Victory Belt, a publisher formerly known mainly for producing martial arts manuals. Fueled by Wolf’s ardent blog followers, The Paleo Solution quickly made The New York Times bestseller list and got a top rating on Amazon.com. The book chronicles Wolf’s own nutritive ordeals as he swings from a standard diet to veganism to raw food, suffering major health problems, and nearly dying, until he finally discovers that he has celiac disease, an autoimmune disease caused by gluten intolerance. Wolf, under the guidance of the ancestral foods ideal, healed himself and became a re-

nowned strength coach. Paleo began to attract more people and to evolve after the book’s publication. The overriding principle is that the human animal needs to be primal in diet, exercise and mindset, at least to some degree, to be healthy. The cultural training begins with children, says Le Corre, whose play mirrors skills essential to life in a natural environment, if not in polite society. “Whenever we have that primal, exuberant expression of energy that’s in ourselves, we are told ‘shh’; it’s repressed, to the point it’s suppressed, and we are told you have to stand up right, you have to be polite,” Le Corre says. “We have become like human chihuahuas, and I don’t know about you, but I don’t want to be a chihuahua.” Cage-free humans The Paleo movement can arguably be said to have begun with Robb Wolf’s mentor, Colorado State University health and exercise science professor Loren Cordain, when in 2002 he published The Paleo Diet: Lose Weight and Get Healthy by Eating see WISDOM Page 32

September 22, 2011 31

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WISDOM from Page 31

the Foods You Were Designed to Eat. “This is the diet we are adapted to. This is what we all ate before the dawn of agriculture,” Cordain says. His philosophy was simple; humans evolved to thrive on a hunter-gatherer diet. He drew from research on some of the world’s remaining true hunter-gatherer societies in places like Africa, the Amazon and Papua. Marked not by years, but by icy periods of glaciation, the Paleolithic was an era that saw our human species, evolving quickly, fighting to stay current in a world of violent extremes. During the Lower Paleolithic, some 2.5 million years ago, we were quite a different animal than today. Though not quite as tall, we were more robust, with thicker bones, denser muscles and larger bodies. The hominid species was then an animal called Australopithecine. There are many varieties of pithecine, each marked by progressive traits, but these early humans were largely the cavemen of popular imagination; bipedal, but with brains not much larger than an ape. Their fingers and toes had gradually become shorter, suggesting a more terrestrial, less arboreal existence, and their canines shrank. The pithecines, as a hominid tribe, extend as far as 4.2 million years into prehistory and are divided by the course of their evolution into seven distinct types, each trending toward the human form and away from the ape. Dentition in the ape-to-human transitional species is considered a benchmark. The apelike canines shrink with each species, and the rest of the teeth morph into an array of tools. Molars grind tough foods like plant fiber, but incisors remain, suggesting that meat was still part of the diet. Around 10,000 years ago, we took a bad turn as a species, according to Cordain and Wolf, and underwent what has been termed the agricultural revolution. Starchy grains like wheat could be planted and harvested by relatively few people, but feed many. This agrarian shift allowed

some people to spend their energy doing things other than hunting or gathering — or so goes the accepted rationale. Society began to diversify, allowing disciplines like science, governance, and philosophy to bloom. At the same time, claims Wolf, humans began to shrink and to become sickly, their maladies brought on by their new diet and sedentary lives. Thus began what more scientists are calling the Anthropocene, the age of the ape. But what a high-tech, physically weak ape we have become. “At first I was like, ‘Yeah, that makes perfect sense,” Cordoza says of the easily encapsulated Paleo lifestyle. “Human ancestors were living in the wild, just eating the things that they could find.” Over time, however, and after much research, his optimism gave way to realism. “We can’t say exactly what they ate, or what they did, or what the actual Paleolithic lifestyle was,” he says. “All we can say is what it wasn’t.” Imagine the life of a “caveman.” It was not, Cordoza says, sitting in a chair, at a desk for long periods of time looking at a computer screen. It was also not eating refined foods with heavy amounts of grain-based products. “There might have been some grain in various [Hominid] diets. There might have been dairy — I mean, the Maasai diet is composed in large part of blood and milk harvested from their cows, but they didn’t have refined foods,” he says. “We aren’t meant to exist on those.” Cordain himself has stated that “nutritional science is not static. Things change.” Groups like the Ancestral Health Society are doing their best to bring together nutrition experts, doctors, scientists and anyone else interested in furthering our understanding of the lifestyle and diet of humans prior to the rise of agrarianism in order to give the Paleo movement scientific credibility. For that very reason — lack of

Boulderganic Fall ’11 Boulder Weekly

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Boulder Weekly Boulderganic Fall ’11

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useful gymnastics skills, adapted to the outdoors. How do you climb to a coconut, vault a torrential stream, or climb onto the spindly outer branches of trees to obtain calorically rich fruit? This was the point of the training, Le Corre and Verdier say. If it seems simple, it was, or should be. “I think that we have become too polite, too soft, and that’s not only a physical thing, but a mental thing,” Le Corre says. The MovNat students who worked on Wall Street, in an office in Vienna or Dubai had, for their money, learned a lot that week. For them, walking barefoot in the mud, carrying rocks, climbing trees in the jungle, and swimming through the dark were primal activities and, for minds rigidly conformed to city and career, freedom. “If we vary the demands, then we will have all these adaptations that will be physical, psychological — a broader range of adaptations at all levels,” Le Corre says on the final day. But how much will the students take home? “Well, that’s hard to tell, because it’s not something that’s easy to measure,” he says. “It’s mental, but it doesn’t just take place in the mind. It’s a thoughtless state of mind, and that’s where efficiency originates.” However, it is a thoughtless state which has brought many people to their current health crises, according to Cordoza, by simply eating what is sold to them and what tastes good. People continue to learn and implement the Paleo lifestyle, but unlike the Atkins diet, for example, the movement has not yet become mainstream. Whether Paleo proves a passing fad or a revolution in modern living has yet to be seen. “Our government has failed to provide us with an effective life plan that addresses these severe health issues,” Cordoza says. “As a result, more and more people are taking matters into their own hands and seeking a solution. ... In my opinion, Paleo is the solution.” Respond: info@boulderweekly.com

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hard science — the Paleo diet has attracted plenty of critics. Nutritionists have responded to the Paleo diet by citing reports suggesting that wild grains were found in the diets of the hunter-gatherers of the past. If not for the consumption of wild grain, the logic runs, why would humans have domesticated grain in the first place? And what is an exercise science professor doing writing nutrition books, anyway? Even within the very loose Paleo community, there exists dissension. Sally Fallon’s book, Nourishing Traditions: The Cookbook that Challenges Politically Correct Nutrition and the Diet Dictocrats, takes a different look at the ancestral diet question. “Cordain makes a lot of crazy claims. He says that Paleolithic peoples had no carbohydrate foods like grains or starchy root foods, never mind reports of grains found in the fire ashes of some of the earliest human groups, or the widespread use of tubers among primitive peoples, usually fermented or slow cooked,” she says. “At the end of the day, can we exist purely on starches, nothing but grains?” Cordoza asks, observing that evidence of how our earliest ancestors lived is often less than concrete, and highly politicized. “Yeah, of course we know we can. We’re amazingly adaptable. But will we be very healthy? Will we thrive? No, of course not.” Based on the current health issues Americans face: heart disease, diabetes, chronic arthritis, etc., Cordoza says, “People are in desperate need of something that encompasses more than just a quick fix, like a pill that will make you lose weight or a surgery that quells your hunger cravings. Most Americans need a complete overhaul in lifestyle.”

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Pesticide-free pregnancy

Susan France

Expectant mother Christina Kauffman

Why eating organic is imperative for expectant mothers by Jessie Lucier

child’s IQ may be affected before he takes his first breath. Expectant mothers are told to abide by a long list of don’ts when it concerns what they ingest and are exposed to. Now add a widely administered pesticide to that “no” list — a biggie that could significantly impact a developing child’s cognitive and neurological development. Three studies published in April of this year found that prenatal exposure to organophosphate insecticides (OP) — an insecticide that was created as a by-product of nerve gas during World War II and is used in agricultural production — led to IQ deficits in school-age children, indicating that pesticides are detrimental to development. “The publication of these three studies halts the befuddlement of the scientific issues around prenatal exposure to insecticides,” says Chuck Benbrook, chief scientist for the Boulder-based Organic Center and an adjunct faculty member at Washington University’s Department of Crops and Soils. “Their consistent findings show that, in fact, women exposed to these pesticides are going to have children with some level of cognitive and neurological impairment.” 34 September 22, 2011

The three studies were conducted independently of each other at Columbia University’s Center for Children’s Environmental Health, Mount Sinai School of Medicine and University of California Berkeley, in collaboration with the Center for the Health Assessment of Mothers and Children of Salinas. Each study divided women into groups based on high, moderate and low OP pesticide exposure, and monitored these women during pregnancy by either sampling their urine or blood. Umbilical cord blood was also tested at birth. The Mount Sinai School of Medicine researchers measured the levels of metabolized pesticides in both the blood and urine of women in their third trimester of pregnancy. Six to nine years later, the children born to these women were asked to take skills and intelligence tests. The researchers found that these children showed signs of impaired perceptual reasoning — nonverbal problem-solving skills. Columbia’s study focused on children born to women living in low-income, public housing in upstate New York. The findings from this study revealed that at age 7, the children born to the most exposed mothers scored 5.5 percent lower on a standard memory test and had

IQs 2.7 percent lower than average. Similarly, results published by the UC Berkeley study also found that prenatal pesticide exposure lowered IQ. But this study found that at age 7, the children of the most heavily exposed mothers had an IQ deficit of seven points. “There is an enormous economic impact associated with just one point increase or decrease of IQ,” Benbrook says. “Although it’s unlikely that most people in a casual interaction would be able to distinguish it, it does make a huge difference in what people can accomplish in their

lives. It’s a really big deal.” The Berkeley researchers also reported that 25 percent of pregnant women in the general U.S. population are exposed to levels of OP insecticides similar to the women monitored in their study. “This study makes it clear that this is not just a problem for poor people living in subsidized housing in upstate New York or on farm land,” Benbrook says. “This is a problem for all women of childbearing age.” While the EPA has banned OP pesticide from all residential uses, it continues to be used in agricultural

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36 September 22, 2011

Boulderganic Fall ’11 Boulder Weekly

Ron Clark

Cathy Gauch and Jennifer Cook, Aircat Aerial Yoga instructors

o get a challenging, fun workout that will build core strength and flexibility without a boring routine, you may need to get your feet off the ground. Though it looks intimidating — or downright impossible — aerial dance, trapeze and aerial yoga classes can fit into a workout routine to build body awareness, grip, balance and core strength, all of which will come in handy whether you’re skiing, running or climbing. “It’s pretty accessible. It’s really empowering,” says Nicole Predki, education director for Frequent Flyers Aerial Dance Theatre. “We really say anyone can learn how to fly, and we really mean it.” After a few weeks of trapeze classes, students can start swinging with grace through the air. It may take longer to build up the strength and ability to move the body as a unit with fabric, Predki says, but it can look, and feel, like a beautiful dance after just a little time. “The biggest thing that’s different from this and a traditional workout is that when you’re holding on to something, you’re always having to stabilize,” Predki says. “Most things, if you’re going to the gym, it’s static things.” Stabilizing raises the demands for the core muscles, magnifying the workout they receive, but without the endless repetition of crunches. “Most people, when they come here and they take a drop-in aerial fitness class, they say they don’t feel like they’re working out because it’s fun, because they’re challenging their body to do things they haven’t done in a long time, since they were kids, or never done,” Predki says. “When I’m teaching beginners, without fail, somewhere in the first class, someone will say something about a childhood memory that gets triggered,” says Nancy Smith, artistic director of Frequent Flyers Aerial Dance Theatre, who fell in love with aerial dance after a childhood spent climbing trees and spinning in circles.

Elevated workouts Aerial dance builds core strength, balance by Elizabeth Miller After her love-at-first-sight encounter with aerial dance, she took her training in dance and experimental movement into a studio and locked herself in for eight months to learn the dance form. She emerged literally to write the book on aerial dance. She’s been teaching, and dancing, at Frequent Flyers for 24 years. “It’s great to come in and know that they’ll be challenged, but they’ll actually be able to do it,” she says of her beginning aerialists. “Mostly, you’re going to have a lot of fun, and you’re going to get really strong without even realizing how much you’re working. It’s surprising how much strength you can get and how quickly.” Predki says the theatre gets students of all ages, taking aerial dance classes for all kinds of reasons. Athletes come looking for complements to their workout routines — cyclists building core stability, climbers building hand strength. “Especially in Boulder, where we’ve got bagillions of options for physical activity, you can get pretty burnt out … so it’s wonderful to go try some new way to train your body,” Smith says. Aerial is a whole-body workout and requires whole-body coordination. “Most people that come here, they say the integration they get of

Boulder Weekly Boulderganic Fall ’11

using their whole body as a unit is unique to aerial dance,” Predki says. “You’re using every muscle every moment that you’re doing aerial.” That much activity helps find muscular imbalances and works to integrate the body to overcome those weaknesses. It can also help to practice muscular efficiency. “You’re working against gravity, so when you work against gravity you’ve got a whole other workout going on because you have to overcome gravity,” Smith says. Smith advises first-timers to be aware that they’re going upside down from the first class, and to dress appropriately for that. “The thing to know is it might be a little challenging, but the strength comes from doing,” Smith says. In addition to aerial dance, Cathy Gauch, founder of Aircat Aerial Arts, teaches aerial yoga and aerial quidditch out of space at the Boulder Circus Center. She got hooked at her first class during the Colorado Dance Festival, she says, and has been teaching aerial dance in Boulder and in the Roaring Fork Valley or performing aerial dance at a Las Vegas-style show in Guam ever since. “I think it’s a combination of fitness, having fun doing something that’s different, that certainly isn’t your run-

of-the-mill activity,” Gauch says. “And then there’s also a social component to it as well — we have a lot of fun and it’s very social. People get challenged physically as well as mentally.” In Gauch’s aerial yoga classes, students work with hammocks that assist in yoga poses, easing inversions and adding an element of spinal decompression to them. “Normally when you do an inversion in yoga, you’re upside down but you’re still compressing the joints, just in the opposite direction,” she says. “In the case of the aerial yoga, you’re suspended from the air, so you get the opposite compression.Your spine just gets really relaxed, really released, so that’s one of the biggest benefits.” Ken Oswandel started taking aerial yoga a year ago to improve his wakeboarding. He’s seen it benefit every sport he does: skiing, running, weightlifting. “It’s a great way to cross-train,” he says. “It’s the only form of workout that coordinates the workout head to toe.” The exercises focus on core function and micro-muscle control that other exercises don’t require. “It’s not what I expected, but it’s definitely something that I really enjoy,” Oswandel says. Like any yoga class, the workout ends in savasana, this version cradled in hammocks. “It’s a workout and the relaxation,” Oswandel says. “You leave really feeling that you spent some quality time just relaxing, and you feel that way, too.” Because of the inversions, it’s not a class for someone with high blood pressure or glaucoma. “But for people that don’t have any injuries, it’s really great. It can really help the blood flow and help nourish the brain and body even more,” Gauch says. “I think a lot of people are a little scared and anxious to try it, but again, we go really slowly, and we usually have two teachers teaching the class, so you can always get a spot.” Respond: info@boulderganic.com September 22, 2011 37

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ow that the cold and flu season is upon us, it’s time to start building up our immunity and preparing for the sicknesses that may come. It’s easy to head over to King Soopers or Walgreens to get the latest over-the-counter drugs and suppressants to deal with an illness when it arrives, but there’s an alternative approach for taking care of yourself and your family. Herbal medicines and remedies are able not only to get you feeling better quickly, but also protect you from getting sick — if you are willing to do what it takes to prepare yourself for the season. But you should probably start with basics first. “The prevention part is obvious stuff that no one does,” says David Scrimgeour, a licensed acupuncturist and certified herbologist and co-founder of Six Persimmons Apothecary. “It’s things like getting enough rest, proper diet, which in classic Chinese medicine can mean don’t overeat, don’t over-exercise, don’t overwork, don’t over-stress. But people don’t do that, so they’re going to get sick.” Even if you are doing all that, it’s still good to get your body prepared for the months ahead. In terms of what to take, you can start with a plan of daily doses of vitamins and supplements. “The things I always start with is building people’s immunity,” says Leah Benyamin, a master herbalist and nutritional consultant at Pharmaca Integrative Pharmacies. “I would start with a good multivitamin that’s easy to absorb. I would also do fish oil because that has Omega 3 and properties to help

inflammation, which can be the cause of colds or flu. That’s always good on a daily basis. Then I always do probiotic, which also boosts immunity, and that can be done daily also. In addition to that, I always recommend vitamin C with bioflavonoid because that prevents somebody’s potential of hydrogen to kind of fluctuate and keep it more stable.” Scrimgeour says he also recommends astragalus. “In terms of general use, I think the absolute best single herb is astragalus, and there’s tons and tons of research on what astragalus does,” he says. “It has a real effect on the immune system. It’s certainly not a placebo. It’s very measurable in the sense of what it does to strengthen the immune system. A lot of herbal formulas that are used for tonifying will have that in there. The most classic one is ginseng and astragalus, so we also use ginseng a lot too this time of year.” In Eastern medicine, tonification is a therapeutic treatment that nourishes and replenishes the vital energy, blood and the “yin and yang” of the human body when they are deficient or weak. When you actually get sick, most people depend on over-the-counter medicines like Nyquil or Robitussin to suppress their symptoms, an approach most herbalists oppose. Scrimgeour does suggest Cold Nip, an over-the-counter herbal remedy available at Six Persimmons Apothecary, Pharmaca Integrative Pharmacies, Vitamin Cottage, Alfalfa’s and other natural food stores, and one that, if taken during the onset of a cold, could knock it out before it even starts. Instead of suppressing the symptoms, it helps the immune system

Boulderganic Fall ’11 Boulder Weekly

Astragalus – an herb that boosts immunity

fight the sickness. “I don’t really suggest suppressing symptoms,” Benyamin says. “I think symptoms let you know that something is going on in the body, and there are ways to help those symptoms without suppressing them. We have a lot of homeopathic remedies that people can take, and they help alleviate the symptoms without suppressing them. Basically, it helps the disease. That’s one thing herbalists and doctors have differences on. A lot of doctors will help suppress the symptoms, and an herbalist is going to find out what the problem is and try and make it better and work with the body to give it the things it needs to fight it off so the body can actually heal itself.” Speaking of doctors, where’s the line? When should someone forego herbal remedies and head to a doctor? “Most of these things are viruses, and you really don’t need to go to a doctor because it’s a waste of time and money,” Scrimgeour says. “In the cases, especially for kids, when I tell

them to go to the doctor, if they’ve had for example, a really severe sore throat for more than two or three days, absolutely go to the doctor because it might be strep. A bad cough, especially if it’s persistent over five days and especially if there’s difficulty breathing. That could be indicative of pneumonia or probably bronchitis, even though that could be viral, it could be a secondary infection. It’s a bacterial infection on top of a viral infection, like pneumonia.” If your illness doesn’t include these symptoms, however, the best remedy might be right outside your door. “You want to stay close to nature,” Scrimgeour says. “Be in the elements and don’t be afraid of the elements. I think it helps. You actually strengthen yourself against the elements by actually being in the elements. That’s kind of an important thing that sometimes people try to run away from, but it’s going to get you.” Respond: info@boulderganic.com

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