The Organic View

Most Americans typically start their mornings with a piping hot cup of coffee to jump start their day. However, energy drinks or “functional beverages” have since taken the place of coffee in a market that has literally exploded!  Back in 1997, the energy drink market emerged, growing to about $400 million per fiscal year by the year 2001. By 2005, it had reached about $4 billion and continues to rapidly grow at an annual rate of approximately 12%. It is now anticipated to reach over the $9 billion mark this year. Wherever you go, there are ads for energy drinks that are offer an instant boost when your body is just about to conk out due to work, school, athletics or simply the need to keep up with the late night party crowd. While these drinks may give your body a jolt, these type of specialty beverages contain a lot of artificial ingredients that can often do more damage than good. There is a company, however, that has addressed this need and has opted to explore this rapidly growing market by offering the purest ingredients that are not only certified organic but are Fair Trade too! Steaz energy drinks decided to extend their existing line of fine organic tea beverages by taking things to the next level and offering a line of organic functional beverages. In this segment of The Organic View Radio Show, host, June Stoyer will speak to Steve Kessler, CEO of Steaz, who will talk about the things you should know about energy drinks and why organic matters! Stay tuned!

  Beekeepers are very interesting people. They are a bit quirky, methodical and typically have an odd sense of humor. While there are a myriad of programs that teach beekeeping management, each beekeeper tends to have his or her own method of managing hives, often learning things the hard way, which is not necessarily a bad thing! In CONFESSIONS OF A BAD BEEKEEPER, author, Bill Turnbull humorously writes about his experiences as a first time beekeeper and shares his successes and mishaps. If you have ever wanted to learn about beekeeping or are a beekeeper, this is one book you will truly enjoy! In this segment of The Organic View Radio Show, host, June Stoyer will speak to author, Bill Turnbull about his book, CONFESSIONS OF A BAD BEEKEEPER, What Not to Do When Keeping Bees (With Apologies to My Own). Stay tuned! ABOUT THE AUTHOR: BILL TURNBULL is the longtime co-host of BBC Breakfast, Britain’s most-watched morning TV show. After freelancing in New York for five years, he joined the BBC Radio’s Today program in 1986 and moved to Breakfast Time in 1988, before becoming a correspondent for BBC News. In this time he covered a wide range of stories and reported from over thirty countries, including the United States, where he was the Washington correspondent from 1994 to 1998.

  Many people love to buy new species of plants to add something new to their garden but have no idea that they could be introducing an invasive species to their landscape. One of the most common ways of introducing invasive species to your yard is by purchasing firewood. An unsuspecting homeowner can very well introduce such species as the emerald ash borer, Agrilus planipennis, which has been devastating the ash tree population of North America. This is now a major crisis in the Eastern United States and Canada, as 15-20% of the tree population is ash, genus: Fraxinus spp. (baseball bats are made from ash). When home owners seek exotic plants and import goods from Asia or buy plants from mail order catalogs, nurseries, online plant sites, etc. such invasive species as honeysuckle, Lythrum (purple loosestrife), English ivy, burning bush, Bradford pears, etc. can quickly take over . So what options do you have in order to prevent your beautiful landscape from becoming a biological desert? In this segment of The Organic View Radio Show, host, June Stoyer will speak to Horticultural expert, John Peter Thompson, who is President of the National Agricultural Research Alliance (http://www.NARA-B.org ). John Peter will talk about how to recognize and remove some of the most common invasive species.  Stay tuned!

Every four minutes an American woman enters menopause and with an ever-increasing life expectancy rate, that woman can spend as much as one third of her life going through “the change.” However, despite the inevitability and importance of menopause in a woman’s life, the discussion of this challenging transitional period is often riddled with myths, uncertainties, and trepidation. In Eat to Defeat Menopause: The Essential Nutrition Guide for a Healthy Midlife—with 130 Recipes, Karen Giblin and Mache Seibel, MD, two of the nation’s top menopause experts, break down the most important, need-to-know facts about menopause, offer tips and advice for combating its symptoms, and provide healthy and enticing recipes guaranteed to satisfy every craving (or mood swing). Combining the latest research on menopause, traditions from their Italian and Jewish families, and recipes from chefs across the United States, Giblin and Seibel show that making simple changes to one’s lifestyle can, in many cases, be just as effective as combating menopausal symptoms with the latest drugs and surgeries. Some of these simple changes can include: Eating foods that contain phytoestrogens, such as soy and garlic, to combat hot flashes and insomnia Stabilizing mood swings by eating omega-3 fatty acids and vitamin B Cooking with avocados, chocolate, asparagus, or chile peppers to improve a decreased sex drive Reducing alcohol intake to ward off headaches, hot flashes, insomnia, and mood swings Whether readers are personally experiencing the “change” or just want to arm themselves with information and healthful eating habits for the road ahead, Eat to Defeat Menopause provides an easy and delicious guide for achieving a healthy (and hot-flash-free) midlife. Stay tuned!

Percy Schmeiser is a canola farmer from Saskatchewan, Canada. He was the first farmer to win a law suit against Monsanto. This landmark case, which went before the Federal Court of Canada, has attracted international attention because it could help determine how much control a handful of powerful biotech companies can exert over farmers. Schmeiser believes this precedent setting agreement ensures that farmers will be entitled to reimbursement when their fields become contaminated with unwanted Roundup Ready canola or any other unwanted GMO plants. In this segment of The Organic View Radio Show, host, June Stoyer talks to Percy Schmeiser about his battle with this agro-chemical giant.

Most people take for granted that the water in from their faucet is safe to drink or is it? There is a lot of controversy over just how safe our tap water is and also if our government agencies have the right to treat drinking water that is consumed by the masses. The agencies that are charged with protecting our water claim that everything is safe. However, there are many scientists who disagree. The Case Against Fluoride by Dr. Paul Connett, Dr. James Beck, and Dr. H. Spedding Micklem, DPhil, takes a new look at the science behind water fluoridation and argues that just because the medical establishment endorses a public health measure, that doesn't mean it's safe. In the case of water fluoridation, the chemicals used to fluoridate the water that more than 180 million people drink each day are not pharmaceutical grade, but rather hazardous waste products of the phosphate fertilizer industry; it is illegal to dump them into rivers and lakes or release them into the atmosphere. And water fluoridation is a prime example of one of the worst medical practices possible-forced medication with no control over the dose or who gets it. Perhaps most shocking of all, it is not subject to any federal regulation. Dr. Paul Connett is the Director of the Flouride Action Network (FAN), and the Executive Director of its parent body, the American Environmental Health Studies Project (AEHSP). He has spoken and given more than 2,000 presentations in 49 states and 52 countries on the issue of waste management. He holds a bachelors degree from the University of Cambridge, a Ph.D. in chemistry from Dartmouth College and is a retired professor of environmental chemistry and toxicology at St. Lawrence University. 

  The life of a commercial beekeeper is not very glamorous and is also very difficult to manage. Typically, they will travel to different states to pollinate crops with their bees just so consumers can conveniently enjoy a cornucopia of foods all year long. Most people are unaware of the fact that it takes a lot of knowledge, physical labor, and emotional strength to get the job done. In the book, The Beekeeper’s Lament,How One Man and Half a Billion Honey Bees Help Feed America, author, Hannah Nordhaus talks about the life of commercial beekeeper, John Miller as he struggles with issues such as Colony Collapse Disorder and how he can keep his hives from diminishing altogether. In this segment of The Organic View Radio Show, host, June Stoyer will talk to author, Hannah Nordhaus. Stay tuned!

  Most people trust that when they send their kids to school, they are going to be safe. There is also a sense of security while in your own home. What if you were unaware of an environmental hazard that lurked within the walls? This is exactly what happened to Tamara Rubin whose kids were poisoned by the work of a painting contractor in Portland, Oregon in 2005.  They inhaled fumes while a painting contractor used an open flame torch to remove the old lead paint off of their historic home to prepare it for painting. Her son Cole, was poisoned by lead dust at a private school in the Portland, Oregon metropolitan area in 2007. In 2009 her young infant son, Charlie, tested positive for low levels of lead in his blood even with no specific source of exposure. Sadly, these children are just a few of countless others who have no idea that they have been poisoned. Thankfully, there is help and that is available! The Lead Safe America Foundation provides emergency intervention and support to families all over the country who have found out their children have been poisoned by lead in their homes. There are many causes of lead poisoning - but most of the paths of inquiry lead to two primary sources: lead from dust caused by house paint and lead from soil that has been contaminated as a result of lead used as an additive to gasoline. Their goal is to reach out to families across America to educated them about the dangers of lead poisoning, the symptoms, course of action as well as prevention. In this segment of The Organic View Radio Show, host, June Stoyer will talk to the Executive Director of Lead Safe America, Tamara Rubin. Stay tuned!

  They say the true gift is not in receiving but in the act of giving. When Cami Walker was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis, she knew the life she had known would be changed forever. A close friend of hers named Mbali Creazzo, who was an African medicine woman, suggested that she do something different. She suggested that instead of focusing on herself and focusing on the negatives in her life, to focus on the positives, offering her a very unusual prescription. She told her to give away 29 gifts in 29 days. She told her “healing doesn’t happen in a vacuum, Cami, but through our interactions with other people.” In this segment of The Organic View Radio Show, host, June Stoyer will talk to Cami Walker author of the New York Times bestseller, 29 Gifts, about her journey to wellness and how she inspired an entire wellness movement called the 29-Day Gift Giving Challenge, Changing Lives One Gift At A Time! Stay tuned!

  In 2007, the United States and Canada suffered the largest pet food recall in history due to the use of Melamime which was imported from China. Melamime is an additive that was used for the purpose of increasing protein levels when added to vegetable proteins as corn, soy and wheat. Subsequently, Melamime is lethal to cats and dogs. As a result, it is estimated that 300,000 pets suffered and died in just the US and Canada according to international pet food expert Susan Thixton. More than 4 years later, in the recently settled law suit filed after this mass murder, pet owners received only 50% of their claims. Do the laws actually protect pets or protect negligent companies from being held accountable?  What course of action do you take if your animal companion dies from commercially produced pet food? How much money will this cost you? How hard is it to retain a law firm to file suit? In this segment of The Organic View Radio Show, host, June Stoyer will talk to world renowned pet food expert, Susan Thixton, Founder of Truth About Pet Food (www.truthaboutpetfood.com) about this very sensitive subject. Stay tuned!

An Italian couple has gone on a hunger strike to protest the use of all neonicotinoids as they have watched their own bees perish. They are hoping for the Italian government as well as all governments will ban the use of these devastating pesticides. "... In 2004 we were no longer able to survive the winter as our bee colonies died; we were at the point of being forced to buy about sixty new colonies, in order to face the coming bee-season of 2005, just to replenish the hives. But in each successive year we found ourselves in an even worse situation: in the period from July to August the collapse of our bee colonies was catastrophic, as high as 80%.  We attended many meetings to try and find some new strategy, some ancient strain of bees more resistant to varroa, but nothing worked. " In this segment of The Organic View Radio Show, host, June Stoyer will speak to beekeeping activist, Renato Bologna about his protest. Stay tuned!

Africa Weeks for the Animals (Aug 1-14, 2011) is the 2nd annual event showcasings events that raise awareness for animals and the people of Africa. Throughout the week humane organizations, educational institutions, animal shelters,etc throughout the continent will be hosting animal-related special events. Events include conservation awareness events, educational days, adoption fairs, spay/neuter awareness events, shelter/sanctuary help days, clinics, activities for farm animals and education geared toward helping those most in need. Art of Conservation is a participating organization that provides an innovative and comprehensive year-long conservation and health education program for children attending school in rural communities bordering Rwanda's Volcanoes National Park. They inspire their students to promote creativity and respect for themselves, their peers and the natural world. AOC supports local community initiatives including alternative cooking fuel technology to deter charcoal production and combat deforestation in the mountain gorilla habitat. By establishing and coordinating sports activities, such as the annual 3K Gorilla Fun Run and the Ibirunga Tennis Tournament, Art of Conservation helps the local community to practice team building and encourages healthy living habits. In this segment of The Organic View Radio Show, host, June Stoyer will speak to Michelle Buckalew, founder, Animal World USA-International and Julie Ghrist, Founder and Director of Art of Conservation

  African wildlife is in crisis for three main reasons. First, as the human population rapidly increases, more land is needed. Secondly, the livestock population that is raised for human consumption is taking up more and more land. Thirdly, sport hunting continues unabated even though lion populations are declining at catastrophic rates. There are approximately 25,000 lions left in Africa and of this population, only 2,500 are adult males in which approximately 650 of them per year are hunted for the purpose of being a trophy. It gets worse – lions in Western and Central Africa are genetically very different from lions in other parts of Africa. There may be only about 1500 of these amazing lions left. Sadly, they are still allowed to be trophy hunted, in Burkino, Faso and Cameroon. What is really disturbing is that some of the big, well known conservation (non-governmental organizations) NGO’s still support lion trophy hunting, calling it sustainable because they actually contribute to the conservation of the species! This is absolutely ridiculous as clearly it only serves to contribute to hunters seeking new prizes. LionAid.org is trying to fight for African lions. They are fighting for better lion protection measures and will be speaking in front of the European Parliament in September. They need everyone’s support and do not accept funding from the hunting community and are generally concerned about wildlife preservation. In this segment of The Organic View Radio Show, host, June Stoyer will speak to the founders of LionAid.org Christine Macsween and Pieter Kat stay tuned!

  People have dogs in their lived for a myriad of reasons. Most people tend to adopt dogs for either protection or companionship. What if you were seeking a dog to rescue from a shelter initially because you loved the sportsmanship involved with canine competition and found a dog that you wanted to adopt but based upon first impressions made you think twice as far as whether or not he should take that final ride home with you? What if deep down inside, you just couldn’t be the one to reject a dog that had been previously almost adopted only to be tossed back to the shelter? Would you take the risk or opt to adopt one of the other dogs who eagerly wanted your attention and affection? Dogged Pursuit is the story of one man's quest for perfection in canine agility, which seems scuttled by his choice of the world's least likely agility dog. But he then discovers that far more blame can placed at his own door. Before he can make his dog a better competitor, he himself must become a better man. In this segment of The Organic View Radio Show, host, June Stoyer will speak to author, Robert Rodi about his book, Dogged Pursuit. If you are an animal lover and love stories about forever homes, stay tuned!

  Vegan dishes and desserts have come a long way. Thanks to cooking shows, the internet and skilled chefs that have shared their recipes, more and more people can enjoy eating delectable desserts that are not only gluten-free but are free from animal based ingredients. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention,heart disease is still the number one cause of death in the United States.  Obesity has also been a major health concern. Even the First Lady, Michelle Obama, has various initiatives in order to help people make better food choices. The bottom line is that people need to look at the foods they are consuming, especially when it comes to desserts which are often rich in fats, additives and preservatives. Eating desserts is not always a bad thing. What matters is the kinds of desserts and more importantly, what ingredients they are made with. Anyone who maintains good health knows that all foods should be consumed in moderation. In the book, Sinfully Vegan, author Lois Dieterly has assembled quite a collection of amazing desserts that is sure to please even the toughest food critic. She also offers a great explanation of what the key ingredients are used for and why. If you are someone who loves desserts but wants to cut out the animal based products, wants to be able to enjoy gluten-free desserts or just wants to try something new, this is one book that you need to explore. The recipes are easy to make, kid friendly and not terribly expensive to make. In this segment of The Organic View Radio Show, host, June Stoyer will speak to author, Lois Dieterly about her new book. If you are a vegan or just want to learn more about the options you can work with when making delicious desserts, stay tuned!