On my desk are a pot of little daffodils my husband got me last week. Since they're bulbs, I'm thinking I can plant them and keep getting joy out of them. This week's entry, for Valentine's Day, is a dozen sustainably grown roses from Organic Bouquet. They're in a gorgeous vase made out of 100 percent recycled glass. Sweet sniffing.
If you prefer chocolate to roses, have we got a petition for you.
Monsanto has launched sugar beets that are Roundup ready, meaning farmers can spray a lot of weed killer on them, and still bring them to market. Some manufacturers are saying they won't use the genetically modified beets; others aren't.
"Companies have rejected GM sugar beets not only because they have not been proven safe but also because the EPA had increased allowable levels of herbicide residues on GM sugar beet roots by up to 5,000 percent when USDA approved the crop for planting," the Center for Food Safety says. Find out the companies that have pledged not to use the frankenbeets. To sign a petition asking big choclateers to add their names to the no-GM-beets list, go here.
I thought genetically modified food was a genius move to feed everyone. Then I saw "The Future of Food." (available for instant viewing to Netflix subscribers.) Now, I'm not so excited. Make your own decision, but get informed because a lot of the food you get at the grocery store contains GM food.
Julie Todd is the night editor at The Herald News in Joliet. She and her
husband are looking to cut the chemicals and get back to basics -- minus the
granola and hemp clothing. They live in a home they bought last year in
Plainfield, where they're making changes to create their own little patch of
utopia.
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