Organic versus conventional cotton

Organic agriculture protects the health of people and the planet by reducing the overall exposure to toxic chemicals form synthetic pesticides that are associated with health consequences, from asthma to cancer. 

CONVENTIONAL COTTON

Only 3% of all farmland worldwide is under cotton, but 20% of chemical pesticides and 22% of all insecticides are sprayed on cotton. That means that 8 times more pesticide is used on one hectare of conventional cotton, than on a hectare of an average food crop. 

Pests exposed to synthetic pesticides build up resistance to them. Each year, farmers have to buy more and more pesticide to keep pest numbers down to keep growing the same amount of cotton.

Increased use of pesticides increases production costs. Many farmers are forced into a spiral of debt. In parts of India agricultural chemicals take up 60% of the farmer's production budget. 

Many chemicals used in cotton farming are acutely toxic. At least three of the chemicals used in cotton production are on the 'dirty dozen' - so dangerous that 120 countries agreed to ban them, but so far this hasn't happened. 

The World Trade Organization estimates that 20,000 deaths and three million chronic health problems each year are the result of the use of agricultural pesticides. 

Most cotton is heavily irrigated. Years of rapid evaporation from semi-desert soils have left salt residues, making land unfertile. 

ORGANIC COTTON

Organic cotton production uses none of the harmful chemical pesticides used to produce conventional cotton. 

Organic cotton farmers use natural pesticides usually containing a mixture of chili, garlic an soap. This keeps pests off the crops, but does not destroy their natural predators - which survive to control their number naturally. 

Another method used is intercropping, where secondary crops are grown between and around small plots of cotton. These create a natural barrier against the cotton pests. These secondary crops may also provide another cash crop or food for the farmers, a useful hedge against a poor cotton harvest. 

These farming methods promote biodiversity - organic cotton fields contain a significantly higher number of insects species, especially those that are beneficial. 

Organic cotton is largely rain-fed - the soils are fertilized with natural organic materials, which help to give the soil higher humus content - making it better able to retain moisture and its fertility. 

Does colorants, flavourants and pesticides belong in your child's diet?

It has been said that perhaps the most significant choice we can make in terms of enhancing our health and that of the environment is to eat organic food. But it should be an even more important choice to feed our children organic food as far as possible. 

More often than not food for children, whether in the form of packaged biscuits, a "children's menu" in a restaurant, or fast food, means food that is over-processed, over-flavored, over-colored and generally high in sugar, fat and salt. That is, the worse food for those that we are supposed to care for the most. In most developed countries the food industry is focused on convenience, price and so-called kids' appeal. Ironically the baby food industry is fairly well regulated worldwide, but the moment the baby becomes a toddler, she or he is subject to a food industry with no guidelines and certainly no legislation regarding the nutritional quality of the food it serve toddlers and children. 

Nutrition and food choices play a crucial role in the development of conditions such as obesity, asthma and diabetes. Healthier food choices can help to prevent the onset of serious chronic conditions such as cardiovascular disease, coronary heart disease, osteoporosis and about one-third of cancers. 

Unethical ways used to market children's food give unhealthy foods an unfair advantage over healthier options. They use popular cartoon characters and competitions  in promotions and come with free gifts and tokens. In the UK a recent study showed that advertisement on children's television for unhealthy foods far outnumbered those for healthy options, The fact is our children want to eat what they see advertised, and fruit and vegetables don't come with fancy labels so the motivation to eat them is simply not there.  

Colorants, flavourants and preservatives are also major culprits in children's foods, and often occur where you least expect them such as in the seemingly harmless fruit juice you thought you were buying. 

The term flavourant on a label can be used to cover over 4000 different chemicals, however all the label has to declare is the word flavourants. Flovourants in the food industry come in various forms ranging from 'artificial', through 'nature identical', 'natural' and 'flavor from the natural fruit'. Artificial and nature-identical flavors are created synthetically from various chemical compounds. Natural flavourants are supposed to be made from natural ingredients only and are normally created in a laboratory from a variety of unrelated natural flavors, i.e. from natural vanilla, apple and carrot may be used to create a new flavor unrelated to any of the individual components. Flavor from natural fruit is the least changed flavor and the best if you have to have something containing flavourants.  Current legislation in many countries does not require a food or beverage manufacturer to differentiate between these flavourants on the ingredient list.

Other products on ingredients list to look after are those used to bulk up food, even used in baby food. These products contribute virtually no nutritional value, often adversely affect taste and are used predominantly to increase the mass or 'bulk' of a product allowing the manufacturing to produce a cheaper product. The culprits in this category include the following: maltodextrin, starch, modified starch and modified maize starch. 

Another major cause of concern are pesticides and herbicides in our children's diets. The maximum allowable residue levels in most foods are dictated by governments, however levels are checked and policed infrequently, and even less often when the food is processed rather than fresh. 

If you feel that chemicals, starch and pesticides don't belong in your child's diet you can try to use organic food and ingredients whenever possible. They are least likely to contain any pesticide residues and their rules explicitly prohibit the use of synthetic colorants, flavourants and preservatives. For you to be assured of this, the product may only be called organic if the growing and manufacturing process has been inspected by a third-party accredited certifier. Look for the certifier's label on the product. And remember even if you're not fully convinced but only think that organic  'maybe' is better, why take the risk. 

As far as possible we can educate ourselves to understand our children's dietary needs. Don't rely on the food industry, or government agencies to ensure you that the food you child eats is safe and nutritious - there are no short-cuts you have to do the homework. 

(Information from an article originally published in the SA Journal of Natural Medicine)

320 TC organic cotton cot sheets

These soft and cuddly 320 TC cot sheets are made of organic  cotton. That means that they don't have any unwanted extras, not even dye, making them perfect for baby's not fully developed immune system. 

Small-scale farmers in India has grown the cotton on soil free of toxic chemicals and handpicked it. Certified organic production units have then made the sheets. 

A set of 2 cot sheets packed in an organic cotton string bag is SGD 59, a real bargain for such a wonderful product! 

You can buy them from www.oneecostep.com where you also can find single, queen and king sheets. 

The info band - a stylish bracelet that conveys important information on your kids wrist

What I love about this product is that even if it's a practical devise related one of our biggest fear - loose our child in a crowd - it's made with great love for design. The info band allows people to easily return a lost child to their parents in the most simple of ways, through the parent's phone number written on a band around the child's wrist. The band looks really cool and there is a great variety of designs for your child to choose from and thereby feel more inclined to wear.

The band conveys important information you can write with a regular ball point and it doesn't smear. It has a child secure buckle, is water resistant and can be used over and over again.

You can get info bands at Children's Showcase in Loewen Gardens, Tangling Village (Singapore)

BanAnna's Banana Case

There are products that just changes your life, BanAnna's banana case is one of them.  My biggest headaches are produced when trying to come up with tasty, nutritious snacks and lunches  for my kids to  bring to school. 

Banana is a great fruit, filling, full of energy and healthy vitamins and minerals. But by the time my kids where to eat them at school they where of course smashed and bruised resulting in my children not eating them. And then, one day I was visiting this friend that always is the first to acquire new, cool products  and she told me about this great devise that she didn't need and did I want it? It was a banana guard! A patented devise for the safe transport and storage of individual bananas letting kids enjoy perfect bananas at school every day. 

This fantastic, life-changing devise can be found at Children's Showcase at Loewen Gardens, Tanglin Village (Singapore).  

Gluten & gluten-sensitivity

Gluten is a composite of the proteins gladin and glutenin. These exist conjoined with starch, in the endosperms of some grass-related grains, notably wheat, rye and barley. Worldwide, gluten is an important source of nutritional protein, both in foods prepared directly from foods containing it, and as an additive to foods otherwise low in protein. 

When people with gluten-sensitivity or celiac disease eat  food containing gluten, their immune system responds by damaging the finger-like villi of the small intestine. When the villi become damaged, the body is unable to absorb nutrients into the bloodstream, which can lead to malnourishment.

Left untreated, people with gluten-sensitivity can develop further complications such as other autoimmune diseases, osteoporosis, thyroid disease and cancer. 

The only treatment for celiac disease is a lifelong gluten-free diet, avoiding all foods that contain wheat (including spelt, triticale and kamut), rye and barley. 

Several grains and starch sources are acceptable for a gluten-free diet. The most frequently used are corn, potatoes, rice, tapioca and quinoa. Various types of bean, soybean and nut flours are also used in gluten-free products to add protein and dietary fiber. In spite of its name pure buckwheat is considered acceptable for a gluten-free diet. Gram flour, derived from chickpeas is also gluten-free. 

Keep however in mind that gluten is used in food in some unexpected ways, for example as a stabilizing agent or thickener in products like ice-cream and ketchup . People wishing to follow a completely gluten free diet must also take into consideration the ingredients of any over-the-counter or prescription medications and vitamins.

There is plenty of information about gluten-sensitivity online. One good resource, that I partly used to gather this information is www.celiaccentral.org

Jungle Blues

Jungle Blues, written by Shamini and illustrated by Mariann Johansen Ellis, is a wonderful rhyming tale about a young tiger who learns about the laws of the jungle. 

Hari, the little tiger wants to be different than the other small tigers to show that he is better then them. He manages to color himself blue only to discover that he is too visible when times come to hunt for dinner. So in a very practical way and with the kind help of  his family he finally realizes that he is fine the way he is. 

This book is printed on 50% recycled paper and part of the proceeds from the sale are donated to the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF).

Ages: 3-8 years

28 pages

Soft cover

You can buy Jungle Blues at www.sunbearpubling.com or in Singapore at L'Organic, block 18 Dempsey Road. 

Chemicals are all around us

Every day we are exposed to thousand of chemicals that didn't even exist a couple of decades ago. There is no place on earth or living creature today that in not affected by chemicals. 

The uncontrolled spreading out of chemicals have developed into one of our worse environmental and health hazards. Chemicals are part of many of our everyday commodities, including our food! And even if certain substances from time to time are banned in one country they still enter and spread out through imported goods. 

All I really needed to know I learned in kindergarten

(taken from the book by Robert Fulghum)

 

All I really need to know about how to live and what to do and how to be I learned in kindergarten. Wisdom was not at the top of the graduate-school mountain, but there in the sandpile at Sunday school. These are the things I learned. 

Share everything.

Play fair.

Don't hit people.

Put things back where you found them.

Clean your own mess. 

Don't take things that aren't yours. 

Say you're sorry when you hurt somebody. 

Wash your hands before you eat. 

Flush. 

Warm cookies and cold milk are good for you. 

Live a balanced life - learn some and think some and draw and paint and sing and dance and play and work every day some. 

Take a nap every afternoon. 

When you go out into the world, watch out for traffic, hold hands and stick together. 

Be aware of wonder.  Remember the little seed in the styrofoam cup: the roots go down and the plant goes up and nobody really knows how or why, but we are all like that. Goldfish and hamsters and white mice and even the little seed in the styrofoam cup.

Everything you need to know is in there somewhere. The Golden Rule and love and basic sanitation. Ecology and politics and equality and sane living. 

Take any one of those items and extrapolate it into sophisticated adult terms and apply it to your family life or your work or your government or your world and it holds true and clear and firm. Think what a better world it would be if we all - the whole world - had cookies and milk about three o'clock every afternoon and then lay down with our blankies for a nap. Or if all governments had a basic policy of always put things back where they found them and to clean up their own mess. 

And it is still true, no matter how old you are - when you go out into the world, it is best to hold hands and stick together. 

Ways to give organic

Going green when it comes to food can seem though for some who don't want to pay higher prices. But by choosing organic versions of just a few foods that your children often eat, you can increase the percentage of organic food in their diet without big changes in your spending.

The key is to be strategic in your organic purchases. So how do you make your green choice count?

Well, there are 2 key rules to follow: Switch to organic when it comes to those foods that they consume a lot of and/or when it comes to those foods that contain high levels of pesticide residuls.

Conventianally-farmed fruits and vegetables vary in their levels of pesticide residue. Some vegetables, like broccoli, asparaus and onion, as well as foods with peels, such as avocados, bananas and organges, have relatively low levels compared to others. While potatoes and apples belong to the most pesticide-contaminated.

So keep on giving them conventionally-grown bananas but make sure the apples are organic.