I stopped eating conventional red meat about 7 years ago (by conventional I mean from a producer that I cannot know, i.e. Tyson).  When mad cow disease (aka: BSE (Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy and Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease, CJD) became an issue, I decided that I did not want to have my brain turn into mush, and that I would rather not eat beef.

But I LOVE A GOOD HAMBURGER AND STEAK, so that led me on a quest to find great beef products produced by farmers and ranchers that I trusted.  Luckily, in Colorado, there are several.

In a recent article I found on Mike Callicrate’s No-Bull website, it became apparent, again, that many people in the United States are still eating and cooking meat that is subpar and even dangerous.  Being a food-snob myself, I still refuse to eat beef from even nice restaurants because they are usually not tasty and the meat comes from huge food conglomerates that use growth hormones, large amounts of antibiotics, and new drugs like Optiflex and Zilmax, which (IN MY HUMBLE OPINION) can have untested and could have unknown results on the body of a human being.

Do you ever feel like a guinea pig?  That is because if you are not becoming more aware of your food supply – YOU ARE.

Never has it been more important to be more sustainable – find ways to purchase food from local farmers and ranchers who you trust, and grow your own food.

Read more about what is happening to beef HERE!

- Tisha Casida

What can we do to build local economies while ensuring our food is safe and nutritious?  Well, it’s simple!  We need a “consumption revolution” (a term used by my good friend Paul Alhadef at A Wren’s Nest Farm).

We, the consumers, make choices every MINUTE that affect our local economies.  Agriculture has been and will continue to be centralized and monotonized (that is a word I believe I have just invented)  if we do not start taking drastic steps to change our eating habits!

Food Freedom has a great post on some of those things we can do, VISIT THEM HERE.

- Tisha Casida

Come and check out the great lineup of vendors that we have for the 2nd Annual Loco for Local Evening Farmers’ Market at the Arts Center in Pueblo, Colorado.  We have delicious local food, music and entertainment, as well as local arts!

Check out the entire event-flier HERE—>>> L4L 2010_Event Information_5.9.10

Here are our vendors to-date:

Some of our readers know (but certainly not everyone), that the reason that I started That’s Natural! in the first place was because of how sick I got from what I believe to be exposure to pesticides as a child growing up on a small farm in Southern Colorado.

Pesticides, especially those containing organophosphates, are incredibly unhealthy.  It appears that the pesticides act on the same brain chemicals that are related to ADHD, in this particular instance.

Many pesticides are neuro-toxins, or they affect the nervous-system of the pests that they are targeted to kill.  Although most of these pesticides have been approved for use, there is really no telling how dangerous they are in minute quantities over a period of time or as they interact with other chemicals that a human may be exposed to.

How to alleviate concern of exposure?  KNOW YOUR FARMER.  Period.  Find out who is growing your food.  Even if the food is natural or organic – KNOW THE FARMER, KNOW THE COMPANY.  Trust no one and be an avid consumer.  Your health is depending on it.

Read the whole article HERE.

- Tisha Casida, Publisher

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We have come across a very good site featuring various articles on what we like to call “real food”.  This is food that is (according to this site, as well as our standards):

• Organic
• Humanely raised (animals on pasture, not in factories)
• Grown locally when possible
• Whole and unrefined (real maple syrup instead of high-fructose corn syrup)
• Processed as little as possible (raw milk instead of pasteurized and homogenized)
• Nutrient-dense (enzymes, vitamins, minerals, and probiotics)
• Free of additives and preservatives
• Free of synthetic and chemical ingredients
• Not genetically modified
• Traditionally produced and prepared

CHECK OUR REAL FOOD MEDIA HERE!

Now THIS is sustainability my friends!  Trinity Brewing Company has done a fine job with their menu and dedication to the local economy, check out the post at: http://goodamericanpost.info/2010/03/12/trinity-brewing-company-great-beer-fabulous-food-and-easy-on-the-environment/

The first training for Transition Town in the United States took place in Boulder, Colorado, in September 2008.  Since then there have been multiple Transition Town Initiatives emerging throughout the country, with 15 of those in Colorado alone.
The Transition Town Initiative was developed in the United Kingdom in 2006 by Rob Hopkins, a permaculture teacher, as a practical model for allowing communities to reduce their dependency on a fossil fuel-based infrastructure, develop greater local resilience and re-localize the community resource base.  This includes all areas of the community resource: food and energy production, security and access, local economy, health care, education, transportation, etc

See the complete article on Page 10 of That’s Natural! Quarter 1 of 2010 here:
http://issuu.com/ThatsNatural/docs/tnq1_2010_web

The Good American Post, with some of the same mission of That’s Natural! explains in depth at: http://goodamericanpost.info/2010/01/18/know-your-farmer-local-food-systems-are-most-sustainable/

Look at the labels. Start researching products and ingredients that you do not know about. Does the product claim to be “Natural” – find out if it really is. BE AN AWARE CONSUMER.

At That’s Natural! we look at “The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly”.

What are the “Bad” products in our society’s food supply and environment? What are the “Ugly” consequences of continuously consuming or being exposed to these products? What are the “Good” products and services that we can take advantage of to make our lives and communities HEALTHIER and SUSTAINABLE?