IF YOU DO JUST ONE THING – MAKE ONE CONSCIOUS CHOICE – THAT CAN CHANGE THE WORLD, GO ORGANIC
Hello Thursday,
Dan woke up this morning and went out onto the porch with a cup of coffee, like he does every morning. However, this morning was a little different, he took this book out to read, BECOME A BETTER YOU by Joel Osteen.
The chapter he was on was about blessings and gratefulness and this made him think about all the blessings that he encountered in his lifetime. He was going to make a point to get a piece paper and right it all down. That evening at dinner we were discussing that topic and were naming our blessings that we have shared together. Four months ago, I made a series of short videos of appreciation and blessings.
Often, you fail to appreciate simple pleasures and little blessings. You keep your eyes peeled for the big prize. A fancy car? Of course, you want it. An exotic vacation in the Far East? Sounds wonderful! A bigger house uptown? Sure. But what about the things you already have? Are you not grateful for that blessing called life?
You can go on and on adding items to your wish list; little realizing the precious seconds you waste by agonizing over unfulfilled dreams. When you see your wealthy neighbor show off his brand-new Porsche, you may feel that yours is a life half lived. But instead of focusing on your object of envy, try focusing on the goodness of life. Material desires come and go, what remains with us is our ability to enjoy life and make the most of it.
“Do not spoil what you have by desiring what you have not; remember that what you now have was once among the things you only hoped for.” – Epicurus
My mom was telling me the other day that on her zoom worship, there was a guest speaker. She fell in love with the message and the music from Karen Drucker and shared with me the link on YouTube.
Thank You for This Day · Karen Drucker
Songs of The Spirit II
The other day I was listening to the songs myself and was uplifted just like my mom. Hope it brightens your day and puts joy into your life as you hear each message.
“Gratitude makes sense of our past, brings peace for today, and creates a vision for tomorrow.” – Melody Beattie
Keeping with the topic of organic, today I will be explaining what USDA and organic certification means in the world of organic.
Several years ago, I wrote a piece about this very topic.
Wednesday, March 30, 2011
USDA and Organic Certifications
It’s hard to tell these days what “organic” really means. Consumers regularly fall victim to "green-washing" by companies with questionable ethics. How do you know if a product is completely organic or merely contains an organic ingredient or two? One solution to this issue was solved by the USDA. They created a set of organic certifications to help distinguish what is really organic. However, it is not as straight forward as you might think.
National Organic Program (NOP)
The USDA National Organic Program (NOP) is a federal regulation governing organic production, processing, and delivery. The USDA certifications, tests and assessment processes all follow the standards set by the NOP. The USDA is the implementing body of said program.
A Closer Look at USDA Certification
The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), in order to protect consumers and organic producers, has set certain standards for producers to qualify their products as certified organic. Adhering to USDA organic standards will entitle producers to use the “organic” label on their products. There are a number of certifying organizations accredited by the USDA to assess products and determine if they meet USDA certification.
Are All Organic Products 100% Organic?
There are actually different levels of certification that the USDA gives to various products. Even if producers would like to have a 100% organic product, there are cases when materials or ingredients available for production do not qualify it as such. The USDA, therefore, has created four levels of categorizing organic products: 100% organic, certified organic, made with organic ingredients, and notating organic substances with an asterisk in the list of ingredients.
LET JOY BE IN THE JOURNEY 🦋
Good morning 🌞 Thursday, Let your joy be in your journey and not in some distant goal🦋 have a fantastic day.
Products with a “100% Organic” label utilize only organic ingredients. These items do not contain any additional non-organic ingredients and may be recognized by the USDA Organic seal. Those that are “Certified Organic” use 95-99.9% organic ingredients. Although these products contain 0.1-5% non-organic material, they are also permitted to utilize the USDA Organic seal. Items, however, with only 70-97.9% organic materials, will only be represented with “Made with Organic Ingredients” and may not display the USDA Organic seal. Products containing less than 70% organic ingredients may not carry one of the USDA labels. Any organic ingredients will be marked with an asterisk only indicating their organic nature.
USDA Organic Beef, Dairy and Poultry
Aside from crops, meat and dairy products can also carry the USDA Organic certification if they pass stringent USDA requirements. The raising of the animals and the maintenance of the farms must follow strict guidelines. The producers as well as the processing companies must be USDA organic certified. The production and handling of the food must also meet the organic standards to utilize the USDA Organic seal.
Let food be thy medicine and medicine be thy food. – Hippocrates
OATMEAL SECRET🥣
Check out Sherry's secret and what makes her oatmeal dishes different.
The other day in Sherry’s kitchen, breakfast was prepared and it was oatmeal.
Every week it seems that oatmeal is part of the weeks breakfast, however; how can we change the taste and make it different each time. Sherry likes to add different ingredients, it makes it a new dish. By using your imagination and adding different types of fruits and nuts to the oatmeal it will change the way it looks and taste. Sherry’s secret is she boils apples and frozen fruit in the water, before adding the oatmeal. Then she saves some fruit to put on top. Sometimes adding cinnamon, agave or nuts to the top.
Next time you make oatmeal for breakfast, use your creativity and dress the dish up to your liking; bon appetite.
Until tomorrow, the act of putting into your mouth what the earth has grown is perhaps your most direct interaction with the earth.
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