Gretchen Kruesi

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Autoimmune Diets: Six Principles to Follow When Starting

By Gretchen Kruesi / June 8, 2020 / Comments Off on Autoimmune Diets: Six Principles to Follow When Starting

Inspired by a combination of his work treating patients with autoimmune disease and working in his garden, Dr. Cowan has developed six principles to help patients create healthy, natural autoimmune diets. He emphasizes the importance of sourcing quality food from your immediate environment and consuming the correct macronutrients. The following excerpt is from Vaccines, Autoimmunity,…

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lisa fithian talking to a crowd

Change Ourselves, Change the World

By Gretchen Kruesi / June 2, 2020 / Comments Off on Change Ourselves, Change the World

Lisa Fithian has shut down the CIA. She has disrupted the World Trade Organization and camped in a ditch with Gold Star mom and protester of the Iraq War, Cindy Sheehan. She has stood her ground in Tahrir Square, occupied Wall Street, marched in the streets of Ferguson, and walked in solidarity with tribal leaders…

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Malt Your Own Grain at Home: Brewing from Scratch

By Gretchen Kruesi / June 1, 2020 / Comments Off on Malt Your Own Grain at Home: Brewing from Scratch

Do you think making a 100%-from-scratch beer is near-to-impossible? We’re here to tell you, it’s not! With just a few ingredients and a little patience, you can malt your own grain at home and get started on a brewing a batch of beer completely from scratch! The following excerpt is from Brew Beer Like a…

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The Spirit of Hitching

By Gretchen Kruesi / May 29, 2020 / Comments Off on The Spirit of Hitching

Gone are the days where you can stick out your thumb to catch a carefree ride. For a long time though, hitchhiking was considered normal and even reasonably safe. Even more, it gave people a chance to connect with strangers, share stories, and spend a bit of time in someone else’s shoes. While the days…

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cow

Why Cows are the Premier Dairy Choice

By Gretchen Kruesi / May 29, 2020 / Comments Off on Why Cows are the Premier Dairy Choice

Let’s be honest… cows (should) rule the world. Well, at least the dairy world. While many grazing animals have been milked throughout the course of history (reindeer and horses included), none have been more valued than the cow – a producer of wealth and nourishment and stability. The following excerpt is from Keeping a Family…

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ladybug

Learning to Love Insects

By Gretchen Kruesi / May 27, 2020 / Comments Off on Learning to Love Insects

With spring in full swing, bugs are making a reappearance in our gardens and in our lives. Before you reach for the fly swatter, consider this: While they inspire fear in many of us, bugs also play an important role in the ecosystem. So let’s learn to live with bugs, not in fear of them!…

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hemp

A Gold Rush: The Rise of CBD

By Gretchen Kruesi / May 22, 2020 / Comments Off on A Gold Rush: The Rise of CBD

Cannabidiol – CBD – has become the new favorite natural wellness supplement for many ailments. It’s become near-impossible to find a product that hasn’t been infused with CBD, the non-hallucinogenic compound extracted from the hemp plant. Drinks, pet chews, smoothies, gummies — you name it, the exploding CBD industry has you covered. While many farmers are…

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loaves

Neighbor Loaves Program: Maintain Grain Value Chains and Feed the Community

By Gretchen Kruesi / May 21, 2020 / Comments Off on Neighbor Loaves Program: Maintain Grain Value Chains and Feed the Community

By Amy Halloran, author of The New Bread Basket. It originally appeared on foodsystemsjournal.org. The Neighbor Loaves Program In the surreality of March 2020, as states closed the doors on business, my colleague Alyssa Hartman had a great idea. Watching businesses struggle, she wondered what she could do as a non-essential worker to help farmers…

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home garden

Resilient Living: 12 Must Have Books

By Gretchen Kruesi / May 20, 2020 / Comments Off on Resilient Living: 12 Must Have Books

Are you looking to grow and prepare your own food, conserve energy, and be more resilient? Maybe you’re looking for ways to simplify your life. Wherever you find yourself, there are things you can do today to become more resilient. We’ve compiled our favorite books about all aspects of resilient living to get you started.…

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windmill

A Call to Action on Climate, Farming, Food, and a Green New Deal

By Gretchen Kruesi / May 20, 2020 / Comments Off on A Call to Action on Climate, Farming, Food, and a Green New Deal

The following is an interview with Ronnie Cummins, author of Grassroots Rising, and originally appeared in the Chelsea Green 2020 Spring Journal. It has been adapted for the web. It has been adapted for the web. As International Director of the Organic Consumers Association (OCA), Ronnie Cummins works to promote healthy, just, regenerative systems of food,…

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pipeline

A Life-Changing Discovery: Introduction to Pipeline Politics

By Gretchen Kruesi / May 15, 2020 / Comments Off on A Life-Changing Discovery: Introduction to Pipeline Politics

The control of oil has been at the center of the struggle for power and wealth that has fueled conflict and endless wars throughout the Middle East.  When author Charlotte Dennet found the last letter from her father, a spy studying the route of the proposed Trans-Arabian Pipeline, she realized his death was likely much…

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leafy greens

The Eat-All Greens Garden: Effortless Effort

By Gretchen Kruesi / May 14, 2020 / Comments Off on The Eat-All Greens Garden: Effortless Effort

If you want to start a garden but don’t have much spare time, give eat-all greens a shot! These plants are sturdy and need little management or help at all, plus you can eat almost the entire plant! Try starting with Green Wave mustard. The following is an excerpt from The Tao of Vegetable Gardening…

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hitching

Ireland: A Journey into the Heart and Soul

By Gretchen Kruesi / May 13, 2020 / Comments Off on Ireland: A Journey into the Heart and Soul

The following is an interview with Ruairí McKiernan, author of Hitching for Hope, and originally appeared in the Chelsea Green 2020 Spring Journal. It has been adapted for the web. What does the future have in store if politicians aren’t beholden to the people, if the pace of development is compromising mental health, and if…

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dentist

Mercury Fillings and Their Dangers: Never the Right Solution

By Gretchen Kruesi / May 8, 2020 / Comments Off on Mercury Fillings and Their Dangers: Never the Right Solution

Did you know silver fillings (also called amalgam fillings) contain at least 50% mercury? Did you know mercury is highly toxic? In fact, if an amalgam filling has to be taken out, it needs to be thrown away in the hazardous waste bin. The following is an excerpt from It’s All In Your Mouth by…

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dog window

Enter Biochar: Reduce Your Pet’s Carbon Pawprint

By Gretchen Kruesi / May 6, 2020 / Comments Off on Enter Biochar: Reduce Your Pet’s Carbon Pawprint

Many carbon-conscious pet owners are aware of the non-recyclable waste that comes with owning a pet. Between kitty litter, puppy pads, and all those plastic dog bags, the waste adds up. Enter biochar. Imagine a world where the puppy pad is so odorless that your dog wants to sleep on it and the kitty litter…

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Wild Spicy Forest Paste

By Gretchen Kruesi / May 5, 2020 / Comments Off on Wild Spicy Forest Paste

In his new book Wildcrafted Fermentation, professional forager Pascal Baudar combines his curiosity, research, and in-depth understanding of terroir to explore new and surprising uses for wild ingredients through fermentation. The following is an excerpt from the Chelsea Green Spring 2020 Seasonal Journal. It has been adapted for the web Springtime offers an abundance of delicious and…

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mesquite tree

The Power of the Mesquite Tree

By Gretchen Kruesi / April 24, 2020 / Comments Off on The Power of the Mesquite Tree

The miraculous abundance provided by the mesquite tree continues to astound us. It offers a plethora of culinary possibilities. It has the power to cure, to shelter, to elicit profound emotions, and to connect us to our environment and our neighbors in a way we may not have thought about before. The following excerpt is…

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tops of trees in a forest

Seeing the Trees for the Forest

By Gretchen Kruesi / April 21, 2020 / Comments Off on Seeing the Trees for the Forest

In the opening chapter of Trees of Power, author Akiva Silver sings the praises of tree identification. He first describes the skill as being “as useful to me as reading,” and later promises readers that in learning to discern trees by their bark, twigs, leaves, and silhouettes, “you will be able to read stories in…

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white rabbits in a pen

Why Rabbit is the New Chicken

By Gretchen Kruesi / April 17, 2020 / Comments Off on Why Rabbit is the New Chicken

Not convinced that a pasture-based rabbit production could amount to a sustainable business enterprise for the beginner to market-scale farmer? Nichki Carangelo, a third-generation Italian American, second-generation small business owner, and first-generation farmer from Waterbury, Connecticut, proves that a viable pasture-based rabbitry is not only user-friendly, it’s also profitable. In 2014, she founded Letterbox Farm…

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A child holding a wooden spoon over a cast iron pan on the stove.

How to Get Your Kids in the Kitchen

By Gretchen Kruesi / April 16, 2020 / Comments Off on How to Get Your Kids in the Kitchen

If you’re following a strict diet for health reasons, have picky eaters, or are simply looking for tips on how to get your kids involved in the cooking process, you’re going to want to settle in and read this. According to Leah Webb, author of The Grain-Free, Sugar-Free, Dairy-Free Cookbook, and the mother of two children…

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Publishing in the Time of a Pandemic: On Birth and Survival

By Gretchen Kruesi / April 15, 2020 / Comments Off on Publishing in the Time of a Pandemic: On Birth and Survival

The following is by Charlotte Dennett, author of Follow the Pipelines, and originally appeared on Medium.com. It has been adapted for the web. April 2, 2020 was supposed to be a special day. Not the usual birth-day, mind you. And not the kind of day I anticipated a month ago, before a pandemic took over our lives. I…

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lights from space

Limits to Growth and the COVID-19 epidemic

By Gretchen Kruesi / April 9, 2020 / Comments Off on Limits to Growth and the COVID-19 epidemic

It comes to no surprise to anyone that the human population continues to grow, rapidly. However, there is a limit to that growth that we don’t quite know yet. Dennis Meadows, an emeritus professor of systems policy and social science research at the University of New Hampshire, walks us through the connection between population grow/decline…

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words in book

A Dictionary for Our Times

By Gretchen Kruesi / April 7, 2020 / Comments Off on A Dictionary for Our Times

How would you define the word “Empowered”? Before you run to the dictionary, we’re not talking about the straight definition; what we mean is, what does it mean to be empowered in today’s society. Read on for short extracts from Lean Logic that speak to these times of crisis. The following is an excerpt from…

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Planet Coronavirus: Survival, Resistance and Regeneration

By Gretchen Kruesi / April 3, 2020 / Comments Off on Planet Coronavirus: Survival, Resistance and Regeneration

“There are times in history when sudden events—natural disasters, economic collapses, pandemics like Coronavirus, wars, famines—change everything. They change politics, they change economics and they change public opinion in drastic ways. By Ronnie Cummins, author of Grassroots Rising: A Call to Action on Climate, Farming, Food, and a Green New Deal, and originally appeared on…

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produce on shelf

A Shopping List for Trying Times: How to Stock Up

By Gretchen Kruesi / April 3, 2020 / Comments Off on A Shopping List for Trying Times: How to Stock Up

There’s been a lot of talk about stocking your fridge and pantry, but what exactly does that mean? What foods store well? What foods provide the most nutritional value? How much toilet paper do you really need? In his lifetime, Matthew Stein wrote extensively about being prepared for the worst, including how to properly stock your…

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