Dear Friends,

Last week we talked about the powerful, transformative movie: Food Inc. I would like to continue our discussion to further impress upon you the absolute importance and opportunity that this film offers us to bring about real change in our childrens’ attitudes and behaviors relative to the food we produce and eat. It gives us a tool to bring about change, at the grass roots level, through our childen as our next generation hope—the architects and caretakers for a better world. It is suggested that this film be used with high school kids. We all think that we know the reality of our food supply system, and here I would entreat you to take another look—you will be changed.

The movie (documentary) has been divided into 12 chapters. That is, you may select between 12 sections of the movie to view and use as a focal point for discussion. Each section takes about 10 minutes to view. A 103 page Discussion Guide, produced by the Center for Ecoliteracy, is provided online for teachers to use as individual lesson plans relative to each section of the movie.

In the guides Table of Content the following are the focus questions:

Fast Food To All Food: Do animals have the right to certain quality of life?

A Cornucopia Of Choices: Do people have the right to know what is in their food?

Unintended Consequences: Who is responsible for keeping our food safe?

The Dollar Menu: Should access to healthy food be a right for everyone?

In The Grass: When deciding what to eat, how much should we consider the workers who pick, process and transport it?

Hidden Costs: Does it matter to you which food companies produce your food?

From Seed To The Supermarket: Should companies be able to own the DNA contained in plant seeds?

The Veil: Should a company have the power to decide what information to give consumers about the food it produces?

Shock To The System: What individual or collective actions are you willing to take to improve our food system, and what would be their impact?

As Zenobic Barlow, Cofounder and Executive Director of the Center For Ecoliteracy says:

“Food Inc. presents the challenges posed by our current food system. It also offers hope.”

“The guide is designed to support teachers and students in exploring the profound impacts of daily actions. It is a learning aid that demonstrates how to make choices that promote well-being by honoring nature’s ways of sustaining the web of life.”

Our children are our future. Food Inc. and the materials around it should be brought to every school system, every office and clinic, and into our homes. The issues it tackles are the very issues that the holistic community is all about—a healthy environment, social equity and a sustainable life style. Resolving the issue of food will bring health back to the biosphere and the human race. What actions on our part could be more important and life-saving than to fill the hearts and the minds of our next generation with such a mission and purpose?

Sincerely yours,

Seann Bardell

BioImmersion.com

Clinical Note:

When we look at the nature of human diseases in the world today, more and more people of all ages are chronically ill. Cancer, hearth disease, diabetes, arthritic, neurological diseases, gastrointestinal disorders—the kinds of conditions old people mostly conversed about, in the good old days, are now affecting younger populations, as you know only too well. Therapeutic Foods help protect against these conditions. Let’s take a look at the most feared of the big three—cancer—and how Therapeutic Foods help protect against its development.

Blueberry is known to protect against cancer. The polyphenols within its pigment block four out of five of the stages of cancer development, including the vascularization of tumors. Take one capsule Wild Blueberry Extract a day. It is a cup and one quarters worth of blueberries.

Cruciferous vegetables are known to be anticancer foods. The sprouts of cruciferous vegetables magnify this ability ten fold. We benched trialed our Cruciferous Sprout Complex on their ability to stimulate the production of Phase Two Enzymes in human liver cells. Within a month of dosing 2 tsps a day or 8 capsules a day, they caused an increased output of P2Ps by 2.6 times. P2Ps (Phase Two Enzymes) are important anticancer enzymes within our body’s antioxidant defense system. In animal trial where their P2P production is inhibited, they live 20% less and virtually 100% of the time develop cancers. Take one teaspoon a day of the Cruciferous Complex powder or 4 capsules of the Crucifersou Complex capsule daily.

The goods bugs (probiotics) used in the American collection were bench tested for their ability to neutralize heterocyclic amines, and four out of five of the bugs in the Original and Beta Glucan Formulas accomplish this task. In the Triple Berry and the High ORAC we used L. acidophilus and B. longum—both of which neutralize these very dangerous carcinogens, produced when red meats are cooked with very high heat. In our powdered formulas there is enough prebiotic per dose that you get a nice amount of butyric acid produced upon the fermentation of the inulin and beta glucan soluble fibers. Butyric acid stimulates the differentiation of stem cells. Take one teaspoon to one tablspoon of the synbiotic formulas daily.

The Last Quiz Answer: The African wild ass is primarily active in the cooler hours between late afternoon and early morning, seeking shade and shelter amongst the rocky hills during the day. Swift and sure-footed in their rough, rocky habitat, the African wild ass has been clocked at 50 kmph / 30 mph. Mature males defend large territories around 23 square kilometers in size, marking them with dung heaps – an essential marker in the flat, monotonous terrain. Due to the size of these ranges, the dominant male cannot exclude other males. Rather, intruders are tolerated – recognized and treated as subordinates, and kept as far away as possible from any of the resident females. In the presence of estrous females the males bray loudly. Despite being primarily adapted for living in an arid climate, African wild asses are dependent on water, and when not receiving the needed moisture from vegetation they must drink at least once every three days. However, they can survive on a surprisingly small amount of liquid, and have been known to drink salty or brackish water.

“Food, Inc. does for the supermarket what Jaws did for the beach.—VARIETY” I love this quote in regards to the movie and the companion book— Food, Inc., How Industrial Food is Making us Sicker, Fatter and Poorer—And What You Can Do About It, edited by Karl Weber. The book explores the challenges raised by the movie through thirteen essays, most of them written especially for this book, and many by experts featured in the film. Food Inc., the book, provides the facts behind the problems, and shows what we can do to make a difference.

Dear Friends,

Ancient history displays much understanding about the cyclical balance of nature. Lets listen on to Isaiah, an 8th century BC writer:

For as the rain and the snow come down from heaven and do not return there without watering the earth and making it bear and sprout and furnishing seed to the sower and bread to the eater (Isaiah 55:10)

Nature’s services—fresh water, oxygen to breath, the recycling of waste, clothing, shelter, medicine and food. All free gifts—benefits produced through cycles, with each component part within the cycles important to their successful production of services. The proper balancing of the component parts within each of life’s cycles is critical to our survival as a species and for that matter the survival of all higher forms of life.

Enters the humans race—born with a talent for technology, given the freedom of choice and the gift of planet earth with rich biodiversity. Unfortunately, like spoiled children, we have misused our gifts, squandered our inheritance, and now must face the consequences—the emergence of new disease patterns, super viruses, the warming of our earth, the collapse of ecosystems with the loss of the services they provide and ultimately, as we discussed in last weeks newletter, the extinction of species at a rate that is hundreds to even thousands of times greater than natural backgoround
levels.

Evolution has occured and is supported through the symbiotic relationship of the component parts within lifes cycles. With each part balancing the other with checks and balances in order to provide its benefits. Whenever power is concentrated and unaccountable, whether its’ corporate power, governmental power, or religious power—it inevitably leads to abuses. Human beings are imperfect and you need a system of checks and balances to keep them in line, to encourage good behavior.

Nowhere is the corruptive influence of unchecked power and the resultant abuse more apparent than in our food production and supply system. Focusing on making the corrective changes in this system provides the most advantageous and powerful of leverage points to bring about the big changes we are all now seeking—that of creating a world of social equity, sustainable economies and environmental quality. The forces for making this happen are mounting and I will be sharing with you below three of these power forces for good and more in the weeks to come. But wouldn’t it be great, isn’t it important and totally appropriate for us, as the holistic medical community, to bring our full focus, support and expertise into this area of food—to be a powerful catalyst to turning our planet around? Now let’s look at three powerful forces for change.

Have you seen Food Inc.? If not buy it or at least rent it. Take the time to view it. It is so important for us to wake up to what is going on within our food system. To get the ramifications of it in our gut. It is amazing that the film’s creators had the guts to make this film and were able to make it, for many powerful force’s toes were stepped on. Thank God in America we can still step on toes.

Food Inc. exposes the slavery like conditions of the food industry workers. You
really see the role and consequences of the fast food industries marketing on the American diet. One example is the causative links to the obesity epidemic among American children. Not to mention the host of other chronic degenerative diseases practitioners deal with daily. This movie should be a video that every patient should watch. Why not have it playing in your waiting rooms?

One of the major themes of Food Inc is the power of corporations to influence government policy—the collusion between our government officials, federal agencies and the handful of transnational corporations controlling our food system. A system that has allowed for ugly,foul smelling factory farms that pollute the air and water while producing foods of dubious safety and nutritional value. A system that allows these large corporations to put profit ahead of consumer health, the livelihood of American farmers, the safety of workers and the world envirnoment. There is so much in this film to see and to reflect on. The importance of it is that if watched enough it will move people to action. Here is an important link for you: Take Part in Food Inc.

The Center for Ecoliteracy in Berkeley, California, has been a leader for nearly two decades in school reform and education for sustainable living. They have now taken Food Inc. as a center piece around which to develop their curriculum. A book to help you gain a vision for what can be done within your own children’s school system is Smart by Nature: Schooling for Sustainability. It describes strategies for greening the campus and the curriculum, conducting environmental audits, rethinking school food, and transforming schools into models of sustainable community. It will inspire you. Obviously, our children are our future.

And finally, Michelle Obama—take a look at Michelle’s interview with PBS’s Jim Lehre on her initiative against childhood obesity. Talking about childhood obesity, Michelle said:

It’s time we all had a wake-up call. Our kids didn’t do this to themselves…Our kids don’t choose to make food products with tons of sugar and sodium in super-sized portions, and then have those products marketed to them everywhere they turn.

Michelle’s Let’s Move campaign seeks to end childhood obesity in our generation. As you all know too well over the past 30 years, obesity rates have tripled, costing American’s more than $150 billion every year to treat conditions like Type II diabetes.

What an opportunity for us all with a voice at the top in the person of Michelle Obama, with the power of a movie like Food Inc. to awakened people to the crimes against humanity and the changes that must be made, and the vision of organizations like Ecoliteracy to focus on the education of our children. Let’s bring the full power and intelligence of our community into a coordinated effort to support them in the correction of our food system. A change that will have a ripple effect for social equity, environmental quality and sustainble economies throughout our world.

Sincerely yours,

Seann Bardell

BioImmersion.com

Clinical Note:

Tomorrow, on February 18th at 5:00pm PST I will be conducting a webinar entitled, DeEvolution and the Ecology of the Microbiome. It will be 45 minutes of lecture and fifteen minutes for discussion—starting at 5:00pm and ending at 6:00 sharp. Let me know if you would like to join us, and I will send you a link. I will be offering this lecture every Tuesday and Thursday through the month of March.

The Last Quiz Answer: The habitat of the Walia Ibex is the High Semyan, Ethiopia’s dramatic high mountain terrain. On these mountain ridges lives the Walia Ibex, here and nowhere else in the world. Forced by Man to retreat and retreat again, driven to inhabit the most inaccessible cliffs. The tiny remnent population is now confined to a range of about twenty miles, already extinct in all other parts of their former wide range.

The males weigh 80-125 kg (180-280 lb) and have very large horns which curve backwards, reaching lengths up to 110 cm. These horns are used for dominance disputes between males. The males also have distinguished black beards. The length of the walia ibex beard varies with age. There are approximately 500 of these magnificent creatures left.

Food Democracy Now is providing a means for us to coordinate our energy around supporting Michelle Obama’s obesity initiative—to make food healthy for all of American’s children. Click on this. Let’s participate.

Dear Friends,

I know that last week I told you that this week I’d be introducing you to some incredible people and organizations that are “hitting the nail on the head” when it comes to providing leadership and right action towards reversing our de-evolutionary path. But, please indulge me one more week of preparing the way for you to meet these folks. You won’t be disapointed!

Look at this beautiful creature on the right. All that is left for him are the remotest and craggiest of cliffs and ridges, where most of us would never dare to go. His normal lowland habitat destroyed by our encroaching human population. He is the national symbol for his host country. Any idea of who he is and the country for whom he is their honored symbol?

We have made a mess of our planet—our heritage. Because of our actions habitats
are vanishing, ecosystems are crashing. As Eric Chivian, author of Sustaining Life: How Human Health Depends On Biodiversity, says:

During the past fifty years our actions have resulted in the loss of roughly one-fifth of Earth’s topsoil, one-fifth of its land suitable for agriculture, almost 90% of its large commercial marine fisheries, and one-third of its forests, while we now need these resources more than ever, as our population has almost tripled during this period of time, increasing from 2.5 million to more that 6.5 million.

We have so damaged the habitats in which other species live that we are driving them to extinction at a rate that is hundreds to even thousands of times greater than natural backgoround levels. As a result, some biologists have concluded that we have entered what they are calling the sixth great extinction event.

Let’s focus in this email on what nature gives us—for free; and what through our calloused misdeeds are on the verge of loosing forever. These free gift from the ecosystems are called ecosystem services.

Ecosystems can be looked at as small micro-environments like our GI Tract (which in reality isn’t small at all when you consider the population of 100 trillion microbes living there), or looked at as a macro ecosystem like the oceans (which, of course, can be divided into many smaller ecosystems such as the coral reefs)—ecosystems within ecosystems within ecosystems.

For the sake of describing Ecosystem Services we will divide Earth up into six mega-ecosystems—forests, grasslands, wetlands, streams, estuaries and oceans. Their services are provided by means of natural cycles ranging from the short life cycles of microbes that breakdown toxic chemicals to the long term and planet wide cycles of water and of elements such as carbon and nitrogen that sustained life for hundreds of million of years.

Let’s look at forests. They provide goods such as food, timber and medicines; help maintain the water cycle, stabilize local climates and provide critical habitat for plants, animals and microbes. Forest trees and plants store carbon and help slow human-caused global climate change. The forest canopy and leaf litter protect the soil surface from the erosive power of rain. The canopy purifies air by filtering particulates and providing chemical reaction sites where pollutants are detoxified. Forrest soils purify water and act as a massive filter. Deep forest soils store large volumes of water. Forest tree roots bind soils and prevent erosion.

Fritjof Capra in his book, The Web of Life make the following fascinating point:

We tend to believe that plants grow out of the soil, but in fact most of their substance comes from the air. The bulk of the cellulose and the other organic compounds produced through photosynthesis consists of heavy carbon and oxygen atoms, which plants take directly for the air in the form of CO2. Thus the weight of a wooden log comes almost entirely from the air. When we burn a log in a fireplace, oxygen and carbon combine once more into CO2, and in the light and heat of the fire we recover part of the solar energy that went into making the wood. (178).

Grasslands, wetlands, our forests all provide the services of cleaning air, purifying water, mitigating floods, controlling erosion, detoxifying soils, modifying climate. Not to mention the services of providing food, fuel wood, fiber, medicines, nutrient cycling (the cycling of life-essential nutrients such as carbon, nitrogen, phosphorus, and other elements required for the chemistry of life), pollination and photosynthesis. Lest not we forget the aesthetics of nature, the intellectual stimulation it provides. It is the home base for most all of life.

Is there really any doubt, that when we say that in the last 50 years we have lost one-third of our forests, one-third of our wetlands, one-third of our grasslands, as to why we are seeing a sickening of our human species along with other higher species— chronic diseases, infectious diseases spreading all over the world, a world that is unable to feed itself, human being that are unable to reach their full genetic potential and weather patterns that are increasingly erratic, while at the same time continually and persistently warming. The checks and balance of nature is being severely disrupted.

Finally, as the mounting forces of destruction are on the rise and gaining momentum, so too are the forces that are fighting for an abundant life of rich biodiversity—a balanced healthy holistic world. Next week you will meet some of these people, and a movement that make alot of sense for all of us to get behind.

Sincerely yours,

Seann Bardell

BioImmersion.com

Clinical Note:

Tomorrow, on February 11th at 5:00pm PST I will be conducting a webinar entitled, DeEvolution and the Ecology of the Microbiome. It will be 45 minutes of lecture and fifteen minutes for discussion—starting at 5:00pm and ending at 6:00 sharp. Let me know if you would like to join us, and I will send you a link.

The Last Quiz Answer: The jungles of central Africa are home to the forest elephant. Unlike their better-known cousins, the African elephants of the open savannahs, forest elephants are adapted to living in dense woodlands. They have straight tusks, for instance, since curved ones might get caught in vines and brush. And they tend to be smaller and stockier than savannah elephants. Scientists have found that they have a home range that might be up to 2,000 square kilometers [1,243 square miles] — that’s almost as big as the range of a savannah elephant. Unfortunately, forest elephants are getting hammered by poachers and by destruction of their forest habitat. The population appears to be shrinking, except in a few small areas. The last reliable survey in the late 1980s showed about 170,000 animals. There are probably less than 100,000 today. For a very cool website on these magnificent creatures click here on jungle elephants.

Next week we will be talking about Food Inc., and the week after that an organization called Facing the Future. There is much for us to be excited about and hopeful for. If you haven’t  seen the movie, Food Inc, rent it or buy it. It will put a fire in your belly for change.

Dear Friends,

Last week I had the privelage of hearing Dr. Peter Ward, Astrobiologist and Paleontologist, lecture at the University of Washington. The lecture was entitled: Who is afraid of the big bad climate? What is the worst that global warming could do?

Peter was introduced by University of Washington President, Dr. Mark Emmert. The occasion was The Annual Faculty Lecture. Since 1976 members of the UW faculty have chosen a faculty peer who has made a demonstratable impact on their profession to deliver the annual faculty lecture. This is the highest honor the University faculty can bestow on one of their own.

Peter delivered a fascinating and important talk. I was able to find a video of an earlier talk that he had made covering much of the same information, so I include it here for your perusal: Peter’s Talk.

How serious are the actual threats from a warmed world according to Dr. Ward? Extremely serious! Peter framed his thesis as follows:

• From the fossil-biomarker-rock record we know that there have been at least five major extinctions over the last five hundred million years. He characterizes his work as research in deep time.
• Each extinction manifests as a resurgence of the microbial slime world of bacteria, algae, molds, jellyfish, etc. (creatures that can survive in a low oxygen environment) over the more complex, oxygen dependent species of fish, amphibians, reptiles, bird-like creatures and yes, mammal-like reptiles called the gorganopsians—most all of these higher phyla became extinct.
• Each of the extinctions are characterized as periods of high levels of green house gasses—particularily carbon dioxide, and high levels of highly toxic hydrogen sulfide—produced in massive amounts by certain bacteria. The green house gasses created high global temperatures, causing the polar ice-caps to melt, with a corresponding rise in the sea level of 250 feet! The oceans became hypoxic with the bloom of hydrogen sulfide producing bacteria, killing all higher creatures.
• The past mass extinctions were initiated by one of two major events—by asteroids colliding with the earth, creating worldwide climate change, and the foresaid chain of events; or by the rise of flood basalts in which a series of giant volcanic eruptions occur that coat large stretches of land and the ocean floor. Pick your poison—both are accompanied by massive levels of green house gasses and the reign of an oxygen-less bacterial microbial world.

Dr. Ward’s thesis is that when the carbon dioxide levels reach 1000 ppm there in no ice on planet earth, sea levels rise by two-hundred and fifty feet, toxic bacteria dominate and there is mass extinction of most all of the higher species. The CO2 levels now are at 350ppm and rising. Unless we do something, biologists are saying we will reach the 1000 ppm level in between 100 to 300 years. As we have discussed in our newsletter over the last year and a half, the de-evolutionary process is well underway and unless we fully engage in corrective measures, the precambian world will be our horizon.

The above brings the urgency of our present situation into focus. Green house gasses are rising, dead zone (hypoxic zones) in the oceans and seas are spreading, one species after another (of amphibians, reptiles and mammals) must be placed on the endangered list—many are being lost to extinction each year—one-third of the world’s frogs will be lost within the next several years. Looking squarely into the face of this de-evolutionary demon, we must come to grips to the fact that we are the cause of this loss of biodiversity. We are both the problem and the possible solution. Next week we will look at some amazing people and organizations who are definately part of the solution. You will be inspired.

Sincerely yours,

Seann Bardell

BioImmersion.com

Clinical Note:

A week from Thursday, on February 11th at 5:00pm PST I will be conducting a webinar entitled, DeEvolution and the Ecology of the Microbiome. It will be 45 minutes of lecture and fifteen minutes for discussion—starting at 5:00pm and ending at 6:00 sharp. Let me know if you would like to join us, and I will send you a link.

The Last Quiz Answer: This gorgeous creature is the Six-plummed Bird of Paradise in full courtship display as you will see in this clip. There are thirty-eight species that inhabit New Guinea and they vary remarkably. For example, the diminutive King Bird of Paradise is bluebird-sized and glistening red and white. The Crinkle-collared Manucode is like a compact crow, shiny black with highlights of purple and blue. The Magnificent Rifle Bird of Paradise, that we disclosed last week, is also in this clip. It is chunky, long billed, and nearly tailess, the male being glossy black with an iridencent blue throat shield, the female buff brown with fine barring underneath.

Next week we will be talking about not only Food Inc., but also about an organization called Facing the Future. There is much for us to be excited about and hopeful for!