The Organic View

The Animal Legal Defense Fund drafted and added an "Offender Registration and Community Notification" section to ALDF’s model laws collection in 2001. It was based on the statutory equivalents, that all state have since adopted, dubbed "Megan's Laws" that deal with sex offenders. Since then a number of jurisdictions have followed this model concept introducing legislation to accomplish this goal with respect to animal abusers. To view a complete list of all states, please click here.  Stephan K. Otto is an attorney and director of legislative affairs for the Animal Legal Defense Fund. In this capacity he oversees the development of animal protection laws at the local, state and federal levels. He is also an adjunct professor of law at Lewis & Clark Law School where he teaches an animal law legislation clinic. Mr. Otto is the author of various animal protection bills, statutes and ordinances in jurisdictions throughout the country. He is the publisher and editor of the Animal Protection Laws of the United States of America & Canada compendium (currently in its fifth edition), ALDF Model Animal Protection Laws collection, and annual comparative reports, State Animal Protection Laws Rankings and Canadian Animal Protection Laws Rankings. Mr. Otto speaks on an array of animal-related issues at hearings and presentations across the country. In this segment of The Organic View Radio Show, host, June Stoyer will speak to Stephan Otto about this victory! Stay tuned!

Eat Fabulous Food, Get Healthy and Save the Planet All on $5 a Day or Less! The organic industry has come a long way. Consumers now can buy organically grown food as well as other staples just about anywhere they shop. Many people still do not understand what to look for or how to buy the most on a limited budget. Unfortunately, people will opt to resort to conventional (ie: non-organic, non-foods) instead. Author Linda Watson has written a fabulous book which outlines your options in full detail. The book also enables you to make your own staples with her kid-friendly recipes. Her book also contains a great deal of insight as far as why you should shop for particular ingredients and how to compromise with alternatives.  In this segment of The Organic View Radio Show, host, June Stoyer will talk to Author, Linda Watson about her new book and her valuable tips. So, if you are feeling the pinch of the economy but do not want to sacrifice your healthy by opting for the chemical foods on the market, this is one book you need to read! Stay tuned!

It is officially summertime and as the temperature continues to rise, more people eagerly head to the pool or the beach. While the sun does provide essential Vitamin D, too much sun can harm your skin. Typically, sun-worshipers have slathered on a myriad of tropical scented lotions and sprays in order to protect themselves from the sun’s harmful UV rays not really paying too much attention to the ingredients in the products. The focal point has been primarily what number the SPF is. This is simply not enough! Thanks to many consumer awareness groups, issues have been raised about the purity and kinds of ingredients used in sun care products. The reason for this concern is that the chemicals in your sun care can actually cause more damage than good. Thanks to these groups and other resources, consumers are becoming aware of some of the most common sunscreen ingredients that are suspected or known carcinogens and/or hormone disrupters. Read your labels to see if your sun and skin care product contains any ingredients that are harmful. Another major issue is whether or not these products are tested on animals and contain animal derived ingredients. Conscious consumers are especially particular about how the products that they choose to buy are made. Once a conscious consumer is hooked, the loyalty is instantaneous mainly because there are not many companies out there that produce a pure, high quality and vegan sun care product. So what should you look for when it comes to sun care? Is there anything particular you should pay attention to when it comes to small children or infants? What ingredients that are commonly used are derived from animals? How do you know if a company uses the barbaric practices of animal testing? In this segment of The Organic View Radio Show, host, June Stoyer talks to Valerie McMurray, CEO of Soleil Organique Stay tuned!

Have you ever wanted to learn how to make your own soap or even start a small side business to generate a little bit of extra cash flow.  Soap making seems to be a lost art but thanks to Author and soap expert, Kayla Fioravanti, many people are finding that it is not as difficult as you might think. Recently, Kayla published her new book How To Make Melt & Pour Soap Base From Scratchwhich not only gives a complete “idiot’s guide” type in depth instruction for making your own soap but also provides a myriad of resources, reference materials and descriptions so that anyone can have fun making home-made soaps! In this segment of The Organic View Radio Show, Kayla Fioravanti, Chief Formulator from Essential Wholesale Labs (www.EssentialWholesale.com) and also the star of the hit series on YouTube, Kitchen Chemistry with Kayla . Stay tuned!

Recently, the Republican majority in the U.S. House of Representatives released its version of the Fiscal Year 2012 Agriculture Appropriations Bill, which slashes funding to the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) agency charged with preventing meatpackers from engaging in unfair, deceptive and discriminatory livestock procurement practices that have forced independent farmers and ranchers out of the business. According to Bill Bullard, the meatpackers have enlisted the aid of key congressional members to help them avoid U.S. laws that prohibit meatpackers from engaging in unfair trade practices against U.S. farmers and ranchers who sell their livestock into one of the most concentrated, monopolistic marketing systems in the entire U.S. economy. “Four powerful meatpackers now control about 85 percent of the U.S. fed cattle market and these four meatpackers have coerced Congress into derailing a USDA rulemaking that would, for the first time, properly implement the 90-year-old Packers and Stockyards Act that was intended to prevent monopolistic meatpackers from taking advantage of independent farmers and ranchers,” he said. The meatpackers have specifically targeted an important rulemaking by the USDA Grain Inspection, Packers and Stockyards Administration (GIPSA) that belatedly implements the Packers and Stockyards Act of 1921 (PSA). The GIPSA rulemaking, known as the GIPSA rule, does this by imparting fairness and transparency in the livestock marketplace and by holding meatpackers accountable for their unfair cattle procurement practices that have contributed to the loss of over half a million U.S. cattle farmers and ranchers during just the past three decades. In this segment of The Organic View Radio Show, host, June Stoyer will speak to Bill Bullard, who is the Chief Executive Officer of the Ranchers-Cattlemen Action Legal Fund, United Stockgrowers of America (R-CALF USA). Stay tuned!

Neonicotinoids continue to contribute to the rapid decline in the honeybee population.  The agencies designated to protect our honeybees seem confused as to their role. During a time when there should be solidarity between the two groups, there is a huge divide. It is now up to the leadership within the beekeeping community to take a stand and act. In this segment of The Organic View Radio Show, host, June Stoyer will speak to beekeeping experts and activists, Tom Theobald, author, Graham White and Phil Chandler, who is also the host of The Barefoot Beekeeper.

Permaculture provides a core set of design principles that allow individuals to create their own environment and build increasingly self-sufficient human habitats.  The term permaculture, meaning "permanent agriculture" was coined in the 1970's by Australian Bill Mollison. This is done by actually working with nature, not against it. Initially, it was created as a method to enable people to be able to work with the land and animals for sustainable food production. The basic principles have actually evolved to encompass economic and social systems. Implementing permaculture principles can help minimize human reliance on industrial systems of production and distribution that are identified as being destructive to the ecological system. Permaculture also uses the same fundamental principles found in Integrated Pest Management (IPM) and Vegetative Management Systems. By creating a series of semi autonomous processes that work together simultaneously, you can produce a higher quality system that is holistic and sustainable.    In this segment of The Organic View Radio Show, host, June Stoyer will speak to Horticultural expert, John Peter Thompson, who is President of the National Agricultural Research Alliance (http://www.NARA-B.org ). John Peter will talk about how to utilize permaculture practices to make your garden more productive and sustainable. Stay tuned!

  The summer has arrived and with it come the invitations to graduation parties, family picnics, beach parties and country getaways.  With all of the work that goes into your own garden, why not have a party in your own garden? Garden parties are a way to show off your collection as well as your taste in landscape design. In this segment of The Organic View Radio Show, host, June Stoyer will speak to Horticultural expert, John Peter Thompson, who is President of the National Agricultural Research Alliance (http://www.NARA-B.org ). John Peter will talk about some really creative tips and tricks to making your garden party THE party of the summer! Stay tuned!

Throughout time, women have sought the finest ingredients to preserve, heal and restore their complexion. Nature provides an endless supply of plants and minerals which have tremendous healing properties. Science continues to gather these ingredients, combining them to heal and restore our skin’s vitality. Due to the risk of over exposure from the sun, the skin must be protected from the UV rays. The quality of ingredients used in sun care products on the market is also a great concern due to parabens, synthetic fragrances and of course, the disturbing practice of animal testing. Scientific Organics combines the latest breakthroughs in skincare as well as potent, proven botanicals and marine extracts to ensure visible results. One of the unique key ingredients Scientific Organics uses is Kombucha; a tea traditionally consumed for medicinal purposes. Its medicinal properties are tremendous for the health, restoration and healing of the skin. Scientific Organics is also doing its part to care for the environment by using packaging printed on First Stewardship Council and Sustainable Forestry initiative certified paperboard. One tree is planted for every product sold. These initiatives are a great example of how companies can get directly involved with protecting our environment. In this segment of The Organic View Radio Show, host, June Stoyer will speak to Ian Lirenman, CEO, Emergin C Scientific Organics about skin care and protecting our skin.  Stay tuned!

In this special Memorial Day Weekend segment, host, June Stoyer will talk to veteran and professional photographer, David Leeson about the health and wellness of our veterans, past and present. David Leeson is a Dallas-based photojournalist and visual artist, freelancing in still and video photography. He also teaches in the Emerging Media and Communications department at University of Texas at Dallas. David worked as a newspaper photographer from 1977 to 2008.  He was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize three times prior to winning the award in 2004 for photographs made for The Dallas Morning News during the war in Iraq. He has also won two Robert F. Kennedy Journalism Awards and numerous regional, state and national honors.  During his years as a newspaper photographer, he specialized in war and social unrest, covering numerous global conflicts. In 2000, he began shooting video for The Dallas Morning News, completing numerous documentaries. His videos won a National Headliners Award, a national Edward R. Murrow Award, and two regional Emmy Awards. He was also a finalist for Best Short Film at the USA Film Festival. In 2006, David was named Innovator of the Year in Photojournalism by American Photo magazine for his work in obtaining high quality still images from high-definition video. Aside from his journalistic endeavors, David began working in art photography, with a focus on self-portraiture, in 1982. His work has been shown in galleries, and he was recognized as one of 32 emerging photographic artists worldwide for the 2007 "Festival of the Photograph."  

Earlier this year, the USDA made the decision to allow genetically modified alfalfa to be deregulated. While the public has been outraged, there are still many people that do not really comprehend how devastating this will be.  Just how safe will this be for animal consumption as well as human consumption? Will this guarantee the continued path to destruction of ALL organic crops in the United States making organic impossible to grow? How many pesticides will be enough? What rights do the farmers have if their pristine land is contaminated? How will consumers know if the food they eat contains something genetically modified? In this segment of The Organic View Radio Show, host, June Stoyer will speak to activist, Beth Robinette about the impact of the deregulation of GE Alfalfa.  Beth Robinette is a fourth generation rancher on the Lazy R Ranch, located outside of Spokane, Washington, where she continues to live and work with her family. Beth attended Western Washington University where she pursued a self-designed degree entitled, “Empowering Family Farms: Profiting from Sustainability.” This year she will begin working towards her MBA at the Bainbridge Graduate Institute, one of the top schools in the nation for sustainable business practices. She co-owns and operates the ranch with her dad, Maurice. Together they seek to provide their community with food that is ethical, sustainable, and healthy.

Pet food expert, Author, Susan Thixton, who is the Founder of Truth About Pet Food will talk candidly about some of the latest issues in which pet food companies have been issued a warning letter from the FDA citing violations of the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act. For many companies, this is not an isolated event. Just how safe is your animal companion’s food? Can you trust what is on the label? How do you decipher the names of the ingredients? In this segment of The Organic View Radio Show, host, June Stoyer will speak to Susan Thixton, about what you can do as a pet parent and consumer. Tune in to hear Susan's suggestions as far as how you can take action and take the necessary measures to insure the quality of the food you buy!

Indigenous people experience disproportionately high rates of chronic and communicable diseases such as diabetes and cardiovascular diseases. They also often struggle with poor living conditions, inadequate housing, poor nutrition, and exposure to high environmental contaminants, leading to burdens of chronic health deficits. The 2006 Indigenous World International Working Group on indigenous affairs says: “Indigenous people remain on the margins of society: they are poorer, less educated, die at a younger age, are much more likely to commit suicide, and are generally in worse health than the rest of the population”. This is particularly true for indigenous groups “whose original ways of life, environment, and livelihoods have been destroyed and often replaced with the worst of Western lifestyle – i.e., unemployment, poor housing, alcoholism, and drug use”. Over the last several decades, scholars have been linking these health outcomes to historical traumas that have affected the overall health and wellness of indigenous people and are also seeing a great deal of resiliency embedded in cultural practices and traditions. In this segment of The Organic View Radio Show, host, June Stoyer will speak to Dr. Ramona E. Beltrán, PhD,  MSW, about these issues and how re-evaluating their relationship between the natural environment and health has brought about the necessary change. Dr. Beltran, who is a Chicana woman of Yaqui tribal heritage, currently works at the Indigenous Wellness Research Institute and the Center for Studies on Health and Risk Behaviors at the University of Washington. She engages in community-based participatory research. She also teaches graduate courses on social justice and historical trauma at the University of Washington. She is working on developing a book on holistic and creative pedagogy for teaching historical trauma and healing. Stay tuned!

Just about every other commercial talks about weight loss or some kind of food that promotes weight loss. What exactly is the risk that you are taking with your health when you consume these kinds of foods? Most every diet food, which has been cleverly changed by the marketers to “low calorie” and “reduced calorie” food item contains an artificial sweetener. The artificial sweetener is usually saccharin or aspartame. Controversy continues to swirl around these fake sugars thirty years after FDA approval but are they really safe? One woman adamantly says, "No." She should know! Award winning journalist and food safety expert, Mary Nash Stoddard, has, for the past 24 years, spearheaded the campaign to have aspartame recalled and retested as a drug. In this segment of The Organic View Radio Show, host, June Stoyer will speak to Mary Nash Stoddard, the founder: Aspartame Consumer Safety Network and Pilot Hotline to talk about this deadly sweetener. Stay tuned!

It is that time of the year again in New York as well as other parts of the world where spring has sprung and the grass is beginning to grow. In garden centers and nurseries, there are a myriad of products that are being pushed on the consumer that are not necessarily needed in order to keep your lawn healthy all summer long. There are also products that contain harsh chemicals that are dangerous to all beings. Chemicals, such as Imidacloprid, which are part of the neonicotinoid family, will wipe out any chance that a butterfly or bumblebee will visit your home to pollinate the vegetables in your garden much less any flowers. Many of these products, subsequently, are very expensive and completely unnecessary. Thanks to clever marketers, people are buying them without having any idea as to how much damage they are doing to their own lawns.  To top it off, there are certain times of the year when specific products should be used but are marketed to be used all year round. When it comes to alternatives to these chemicals, they are never even mentioned because this would prevent the chemical companies from enjoying their healthy profits while your lawn becomes unhealthy. Unfortunately, the public only knows what they learn from clever commercials and ads as they spend dollar after dollar buying products that are a complete waste and are contributing to Colony Collapse Disorder. In this segment of The Organic View Radio Show, host, June Stoyer will speak to Tom Kelly, CEO of Firebelly Organic Lawn Care about what consumers should know in order to have a healthy lawn. Stay tuned!