Whole Foods Market(R) and Personal Care Suppliers Bring Authenticity to Organic Labeling

I've only recently started shopping at Whole Foods Market, only because there isn't one in proximity to my apartment. Fortunately though, my daughter goes to piano in an area that is close to 2 (!), so my grocery days now coincide with her piano days. I love shopping there. There is a much wider selection of organic items than the groceries on my side of town.

And, when it seemed that they couldn't be more wonderful than they already were, I read this bit of news today:

AUSTIN, Texas, June 18 /PRNewswire/ -- Whole Foods Market (Nasdaq: WFMI) announced today that all personal care products and cosmetics making an "organic" claim sold in its U.S. stores must be third-party certified by June 1, 2011.

Under the new guidelines, all products making an "organic" product claim (e.g. "organic shampoo") must be certified to the USDA's National Organic Program standard. Products making a "made with organic ingredients" claim must also be certified to the NOP standard, and products making a "contains organic ingredients" claim must be certified to the NSF 305 ANSI Standard for Organic Personal Care products, a consensus-based industry standard accepted by the American National Standards Institute and managed by NSF International.

Read the entire article here:

Whole Foods Market(R) and Personal Care Suppliers Bring Authenticity to Organic Labeling

Yay, Whole Foods Market!

A Quick Look Back

Shortly after my ex-husband and I moved in temporarily with his parents, I realized why he treated me the way he did. His parents intended to raise him and his siblings to be good children, but in a harshly critical and judgmental way. This broke my heart, especially when they were critical of him in front of me, and I always came to his defense. He, because this was the way he thought love was, treated me the same way. I had to fight very hard for love, true love, and acceptance.

How do you tell someone that the best way to arm their children with strength, to show them love, and to help them be the best person they can be, is to let them be who they are and support their unfolding?

The Dirty Dozen and the Clean 15

So interesting, yet oh, so scary. Linked below is an article from CNN about which fruits and vegetables absorb harmful pesticides if not grown organically. If you want to pick and choose which organic fruits and veggies to buy, here is a good guide:

If you're eating non-organic celery today, you may be ingesting 67 pesticides with it, according to a new report from the Environmental Working Group.

Click to read more from CNN.com

Here's a quick look at the list.

The Dirty Dozen

• Celery
• Peaches
• Strawberries
• Apples
• Domestic blueberries
• Nectarines
• Sweet bell peppers
• Spinach, kale and collard greens
• Cherries
• Potatoes
• Imported grapes
• Lettuce

The Clean 15

• Onions
• Avocados
• Sweet corn
• Pineapples
• Mango
• Sweet peas
• Asparagus
• Kiwi fruit
• Cabbage
• Eggplant
• Cantaloupe
• Watermelon
• Grapefruit
• Sweet potatoes
• Sweet onions

Things I Am Thankful for

1. Time to do my work, my chores, and hang out with DD and my mom
2. COFFEE
3. The bright and sunny weather outside, perfect for shopping and running errands
4. Work that I enjoy
5. The quiet spaces between my thoughts and the things I do
6. My humble little apartment
7. The wealth of information that is available to me when I need it
8. FAMILY
9. The herbs that I grow on my patio. I love being able to use fresh lavender as a room deodorizer!
10. This three-day weekend. It's helped me get caught on a lot of things.

What are you thankful for?