August 2006 | Mindful Living
Wild-Born or Fish Farm Fakers?
Summer is the season for wild salmon. And, as the seafood sleuths at Consumer Reports recently discovered, if you’re springing for “wild” outside of the Alaskan salmon season (May through September), you might be the victim of some fishy fraud.
Staffers of the consumer research magazine put a handful of unnamed stores under scrutiny, testing wild-labeled salmon purchased at various markets during November, December and March. And the verdict? Out of the 23 fillets claiming natural birth, only 10 proved to be truly wild-caught. Based on the synthetic coloring agents the testers found in the other 13 fillets, the rest were farm-raised fakers. “Without coloring, farmed salmon would be gray,” the magazine explains.
Seafood vendors aren’t required by law to label their salmon “farmed” or “wild,” but if they do choose to use the label (encouraged, no doubt, by the allure of a higher price bracket—wild salmon sells at nearly double the price-per-pound of its farmed-raised brethren), they’re obligated to be telling the truth. And FYI, diehard organic shoppers: there are no federal standards for labeling seafood “organic.” Of the two “organic” fillets tested by the fish fraud task force, both were farmed.
There are good reasons to pay extra for truly wild-raised fish; in addition to being less flavorful, farmed salmon are more likely than wild to contain contaminants like PCBs and dioxins. But as Consumer Reports notes, if you’re looking to get your omega-3 fix year-round, stock the deep freeze with wild fish during the months they’re most likely to be truthfully labeled, and save your winter paychecks for omega-3 alternatives like fish-oil supplements, walnuts or flaxseed.
—Eliza Thomas
CONSCIOUS BUSINESS
The Body As Billboard
“Activism isn’t writing a check. Activism is the way you live your life,” says Carly Miller of politically-charged apparel line Clothing of the American Mind (COTAM). “It can be as simple as what T-shirt you put on in the morning.”
Half of the fiery two-women team behind such wearable slogans as “Electoral College Dropout” and “My Bush is Pro-Choice,” Miller, along with COTAM owner/designer Caitlin Blue, wants you to consider your chest valuable real estate, and each morning in front of the closet an opportunity to express engaged political dissent.
But the work of the LA-based, diehard-dedicated duo is more than just designer Bush-bashing. As they put it, “We are committed to bringing informed dissent back into vogue, figuratively and literally.” Since Blue launched the company on the first anniversary of the Iraq invasion in March of 2004, COTAM has been on the ground and in the streets at festivals, demonstrations and rallies around the country, registering thousands of voters, inciting debate and agitating for social change. And to ensure that “you feel as righteous as you look,” a percentage of each T-shirt purchase goes toward forward-thinking efforts like MoveOn.org, The Progressive Majority, Progressive Democrats of America, Amnesty International, Peace Action and the Democratic National Committee—over $20,000 since COTAM’s inception.
“Fundraisers knock on your door and ask for money, but no one knows about that donation except you and the IRS. You can buy our shirts knowing your money is going to a cause you believe in, and wear them knowing it’s going to create a dialogue,” says the passionate and articulate Miller.
Fair Trade and made in the USA from the start, each new COTAM design has printed on organic cotton since the “Stop Wars” T-shirt, introduced at last September’s massive anti-war demonstrations in downtown LA and Washington DC. “Most people don’t think about the pesticides that were sprayed to grow the cotton in a T-shirt, or that when they’re putting that shirt on, they’re subjecting their body to toxins,” explains Carly. “It’s our goal to educate people about these issues while providing them with an alternative.”
Distributing online at cotam.org and at boutiques around the country, Miller and Blue will open a Clothing of the American Mind storefront in their eastside LA neighborhood this fall. But in keeping with their multi-platform mission, T-shirt sales will only be one part of the picture. “We want the store to serve as a gallery space for local, politically-minded artists and a gathering space for community activists. We can’t wait to get started.” —ET
GET ACTIVE!
Volunteer Projects for Animal Lovers
Ride to Fly offers therapeutic horseback riding to children and adults with disabilities in Rancho Palos Verdes. The nonprofit seeks volunteers in all areas (clerical, fundraising, barn maintenance, publicity et al) but specifically as leaders and sidewalkers during Saturday lessons (9:00am - 2:00pm). Experience with horses is not required—you will learn! 50 Narcissa Dr., Rancho Palos Verdes. ridetofly.com.
Walk This Way! Walk a doggie for K-9 connection. It’s simple: You pick up a shelter dog, suit the pup in an “Adopt Me” vest and hit the streets or run errands with your new furry friend, fielding questions from potential adopters. Walking shifts are available seven days a week during both morning and afternoon hours. 1453 16th Street, Santa Monica. 310.264.5424. k9connection.org.
Super Saturday Pet Food Deliveries Help the homebound keep and care for their animal companions by delivering pet food. Volunteers are needed every third Saturday of the month for about four hours (11:00-3:00pm). Delivery locations vary. Pick up items at Paws LA in Hollywood. Contact Kelly Jackson at The Volunteer Center of LA: 818.908.5066. vcla.net or pawsla.org. —Jolia Sidona Einstein
Snoop Doggy Downward Dog
Most yoga classes extol the virtue of a calm and clear mind. But at YogaHop, if “Summertime” by DJ Jazzy Jeff & The Fresh Prince is flowing through your thoughts, it’s not because you’re unable to purge your head of earthly distractions, it’s because the song is actually bumping from the speakers as you sink deeper into warrior pose.
YogaHop is a new Santa Monica studio offering a hybrid of Eastern yoga traditions with a Western spin. Popular dance beats fill the space once occupied by reticent rumination.
“We are joining the two worlds [of music and yoga] together,” says Mary King, owner of YogaHop along with husband Marko. She says that it’s similar to how church uses music “in order to lift your spirits up higher to the heavens and to whichever God you enjoy talking to.” Joggers, cyclists and the like rock out with their iPods, so why can’t yogis? To King, YogaHop is “the new yin and yang.”
What about the naysayers who believe yoga is all about quiet introspection? “This isn’t their class, and that’s cool,” says chief instructor Matt Reyes, who’s known as a pioneer of the East-meets-West yoga style. “True yoga started with you and a guru in a cave and anything other than that is just a branch,” he explains. “This is just another way to do it.”
Get your yoga on at YogaHop, 1612 Montana Ave., 2nd Floor, Santa Monica. 310.829.5000. Yogahop.com.
—Jessica Ridenour
Worth Repeating
“Life itself is a passion. By passion I mean a search, a quest that is never satisfied and so increases even as it tastes what it is looking for. I believe this characteristic in some ways best expresses or defines our humanity. I think—more than intelligence, will and freedom—the real key to humanity is desire. This is what I call religion: that quest, that search for whatever it is that will bring fulfillment, that really corresponds to your desire.”
—Former physicist Monsignor Lorenzo Albacete, professor of theology at St. Joseph’s Seminary in New York and president of the Catholic University of Puerto Rico, to Mean ingoflife.tv.
“Deliberate obsolescence in all its forms—technological, psychological, or planned—is a uniquely American invention. Not only did we invent disposable products, ranging from diapers to cameras to contact lenses, but we invented the very concept of disposability itself.”
—Writer Giles Slade, in his new book Made to Break: Technology and Obsolescence in America (Harvard University Press, April 2006).
“My biggest fear is turning parents into full-time anxiety induced people. I do not think it’s necessary for a busy working mom to come home and grind her own baby food. Let’s educate ourselves about what we’re going to pick and choose, about what’s manageable and what’s not manageable. I don’t say, ‘Never give your kids Cheetos!’ I just say, ‘Be aware it’s like giving them a glass of wine. Things are okay in small doses, but be aware of what you’re doing.’ “
—Natalie Geary, MD, integrative pediatrician and creator of all natural skincare line Vedababy, to Lime.com, 5/12/06.
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