While growing up, we weren't allowed to watch much TV. Mom said it dampened a child's creativity and made kids lazy--mentally and physically. That was back in the 1950s. Since then, thousands of studies have looked at how TV affects kids' grades, sleep, behavior, and health.

TV has become a public health issue. First of all, kids get lots of information about health from TV, much of it from ads. And children tend to believe what the ads say, even though they might be untrue or unbalanced. If you don't believe it (HAH!), the next time you get tired of hearing your children beg for junk food, think about all those TV commercials.

[To listen to this article, a 3-minute audio file, subscribe to to my podcast feed (so you can open the attachment below) or to listen to the mp3 file now, simply click here]. Otherwise, heck, keep on reading...    more »

The number of organic gardeners is predicted to increase about 10 percent a year. What about you? If you choose to switch from chemical fertilizers to organic ones, keep in mind that the process is compared to giving up smoking...   more »

Rachel Biccum, a fifth-grader in Chico, California, was sick and tired of school lunches, so she decided to take action. She handed out fliers to her classmates, promoting a boycott. "No more bad lunches!" the flier stated. Rachel also encouraged fellow students to boycott the cafeteria and bring their lunches from home. They told school officials, "get rid of the processed junk, we want more fresh foods."

For Rachel and friends to ask for more fresh foods is encouraging news, since childhood obesity rates are skyrocketing. But you know, there's another way to provide fresh food at school, and that's to GROW it. School gardens are sprouting up all over the country. A growing success story, if you will...   more »

As Valentines Day approaches, consider painting the holiday green. Green as in more healthy and natural. It's easy, and you know what? You, and Mother Earth, will love you...   more »

I'm amazed at the power of small things that make a big difference. Maybe that explains why I'm so jazzed about starting plants from seeds. You know, small seeds that grow into big plants. Every chance I get--in my columns, podcasts, workshops, website, blog, newsletter--I spread the good word about growing your own. Here's the latest headline I used [don't laugh]: SAVE MONEY, LOSE WEIGHT by growing your own seedlings! Okay, sounds a stretch, yet it's not far from the truth...   more »

Maybe you've decided for this year, to treat yourself better. Or maybe you've come to the conclusion that your family ought to eat together more regularly, and that fast food several times a week is simply bad for both wallet and waistline.

Sound too lofty? Too hard to implement with your busy schedule? Nahhhh. Let's start with fast food and go from there...

[FUN STUFF! Listen to my audio article, a 3-minute, mp3 file which includes an on-scene interview at Seattle's Pike Place Market, by clicking here or subscribe to my podcast feed so you can open the attachment below]

Otherwise, keep reading. You'll eventually come to a cool recipe at the end...   more »

Her plea for help surfaced one morning in my inbox. I'm sharing it here with the hope that together we can find some resources for this woman who has been diagnosed with breast cancer:

Dear Marion,
I was recently diagnosed with breast cancer and have to be on chemotherapy in two weeks time. I was checking out your website and it is interesting to read about organic gardening. If you know of any source or organic foods that are good for breast cancers, I'd sure appreciate it. I live in Sacramento...   more »

The numbers are amazing...

According to Discovery Health's calculator, between today (August 23, 2006) and my birth date, my heart has beat 1,911,301,056 times. That's assuming that in a typical minute one's heart beats about 72 times. You can do the math to figure out when I was born, but I'll save you the trouble: March 4, 1956, (or as I like to tell the person behind the counter selling me wine: 3-4-56. Cool, eh?)

The number jives with what the sages of India have maintained for centuries: There is a fixed number of times the heart is meant to beat each year. The number is something like 40 million. While you can argue about the precise number (by all means, use the calculator), I think you'll agree that the heart, like any sturdy pump, has a limited working lifespan. So, what's the point?   more »

You're standing in the produce department, checking out the displays of fruit. The little baskets of strawberries catch your eye. Hmm, a strawberry shortcake would be nice for dessert, and tomorrow you could slice a few berries over your granola.

Nice thoughts; bad idea.

Why? Let's first get out of the cereal bowl and look at the big picture.

If you are concerned about oil prices and global warming, consider this: It takes 400 calories of fossil fuels to transport a single 5-calorie strawberry from California to East Coast supermarkets. What's more, that bright red, but flavorless strawberry was probably grown with methyl bromide, a carcinogenic and ozone depleting pesticide. [Reported by the Organic Consumers Association]

Still considering strawberry shortcake? Here are a few more things to think about when you're at the grocery store:   more »

My husband and I subscribe to Netflix for most of our movie-watching. (However, the luxury of sitting down to a movie comes to a grinding halt when our dinner cruise season starts in late spring.) Perhaps the afternoon was particularly dreary, but I let it get me down. This called for a radical, conscious effort. So I went online and ordered four upbeat flicks. Here's our list:
PSST! I feature all sorts of tips like this on my friendly, monthly newsletter, the UpBeet Gardener. To read the current issue (always posted online), click here.

Hungry, you grab an apple from the fruit bowl. You look for the little sticker and then scrape it off with your fingernail. Then it hits you: "What do the numbers on the sticker mean?"
 
As much as we don’t like them, the stickers attached to fruit do more than speed up the checkout process. The PLU code, or price lookup numbers tell you how the fruit was grown. By deciphering the numbers you can tell if the produce was grown with chemical fertilizers, is genetically modified, or organically grown.

[To listen to the audio version of this article, which is only 2 minutes long, subscribe to my podcast feed so you can open the attachment below,  or simply listen to the mp3 file now by clicking here]

Otherwise, just keep on reading...   more »

We can live four weeks without food, four days without water, four minutes without air. For sure, air tops the list as the most essential requirement to our physical health. Yet air can be rather unhealthy this time of the year. With doors and windows closed, indoor air pollution levels can rise to dangerous levels. While air fresheners cover up the smell of stale air, this does little to improve the indoor air quality. However, there is an effective solution to this problem, plants.

[Special: If you'd like to listen to this article (a 2-minute audion clip) subscribe to my podcast feed (so you can open the attachment below) or simply click here to listen to the mp3 file]. Otherwise, just keep reading...   more »

Calculating your retirement benefits is just one piece of the Big Decision. Experts say you should ask yourself, "What makes you happy?" and, "What do you want to do with your time?" Listen to these golden gems of advice from Mary Lou McNabb, a master gardener in Huntsville, Alabama...

Lend me your ear! To listen to the 2-minute interview you have two choices: Subscribe to my podcast feed (so you can open the attachment below) or simply download/listen here to the mp3.

Resources mentioned in the interview:
The Social Security Administration website: www.ssa.org

Feeling a little grouchy these days? Perhaps you're a tad sluggish, less creative or anti-social. Join the club, the one with 6 percent of the U.S. population who live with Season Affective Disorder, or SAD. A type of depression, SAD is caused by shortened exposure to daylight, says Dr. Norman Rosenthal, the nation's leading SAD expert and author of the newly revised book, "Winter Blues."

Listen and learn as Dr. Rosenthal shares his winter blues solutions with you and -- surprise, surprise -- discovers that having houseplants around are "a good idea."

Listening is easy:  To hear this 2-minute audio-article, subscribe to my podcast feed (so you can open the attachment below) or simply listen to the mp3 now by clicking here. You'll feel better for it, I promise!