Leanne is a student in the Sustainable Living Program at a university in the Mid-West. This website is part her life-long desire to help the environment and help people.

The Green Dragon

The Green Dragon website includes a trailer and a more in-depth multi-media project. http://www.greendragonfilm.com/

Max Perelman will be speaking at Maharishi University of Management in Fairfield, IA on Monday, January 11 at 8 PM at the Argiro Student Center. Mr. Perelman is the president of American Environmental & Agricultural, Inc., an import/export and trade consulting firm specializing in environmental technologies and focused on trade between Asia and North America. He is also an advisor to the Joint US-China Cooperation on Clean Energy. Max speaks and reads Japanese and Mandarin Chinese. He has presented at a number of green building conferences including the USGBC’s Greenbuild 2007 in Chicago and WestCoastGreen 2008 in Silicon Valley.

On Saturday December 5, the Dharma Foundation will hold a Holiday Trade Fair at the Field House on the MUM campus, next to MSAE, from 10-4. Admission is free. There will be local artisans, local companies and lots of incredible food!

M.U.M. Organic Farm

The Maharishi University of Management Organic Farm in Fairfield, Iowa, has received a $13,750 grant from the Leopold Center for Sustainable Agriculture to study growing vegetables in large gutter-connect greenhouses in winter without added heat.

Not heating the greenhouse will reduce the farm’s fossil fuel consumption by about 88%. “This is an innovative study and a significant step in making the M.U.M. Farm and the University more sustainable,” said Steve McLaskey, assistant professor of biology and agriculture and director of the farm.

The method involves placing an extra layer of plastic directly over the plants to retain more heat. The research is innovative due to the large size of the greenhouses, which grow organic vegetables in the ground. Past studies at other institutions have examined this method in smaller greenhouses.

“Most of the large greenhouses in North America are used for ornamental crops, not vegetables,” Dr. McLaskey said. “There are large vegetable greenhouses in Canada, but they mainly use hydroponic [soil-free] techniques. I do not know of any other places, besides Fairfield and Maharishi Vedic City, that grow organic vegetables in the ground in one-acre greenhouses, especially in our very cold winter temperatures.”

The process started in January, when the heat in the greenhouses was switched off. The plastic on the roof of the greenhouse was replaced recently, so the old plastic was reused and placed over the plants in newly-built frames. This saved money and prevented the plastic from going into a landfill. The beds must be covered and uncovered daily.

Now that the grant is secured, the research will begin. The farm workers will measure growth and yield of four crops, measure soil and air temperatures, and estimate heating cost savings.

If this study is successful, Iowa farmers will be able to grow organic vegetables in large greenhouses without spending money on heating fuel. Then this type of farming will be more profitable and thus, more likely to become popular.

The Maharishi University of Management Organic Farm provides fresh produce to the dining halls and Golden Dome Market on the Maharishi University of Management campus.

Written by Lee Leffler. Published in M.U.M. Review March 18 2009.

Follow-up, May 2010: Results of this research were in the May 5th, 2010 issue the M.U.M. Review. Winter Crops Can Grow in an Unheated Greenhouse.

A study, funded by a $13,000 grant from the Leopold Center for Sustainable Agriculture, has been completed and has found that winter crops can be successfully grown in an unheated greenhouse.

Steve McLaskey, who runs the campus organic farming operation, experimented with covering the plants with an extra layer of plastic at night to help them survive the extreme cold. He also used a control plot that was heated so that he could compare this energy-saving approach with the conventional. The result was that there was very little loss.

“We saved over $17,000 on energy bills because of this approach,” Dr. McLaskey said.

He presented his research at a special event in April that was held on site at the greenhouse so that growers in the region could learn about this new option.

“About 60 people attended, and they were very interested to see our operation and to hear how this was done,” Dr. McLaskey said.

By Lee M. Leffler

Published in IndZine, the Magazine for the Entire Family! July 1997, page 54-56.

If you care about the food you eat, you need to know how genetic engineering is threatening the quality of your diet. Scientists are altering the genetic code of food crops. These foods are slipping into the food supply without labels, bringing the possibilities of unknown toxins, allergens, and environmental side-effects. When genes from animals are inserted into plants, vegetarians can no longer tell if a vegetable is a vegetable. Without labeling, you have no way of knowing if you are eating such foods. Chances are, you are.

Genetically engineered food is new. The first commercial genetically engineered food, the Flavr Savr tomato, was introduced in 1992. The Flavr Savr tomato was genetically engineered to soften more slowly. Thus, the tomato could stay on the vine an extra week, giving it time to ripen before being shipped.

Since 1992, a trickle, a torrent, and now a flood of genetically engineered foods have been quietly introduced into the food supply. Nearly all the types of food you eat have been genetically altered in the laboratory: apples, barley, chestnuts, lettuce, melon, peppers, watermelons, walnuts, sunflowers, sugar cane, strawberries, rice, and so on. Some foods are now appearing on a dinner plate near you (or perhaps in front of you): corn, potatoes, soybeans, squash, tomatoes, papayas, canola, and who know what else. Every harvest, the list gets longer. The long-term health effects from eating these new foods are unknown.

Genes are a fine level of life. Genes contain the codes that define the makeup of living beings. For example, your eye color, blood type, skin color, and even the shape of your ears are encoded in your genes. Maybe you have your grandmother’s eyes, or your father’s chin. In the same way, all living beings from the tiniest virus to the largest elephant grow based on their genetic code. Genes provide the pages on which the book of life is written.

In nature, plants pass down genes to new generations through reproduction. Only closely-related species can be bred with each other. “In nature, insect genes cannot get into plants, bacterial genes cannot get into corn, and flounder genes cannot get into tomatoes,” said Dr. John Fagan, a Cornell-trained molecular biologist. In 1995, Fagan returned a $614,000 grant to the National Institutes of Health to raise awareness of the dangers of genetic engineering. “Yet, with genetic engineering, all the natural barriers disappear and the biotechnologist is limited only be his or her imagination.”

In the laboratory, scientists can breed anything with anything. Let’s say you wanted to make a tomato more resistant to freezing. Why not insert genes from a fish that can tolerate very cold temperatures, such as a flounder? Or, how about making a soybean that resists an herbicide by introducing genes from bacteria and viruses? All these and many more have been created in the laboratory. This fall, this genetically altered soybean will comprise 15% of the U.S. soybean harvest; last year, they made up just 2%. And next year, who knows?

In spite of trade pressures, the European Union has issued a warning that it will not accept unlabelled genetically engineered imports from the United States. Yet the plants keep growing. Outcry from Europe over these new foods may wake up the U.S. people, and they will pressure the government to require labeling, provide better safety tests, and educate the public more fairly on the risks.

If Nature has built-in intelligence, then boundaries between species exist for a reason. When humans start crossing these boundaries to create new life forms, they are working from a new level of nature, and the results could be disastrous.

Food allergies are potentially lethal side-effect of genetic engineering. Food allergies are usually reactions to proteins, which can result in mild to severe adverse reactions.

Some of the more common food allergies in the United States are allergies to milk, eggs, fish, tree nuts, wheat, soybeans and peanuts. Genetically engineered foods containing genes from such common food allergens are required by the government to be labeled. Not surprisingly, few or no such foods have been brought to market. Labels on any genetically engineered foods would alert and perhaps alarm the public. The companies that make genetically altered seed do not want this.

People with the less-common food allergies should completely avoid genetically engineered foods. For example, if you are allergic to bananas, and you unknowingly eat a vegetable that has been genetically engineered to contain banana genes, you could have an allergic reaction as if you had eaten a banana. The banana proteins would be in disguise.

The government regulates these foods basically as they regulate most foods. They are treated as food additives. There are a few regulations, particularly when a pesticide is genetically engineered to be inside the food plant. Most genetically engineered foods are treated as being “substantially equivalent” to foods derived from cross-breeding and other natural methods. Yet, if these foods were substantially equivalent, people with uncommon food allergies would not be at risk of reacting to these “disguised” foods. They are.

So where are the labels? A recent survey by Novartis, the largest genetic engineering company, indicated that 93% of Americans want genetically engineered foods labeled.

New allergies from genetically engineered foods could be on the horizon. By cutting and splicing genes (basically reprogramming the genes already present in a species), scientists can create brand-new proteins that people have never eaten before. By crossing the reproduction barrier and combining genes from several species, scientists introduce foods we do not normally eat, such as insects, bacteria, viruses, and flowers. When was the last time you ate a petunia? Were you allergic to it? It is questionable whether we should be eating such novel organisms that our bodies may not have been designed to process correctly.

Toxins are another real possibility with these brave new foods. In 1989, a genetically engineered batch of L-tryptophan, a food supplement, left 37 dead and 1,511 severely ill, some even permanently disabled, in the United States. The food supplement was made from bacteria that had been genetically altered to produce large amounts of L-tryptophan. A study revealed this food supplement was contaminated with a new, toxic protein not present in tryptophan produced by conventional methods.

Routine food-safety tests would not have prevented this tragedy. Only tests on humans would have detected these problems. However, these tests were not done, and government regulations still do not require them.

We need labels on genetically engineered foods. Without them, we do not know if we are following a certain diet, such as vegetarian or vegan or kosher. Without them, we cannot tell if a food contains a protein we know we are allergic to. Without them, we do not have a choice about participating in a grand feeding experiment. Without them, we cannot register moral objections to altering the code of life.

Unlike a car or a baby seat, altered genes cannot be recalled. Insects and winds cannot tell that plants have been genetically altered. They will spontaneously bring pollen from genetically engineered plants to related plants and weeds, and sometimes the altered gene will be accepted by the relatives. This is called genetic pollution, and it is the most irreversible effect of genetic engineering. Genetic pollution has already been proven in an experiment involving canola plants and their weedy relatives.

Beware of public relations efforts by the companies that develop, patent and market genetically engineered seeds, such as Monsanto, Novartis and Pioneer Hi-bred. Many of these companies have based their future on winning people over to the potential benefits of genetic engineering and lobbying the government to relax regulations. They are reaping huge profits, and have a lot of money at their disposal to hire top-notch public relations people, take out television and newspaper ads, “educate” farmers, and fund agricultural research at universities.

Think critically when seed companies tout genetic engineering as the solution to world hunger. Genetic engineering will perpetuate pesticide- and herbicide-intensive farming in third world counties, or introduce a new dependence on genetically altered seeds. These seed companies salivate over new markets. The real solution to hunger is sustainable, organic farming. Working in harmony with nature, such farming practices honor Nature’s intelligence without the negative side effects of chemical poisoning and unpredictable genetic engineering.

Organic food may provide a safe haven for those who do not want to eat such foods. Most organic farmers find genetic engineering in violation of the basic tenets of organic and will not use it. Ronnie Cummins, a political consultant for the Pure Food Campaign, says we do not need genetic engineering. “We need organic food,” Cummins said. “It tastes great, it’s good for farm workers, it’s good for the environment.”

The National Organic Standards Board recommended to the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) that genetic engineering in all forms be kept out of the organic market. A decision from the USDA should appear in the Federal Register later this year.

Yet, many packaged organic foods contain non-organic ingredients. These are listed on the label without the word “organic” in front of them. Particularly avoid non-organic soy and corn products, which are in most processed foods: soybean oil, lecithin, high fructose corn syrup, corn syrup, corn starch, corn meal, corn oil. These items are more likely than other processed food ingredients to be genetically engineered.

However, no one really knows what to avoid if they do not want to eat such dangerous foods. Today, eating is a game of Russian Roulette. Shoppers, retailers, manufacturers, distributors and sometimes even farmers do not always know what is genetically engineered and what is genetically original. Eat with caution! And support initiatives to get these new foods labeled, so we all have a choice.

For more information on Genetically Engineered Foods:

Read Genetic Roulette.

Published in Everybody’s News, September 1997, pages 5-6, Fairfield, Iowa.
Revised and Updated June 2009.

Organic food means more than just food grown in harmony with nature, without chemical fertilizers, pesticides and herbicides. When you buy organic food, you’re also voting for the health of the earth and the people.

Why do people buy organic food? A sampling of shoppers at Everybody’s Whole Foods Store (Fairfield, Iowa) and farmers at the Fairfield Farmer’s Market (on the Fairfield Town Square) revealed that people who buy organic food care about the quality of their food. They want tasty, nutritious food, free of potentially hazardous residues from pesticides, herbicides, and fungicides. They enjoy the better taste, texture and nutrition of organic food, and want to avoid the potential hazards of genetically engineered foods.

No Chemicals

Lugging bags full of fresh organic broccoli, green beans, parsley, cilantro, and tomatoes through Everybody’s checkout, Elinor Hall said, “I don’t want the pesticides poisoning my body. These chemicals aren’t natural. Why would I want to put anything in my body that wasn’t natural when I have a choice?”

Bob Blankenship, buying bread at Everybody’s, said he buys organic food because he is concerned about cancer-causing elements in the environment, including in his diet. He had just read how much cancer rates have increased since 1959 (25% of people could expect to get cancer in 1959—now the expectation is 40%).

Better Flavor

Many consumers report that organic food tastes better.

Several people who ate strawberries from Everybody’s Whole Foods Store this spring reported that they were plump, ripe, sweet and delicious. Jeff Aaron says he is disgusted with non-organic strawberries from the regular supermarket that are “grown more for the visual aesthetics than the taste. They taste terrible—as bitter as grapefruit.”

When the Noodle House restaurant started serving organic vegetables this winter, Wendy Higgins began relishing the spinach won-ton soup with tofu filling. “It is so delicious and so simple. Organic vegetables have so much more life and more flavor.” Many customers noted that the soup made with organic spinach was much tastier and fresher than the non-organic version.

Better Texture

Shoppers found organic produce to have a better texture, too. “Organic tomatoes are not like those baseball tomatoes they have in regular stores that are crunchy and hard,” said Bob Blankenship.

A shopper who did not wish to remain anonymous said he bought non-organic apples from another store, and then tried the organic apples at Everybody’s Whole Foods Store. “The organic apples are so much tastier and crisper. There is just no comparison. And the price was only a few cents more per pound.”

Better Nutrition

Organic food tends to have more nutrients than chemically-produced food.

Mary Clark drives from Ottumwa to Fairfield to buy organic food. She has even studied organic food. “Organic food has more minerals, more vitamins. The fiber is more filling,” she said.

“Fruits and vegetables, particularly those that are organically grown, are high in vitamins, minerals, and polyphenols, and are low in calories,” according to Robert Crayhon in his book Robert Crayhon’s Nutrition Made Simple: A Comprehensive Guide to the Latest Findings in Optimal Nutrition. “Organic produce is the most nutrient-dense food known.” This is due in part to a fundamental difference between chemical versus organic farming.

Chemical farming usually allows the soil to be depleted of nutrients and trace minerals. The crops are fed chemical fertilizers that add no organic matter back to the soil.

Organic farming involves enriching the soil with natural fertilizers, such as manure. At the farmer’s market on the Fairfield square, organic farmer Diana Runyan said her family keeps “happy hens” as composting machines. The hens eat kitchen scraps and their composted manure is spread on the fields.

The Runyan’s Jersey cow, Rachel, also contributes fertilizer. The cow was named after Rachel Carson, author of Silent Spring, a paradigm-shifting book on the dangers of spreading pesticides and other chemicals into the environment.

Mary Jo Carter from Carter Farm, who also sells her vegetables at the farmer’s market, thinks of sheep manure as “gold” because it’s so valuable on her farm.

Mary says organic farmers often rotate crops. “Corn takes a lot out of soil, so planting beans the next year helps restore balance.”

Bill and Diana Runyan will not grow tomatoes in the same place each year.

“Next year, we’ll plant squash in that spot,” said Diana. “This also helps prevent pests from getting a foothold because you keep them moving.”

No Genetic Engineering

Genetic engineering was mentioned by shoppers as one of the main reasons to buy organic food. The concerns over genetic engineering include the possibilities of unknown toxins, allergens and side effects from directly altering genetic code, as well as moral objections to tampering with nature’s integrity. More information is available at the Friend of the Earth website.

Accompanying 13-month-old Avery Mullenneaux to buy organic ice cream was his father, Matt. “It’s very important to buy all organic food and not genetically engineered food,” said Matt. Avery shouted from his stroller, and Matt said “He’s an organic boy.”

The National Organic Standards for organic foods do not allow the use of genetically engineered seeds or products.

Chip Hoyt, eating at nearby Hykie’s Falafil, said, “I try to buy organic food because it’s not genetically engineered. If you have a choice, I think organic food is a good idea.” Hykie’s Falafil serves some organic food.

Nancy and Stephen Black insist on organic food for themselves and their son Keenan. Their daughter died, possibly as a result of a vaccination. They do no want to take the chance of eating genetically engineered food when the risks are unknown. “At some point, you’d think people would learn that we have done too much against nature already,” said Nancy.

Price—An Issue or Non-issue

Organic food may cost more. At the Farmer’s Market, the price of organic produce is reasonable because the food is in season and locally grown.

Buying in bulk from places like the Better Yet Food Co-op in Fairfield can help with the price as well. Easter’s and Hy-vee both carry a selection of organic produce and packaged foods. And Everybody’s Whole Food Store has a wide variety of organic produce, with good prices on most organic produce that is in season. Buying produce in season, of course, helps with both price and quality.

For Elinor Hall, price is not an issue. “I used to think organic food was prohibitively expensive, but I decided that what we put in our bodies is more important than how much is costs. It turns out that here at Everybody’s, organic food doesn’t cost much more. Sometimes it’s even cheaper … Once I developed the mindset that there was nothing more important than putting food a pure as possible into our bodies, then the price really wasn’t an issue.”

The restaurant at Everybody’s offers reasonably priced, mostly-organic buffets. The Noodle House has not raised its prices since adding organic vegetables and tofu to its menu. Other restaurants in Fairfield are gradually adding more organic foods in response to local concern over genetic engineering, and the prices have remained stable. The buffet cafeteria at the Maharishi University of Management campus is 100% organic.

Rachel Wendell, a diner at Hykie’s Falafil, said “I think that everything should be organic, but it’s not. Organic food can be expensive. I buy (non-organic) food at the regular grocery store and I wash it very, very well, and I always eat fresh food. That’s the best I can do.”

Organic food tends to cost more in part because, according to certified organic farmer Mary Jo Carter, “it takes more time.” She puts extra effort into preventing pest and weed problems. For example, she gives her plants a strong start by carefully cultivating the soil with composted organic matter before planting.

Doug Phillips, an organic farmer at the farmer’s market, nurtures the crops. “We weed, lay munch with straw or grass clippings. That adds food to the soil and handles the weed,” said Phillips. His truck reads “Live to Grow—Grow to Live.” Phillips said pesticides, herbicides and artificial fertilizers “aren’t necessary. Growing food without chemicals is pretty straightforward and has been done for hundreds and hundreds of years and it works.”

What’s in a Label?

Everybody’s Whole Food Store carries thousands of organic products, including organic coffee, baby food, condiments, bread, pizza, fresh and frozen produce, frozen poultry, cereal, tea, juice, tofu, non-dairy cheese, non-meat hot dogs and just about everything else. Carefully check the labels to be sure.

Learn to read labels. Not all foods in a whole food market are organic. The label should say “certified organic” or “USDA Organic.” Read the ingredients. Any ingredient that has the word “organic” in front is organic, and any ingredient without that word is probably not organic. The ingredients are listed in order of prominence: there is more of the first ingredient listed than the next one listed.

The US Department of Agriculture (USDA) implemented the National Organic Standards in 2002. These standards were developed by farmers, the food industry and the US government. Certified USDA Organic foods are grown and processed without synthetic fertilizers, sewage sludge, most conventional pesticides, genetic engineering, or ionizing radiation. Animal products are made without antibiotics and growth hormones, processed without radiation, and the animals are fed only organic products.

The best USDA Certified Organic foods are either completely organic or 95% organic. The USDA seal can be applied to single-ingredient foods, such as a vegetable or fruit. Processed products, such as cereal and other packaged foods, can be “100% Organic,” meaning that all the ingredients are organic (except certain very basic ingredients that cannot be organic, like water and salt). “Organic Cereal” means that 95% to 100% of the ingredients are organic.

Secondary are products that contain organic ingredients. Be careful. While a packaged food may have organic ingredients, the non-organic ingredients may be on the lists of foods that contain high pesticide residues or most likely to be genetically modified.

“Natural” does not mean organic. Neither does “pure” or “100% juice.”

Maharishi Ayur-Ved teas are wildcrafted, meaning they are made from wildly growing plants that have not been sprayed with pesticides. This is not on the label. Many food companies offer such information through their toll-free phone numbers or on their websites.

Food that is not certified organic is not guaranteed to be organic. If food is not certified, you have to trust the food growers and processors to tell you the truth.

In the produce department at Everybody’s Whole Foods Store, non-organic vegetables are placed in a special section near the entrance. The rest of the produce, about 90% of it, is labeled organic.

A wide variety of milk, yogurt, ice cream and cheese is available at Everybody’s Whole Foods Store, and most is labeled organic. If genetic engineering is a concern, avoid brands that may contain milk from cows injected with Bovine Growth Hormone (BGH). BGH is genetically engineered. A helpful list is posted next to the big dairy cooler near the produce section. Several bulletin boards on genetic engineering are located at the ends of the aisles near the freezers.

If you cannot find something you need, just ask. “We actively solicit suggestions,” said Everybody’s Whole Foods Store co-owner John Day. A well-attended suggestion box is near the bulk foods.

Better Food for a Better World

Talk to an organic farmer about their work and you will learn why they feel good about it.

“I just love what I’m doing,” said Mary Jo Carter, giving tastes of freshly-picked snow peas to passers-by. She makes sure her seeds are not genetically engineered, and even takes an interest in “heirloom” seeds. Heirloom seeds are strains that have been grown for many years. “They are genetically ideal. No need to mess with them,” she says.

Some tomatoes have been genetically engineered to ripen more slowly and withstand long voyages, so we can have year-round tomatoes. Mary says, “I can see the desire for tomatoes all year … but I think more people are looking for taste, quality, and freshness, rather than something that will last on the shelf for a long time.”

Diana Runyan from the Fairfield farmer’s market says, “We came here to live a life in balance with nature. To us, organic farming is the smart, sensible thing to do. The closer to nature you get, the more it has to teach you.” Farming allowed Diana and her husband, Bill, to stay at home and home-school their four daughters. “We’re farming organically so we can teach it to our children. That way, the knowledge isn’t lost.”

Organic food is the fastest-growing segment of the food market. Before the massive shift to chemical farming after World War II, organic food had sustained people for eons. Organic food will be around as long as people want a healthier alternative to chemical farming. And when chemical- and genetically engineered-based farming has ended, organic food will simply be known as food—the sustainer of all life.

Keeping Organic Produce Fresh

Organic produce is not preserved with fungicides and wax, so use these tips to help keep your organic produce fresher longer:

• Many vegetables, especially broccoli and zucchini, do not keep well in plastic bags. Place a paper towel on the bottom of the vegetable crisper or drawer in your refrigerator and put fresh produce on top of the paper towel. Clean the drawer once a week.
• Dry everything before refrigerating. Shake dry or pat with paper towels or a clean kitchen towel. If vegetables lay flat on top of each other, and if they are moist, they may rot rapidly.
• Asparagus will only last a day or two in plastic, then it will get a “fishy” spoiled smell. To keep it fresh, cut or break off part of the woody ends (be sure not to break off the succulent buds). Stand the asparagus up in a jar of water and place in the refrigerator. If you wish, you can bunch the asparagus together loosely with elastic bands and cover the tips and stems with a square of waxed paper. Use an elastic band to hold the waxed paper in place.
• Cilantro and parsley is kept fresh by cutting off the bottom of the stems, standing the herb in a jar of water, and wrapping in a paper towel. Place in refrigerator.

Thanks to Janet Harvey for these tips.

If you feel good eating organic food, you might feel even better wearing organic fibers. Organic cotton clothing is soft, wholesome, pesticide-free clothing that feels good on the outside, and makes you feel good inside too. That’s because, like organic food, organic cotton is good for you and the earth.

We spoke with the owner of Natural Selections clothing store in Fairfield Iowa about the benefits of organic cotton and other organic fibers. “Organic cotton is good for your skin. It feels good, looks good, and it’s good for the environment,” said Lonica Lee Eisenbraun, owner of Natural Selections. She started the store in 1995 when she was a member of  a students’ environmental club at MIU (now Maharishi University of Management). Her concern about the environment inspired her to open a clothing store that reflected her values.

Eisenbraun says that many people perceive cotton as healthful because it is natural. Cotton Incorporated, the cotton industry’s major trade group, has endeared Americans to cotton with the advertising campaign “The Fabric of our Lives.” Actually, conventional cotton is grown with chemicals, pesticides, and herbicides, and treated with toxic chemicals and dyes. Some people have been known to suffer from rashes or itching when they wear new clothing without washing it first. It can take several washes for the toxins to be reduced to a comfortable level, and for some sensitive people, it is never possible to wear a conventional cotton clothing item at all.

Chemical pesticides and herbicides can leave potentially harmful residues on the clothing. According to Lonica Lee Eisenbraun, even washing does not remove them all. Not only chemically-sensitive people are affected. Scientists are finding that even tiny amounts of toxic exposures can harm health, says Eisenbraun.

More chemical pesticides and herbicides are put on cotton than on any other crop. Though conventional cotton only accounts for 2% of the world’s farmland, it accounts for nearly 25% of global pesticide use. Before mechanical pickers harvest the cotton, the plants are sprayed with toxic defoliants to make the leaves drop off. The field is just the beginning of the chemical journey for cotton. After harvest, cotton is cleaned, spun into thread, and woven into cloth. Chlorine bleach, which produces dioxin, is usually applied to whiten the fabric before dyeing. Toxic dyes change the cotton’s color, and the dyes are usually set with heavy metals such as chromium and copper.

In order to make the fabrics stiff and wrinkle-resistant, formaldehyde is often used. Formaldehyde can cause skin irritation, even in low concentrations. It is designed to last for the life of the garment. Then the fabrics are cut into clothing and sewn. Lonica Lee Eisenbraun says, “Because of all these chemicals, people who work the conventional clothing industry often complain of breathing and skin problems. There are many cases of hospitalization due to pesticide exposure every year.”

Making garments from organic cotton excludes the use of chemicals. Seeds are selected for their natural hardiness and resistance to pests. The organic cotton farm is located in an area suitable to organic farming. The field is plowed under at the end of the season and naturally fertilized with animal manure. Pest-eating insects are encouraged, to keep the cotton-eating insects in check. The weeds are removed with tractors and hoes. Organic Farming is more labor intensive, but far safer to the workers and our environment.

In order to make color garments with the least amount of toxins, entomologist Sally Fox brought naturally colored cotton to market. She spent ten years cross-breeding ancient naturally colored cotton seeds (which have short fibers) with long-fiber white cotton seeds in order to produce strains of colored cotton that are commercially viable. The cotton comes in shades of brown and green, and does not need toxic dyes and fixers to look fashionable. Natural Selections carries socks that use Fox’s Foxfibre Colorganic fibers.

Fox decided against working with the biotechnology companies that approached her. Rather than take risks with genetic engineering, she continues to cross-breed her plants naturally. While some non-organic cotton farmers are planting genetically engineered “Roundup Ready” cotton and B.t. cotton, certified organic cotton is genetically natural.

Some eco-conscious manufactures are selling unbleached cotton, also known as “green” cotton. Yet unbleached cotton is still grown with heavy doses of chemicals. While unbleached is better than conventional, it still is not as pure as certified organic cotton. Certified organic clothing is appearing in catalogs and stores throughout the country, including Coldwater Creek and Patagonia.

Organic cotton is a small but growing industry. Nearly all types of garments are available in organic cotton, including shirts, dresses, skirts, hats, undergarments, tights, socks, sweaters, sweat suits, scarves, dinner napkins, pants, and bedding. Natural Selections carries an ever-changing variety, plus baby clothes, toys, and blankets.

Depending on how much one normally pays for clothes, the price of organic cotton garments can seem a little higher. Eisenbraun points out that many of the garments are American made. “U.S. labor is fair labor. It is adults under good working conditions.” Also, organic cotton yields are lower. The machinery needs to be cleaned before organic cotton can be run through it. The cotton needs to be kept separate from non-organic cotton. All these factors affect price.

To consumers who want the quality and feel of organic cotton, though, price is not such an issue. One way to adapt to the cost is to calculate how much you usually spend on clothing in a year, then use that money to buy organic cotton instead. You may buy less quantity, but the garments will feel better and last longer. Donna Findling, a regular customer at Natural Selections, says price is not a problem because the companies guarantee their products and they last. She bought a set of organic cotton sheets and uses them year-round.

Natural Selections has one of the largest selections of organic fiber clothing in the country. Sales have been tremendous for a town the size of Fairfield. The store on Main street recently annexed another space next door, doubling its size. In the future, the owners will be carrying organic cotton dyed in all colors with new, plant-based, organic dyes. Until then, their cutting-edge Colorganic and non-toxic dyed clothes are safe, comfortable, and fashionable alternatives to chemically-intensive cotton.

Natural Selections has a large online store at TheOrganicCompany.com, and a brick-and-mortar store 104 South Main Street, Fairfield, Iowa. You can call them at 1-888-216-9917.

Originally published in Everybody’s News.