healthy living, september 2010

A publication of the Peninsula Daily News september 2010 • HealtHy living 1

drumming

A publication of the Peninsula Daily News

also inside:Learn about the rural

renaissance taking place on the North Olympic Peninsula

Reduce waste for the good of your neighbors

Find out why you may want to re-evaluate your food

buying choices.

for your health

2 HealtHy living • september 2010 A publication of the Peninsula Daily News

Rural America, including communities on the Olympic Peninsula, took staggering economic blows in the 1980s and 1990s that sent people fleeing their generational homelands in the country for family-wage jobs in America’s cities and suburbs.

That’s changing. Rural American communities — including those on

the North Olympic Peninsula —are slowly coming back; healthy and diverse, if still a bit vulnerable.

Our mission, should we decide to accept it, is to nur-ture these new shoots of healthy growth here on the Penin-sula. And enjoy the fruits of our labors.

Intentionally attending to the improved health of com-munity is as important as the intentionality we give to the health of body, mind, and soul.

And over time, the rewards as great.Many rural communities around America that saw their

populations shrink in the 1980s and 1990s are enjoy-ing growth in the new millennia thanks partially to what demographers call rural inmigration.

The Peninsula is enjoying this turnaround right now. Since 2000 our population has grown more than 9 per-

cent. Families are returning, in new configurations.Last Saturday I was working at the Farmers’ Market

when two 60-something people in spandex and helmets biked up to the booth and said “where’s our girl”?

Their “girl” is a 30-something massage therapist at Renaissance.

The three of them are exemplars of a growing phenom-enon in rural America — the return of generations.

It’s increasingly common for one generation in a family to “find” a desirable place to live and be joined by children, parents, or other family members.

Young retirees are migrating to rural communities. But not just any rural community. Retirees in large proportions are moving to rural com-

munities with “natural amenities”, things like oceans, mountains, rivers, wilderness.

When they get here, they’re “living the dream” and in so doing, they’re nurturing the seeds of community health: hiking, boating, surfing, gardening, grocery shopping at farms, volunteering in community-based organizations, joining interest groups, and enjoying the nearness of family and friends, community.

This kind of community engagement, getting involved, putting down roots is the stuff of repeated research findings that show people live longer, health-ier lives when their social support networks are rich.

Strong social support networks in turn strengthen communities.

The younger generations in these migrating fami-lies are finding or making employment.

They’re joining local families who have lived here for generations; some for millennia, who moved here for similar reasons — love of place — and were determined to make it work.

Fortunately, the rural renaissance is not JUST about young retirees and their families moving to rural areas.

While rural America labors under higher unem-ployment rates than urban areas — by more than a percentage point — there’s real viability emerging in rural areas on the job front.

Environment-related jobs, or “green jobs” are growing at a strong pace and are predicted to grow faster than most other kinds of jobs.

Because of our proximity to natural resources and to urban centers we’re poised to garner many of these jobs in the years to come.

In fact, Western Washington University offers a distance learning program right here in Port Angeles that is training workers specifically for these jobs.

Which is good, because America’s second larg-est wilderness restoration project in history is taking place right here on the Olympic Peninsula.

The removal of the Elwha River dams and the subsequent restoration of the Elwha River Valley to its original configuration has and will continue to gener-ate family-wage jobs across the collar color spectrum

— from blue collar to green collar to white collar jobs — for years to come.

There’s really nothing better for community health than living wage jobs.

In the 1990s I worked as a researcher studying the social impact of the shrinking timber industry in Washington’s rural communities.

As such I joined many who worried that protect-ing wilderness meant hurting people and their com-munities by eliminating living-wage jobs.

But a recent study shows just the opposite; at least here in the western U.S. The study found that west-ern U.S. counties that contain designated wilderness areas actually have heightened income levels corre-lated with the percentage of wilderness.

In other words, as the percentage of wilderness designated land increases in a county, so does the income!

It’s not just about inmigration and employment, of course, the signs of a rural renaissance on the Pen-insula are everywhere: Many rural communities are re-emerging with the help of art and our towns are no exception.

There’s art, from the long-established Port Angeles Light Opera and the writers’ forum Tidepools, to eve-ning art walks and the Port Townsend Film Festival, to the burgeoning Paradise Theater School and the Bohemian Lounge.

These, and many others each represent a shoot of social and economic development, evidence that we’re here, we’re creating, we’re thriving.

And then, there’s food…..Studies of American food trends are showing that

Americans’ appetites and food shopping behaviors are changing. >> CONTINUED on page 4

written by Lynn Keenan

RURAL RENAISSANCE

A SENSE OF PLACENurturing the seeds of a rural renaissance


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Published by the Peninsula Daily News

Main office: 305 W. First St., Port Angeles, WA 98362

360-452-2345

John C. Brewer editor & publisher

Suzanne Williamsadvertising director

Jennifer Veneklasensection editor

and cover design

The cover photo was taken by Jeanne Pumphrey during a drum circle held on

Hollywood Beach in Port Angeles. Turn to page 12 to learn more about this

local group and about how drumming can positively affect your health.

We are always on the lookout for new Healthy Living contributors.

Professionals in their field are invited to contribute informative and educational articles or columns for consideration in Healthy Living.

For articles, save as a text docu-ment attachment or in the body of an e-mail and send to Jennifer Veneklasen, special sections editor, at: jennifer.veneklasen@ peninsuladailynews.com. (Note the period between the first and last name.)

For photos, please e-mail or send a CD with jpegs scanned at least at 200 dpi/resolution.

We cannot guarantee publica-tion due to space and content considerations. If your submission is accepted, we reserve the right to edit submissions.

Articles are the opinions and beliefs of the contributing writer and in no way represent an en-dorsement by Healthy Living or Peninsula Daily News.

HEALTHY LIVING ARTICLE IDEAS?co

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on the cover:

HEALTHY LIVING

contents

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05 PENINSULA CHEESEMAKERS by Lynn Keenan

06 FOOD CHOICES by Sid Maroney

07 REDUCING WASTE by Helen Freilich

08 DRUMMING FOR YOUR HEALTH by Erran Sharpe

11 SMALL TOWN LIVING by Michael Devoney

14 DIET THE RIGHT WAY by Dr. Katherine Ottaway

12 GREEN LIVING by Kevin Coker


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We’re increasingly interested in purchasing organic foods and foods that are grown or produced closer to home — foods that are fresher, better tasting, and cre-ate a smaller “carbon footprint” than foods shipped hundreds or thousands of miles.

Widespread food crises like the recent salmonella outbreak and last year’s peanut scare generate skepti-cism that agribusiness is capable of delivering healthful, safe foods to Americans.

Many consumers are increasingly concerned with safe AND compassionate animal husbandry and with sustainable food production practices.

Food safety and sustainability are increasingly syn-onymous with local foods, small organic farms, and farmers’ markets.

Americans are asking for changes in our entire food production and delivery systems and these changes favor rural areas, livelihoods on small farms and dairies, and subsequently, the livelihoods of those surrounding them.

Superstar chef, Mario Batalli, recently predicted that the next food rock star will be a farmer!

With more than a few rock star-like farmers in our area, and the number of working farms growing locally, I think we’re well poised for the coming small farm renaissance.

There are further signs of a rural renaissance in our small business community.

Yes, we’ve seen small businesses on the Peninsula close as the recession wears down mom and pop shops.

But many, through creative reinvention, exceptional service, and/or long-term investment in the community have weathered these years, some even adding jobs to our communities.

In fact, while Clallam County has experienced the challenges of the current recession our job losses have been less extreme than those in both the state and the country at large.

There are even signs of the rural renaissance among garden variety consumers like you and me.

Everyone has a guiding ethos of shopping; it’s what guides the majority of the purchases we make.

Many live by an ethos of bargain shopping, only purchasing at the lowest price. It’s fueling the success of big box stores and on-line multinationals. Americans love a bargain and many of us live by this ethos.

Others are guided by an ethos of efficiency, purchas-ing what’s easiest, what’s most convenient.

This drives the success of convenience stores. It’s usu-ally an expensive way to shop, but fast and convenient.

Others are guided by a shopping ethos of commu-nity support. They buy what they need locally, from locally-owned shops to assure on-going local choice and to increase the investment in community.

This ethos is fueling the strength of American mom and pop shops, small independent businesses.

Efficiency and cost are less important, though not necessarily sacrificed.

While we have these guiding ethos that determine the majority of our purchases, most of us shop in all three ways.

I can be seen in big box stores and racing through convenience stores to be sure, but I’m trying to live purposively and thoughtfully so I’m joining others in shopping mom and pop to strengthen the fiber of the community I love, the community I want to flourish.

Two things inspire me toward this. First, in every recession in the past 30 years, small

businesses have created the vast majority of jobs to help fuel recoveries.

I want to help keep and increase job growth in our community so I choose local bookstores over Ama-zon, local farmers and dairies over multinational chain stores for the bulk of my foods, and local wine makers over Two Buck Chuck.

All of my choices employ people on the Peninsula and I like knowing my dollars help make that possible.

Second, I recently learned that locally-owned small businesses donate an average of 250 percent more to

local non-profits than big box stores in the same towns.People on the Peninsula spend thousands of dol-

lars on Amazon.com but do we see Amazon’s name on the list of business donors to the North Olympic Land Trust or the Olympic Medical Center’s Foundation or the Juan de Fuca Festival of the Arts?

Has (two buck) Chuck ever made a contribution to our swimming pool? To the high school band? To school or library levies through property taxes?

I love a bargain, and I rely on convenience stores. But there’s nothing like the satisfaction of mak-

ing purchases that are significantly more likely to strengthen our schools, fund emergency medical assistance, preserve heritage farmlands and wilder-ness, diversify community arts and culture, AND help employ my neighbor!

This is part of nurturing the community. Nurturing the vitality of our community is a healthy,

important way to live. Whether our families have lived here for thousands

of years, a couple hundred years, or a couple years, we all need to invest, invest, invest and nurture the growth of our own rural renaissance.

Nurture what’s growing up here. n

Lynn Keenan is the owner of Renais-sance, a local center for massage, and Toast, a shop and café specializing in local cheeses, ciders, wines and beers. For more informa-tion, phone 360-565-1199 or click on www.renaissance-pa.com.

See Lynn’s article about local dairies and cheesemakers — and how they fit into the Rural Renais-sance — on Page 5.

RURAL RENAISSANCE

>> COntinUeD from page 2


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The Pacific Northwest is experiencing a boom in farmstead and artisanal cheese-making, an important force in the current rural renaissance.

This is great news because not only does it mean more nutritious, tasty cheese for all of us, it often means small family dairy farms can continue to thrive, even amid today’s wildly inconsistent milk prices.

Farmstead cheeses are made on dairy farms utilizing the milk produced there by the farm’s herds of cows, goats, and/or sheep.

In nearby Bow, Washington, for instance, Golden Glen Creamery began making cheese in 2004 in part to assure the vitality of their 43-year-old dairy farm in today’s unpredictable economic scene.

They feature a variety of cheeses, handmade by the dairy owners, at the dairy, from the milk of their 65 cows.

The super-fresh flavor of these cheeses bear little likeness to the plastic-wrapped “cheese food” mainstay of the American diet.

But Americans’ changing tastes and demands for fresh, unprocessed, chemical-free foods is part of what is making a shift to farmstead cheeses profitable for Golden Glen and other multi-generation dairy families.

Artisanal cheeses are small batch, handmade cheeses, made of milk from local family dairies.

While these cheeses are not made right on the dairy, their relationship to local dairies is strong.

We’re fortunate have such an artisanal cheese maker in Port Townsend.

Mt. Townsend Creamery makes artisanal cheese “with a sense of place”, strongly connected to the local land, livestock and social history of the Peninsula.

They source all their milk from local dairies and turn that milk into cheeses that have won national and inter-national awards.

It’s our hometown cheese in the Pacific Northwest

cheese boom.Nationally we’ve gone from 111,000 dairies to fewer

than 65,000 in the past 10 years. Washington State is mirroring this trend with all

sizes of dairies shutting their doors with the exception of industrial dairies — those with more than 1000 cows.

But the news for small dairies isn’t all bad. In 2000 approximately 20 artisanal and farmstead

cheese makers operated in the Pacific Northwest. Today there are more than 70! Here in the Salish Sea region — the area surrounding

the Strait of Juan De Fuca, the Strait of Georgia, and the Puget Sound — there are no less than 25 cheese makers working their craft.

That means Port Angeles is right in the midst of a cheese treasure trove.

Virtually all cheese makers welcome visitors during select hours, and in many situations you can tour the facilities, see the livestock, taste the cheese and, best of all, take some home.

But don’t eat cheese just to fuel the rural renaissance! As we learn increasingly more about nutrition, regu-

lar, modest small-batch cheese consumption makes nutritious sense for humans.

Eating cheese increases the intake of naturally occur-ring Vitamin D and calcium (for bone, teeth, and mental health), Linoleic acid (cancer prevention), and Vitamin B (for the healthy functioning of the nervous system and many other systems).

And, while it’s no surprise that cheese makes people happy, it’s only recently that nutrition scientists have identified the same feel-good chemicals that are in cocoa in cheese.

For the community; for body, and soul, eat local cheese! n

Blessed are the cheesemakersLocal farmstead and artisanal cheesemakers play a key role in today’s rural renaissance

. . . . . . written by Lynn Keenan

RURAL RENAISSANCE

Artisanal cheeses are small batch, handmade cheesees, made of milk from local family dairies. The super-fresh flavor of these cheeses bear little likeness to the plastic-wrapped “cheese food” mainstay of the American diet.


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09700854Consider more than the bottom line when purchasing food

“Are you making any money?” During my three years of running the

Sequim Locally Grown Mercantile — an online farmers market — that was the question I got the most.

My response is usually something like: “If I was only in it for the money, I would have gotten out long ago.”

Food security and community con-nections are why I continue.

We generally have been conditioned to primarily consider the bottom line.

This is also true of many of our daily purchases. We ask ourselves what the bottom line cost of an item is.

Obviously, a business must consider profit in order to remain viable.

A purchaser also must consider the price tag when budgets are limited.

The problem with this occurs when the bottom line is the overriding factor in every choice we make.

Other very important considerations, often hidden, are not completely taken into account, or ignored altogether.

We have grown an industrial agricul-ture system that relies heavily on cheap fossil fuel for fertilizers, herbicides, pes-ticides and transportation.

Synthetic fertilizers, herbicides and

pesticides destroy topsoil making it vir-tually impossible to grow things without these chemicals.

Most agriculture is grown this way. Because this industrial food can be

transported inexpensively, it often can be grown on one side of the planet and shipped to the other side of the planet cheaper than it can be grown locally using organic practices which are inher-ently more labor intensive.

So where has this taken our food system? Dependency on cheap fossil fuel has escalated because of this perceived cheap bottom line that does not take into account the true cost and limited supply of fossil fuels; the destruction of top soil; the loss of crop varieties; fla-vor and nutrition; local economies and jobs; ecological farming practices; excess packaging; pesticides and other toxins; humane treatment of livestock and workers; preservation of local farmland; the loss of community; overpopulation — and the list goes on.

Most crops are grown conventionally for yield, looks and transportability.

Crops, in general, are not grown for nutritional content or diversity of varieties.

>> CONTINUED on page 10

written by Sid Maroney

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Become Cavity Free For Life Tooth decay is a preventable disease. When you eat, you also feed your oral bacteria. This increases acidity in your mouth, enabling decay-producing bacteria to multiply and create a higher risk of tooth decay. Harmful bacteria can be controlled simply by reducing oral acidity associated with them. This will keep your teeth and gums healthier.

When you finish eating, thoroughly rinse your mouth out with water. Rinsing with water significantly reduces oral acidity that naturally follows eating. Yes, simply swishing your mouth out with water actually makes a big difference. Add a pinch of baking soda to the rinse water to make your mouth even less acidic. After about an hour, brush your teeth. If your mouth tends to be dry, rinse with water often throughout the day.

This proactive approach really helps parents and children stay cavity free. When you maintain a less acidic mouth, minerals your teeth need to stay strong and healthy move from your saliva back into your tooth enamel, hardening it to help resist decay. Adults with gum health issues can also benefit greatly from rinsing after eating.

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I encourage everyone to think about our world as one giant web of life.

The web represents all the interactions and connec-tions between living things.

Some animals eat plants, some eat animals, and everything lives and dies.

But how are we connected to non-living things like oil, minerals, sand, and other raw materials in the products we use everyday?

This human cycle of resource use is not always obvious, but it is essential to understand.

The plastic packaging around a product you buy is made from oil pumped from the earth and will return to the earth as garbage. We can get pretty disgusted with how much garbage we produce (4.5 pounds per person each day in the United States).

But how much energy was used, pollution created, and materials wasted to get that product into your shopping cart?

You may have heard people talking about running out of landfill space – an idea that gained prominence in the decade after the first Earth Day.

But since that time, new landfills have been sited and designed to last for years, maybe centuries, including the landfill our waste goes to in Boardman, Oregon.

The modern landfill is lined, covered, and moni-tored — designed to keep the wastes from entering the water supplies or polluting the air.

But planning, building, and maintaining modern landfills is very costly.

And — burying garbage takes care of the symptoms but does not take care of the underlying problems.

USING ENERGYEnergy is used to get minerals or plants out of the

ground, process them into raw materials for industry, make new products, and transport them to us.

Then there is more energy used to dispose of the products, transport, recycle and/or bury them.

MAKING POLLUTIONGreenhouse gases are generated while transporting

materials, manufacturing them, and even when we throw them away!

Fuels are burned in vehicles and equipment that move garbage and recycling.

Then the garbage starts decomposing in the landfill, methane (a greenhouse gas) is created.

The Environmental Protection Agency reports that 29 percent of the greenhouse gas emissions come from the “provision of goods” in the United States.

WASTING MATERIALSPaul Hawkins and other authors write in Natural

Capitalism that the U.S. economy continues to be inef-ficient: 94 percent of the materials extracted for use in manufacturing durable products become waste before the product is manufactured; 80 percent of what we make is thrown away within 6 months of production.

So when we measure the waste materials collected from our homes and businesses (43,000 tons shipped from the Regional Transfer Station to the Oregon land-fill in 2009), this is only part of the picture.

Waste reduction has to occur all along the material path, not just in your garbage can.

If you think about how we are all connected, living and non-living things, you will use everyday materials wisely and consciously. You will understand the tre-mendous cost to our society and to the environment of using energy, making pollution and wasting resources.

This does not have to be done all at once, because old habits are hard to break, but can be done in small steps.

You will find lots of barriers to waste reduction in our everyday life — but don’t let that discourage you!

TAKE PERSONAL ACTIONBuy products with the least amount of packaging

and buy only what you need.If the packaging is necessary, make sure it is recy-

clable locally.Avoid single use (disposable) products.Bottled water is a good example of a wasteful dis-

posable product. >> CONTINUED on page 15

Our connectednessReducing waste, using materials wisely benefits the whole . . . . . . written by Helen Freilich

WASTE REDUCTION


A tall, well-dressed woman reaches down, picks up a pair of maracas, and joins in with the 20 or so drummers on the lawn. Shake-a-shake, shake, shake shake. Boom, boom, ba-doom.

The rhythm gets louder and faster; I am surrounded by a sea of drum sound. Small children dance, smiles escape . . . someone playing a bell tosses a pattern into the air,

tink, tink, tink-a-tink, someone else answers on a wood block, tock, tock-a-tock, tock. After staying in the groove for some eternal moments, the drumming winds to a close. “That was the most fun I’ve had in my whole life,” the woman glows, as she returns the mara-

cas to the pile of shared percussion instruments. A man who had never before touched a drum pipes up, “I didn’t know I knew how to do that!” Onlookers clap and cheer. These people are sharing their experience of a community drum circle, where strangers can

make driving rhythmical music together, totally spontaneously. Drumming with a group, I ride on the crest of the rhythm like a surfer on a wave. I speed for-

ward with the wind in my hair. It is thrilling and invigorating. Other times it is quiet and meditative, then gently fades into silence, leaving my mind at peace

like a mirror pond. >>

written by Erran Sharpe

COMMUNITY CONNECTIONS

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photos by Jeanne Pumphrey


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Drumming is an ancient tool for health and wellness. It has existed in virtually every culture known, since the dawn of humanity. It is still highly effective today.

Recent medical research by Dr. Barry Bittman has shown that group drumming has many health benefits.

In cancer patients it enhances natural killer cell activity and immune system response; it reduces stress hormone production; it lowers anxiety and depression;

it helps Parkinson’s patients move more steadily.

In my own drum groups, participants consistently feel more connected with others, have increased energy levels, calmer, better organized thoughts, and less trouble with physical ailments.

And there are no negative side effects!

Drumming and dancing together brings joy, and helps strengthen the bonds of community.

Dr. Bittman also found that nursing students and long-term care workers who participated in a

drumming group had less burnout and stayed in their school or jobs longer.

Dr. Moshe Bensimon found that group drumming with traumatized soldiers lowered their profound sense of isolation; after drumming together the soldiers felt more connected; they were also able to handle their traumatic memories better, and had more self-control.

Group drumming takes you to a special state of mind where the brain can reorganize itself.

And since the brain runs the body, drumming can help heal what ails you. Not that it’s a replacement for surgery or antibiotics, but it can boost and augment

any other medical treatment.

How does drumming work? When your brain listens to special healing rhythms,

your brain waves go into a slow theta pattern and brain voltages become much stronger than usual.

This is a calm state, where normal thought quiets down, visual imagery becomes rich, and you can easily connect to intuition. Spending time in this state is like a massage for the mind.

Using a drum, you can enter and leave this relaxing state instantly, legally, and without any ill effects.

Healing is intensified by focusing it with an inten-tion. Just as a surgeon’s scalpel is used in the location of a problem, not indiscriminately, so is the effect of the drum.

You name the particular issue that needs healing, and form an intention before beginning drumming.

This directs the effects of the slightly altered state precisely where you want them.

Not all drum circles form healing intentions, some are just for the pleasure of playing together.

Drum circles are typically free of charge, and open to all, no previous drumming experience is necessary.

There is no teaching, nothing to learn, you just lis-ten to the rhythm and let yourself join in.

There are usually extra drums and other percussion instruments available, so you can join in even if you don’t own a drum.

But of course everyone travels with a percussion instrument – your own body. You can always clap, slap your thighs, stamp your feet, and snap your fingers to participate.

For information about drum circles in the Port Angeles and Sequim area, visit DrumCirclePA@yahoo groups.com and type “Port Angeles Drum Circle” into the search bar. n

Erran Sharpe, M.A., is a psychotherapist in Port Ange-les. He is a rhythmically challenged middle-aged white guy, who nevertheless participates in drumming activities of many kinds. His website is www.erransharpecounseling.com, or you can phone him at 360-460-6594.

Drumsound rises on the air,its throb, my heart.A voice inside the beat says,“I know you’re tired,but come, this is the way.”

— Rumi

COMMUNITY CONNECTIONS

Erran Sharpe beats a large drum on the shores of Hollywood Beach in Port Angeles. photos on this page by Jeanne Pumphrey


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Many heritage food varieties have been lost because of this neglect.

I find it odd that we eat food for nutrition, but crops are not grown for nutritional content.

The typical grocery store item has traveled 1,500 miles to get to your table. It takes 10 calories of fossil fuel to make one calorie of food.

If we didn’t have cheap energy, this system wouldn’t work.

In fact, we are at the end of cheap energy right now, or in the very near future, according to the Hirsch report of 2005, Peaking of World Oil Production: Impacts, Mitigation, and Risk Manage-ment. The report was created by request for the U.S. Department of Energy. A follow up report in 2007 supported the same conclusions.

Almost no preparation has taken place to mitigate the consequences of cheap energy loss.

The United States peaked in oil dis-coveries in the 1930s. This was followed by a U.S. peak of oil production in 1970.

The U.S. is currently producing half of our peak production, and it continues to decline.

The phenomena of production increase followed by a peak and decline is always repeated in oil fields due to their natural characteristics. Oil cannot be produced if it is not discovered.

The world peaked in oil discoveries in 1965 and all indicators point to a cur-rent peaking of oil production.

As demand continues to increase, as it is, and when the supply cannot keep up, prices will increase.

There are no known substitutes for the energy density, abundance and portability of crude oil — so a food system that relies heavily on cheap energy will be negatively impacted by these price increases.

What can we do? We must support and develop our

local food systems by asking questions and investing in our local food production.

Ask questions.Is that food grown locally? How is it

grown, conventionally or organically? Is the use of fossil fuel minimized as much as possible?

The President’s Cancer Panel issued a report in April 2010 that recommended we eat organically grown food as often as possible to minimize chemical exposure.

We have multiple ways in our area to eat locally grown, organic food — farm stands, farmers markets, stores that

feature local organic food, community supported agriculture programs and our own gardens.

We are truly lucky!We are fortunate to live in a good

agricultural area. We have good soils, abundant min-

eral-laden water, a mild climate, lots of sunshine and knowledgeable farmers.

We must recognize that we are in control. We vote with our food dollars three times per day.

But we must be vigilant. We shouldn’t assume food is organic

because it has been grown locally, no more than we should assume food is local if it is organically grown or in well known local stores.

We must ask the questions and not make assumptions about locally grown or organic.

Conventionally grown food that is not considered number one quality is often mistaken for organic because of its surface imperfections, which organic food often has.

But there is a huge difference in the environmental and community impact between these two.

Locally grown, organic food is best thing we can do for ourselves, our families, our area, our economies and our future.

How will you vote today? n

Sid Maroney is the farm share program coordinator for Nash’s Organic Produce, manager of Sequim.LocallyGrown.net and serves on the Port Angeles Farmers Market Board of Directors. He can be reached at [email protected].


FOOD SUPPLY


Prevent a Strokein Just 10 Minutes

Stroke is America’s third leading killer. It is also the #1 cause for nursing home admissions. Half of all stroke victims have no

warning signs before a stroke occurs.

We provide non-invasive, completely painless screenings using Doppler ultra-sound technology. Performed by registered vascular technologists.

These tests quickly detect arterial abnormalities which can cause disrupted blood flow. Our screenings

are fast and accurate.

physician typically will not order an ultrasound evaluation for someone who has no symptoms

Peripheral Arterial Disease ScreeningPeripheral arterial disease (plaque buildup) in the lower extremities is linked to coronary artery disease.

Next ScreeningsSat., Sept. 25 & Sat., Nov. 13

Pre-registration is required. Call 360-733-8128

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1 $40Abdominal AorticAneurysm ScreeningThe vast majority of people who have an aneurysm have no symptoms.

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of vascular disease. This vascular screening allows you to be checked for vascular disease as part of your own personal prevention plan. We provide non-invasive, painless screenings that can identify vascular disease, valuable information for your personal physician to help you reduce the risk for stroke.

Northwest Vascular Screenings, LLC Northwest Vascular Screenings, LLC does not file insurance claims.

www.nwvascularlab.com

095095895

Having recently moved back to this beautiful place from another planet (called Arizona), I thought I would make a public statement about some of the joys of living here.

I grew up in Chicago, but that was decades ago.I have lived in Seattle and Phoenix, too. I have visited large cities all over the world, but

none compare to the North Olympic Peninsula. I love my home here in Port Angeles, but I also love

Port Townsend, Sequim, Forks, Joyce and all the other communities, too.

Where ever I go I am greeted by a friendly smile — that’s why I live here.

Coming home earlier this year driving down the Morse Creek Hill, my heart was rejuvenated.

In fact it happens every time I return home. I have a feeling that this place is the most beautiful,

serene, pleasant place in the world. I have everything I need right here: homegrown

food from the Dungeness Valley; wine produced right in my own backyard; wood to build a house, a fence or a boat.

For my eyes, mind, heart and soul, the bounty of the sea awaits to the north.

The mountains to the south are a place to plant my feet and take root.

The weekly Port Angeles Farmers Market is a place to come together for friends, family, music, and yes, food.

It is a place of genuine community. As are the art shows on every second Friday of the

month. One of my favorite places on the Peninsula is the

Sol Duc River Valley. There are countless roads, both public and private,

that enable anyone to access the joys of this place. This last weekend a friend and I drove a mile off

of Highway 101 and saw a rare treat — a bobcat just standing in the road.

“This place is pristine, untamed and untouched,” my friend said.

I thought about that as we passed by places that in my short time here I had seen clear cut. Those spots were already thickly filled with the greens, browns and whites of fir, hemlock and cedar 40-feet tall.

“Yes it is great to still have this in our country isn’t it,” I said.

Everywhere we went there were great joys to

behold — eagles, deer, salmon in the river, the moun-tains, the forests.

And did I mention the quiet? We spent the night out in the forest with only the

sounds of the river. Not one car passed by our camp spot all night. We woke up in the morning to the sound of a truck

pulling in next to us. Out of the truck hopped two fly fisherman from

Port Angeles, out to catch cutthroat trout and savor the same sights and sounds that we were enjoying.

We said good morning and exchanged pleasantries about how we loved this river.

I laughed as I thought about mornings at my house with mountain jays grabbing fruit off of hazelnut trees in my yard — and how that is so much better than the traffic of large highways leading to huge cities like Seattle, Los Angeles or Phoenix.

Here in my world I can get to almost any place on the North Olympic Peninsula in less than an hour — I’ll take that, and everything else I love about the Pen-insula, over big city living any day.

Michael Devoney owns Ginger and Ginseng, located at 1012 W. 15th St. in Port Angeles. He practices acupunc-ture, Chinese herbology, Tai Chi and Qi Gong. For more information, phone 360-808-5605. n

Michael Devoney with his sons River, 5, and Ocean, 11. Mi-chael’s other son Skylake, not pictured, is 3.

written by Michael Devoney

PERSONAL NOTEBOOK

Small town charmAn acupuncturist returns to the Peninsula and remembers why he loves rural living


Healthy homes create a healthy planet

A recent study found that for every dollar spent to improve the energy efficiency of a new home, there is a seven-fold increase in savings if that same dollar is spent on an existing home.

If we as a community want to walk a little lighter on our environment — and at the same time reduce the impact on our wallet — then our greatest opportunity is to improve the performance of our existing homes.

Like all good deeds, this one will require work, and what may even feel like a little punishment.

Your first job is to identify just what you want to achieve, and then prioritize your goals.

Goals may include lowering electricity bills; eliminat-ing a cold, drafty feel; or simply helping the planet.

There are a plethora of good reasons to begin “green-ing” your home.

Knowing what you want to accomplish will save you money and time.

The target may shift as you proceed and gather infor-mation about the home, but that’s OK.

First, list your priorities. This will greatly improve

your chances of being happy and sane at the end of the job, not to mention seeing some kind of real improve-ment in the home.

Second, set a budget. The budget could be $50 or $25,000, whatever you can afford.

Third, you need to evaluate your home’s deficiencies. This evaluation can be done by a professional with

fancy equipment, or you can do the project yourself using a simple checklist. Which you choose depends on your budget.

A word to the wise, regardless of the choices you make in steps one and two, it is always best to ask a professional what they can provide and what resources they can recommend as you start your journey. This will allow you to evaluate just what tasks you can take on yourself and which ones you need to leave to the pros.

Now that you have a plan for what you are going to accomplish, you can start to pick off the ‘low-lying fruit’.

This is a process of identifying the items that cost the least and require little or no training to perform — in other words, even you can do it.

Designer shows how he improved the energy-efficiency in two existing Port Townsend homes

HEALTHY HOME

GR

EEN

LIV

ING

written by Kevin Coker

Next comes the work that either costs more or needs professional installation. If the budget runs out before the work is completed, then you just have future weekend projects to look forward to.

Here are two examples that illus-trate some of the common elements involved when improving the effi-ciency of a home. These two homes exemplify the existing home stock in our area and have all the ever-present issues found in Peninsula houses.

HOME NUMBER ONEThe first case is a turn-of-the-cen-

tury Port Townsend home. The house is a simple, two-story, stick-built house on a small site with good solar exposure to the south and west.

In the review of goals and priori-ties, the client wanted to concentrate on a more efficient thermal envelope, then choose a new heating system that will cost little to maintain and operate.

These two items will be crucial to keeping monthly utilities low.

Next they want to remodel the bath and kitchen to be more accessible.

The homeowner is a retired, single adult on a fixed income.

Her budget is fairly large $25,000, but with the required maintenance her priorities will be important.

Her health, although good, does have limitations due to arthritis and macular degeneration.

When making the final decisions of products and materials, it is important to consider future accessibility so that she doesn’t find herself in need of yet another upgrade or remodel just to use the shower.

It is always a good idea to couple your upgrades with any maintenance work in order to save money.

The roof and windows in this home need to be replaced and insulation needs to be added to the floors, walls and roof.

The low-lying fruit in this case are caulking and foam around all penetra-tions in the floors, walls and roof.

It’s important not to forget to insu-late the interior walls at the plumbing and electrical locations.

Also, foam seals for outlet and switch plates really do work and are available at any hardware store.

>> CONTINUED on page 13


095093584

For More Information Call:

360-457-7004 360-457-7004 328 E. 7th St., Port Angeles

www.portangelesseniorcenter.com

Get physical with one of our many fitness activities.

There is something for everyone. Join

us for Pickleball for all levels, Indoor Rowers, Fusion

Belly Dance, Line Dance, Massage, Chair Exercise or

Tai Chi for seniors.

FITNESS AT THE FITNESS AT THE P.A. SENIOR CENTER P.A. SENIOR CENTER

Katherine Ottaway, MDAnnounces the Opening of

Care for people of all agesin the context of theirhealth, history, family and community.

Quimper Family Medicine

QuimperFamily Medicine

2120 Lawrence Street, Port Townsend360-385-3826

Call Rachel Swett, officemanager at 360-385-3826

for information or to make an appointment.

095095661

095095665

These initial steps can improve the efficiency in every single stick-built home in America.

It requires no special training and the material costs for an average home are less than $50.

The last item will be to plant a deciduous shade tree on the southwest corner of the lot to provide summer shade but allow winter sun into the house.

The next step will be to replace the roof with a new composition shingle.

We reviewed insulations simultaneously. Cost, installation and performance were all consid-

ered, and we felt expanding foam was the best choice for roof and walls. It’s a little more expensive, but future savings in heating costs, as well as elimination of mois-ture issues, won out.

New insulated windows were then chosen to meet federal tax credit requirements.

Choosing a non-vinyl window was one priority and the other was maintaining the original look with grids.

If the budget didn’t allow, we could have used a film, applied seasonally, on the single-pane windows to reduce heat loss. There are lots of film choices available at the hardware store for a reasonable price.

I would still recommend keeping new windows on the ‘to-do’ list for later.

We initially explored solar thermal radiant heating. The comfort and efficiency of the system is excellent.

Unfortunately in a retro-application it is more costly, so a small super-efficient propane heater with blower was chosen as the primary heat and three small electric wall units chosen for additional zoned heat.

HOME NUMBER TWOThe second case is a 1970s, one-story Port Townsend

rambler. The goal for this home was to increase its comfort and efficiency because the home felt cold through the floors in winter months.

A priority was to use materials that were non toxic whenever possible. This takes some research

and lots of questions when buying materials and prod-ucts.

The budget was a more modest $5,000 and included adding a sunroom which would add a passive solar aspect to help heat the house, but also means the front door is not letting in outdoor air each time the kids come through the door. With a family of four, just going in and out 3 to 4 dozen times a day can really cool a home in the winter months.

After review of the house it was found that the insu-lation in the floors was only R-19 and had many gaps.

Furthermore the floor system was framed inside of the concrete stem wall which creates a large thermal bridge to the outdoors. The wall insulation was stan-dard for the day but could use caulk and foam.

The windows were a newer, double-pane vinyl with good performance values.

The roof could also be improved with more insula-tion, but proper ventilation would have to be main-tained at the eaves.

The heating system was propane stove with blower and electric wall units for zoned bedrooms and baths.

Low-lying fruit started with sealing gaps and cracks. Next, the floor system had the existing fiberglass put

back into place and then two widths of rigid insulation applied in transverse directions.

Next we installed rigid insulation on the outside of the stem wall up to a point above the interior floor.

A cedar shingle and trim board complete the aes-thetic look of the house, while the foam blocks the ther-mal bridging that contributed to cold floors.

After these steps — along with the sunroom addition — the budget was used up, so the roof insulation is a later step in the project.

That is unless the hot tub for the back patio doesn’t jump ahead on the list of priorities.

These examples, of course, do not cover all the possible scenarios involved in evaluating and improv-ing a home.

Keep in mind that it is a good idea to document the home improvement process with photos, notes and receipts. You are investing a good deal of effort, time and money into improving your home and this work will add to the bottom line when you are ready for that next move.

Kevin Coker is a local designer with 25 years experience in the design and construction of homes. He specializes in energy efficiency and alternative systems. For more informa-tion, e-mail him at [email protected]. He’s happy to answer any questions you have about improving the energy efficiency of your home.

When materials that are poor insulators come into contact and allow heat to flow out, it is called a thermal bridge. Foam blocks the thermal bridging that contributed to this Port Townsend home’s cold floors, while cedar shingle and trim board completed the aesthetic look of the house.

HEALTHY HOME



095095726

Doug brings over 25 years of P&O experience and is providing quality Prosthetic and Orthotic care from Port Townsend to Forks and looks forward to meeting your needs. Doug and his wife have made their home in Sequim and are enjoying becoming a part of this vibrant community. Office hours: M-F 8:30am - 5pm by appointment • 360-797-1001 566 N. 5th Ave., Sequim in the Professional Plaza next to SARC

[email protected] • www.cornerstonepo.com

Doug Young, LCPO

Th e W i l l o w M a s s a ge Th e ra p y C e n t e r1225 E . F ront S t reet • Por t Angeles

G r a v i t y

Willow Massage Therapy

Body in Balance

Rolfing®

Structural Integration

Darla K. Workman, LMPOrthopedic MassageChronic Pain/Stress ReliefMost Insurance Accepted360-417-5257/360-809-0623www.willowmassagetherapy.com

Debbie Collins, LMPAMTA, NCTMBTherapeutic Touch, MLD, PIP, L&IMost Insurance Accepted360-460-9155

Marilyn Beech, LMPCertified Rolfer®

Certified Structural Integratorcm

360-477-6855www.marilynbeech.com

09700856

g o t y o u d o w n ?

I hear questions over and over from patients about diet and exercise.

They often ask if a particular diet will work for them. I tell them that honestly, if the diet is very different from what they usually eat, then the answer is no.

Habits are very hard to change. To change a habit long term, it takes

six weeks of following the new habit. Are you prepared for six weeks of the

cabbage diet? Ick, not me. In a long term study of four of the

most popular diets, the diets that were closest to people’s normal diets did the best because they could be maintained for a year or longer.

Have respect for yourself: you have developed these eating habits and pat-terns over 20, 30, 40, 50 years. You will NOT change them overnight.

CONSIDER SMALL CHANGES. Make a list of your diet and exercise

goals, then make one small step towards it every week, adding on as you go.

Make little changes that do not seem like deprivation or much of a change.

Walk twice in one week. Eat fruit two mornings. Each change is more likely to stick

after six weeks. One woman started marching in place

during one television commercial a day. That isn’t much, is it? But she found it so easy that she went

to two commercials. She would get distracted and keep

marching. It worked, she lost weight.For a diet, I recommend the DASH

diet, from the National Institute of Health. Dash stands for Dietary Approaches to Stopping Hypertension. There are two parts that I especially like.

One is that it recommends no more than five tablespoons of sweetener, sugar or honey per week. One can of coke has 16 teaspoons of sugar, which is just over five tablespoons. One coke is the entire amount of sugar for the week.

It also recommends five servings of fruit and five of vegetables daily.

This may sound like a large amount, but a serving is smaller than many people think. A small apple is one serving. A large one is two.

To have five servings of each, we must have some fruit and vegetables at every meal and for some of our snacks.

Think of it as substitution — start adding more fruit and vegetables to each meal, and eat less of something else.

The DASH diet can be found on line at http://www.nhlbi.nih.gov/health/public/heart/hbp/dash/index.htm.

ExERCISE IS ONE OF the most important parts of staying healthy.

In a head to head study of a choles-terol lowering drug verses exercise, exer-cise lowered cholesterol more.

When our muscles are working more, they make more glucose receptors to put into the cell walls, which makes the cells burn more glucose.

Whole grains and fruits and vegeta-bles are like well-seasoned slow burning wood for fuel, a steady supply of energy.

Sodas and candy burn quickly like gasoline, giving a large wave of glucose, but then leaving our cells hungry.

Choose your fuel wisely.Many patients tell me they eat the

same amount as when they were 20, and they don’t understand why they keep gaining weight.

At a medical conference a speaker said, “For an 80-year-old man to have the same muscle mass as when he was 20, he would have to exercise four times as much.”

Now, think about that. The point is that muscle mass

decreases with age, unless you exercise MORE every year.

If you exercise the same amount as at age 20, your muscle mass drops as you get older.

Most of us, except Lance Armstrong, exercise less.

Muscle burns twice as many calo-ries as fat. If you exercise less, have less muscle mass as you get older and eat the same amount, what happens?

>> COntinUeD next page

smallCHANGESGive up crash diets. Find out how to really manage your weight.

DIET and ExERCISE

written by Dr. Katherine Ottaway


www.renaissance-pa.com401 E. Front St. 360/565-1199

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�� the cafe @

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The Creamiest Farmstead and Artisanal Cheeses from the Salish Sea Area

Now Including Chair Massage At The Port Angeles Farmers’ Market!

Fitness ClassesA New Strong Women Class Begins

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*** Super Savings ***5 one hour - $53 each

($35 savings)10 one hour - $48 each

($120 savings)

All of my patients can answer: you will gain weight.We have to eat less as we get older to maintain the same weight. I don’t really like it, but I am dealing with it too. What are you going to eat less of?

Dr. Katherine Ottaway is a specialist in family medicine. She attended medical school at the Medical College of Virginia at VCU, and did her residency at Oregon Health Sciences University in Portland. After working in Colorado, she moved to Port Townsend in 2000. For more information, phone her practice, Quimper Family Medicine, at 360-385-3826.


DIE

T an

d Ex

ERC

ISE

Reuse items or put on 2good2toss.com for oth-ers to reuse. Or visit one of the many reuse shops, such as the Habitat for Humanity Re-Store, Around Again and Waste Not, Want Not.

Buy locally made products so you can avoid having to dispose of packing or shipping materials.

Have you noticed how much packaging comes with mail order items?

Recycle everything you can!See the Recyclopedia on the 2good2toss website

or download a printed version from the City of Port Angeles website at www.cityofpa.us.

The markets for recycling go up and down and only the most valuable materials are collected for recycling.

Recycling markets are a complex issue involv-ing global economies, but you can help by buying products made out of recycled materials whenever you can, even if it costs a little more.

CIVIC ACTION Demand that manufactur-

ers produce products that are less wasteful, less toxic, that are recyclable, and cut down on the costs of waste management for communities. This is called product stewardship.

In Washington we have two recent examples.

E-Cycle Washington is a statewide electronics recycling program that went into effect in 2009, paid for by the manufacturers of the equipment.

In 2010 a mercury lighting product stewardship bill was signed into law, to become effective in 2013. The recycling of compact fluorescents and tubes will soon become easier for Washington residents. n

Helen Freilich is the waste reduction specialist for the City of Port Angeles’ solid waste division.

You can reach her at 360-417-4874 or by e-mail at [email protected].

Helen Freilich


WASTE REDUCTION


Dr. Leslie’s way of saying THANK YOU for

allowing her to serve you for 30 years . . .

www.VanRomerChiropractic.com • www.DrLeslieVanRomer.com • www.GettingintoYourPants.com Dr. Leslie Van Romer 415 N. Sequim Ave., Sequim, WA 98382

"I have no more pain in my neck and back . . . no more headaches. I'm more agile, cheerful, and better at work. No pain improves everything!"

– Nancy Radich

ONE YEAR of FREE chiropractic care (if new to our office) Value: $4,025.00

Dr. Leslie Van Romer

E-Mail Dr. Leslie [email protected]

FREE Spinal Examination (Value: $75.00 )

FREE X-rays (if needed) (Value: $140.00)

FREE First Spinal Adjustment (Value: $45.00 )

• • •

095095728

healthy living, september 2010

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