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Psycho-spiritual Exercises & Practices in Review

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Of the four exercises and practice sessions learned during the semester, the two standouts are meditation and visualization. Meditation and visualization have long been revered in the East as methods of psycho-spiritual intimacy and enlightenment; as the West broadens its scope of medical practice; both are now more readily accepted as viable practices by the people and medical community of the West, respectively. As it’s noted by Patricia Gray (2007):

Americans are embracing alternative medicine with a passion. The most recent federal survey on the topic, in 2002, showed that half the adult population had used alternative therapy. Boomers are the top users: Nearly 70% of people 50 to 64 have tried alternative therapy, from acupuncture to chiropractic to meditation to supplements, according to a 2006 survey by AARP. And as demand has grown, the medical establishment, once avowedly anti-alternative care, has started to accept it. Most medical students now learn about alternative therapies (p. 1)

Federal testing is underway to qualify the validity of meditation, but regardless of the conclusions of the said studies: I can only speak for my personal experience with meditation. The past 10 weeks has been my longest consecutive period of meditation. I have enjoyed the practices learned in our coursework and have felt the calming effects of each exercise during the actual practice and for at least an hour post meditation. I notice meditation’s ability to center and redirect the thought process in the safe haven of my home, but the challenge comes after I open my eyes, once the soft gaze has refocused on my surroundings, and the issues on my mind slowly resurface.
I have to continue my meditation consistently in order for it to become the constant state of my being so I can think, speak, and be in the same mind frame as I am in meditation all day long. I can use meditation to put things in perspective rather than overreact and get into over-analyzing the “what ifs” in my daily life. I can also use meditation as a daily mental break, to carve out some healthy “me time”.

Visualization is a wonderful practice because it trains the mind to see things as you want them to manifest as opposed to dwelling on how they are now, especially if the present is in stark juxtaposition to your desired life. I could use visualization to envision my intentions for my life and see myself in that life: How does it feel?; who’s a major part of my life?; how does this state of living enhance my family life?; what does it feel like to live the success born of my hard work? All of the questions above can be posed and envisioned in visualization along with a plan to work toward the life of my own design.

Gray, P. B. (2007). It this man getting healthier, or just poorer? Money. Retrieved from http://search.ebscohost.com.kaplan.uah.edu/login.aspx?direct=true&db=aph&AN=25058311&site=ehost-live

You Are What You Eat

The Importance of Empathy in Healing

I found this exercise to be pretty amazing. I trusted my chosen guide and was able to relax relatively quickly. Coming from a Christian background, the exercise was a familiar idea in a different package. In the exercise we were able to choose our wise guide for the purpose of the exercise; in the Christian faith there’s only one true guide, Jesus Christ, and all the divinity in us is a reflection of Christ in us.

I had a 60-minute massage today and practiced loving-kindness for part of my session. I focused on my son to evoke the purest deepest love I could imagine. I then turned my focus outward to my parents, my child (again), and the world to inhale the problems or challenges of each; I inhaled their challenges and dissolved them in my heart. I exhaled and released the love evoked using thoughts of my son, and showered that love over every issue or concern held by anyone in my mind’s view. Like the practices loving-kindness and subtle-mind, Meeting Asclepius would need to be practiced regularly to maximize results.

One cannot lead another where one has not gone themselves

I agree that one cannot lead another where they have not gone themselves because they have no emotional or experiential reference to aid in their guidance of another. Those who don’t know first-hand what they attempt to teach can only share what they’ve read or heard; those who teach from experience are able to connect on a deeper level with those they help because they’re language will reveal that they’ve fought the same battles, felt the same feelings, and have true empathy for what the student is enduring and may endure throughout the duration of the healing process.

As health and wellness professionals we too must continue to develop our psychological, physical, and spiritual health. In order to remain connected to the processes experienced by our patients — with their challenges, triumphs, and setbacks — we must remain engaged in our own journey toward holistic healing and wholeness. Treating others from a purely intellectual stance will fail to serve them fully; we must feel and know they’re struggles for ourselves; we must overcome the obstacles they face in order to speak about them with authority. In addition, to declare what is to be gained on the other side of the common struggle, when one obtains abiding-calm and unity consciousness, we must be able to tell people how our lives were transformed in the process of integral healing for it to become real attainable to others. By continuing to better ourselves we place a real and tangible face upon the journey toward holistic healing and integral health.

Implementing psychological, spiritual growth in my personal life

Continuance of the meditative and contemplative exercises mentioned throughout the blog (e.g., loving-kindness, subtle-mind, and meeting Asclepius, etc.) is the probably the most appropriate approach for me to further develop my psycho-spiritual growth. Excavating personal truth, confronting old mental hindrances, and visualizing my best and healthiest self of the future will all undoubtedly play an important part in my journey toward holistic healing.

Self-Assessment and Strategies for Change

The assessment process is a challenge. The concepts are easier than the corresponding actions one must make toward long-lasting change. Regardless of the difficulty required to take an honest look at self, and identify areas in need of repair or enhancement, the practice is crucial and beneficial to the journey toward integral healing.

Self-Discovery

The exercise revealed that it's time for me to focus on two areas in my life: Psycho-spiritual (emotional) and Biological (self-regulation). If we're honest, many of us will have to admit that our emotions and lack of self-regulation are at the root of the majority of our imbalance. Whether it's being overly sensitive about a comment someone has made that hurt your feelings or a rash decision we made as a result of emotionalism, that we now regret...or maybe we need to not take a call, turn the TV or computer off and be still regularly: Emotionalism and poor self-regulation will sabotage us every time if we let them.

More on Areas of Development

I will continue to journal my feelings, hopefully more consistently now that I'm aware of a need to document my feelings, emotions, and behaviors, as they relate to corresponding events and triggers in my life. I will also cut myself some slack, something I rarely do, and submit to the process of practicing the witnessing mind daily.

Exercises to Implement Change

As I much as I hate to say it, I may have to become a list-maker to keep track of all I need to do. I know I need to do this but hate the idea of it and so...we'll see. Otherwise, I will continue my newly adopted meditative practices, loving-kindness and subtle mind, to get to the next level of integral healing.

Unit 5 PowerPoint Presentation: Mental Workout

Loving-Kindness vs. the Subtle-mind

Loving-kindness Compared to the Subtle-mind Practice:

The loving-kindness exercise reminds me of a prayer whereas the subtle-mind practice reminds me of a meditation. The loving-kindness exercise is more of an externally-focused practice, one meant to affect things outside of yourself even more than within yourself. The subtle-mind practice is an exercise that seems more focused on calming and centering yourself and your thoughts, and is therefore more of a meditative practice in my opinion.

This practice focuses on awareness of the pattern and pace of our breathing. It puts emphasis on the rhythm and calmness of our breathing to bring us to a place of stillness, a place within where we're instructed to dwell without losing complete notice of our breathing.

Like loving-kindness, the hardest part of the exercise is settling the mind, but Dacher (2006) notes that the difficulty experienced when we first attempt to quiet the mind is common and dissipates with continued and consistent practice

Mind-body connection and Holistic Wellness:
The mental and physical elements of wellness are interrelated and cannot be discussed or analyzed apart from each other. A person can become more prone to physical ailments like heart disease due to an ailing emotional heart, as purported by Dr. Dean Ornish (2005). I have experienced a great deal of emotional distress in the past few years and as that distress has intensified it has had an adverse effect on my physical health, especially in the exacerbation of chronic joint pain and migraine headaches. To date, I still experience chronic joint pain and regular migraines despite the meditative exercises within the course curriculum, but just like someone who becomes obese: The problem didn't occur over night and its remediation will require on-going and consistent treatment to restore my mind and body to pre-trauma status.

Loving-Kindness: A Worthy Practice that Requires Practice

Dr. Elliot S. Dacher (2006) couldn't be more accurate when he stated, "I have found from personal experience that in the beginning contemplative practice requires effort" (p. 66). I know that my mind is busy with thoughts of daily duties, concerns, and planning; but until I started this and other meditative practices within this course I never realized the effort required to mute the internal chatter and relax, look inward to explore the healing resources within. The challenge is this: When I find a quite moment and engage in a quiet meditation I often fall asleep, once I've relaxed enough to actually meditate that is. This being said, the only way to attain the benefit of the loving-kindness practice is through repetition and that's what I intend to do; I will continue, even for five minute intervals, until I get a handle on the basic practice and can engage in longer contemplative sessions.

I would recommend this exercise to others because we live in an over-taxed society, overwrought with mental, physical, emotional, and spiritual stimulation. We all need to begin a practice that encourages stillness and calm; we all need to see the perspective of another that may differ from our own with compassion and sympathy. Many wars, and general societal discords, stem from misunderstanding: We see ourselves as "us" and those from different cultures and/or perspectives as "them" which always sets the stage for division and egocentric power struggles.

The meaning and purpose of the "mental workout":

A mental workout is the equivalent of a physical workout but for the mind. To be an Olympian one must train vigorously and daily, likewise with the mental workout it is imperative to engage in practice (e.g., loving-kindness or the subtle mind) daily. In order to sharpen the mind and remain in a state of diminished ego, and with an open heart, it is important to reflect on the needs of others above our own. It is key that we remove ourselves as the center of our own universe, where all revolves around our feelings, needs and wants. It is important to note the ultimate aim of contemplative practice, stated by Dacher (2006), "The most meaningful aim of contemplative practice is not rest and relaxation but rather the progressive development of an expanded consciousness and its healing capacities" (p. 65).

A closer look at loving-kindness:

Loving-kindness is a daily practice of the actual act of love. Loving-kindness is moving beyond the superficial sentiment of love into the action of love, whereby we remove our focus from ourselves and acquire a heightened concern for the well-being of our fellow man (Dacher, 2006). At first this contemplative practice of sending out love and receiving it in return, even from our perceived enemies, feels like work; the goal with the loving-kindness practice is to reach a state of consciousness where the practice is an integral and inextricable part of our attitude, and the physical practice is no longer needed because our lives become a daily expression of the practice.

According to Dacher (2006), research has shown that, "when we stop practicing, we will see a drop-off in our [psychospiritual] conditioning, whether physical or mental" (p. 65). Like an athlete, we must be diligent in our contemplative practice to maintain our contemplative/psychospiritual progress and growth.

The daily practice of the mental workout will likely prove beneficial to me as a means of centering myself and giving more attention to the purging of mental and emotional junk that I might harbor for long periods of time without a practice to consciously address and rid myself of it. Loving-kindness is about opening our heart toward others but it's also a great self-accountability tool to gauge where we are emotionally. The daily practice of loving-kindness encourages us to tackle issues that may hold us back at their root.

Dacher, E. S. (2006). Integral Healing: The Path to Human Flourishing. Laguna Beach, CA: Basic Health Publications, Inc.

Integral Healing: Journey Toward Peace

The quantifiable life questions that we ask each other (i.e., how are you today?, when will you ever decide to have children?) in passing, in general or in pseudo-intimate conversations may seem daunting, but it is really the existential questions (e.g., what is the meaning of life? What is my purpose in life? how do I cooperatively create deeper meaning and cultivate peace in my life and the world around me?), that we must ask and answer ourselves in the truly intimate discourse of our mind, that pose the most challenge, render us most vulnerable, and therein offer the greatest opportunity for profound reflection and healing. This challenging internal discourse can teach us how to surmount all that seeks to oppress us along our life's journey toward integral healing.

What is Integral Healing?

According to Dr. Elliot S. Dacher (2006), a renowned student, practitioner, and teacher of integral health and healing: integral healing transcends the comfort and framework of the one-dimensional disease-medication paradigm so often found in the Western approach to medicine; integral medicine is a self-imposed challenge and a life-long quest to live our best, most authentic, lives by filtering away the unhealthy ties that bind and limit us from existing in a state of optimal holistic health and wellness. In the framework of integral healing, one must address issues of physiology, psychology, and spirituality with earnest fervor, and equanimity of concern for the state of ones' whole being.


Preparation for the Journey Toward Integral Healing
Dr. Elliot Dacher (2006) lists the following as preparatory steps to ready the mind and spirit to embark upon integral healing: Engage in regular reflection - constant reflection upon the preciousness of life in general and our own life in particular; make a decision to cultivate an attitude of loving-kindness; become a highly-skilled communicator and a person who acts in a manner that mitigates the perpetuation of disturbing outer experiences that cause distress to others or yourself; strive each day to create an oasis of quiet and stillness, a quiet place to ponder the elements of your life, and divide the necessary from the marginal and unnecessary elements of your life.

A deeper look at the preparatory steps outlined by Dacher (2006) provide practical application and personal context for each exercise:

1. Loving-Kindness: This step encourages us to develop a loving embrace toward all people by first developing the attitude and practice toward ourselves. Dacher (2006) describes the process as, "opening our hearts with kindness, care, patience, and generosity toward their [others'] needs." Loving-kindness is important to my personal health because it reminds me to release offense and by doing so to live free from the weight of grudges.

2. Skillful Action: This step is an exercise that we have the opportunity to do every day. This step focuses on the avoidance of behavior that creates obstacles and encourages conscious participation in behaviors that promote inner development. This step is important because it reminds us to constantly assess our behavior and remain committed to peace, stillness, wellness, and integral health, on a daily basis; this portion of the preparedness process can be very challenging and that's why having opportunities throughout the day, every day, to recommit to the exercise and lifestyle is imperative.

3. Silence and Stillness: This step focuses on the practice and value of silence and stillness. There are several adjunct steps to this preparatory practice, they are as follows: Be conscious of the outward noise and environment in which you spend your time; create internal calm, in the sanctity of our own mind; the third step is one that comes to the more seasoned practitioner and it's a state of natural calm in ones' mind, where your mind effortlessly maintains a peaceful homeostatic state in all situations and under all circumstances.

Personal Assessment: Physical, spiritual, and psychological well-being
I will give myself a modest rating for all three categories of well-being at the moment. I know where I've been in the past in each area and also have an idea of my goal in each area, and I know I am currently functioning far beneath my own standards. Why? I am in a place of physical, spiritual, and mental recovery after a devastatingly damaging three-year relationship that consumed my life -- a relationship with such a high price that the only tender to satisfy it would be my very life if it continued. In this relationship I lost myself, my zeal, my goals, and a certain level of self respect. At the lowest point therein I stopped praying, eating, sleeping, and only existed because what I describe here is not living, just existing.

Physical Goal: I have completely changed my nutritional regimen in the past few months; I have transitioned from being a life-long carnivore to a totally-committed vegan. My physical goals are nutritional more than weight or fitness-based. My goal is to continue along this exciting nutritional path, to research and incorporate life-force rich food and supplements into my dietary regimen, to heal my physical body from the inside out. I will publish a separate in-depth post about my dietary program and its nutritional benefits in the near future, so be sure to check the blog regularly.

Spiritual Goal: My goal is to pray and meditate, for no specified length, daily. I seek to advance my integral healing to improve my ability to quiet my mind and be still, to hear and see my next steps in life, as guided by divinity not personal or blind ambition.

Psychological Goal: My goal is to regain the joy I had four years ago and then transcend that level to experience the most whole, peaceful, secure, and confident me possible. I know that the latter half, becoming the best me ever, is a life-long process and not a short-term goal.

Resolutions
Basically, as Elizabeth Gilbert suggested: Eat, pray, love. I will continue to eat organic whole foods as much as possible, along with nutrient-dense superfoods. I will engage in free-form and guided prayer and mediation, even if just for five minutes, daily. I will continue to journal and blog to track my progress along my journey. My overall goal is the restoration of a joyous and radiant mental, spiritual, and physical state; I will inundate myself daily with as much uplifting music, literature, new media, conversations, and visualization as possible to cultivate an environment of peace and mental prosperity.

Dacher, M.D., E. S (2006). Preparing the Ground. In Integral Health: The Path to Human Flourishing. Laguna Beach, CA: Basic Health Publications, Inc.

Meditation: Chromotherapy and Healing

This unit's meditation, The Crime of the Century (Kaplan, 2010), resembles a zen-like re-enactment of the scientific experiments conducted by Sir Isaac Newton, between 1666 and 1672, to prove his theory of the relation of light to color. In his unprecedented experiments, Newton demonstrated that a ray of light is divided into its constituent colors by the first prism, and the resulting bundle of colored rays is reconstituted into white light, sound familiar? (Cherry, 2010).

This week's meditation was like a bit of a social experiment set to calming music and the lulling voice of an effective moderator. We, with the moderator's instruction, focused on certain colors associated with different parts of our body. The moderator introduces each color in association to a given body part separately, and the moderator eventually asks us to envision all the said colors seen through the prism as one radiant white light that envelops us as the climax of the meditative process.

All cerebral analysis aside, the exercise was relaxing and quite enjoyable. But with more thought I wonder: Was I supposed to gather something other than surface relaxation from the exercise? Was I supposed to feel warm when I focused on red and cool when I focused on blue? I can't say the experience was an evocative color-to-emotion exercise, but it does pique my interest about the study of chromotherapy, light therapy, and colourology as a holistic or alternative treatment.

I will likely return to this practice again; maybe I'll think less about the meaning of the exercise and just enjoy. Can I get an "Ummmm"?

Cherry, K. (2010). Color Psychology: How Colors Impact Moods, Feelings, and Behaviors. About.com

The Crime of the Century (2010). Kaplan University. Retrieved from http://www.kushs.net/kaplan/HW420/TheCrimeOfTheCentury.mp3

Meditative Exercise: Journey on Relaxation

This meditative exercise was new, and deceptively challenging. I am often stressed out with life's constant challenges in the foreground and anxiety nipping at my efforts toward peace in the background.

As the mediator starts to lead me into the visualization and relaxation meditation I can hear my mind's reel betraying my will to cooperate. "Get into a relaxing position", "Focus on moving heat and energy into your extremities", heck "Breathe". My conscious mind persists with its agenda: "Did you turn off the stove?", "Was that the baby?", "What am I going to eat for lunch?".

The most challenging part of the meditation was the immense effort it took to quiet my mind enough to allow entrance to the mediator's instruction. I was also surprised that the not knowing where the moderator was going, and not knowing him, made me slightly anxious and a bit apprehensive. I felt more vulnerable than I could imagine I would, especially when I'm in the safety of my home simply listening to a voice through my computer, a soothing and gentle voice, the voice of a man who can't see, hurt, or judge me.

Welcome!

Greetings:

I would like to welcome all first-time visitors and Followers alike to my blog. As I cultivate this interactive space, my focus is concentrated on the creation of an atmosphere that fosters robust conversation within this soon-to-be dynamic on-line community. This space will act as a research tool, sounding board, and discussion space for those interested in health and wellness. I have a particular interest in homeopathic-holistic healing, exploration of the vegan lifestyle for the newly converted life-long carnivores (like myself), overall health-boosting nutrition via the power of Superfoods, and in-depth examination of the complex and sometimes contradictory psychology of obesity that is literally crippling our nation.

Feel free to share the blog link with like-minded and/or receptive people to further expand the creation of what I anticipate will be a most engaging and stimulating forum.

Wisdom, peace, and blessings,
Truth Seeker

McWorld and obesity: Super-sized Diets and the effect on national health

Diet, nutrition, eating habits of Americans, and nationwide food consumption:

The United States is a reflection of the homogenization at hand in the food industry. Apart from the grassroots uprisings with the organic, local, and slow food movements, the majority of the public is addicted to fast, processed foods that contain a lot of salt, sugar and fat for increased shelf life and taste.

According to Eric Schlosser (2002), which depicts a McDonald's scene in Dachau, Germany, located in a newly-erected shopping center in close proximity to the first concentration camp established by the Nazis, that reads, "This McDonald's was in Dachau, but it could have been anywhere -- anywhere in the United States, anywhere in the world. Millions of other people at that very moment were standing at the same [proverbial] counter, ordering the same food from the same menu, food that tasted everywhere the same.” This statement is, in a nutshell, the idea of 'McWorld'; it's the homogenization of food consumed nationally, and increasingly globally. What's happening with McDonald's has the monopolizing prospects of a Microsoft with the potentially fatal health risks of the tobacco industry. McDonald's, in its creation of a "McWorld utopia" would exist -- and dominate -- in every state, country, and on every continent, making their menu the world's menu, and their offerings the world's diet. Such dominance would create an impenetrable stronghold on the farming system, which it would dictate in every way for its own purpose - to produce the systematic and unnaturally fast production of food products to suit the strict formula of the McDonald's end-products. According to Schlosser (2002), "A McDonald's restaurant is just the window of a larger system comprising an extensive food-chain, running right up to the farms." The realization of such a hegemonic food selection of "convenience foods" is a scary prospect, and a seeming requisite for global obesity and its related health issues. This streamlining of food supply, specifically food accessible and affordable to the middle class, working poor and impoverished members of a given society makes it a key issue. Also, the idea of companies like Monsanto gaining total control over the annual seed supply and the nature of that supply (e.g., organic, genetically modified, etc.), would have huge, possibly grievous, results if unmonitored by the government and the peoples’ organizations.

The link between eating behavior and disease, health outcomes

There’s no dispute that overweight and obesity is the result of a society addicted to and inundated with fast food, while lulling the minds of the people away from activity and true thought via technology and the malaise of the media. We know the calorie-dense input contrasted against minimal output will cause overweight and obesity over time. Those who become overweight and obese, with a BMI greater than 30, are automatically at an increased risk for a long list of debilitating and/or deadly diseases. Our BMI measurement is crucial because it’s a red flag to health professionals that further assessments (e.g., skin-fold thickness measurements, evaluations of diet, physical activity, family history, et. al.) may be needed to determine a persons’ likelihood for disease — ones relationship between weight and disease or death are correlative (CDC, 2009). According to the CDC, those within the “obese” tier of the BMI chart are at higher risk for: Type 2 diabetes, coronary heart disease, coronary artery disease, hypertension, stroke, gallbladder disease, osteoarthritis, sleep apnea and respiratory problems, and some cancers (i.e., endometrial, breast, and colon). Due to the associated illnesses of obesity, living day-to-day in a manner that fosters overweight and obesity is just as good as a guarantee of a future hindered or shortened by the diseases and ailments listed above (Long, 2007).

Beliefs related to eating patterns from two perspectives (e.g., psychologically and physiologically)

Culture, class and economics have a significant impact on ones’ psychology around food consumption and food practices. The questions of not only how one should behave around food, but also how one should look (i.e., aesthetic ideal) according to their ethnic community may vastly differ from the standards put forth by the medical communities who establish the meaning behind the numbers on say the BMI chart. Non-Black and Non-White Latino segments of the population tend to ascribe to a leaner and lower weight aesthetic as healthy, while members of the Latino and African-American Diaspora prefer a weightier and shapely physique, and consider that the pinnacle of health. However, the two perspectives seem intertwined. People manifest their thoughts and their thoughts are often formed by the examples or images in their immediate environment.

Related website sources:
Slow Food Inc.:
A wonderful source for background information about the slow-food movement, its philosophy, mission and how the movement is growing to inspire people around the world to get back into their kitchens to prepare organic, whole foods to nourish themselves and their families, and to sidestep fast food options that offer sub-prime.

CDC Healthy Living:

The Center for Disease Control and Prevention’s Healthy Living sub-site is a wonderful resource for all
aspects about healthy living, from nutrition to exercise and beyond. The site’s Staying Healthy section has
links to additional information on child development, eating your fruits and veggies, food safety, healthy
joints, healthy pets, healthy people, healthy swimming, heart disease prevention, HIV/AIDS prevention,
healthy water, healthy weight, diabetes prevention, skin cancer prevention, preventive cancer screenings,
quitting smoking, STD prevention, and stroke prevention.

USDA.gov:
The United States Department of Agriculture’s site has a number of programs and articles that one
can access, at no cost, to educate and empower themselves and their communities. Some of the programs
found on the site are: Let’s Move: America’s move to raise a healthier generation of kids; Healthy Incentives
Pilot (HIP); Farm-to-School Initiative; Center for Nutrition Policy and Promotion; Team Nutrition Initiative;
Eat Smart. Play Hard; Program Nutrition Education; State Nutrition Action Plans; and many more.

Related articles:
New research on obesity from University of Alabama, Department of Psychology summarized:
Discusses obesity as it relates to effected women.

Obesity, disordered eating, and the bariatric surgery population: implications for psychotherapy:
Discusses some underlying psychological causes for obesity and how they present post bariatric surgery.

Cross-cultural dietary patterns: A college course on ethnically diverse eating patterns:
A look at diverse food choice across a variety of cultures.

References:

About BMI for Adults (2009). Centers for Disease Control. Retrieved from http://www.cdc.gov/healthyweight/assessing/bmi/adult_BMI/#Used

Long, S. and Schlenker, E. D. (2007). The Food Environment and Food Habits. In Williams’ Essentials of Nutrition & Diet Therapy. St. Louis, MI: Mosby Elsevier.

Schlosser, E. (2002). Global Realization. In Fast Food Nation: The Dark Side of the All-American Meal.
New York, NY: HarperCollins Publishers.

Organic Versus Conventional Food: The Real Cost of Unconscious Choice

What is organic food? Who ensures the integrity and quality of the “USDA-organic” brand?

According to the USDA (2007), “Organic food is produced by farmers who emphasize the use of renewable resources and the conservation of soil and water to enhance environmental quality for future generations. Organic meat, poultry, eggs, and dairy products come from animals that are given no antibiotics or growth hormones. Organic food is produced without using most conventional pesticides; fertilizers made with synthetic ingredients or sewage sludge; bioengineering; or ionizing radiation.”

Passage of the Organic Foods Production Act (OFPA), enacted under Title 21 of the 1990 Farm Bill, established uniform national standards for the production and handling of any and all foods labeled as “organic”. OFPA led to the creation of a new USDA National Organic Program (NOP); NOP now acts as the judiciary of organic food production as it sets national standards for the production, handling, and processing of organically grown agricultural products (Gold, 2007). NOP also manages the mandatory certification process undergone by all organic food producers in the United States. As a part of the USDA’s efforts to ensure the integrity of the “USDA-organic” certification brand, and as a result of OFPA, the National Organic Standards Board (NOSB) —an advisory agent to the Secretary of Agriculture, as Congress is to lawmaking — sets the foundation and functional standards for the NOP. Only food producers who meet the standards of the NOP obtain the right to label their food “organic” (Gold, 2007).

Organic farming relies on natural, chemically-free methods of crop cultivation to create food with as little human intervention and manipulation as possible for the optimal nourishment of the end-recipient, which promotes and generates holistic compassion toward the environmental ecosystem. As is noted by the Mary V. Gold’s USDA article (2007), “Organic agriculture is an ecological production management system that promotes and enhances biodiversity, biological cycles and soil biological activity. It is based on minimal use of off-farm inputs and on management practices that restore, maintain and enhance ecological harmony.” While USDA standards and regulation, in addition to the most earnest efforts of farmers, cannot guarantee absolute purity of the end-crops, this is especially true with the increased use of GMO-seeds and crops, and air-borne pesticides that create uncontainable air pollution — organic farming and food products are still a significant step in the direction of conscious agriculture and clean eating from seed to harvest.

Privately-owned Organic Certification Agencies: Aside from the USDA, there are many privately-owned certification companies. The Rodale Institute provides a comprehensive database of US-based and international certification agencies through which farms, factories, and food producers may obtain their organic certification. The certification agencies listed are all bound by the NOP’s certification standards, but the Rodale Institute, founded by J.I. Rodale, and the producer of the longest running US-based comparative trial to measure the quality and ecological effects of organic vs. conventional farming, may hold its certifiers to even higher standards. The Rodale Institute has been in operation since 1947, way before the USDA established any measure of organic standards, and remains true to its creed and mission through the present day. As the RI site states (2010), “Our findings [via the Farming Systems Trial®] are clear: A global organic transformation will mitigate greenhouse gas emissions in our atmosphere and restore soil fertility. Our mission: We improve the health and well-being of people and the planet.”

How is organic different from conventional food? The major difference between conventional and organic farming is fundamental. Organic farming omits the use of any chemicals in the form of pesticides, insecticides or fungicides to eliminate pests with the thought that doing so harms the consumer, farm animals and the environment. Conventional farming, in contrast, readily uses a variety of chemicals and forms of genetic modification to alter, and control the end crop and increase harvest yield. Some in the conventional-farming community would indicate that they are benevolent in their tactics since their yields may be larger in quantity, and can be augmented to contain increased variable tolerance or enhanced levels of essential nutrients not found in naturally-occurring like crops.

Related website resources:
NOP Homepage: This is the USDA’s dedicated section for additional information regarding the National
Organic Program and data related to certification, standards and regulation of organic food processors.

Guide to International Trade in Organics: Laws and Regulations: What isn’t it? This data set is the definitive
information source for all things related to the legal and regulatory aspects of organic food production,
handling and trade.

Codex Alimentarius - Organically Produced Foods Joint FAO/WHO Food Standards Programme, Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, 2001: The Codex Alimentarius (CA) document is a joint venture between the Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO) and the World Health Organization (WHO) to provide the public with an in-depth look at many aspects of organic agriculture, including definitions, import regulations, the current inspection and certification systems and much more; what’s great is that each section is accessible via a hyperlink for easy navigation through this informative and massive document.

Related essays, articles:
Next Course in Organic Debate: There’s been some debate over whether organically-grown food is superior
to its conventional counterparts; this article takes a look into the debate and attempts to shed some light on
the matter.

The Winner: Organic: As I stated, there is a robust debate being waged over whether organically or conventionally-grown food is superior. This article has a definitive stance and makes an argument for the superiority of organically-grown food.

Change has come big-time to USDA National Organic Program: This article discusses the additional measures the NOP plans to implement to guarantee the quality and integrity of the foods produced by farms and factories certified under the “USDA-organic” brand with the use of unannounced inspections, increased investigation of those who might seek to cheat the system and the public by cutting corners, and increased regulatory staff.

Rodale Institute Press Room: This page on the RI site provides links to current happenings in the organic community and provides newsworthy articles regarding organic legislation, practices and precedents.

References:

Bowman, G. (2010). Change has come big-time to USDA National Organic Program. Rodale Institute. Retrieved from http://rodaleinstitute.org/20100208/Organic_program_head_lays_out_strict_and_sensible_approach_to_strengthen_integrity_ease_producer_barriers

Gold, M. V. (2007). Organic Production and Organic Food: Information Access Tools. USDA: Alternative
Farming Systems Information Center. Retrieved from http://www.nal.usda.gov/afsic/pubs/ofp/ofp.shtml