A Study in What Would Happen if We Talked to One Another

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A Dream Becomes a Reality

Here are my two little doodle-pies when we took a rather chilly visit to the 12th Street Beach to do some eco-investigating. I had talked with the Alliance for the Great Lakes a while ago about the possibility of adopting this little oasis so the boys and I figured we needed to explore this unchartered territory in our backyard.

Now the boys would tell you what they found was guano (or as they like to call it goose-poo) and lots of it! They dodged and jumped trying to thwart the possibility of the sticky GP getting on their shoes. Heaven forbid! ;)

And what I found was the materialization of a dream if mine- a chance to bring the true meaning of Chicago Green Families to the surface. I'd always hoped that our organization would have an opportunity to impact our community in a unique way... and here it is.

As I looked across that gorgeous alcove of peaceful water, I envisioned kids playing, kites floating, smiling faces shining in the summer light. I heard the far off laughter along with the soft crashing waves and knew this was meant to be. Soon after, we got the word that the beach was ours and we could begin. At last.

Counting Our Blessings

No matter what happens there is such abundant love. Everything else simply slips away.

Vital Signs

This morning brought a strong ray of hope for our family. When I walked in his hospital room bright & early, my stepfather (now labeled just Papa by the grandkids) looked energized after his long night of recovery following angioplasty. His vitals are good and his doctors are hopeful. Only 1 more surgery and his heart will be mended. And so will ours.

Everyone who has experienced the illness or loss of a loved one knows the rollercoaster ride of emotion all too well. Overwhelming panic, fear, frustration, helplessness... and moments of such broad, beautiful hope and love that you truly feel the meaning of yin and yang. The good and the bad so inextricably linked.

My mind fought to release all the similarities between Papa's illness and my father's fatal heart attack/stroke and when doing so I was transported every so often into the most tender, even sore spots of my being. Pieces of me that define who I am better than I could ever relate.

Every so often I was that quiet little girl standing alone in the doorway as paramedics tried to revive my father on the living room floor. The helpless 11 year old who wept as the nurse told me he was gone for good. When I would shake myself loose of my past, I would find myself staring at Papa as he dozed off questioning if it was only sleep or worse.

My mind keep telling me I wouldn't let it happen the same way again. The thought of my mother losing her husband and best friend again moved through me like a sickness I tried to shake off. Maybe if I stayed vigilant I could right the wrong that happened so long ago and the nightmares will end once and for all.

And now maybe they will. Not because of anything special I did to save Papa, but because I stared at my weakness in the eyes not as a timid child, but a grounded and present person. In a perfect world I would say I opened my arms to embrace fate no matter what the outcome, but that isn't my truth. No, I tried to stay true to my heart and let my love guide me. And this time I trusted myself and others enough to listen and connect.

Down & Dirty- Spring is Coming!

Watching my 2 guys playing at Brookfield Zoo this past week, I realized how much I miss the feeling of the soil in my hands at The Edible Garden.

Although I just wish I was a fancy dancy garden gal who knows the varieties of flowers and plants, I am not even close. I am proud, however, of being a really good down & dirty weed puller. While I am plucking at nature's intruders, I am cleaning the garden. I am organizing. And it brings me such joy.

Do Your Kids Beg To Go To the Grocery Store?

Step aside Whole Foods, my kids only ask to shop at Green Grocer now. Everything is fundamentally different from your normal grocery experience there. Cassie, the owner, is usually there and gives you a big warm welcome when you walk in. Do you get that sort of one-on-one at the large places? Nope. I'll tell you that personal contact changes the tone of the entire experience for the kids and for me. I don't think I ever told Cassie, but my grandmother owned a grocery store and it warms my heart to go back to the "old school" way of grocery shopping.

Since we are majority organic localvores, Green Grocer's shelves are filled with exactly what we want. No spending hours looking at labels and sifting through products. The research is done for me. What a feeling of relief! You have no idea what being a mom of a food allergic child does to you. Each trek to the store ends up an excursion of pain. Now it is near effortless.

If you ask my kids what they love about GG (aside from Cassie herself- they have major crushes) they quickly give 2 answers- the food (Cassie always has goodies out for her customers and you can have lunch before or after you shop) and check out time! The kids are thrilled that they have control over the checkout process. When we leave they are satisfied and so am I. And if I didn't mention, the price is right on. The difference is that my money is going into a fellow Chicagoans hands not some big corporation.

It's the winning combination of really good people and great food- all in your own backyard.

Where Can I Get an Organic Milk Latte? Nowhere.

When I collapsed off of the vegan wagon, I didn't go back to meat. The first thing I wanted was a decaf latte. With organic milk, of course. It's a given that other milk is laced with hormones that affect our bodies in the worst ways including increasing our chances for getting cancer. Furthermore, I believe in companies that use organic practices because it is healthier for us and the environment. Why then would we consume or give our children anything but organic milk?

Desperate for that foamy comforting goodness that only a latte brings, I quickly assessed I didn't have enough time to schlep up to the Intelligentsia on Broadway and didn't have the patience for the Jackson location with two kids in tow. I admit I succumbed and went into Starbucks. At least I was going to consume organic milk so patronizing a big chain would have to do for today.

Imagine my surprise when the barrista sheepishly remarked that Starbucks discontinued using organic milk. He shrugged at my look of disbelief that this was possible. "Ours doesn't have hormones", he quickly replied as I stammered looking for the right way to phrase WTF in a family setting.

Walking out, I mumbled something about big business and money all while growling. Sure, I had my heart set on that latte but I wasn't about to consume milk that isn't organic. I don't care if you tell me that it is hormone free or not. (BTW you can also tell me your baked goods are produced locally & that isn't quite true.) Tell me - how do I trust you?

With Starbucks on the sh*tlist, I trekked to Intelligentsia first chance I got and unexpectedly received a virtual slap in the face- they aren't using organic milk either! I think I went deaf and entered a bewildered trance. I saw an extremely large mouth flapping in front of me and registered something about organic milk not heating properly. My head was pounding! Are you kidding me? (I almost went into an insane tirade worthy of Seth Meyer's SNL Really?!?! skit.)

Once I made it back home I got on the laptop and starting sending inquiries to both companies asking why organic milk was phased out. Here is what Starbucks said...

Hello Jen,

Thanks so much for contacting us regarding the discontinuation of organic milk in US stores. We began offering organic milk in 2001 as an interim solution for customers who wanted milk that was sourced without the use of rBGH. At the time, offering organic milk was the best way that we could address customer requests surrounding synthetic growth hormones used by some dairy farmers. Customer orders of drinks made with organic milk have consistently been a small percentage of total orders. With our conversion to dairy products produced without the use of rBGH, thereby eliminating the primary reason our customers ordered organic, we've decided to stop stocking organic milk in our stores. We apologize for any inconvenience.

Your feedback is very important to us, so we appreciate you taking the time to share your thoughts. I want to assure you that I've passed on your comments to the appropriate people in our company for their attention. Again, thank you for contacting Starbucks.

If you have any further questions or concerns, please email us via http://www.starbucks.com/customer/contact.asp or call (800)-235-2883 to speak with a customer relations representative.

Best Regards,

Allison F.

Customer Relations

Starbucks Coffee Company

Apparently Starbucks feels like they have satisfied the perceived problem of hormones, but is that really all there is? Not even close. organic milk meets the highest standards that insure the health and safety of the environment and the people. Does their milk meet the same standards?

As consumers we need to ask more questions about where out products come from (as well as how they are manufactured, packaged and shipped). I remember the days after college living in the "big city" where friends warned that you should never take a drink from anyone but the bartender- who knows what it has in it? Same is true here. Would you just take unwrapped food or drinks from a stranger and eat it like there is no other choice? You wouldn't. So don't.

Educate yourself, find what is important to you and use your voice to say NO.

PETA Responds to My Shmeat Outrage

When writing my blog about being disgusted by shmeat I contacted PETA regarding their $1M research grant. I could not fathom how an organization dedicated to animal rights could fund a project that uses calf fetuses so I had to find out more.

Here is what they said...

Dear Ms. Khatchatrian,

Thank you for writing to PETA about the $1 million reward that we are offering to the first team of scientists to develop commercially feasible in vitro (lab-grown) meat. To read more about our offer, please visit http://blog.PETA.org/archives/2008/04/lab_meat_tastes.php and http://www.PETA.org/feat_in_vitro_contest.asp.

Although current efforts to grow in-vitro meat do use cow cells as a medium, our rules stipulate that in order to receive the reward, the in vitro meat must be grown in a non-animal medium. Our reward is designed to help stimulate the research and commercial development of in vitro meat in a way that does not use animals. We are offering this financial incentive for the same reasons that we support any innovation that prevents animal suffering.

As you likely know, every year, billions of animals are raised and killed for their flesh on factory farms, where producers maximize profits by raising the most animals in the least space possible, creating nightmarish conditions for them (http://www.GoVeg.com/factoryfarming.asp). If lab-grown meat becomes easily accessible, it could effectively bring an end to the inherently cruel system by which animals are killed for food.

Large-scale dependence on lab-grown meat would reduce the environmental problems associated with factory farming (http://www.GoVeg.com/environment.asp). It would also reduce the health risks associated with consuming animals—who are often fed hormones and antibiotics—as well as the bacterial contamination that causes thousands of deaths and millions of illnesses every year (http://www.GoVeg.com/healthConcerns.asp).

Fortunately, everyone can eliminate their own support of cruelty to animals and the other problems associated with factory farms and slaughterhouses simply by joining the millions of people who already leave animal flesh off their plates. Meatless burgers, faux-chicken nuggets, and even faux lobster (http://www.VegCooking.com/guide-favs.asp) are delicious and much kinder to the human body—and to animals. We have so many choices that there’s no reason to continue raising and slaughtering animals for food. To learn more, please order PETA’s “Vegetarian Starter Kit,” which is packed with information, tips, and recipes at http://www.GoVeg.com/order.asp.

For even more information on the benefits of vegetarianism, please see http://www.GoVeg.com/theissues.asp. If you are already a vegetarian, please see http://www.GoVeg.com/getactive.asp to learn more about what you can do to help animals abused for their flesh.

Thanks again for contacting PETA and for your concern about this important issue.

Sincerely,

Jeff Haines

PETA Foundation

Whew! No animals were harmed in the offering of this reward!

Although I am still extremely skeptical (and slightly wigged out) about the merit of lab produced flesh, I respect their response. Still, I have to wonder what the future holds when the pendulum swings all the way to the left for the slow foodies and then to the right for the in vitro carnivores. Who ends up healthier? Who is protecting the planet in the best way?

Comfort Food Flows Freely at St. Patty's Day Parade

I giggled when I saw this stand & had to take a picture. Really?!? A funnel cake at 8am? Really?!? Despite my misgivings about such hearty food in the wee early morning, everyone else seemed fine with it.

Tons of parade-goers lined up to get their steamy comfort food and drink green lemonade (spiked or not) and enjoy what felt like the first adventure into festival season for Chicagoans. So what if our toes were frozen, noses running and hands stiff underneath our REI sub-zero mittens!

Although I adore festivals, I came for the bagpipes! Nothing makes me feel more alive than hearing the hum of the bagpipes. At the first note I am transported into a little girl again- struggling past my parents to see the drummers with their big pom pons whirling in the air to the glorious music. Hands down one of my absolute favorite things in this world.

Now I bring my little ones and share the tradition. Not only because we are Irish, but because we are Chicagoans.

Slow Food Versus Shmeat - Raise Your Voice

As one faction of our society goes all Slow Food Nation on us, the other heads in another direction. Let me share the most absurd technological (or illogical if you will) advance headed to a grocery store near you- shmeat. Shmeat is most plainly described as test tube animal flesh. Single cells attached to sheets in a lab using a blood-like serum... sheet + meat = shmeat.

If you are like me your first reaction probably is "WTF!?" And, in my opinion, rightfully so. This sounds like some freak Clive Barker flick where nobody knows what is in the BBQ... but it is our current day dilemma. PETA has sponsored $1 million to fund research for shmeat. Translation- they want it become mainstream. They want your children to eat shmeat! I've contacted PETA to talk with me to gain some relative insight as to how they are investing in products that use animals but consider it cruelty-free. I am clearly confused.

I applaud Conscious Choice for their recent fabulous article on this very subject. This Sunday my friend Gina LaVerde slaps a copy in my hand, looks in my eyes and simply says "test tube meat." After a short period of physical gagging we threw the idea around the table at Bleeding Heart Bakery while the kids happily played. Gina, a raw foodie and gifted healer, is obviously not in the researchers target market, but what about the rest of us? As we talked through the concept, we realized even the most carnivorous of us aren't likely to ever partake of the cruelty free creation. It's absurd so let's feel our way through it and let you decide where you stand.

The name. Whether you call it in vitro meat (hurl), cultured meat (gag), victimless meat (yeah, right?), vat grown meat (sounds dirty), hydroponic meat (now too sterile) or shmeat, it reminds me of just how disgusting meat is in the first place. One minute Flossy is walking around, the next minute she is hacked apart. You can't sugar-coat this one.

The process. As the Slow Foodies get to know Jimmy the Local Farmer who raises livestock in a humane way to produce hormone free, quality meat, scientists (often called tissue-engineers) will have the ability to mass produce these harvested cells/ shmeat for the public. Do you see how the chasm is getting wider between the two groups? One group goes back in time to the way things used to be where farming didn't include harmful chemicals and hormones. The other group warps light speed towards harvesting faceless flesh in labs.

BTW- Fear is that the FDA will fast track the inclusion of shmeat without any public involvement or awareness. Think that burger is from Bessy? Think again! And how will we know? Already we have huge concerns over GMOs, what is to say labeling will have been perfected in this slim time frame.

The explained benefits. Sure, lab producing shmeat may have a smaller carbon footprint, but what happens to our farmers, our economy and our nation's landscape in this scenario? What happens to the bodies that ingest this literal phony-bologna?

Saying that it is less cruel to grow flesh than it is to slaughter meat assumes that all of our farmers have the same unjust practices mentioned in books like Slaughterhouse. Perhaps that isn't the case? I look to my fav organization Green City Market and their meat purveyors to walk me through this process so I am better equipped with answers.

As I wait for answers to the myriad of questions swirling around my brain, I ask you to use your voice. Tell a friend. Get more information. Ask for the facts. Share your opinions with others including your lawmakers. The FDA cannot be allowed to fast track anything under the radar. Especially something as controversial as this. Don't accept empty rhetoric. Speak up!

Eli's Opens My Eyes

Last weekend Chicago Green Families met up at the Green City Market where Eli's was doing the chef demonstration. Of course I envisioned flavors of cheesecake and other dessert treats; however, I was pleasantly surprised to learn so much more about creme fraiche, goat cheese, savory pairings and cheesecake-like-I-never-knew!

I walked away with recipes for sweet tomato chutney, creme fraiche, brown butter honey sauce and goat's milk cheesecake. Amazing! This was not the chocolate chip cheesecake experience I had in mind. This demo actually blew my mind!

Afterward, I got an email from owner, Marc Schulman, himself offering to provide a tour of their northwest location where the magic happens. Eli's is more involved in their community and way more diversified than I knew. They assist in educating members of the local high school, host a local farmers market, make significant charitable contributions to our community... all on the down low it seems.

Stay tuned for more as I tour the kitchen of a Chicago icon & meet with Marc!

Art Therapy

You know how I love to organize, so when we moved I had my sights on this little office nook in the condo for the kids art studio. Growing up my mom always focused on creating art in our free time. Whether it was sketching or painting or sculpting, my sister and I always had an abundance of art supplies and the encouragement to use our imagination.

Needless to say, I credit my mom for supporting the artistic side of me (even to this day) and want the kids to feel this special connection as I have my whole life.

Fast forward to our little art studio. Not big by any imagination, but it is solely dedicated to using your imagination. On the left side are some of my paintings and the center is a piece I fell in love with at Jayson Home & Garden. On the right we reused some Elfa shelving and added organizers to hold games, books, supplies, paper &, accessories. Check out the table easels that hang from one of the shelves. They were inexpensive wood easels (from Blick I believe) but extremely useful when painting and displaying art.

The curved wall you do not see in the picture (on the right) has two magnetic boards that showcase their artwork the kids created at school that week. We rotate them out so that it is current with their school projects. We also keep all our magnetic letters and numbers there allowing the kids to express themselves by making words and number combinations.

Since this picture was taken, we have added some framed artwork (a family portrait, Thomas the Tank Engine and Pluto) the boys made to personalize the space even more. Now when we have free time, the boys head there to cut and paste, create, imagine, read, play games, talk and share. What more can I ask?

Hankering for Handmedowns

It's funny... just today we were trying to find pants. The kid is so tall & so lean that pants just fall off. Or if you belt them it looks as if I have been starving the cutie for the past 3 months. Forget the look, the kid is constantly uncomfortable. I, myself, have a long history of being uncomfortable in my clothes.

Sorry Mom...I know you reads this so you know the gig... I had the itchiest clothes known to man. Check any picture of me for the first fifteen years of my life and you'll see my persistent eczema flaring in wool turtlenecks (I am allergic to lanolin), 3pc polyester suits for my JULY birthday party, patterned dickeys (yes, those hideous dickeys!), ruffles galore (example- my Communion dress with razor sharp ruffles cutting into my hives), leotards so stiff and so stuck together that it made sounds when I tried to put it on, a starched ruffle collar with gold piping (I can hear Mom saying out loud "I love that shirt! Jenny, do you know how much that cost?" at the computer screen right now...) My parents spent oodles on my clothes to get just the right tailoring and fit and all the while I longed for my cousin's old handmedowns.

Every time I stayed at my cousin's house, I would raid her dresser for these soft, broken in clothes. They were right out of a recurring dream I had as a child where I wore a shirt that didn't make me want to take sharp knives and rip my skin off. I didn't have pajamas that felt as good as my cousin's clothes so I secretly longed for handmedowns. She, of course, unbeknown est to me wanted my new clothes. Neither of us would get what we wanted because my dad was a style-hound, clothes monger that adored shopping and her Mom was a frugal, money saving genius. These two worlds of desire would never mix.

Fast forward and my, things have changed. Once I made two nickels to put together (in the retail industry of course) I bought my own clothes and they feel sooooo good to me. And I buy well made, good quality and condition second hand clothes for the kids whenever I can.

If you haven't been to Handmedowns.com yet check it out. Genius premise... now let's see how it really works. Being a big believer in both giving & receiving, I am trying my hand in both arenas & will let you know.

Share your handmedown story with me and I will publish the most outrageous!

SIGGnificant Change

It's amazing when I consider how long it has been since I bought bottled water. Our SIGG bottles have made a remarkable impact on our lives and budget! Looking back at all the money we save from not buying water when we are out & about, I realize another benefit. The kids are actually drinking more water from their "siggys" than they ever did from plastic bottles. I am secretly in awe when these ex-soy junkies ask for water over anything else. Hallelujah!

So now that we feel pretty comfortable with the whole cup scenario when we are out (we have special cups for hot drinks too), we need to segway to plates & silverware. Folks, brace yourselves but I have seen Styrofoam out there... STILL!

I am digging the Preserve line and have been bringing them to the kids' school parties (despite the aghast looks I get) instead of disposables. Note to self- get in the habit of carrying a couple sets for us rolled in a cloth napkin so when we are out we won't waste plastic.

So cups, napkins, silverware- check! Plates? Hmmmm... still mulling this one over. How big does my purse have to be?

Getting Stronger (Cue the Rocky Music)

It's official - I am starting to see results from the Wii workouts! Despite the stress lately, I am sleeping better and feeling more refreshed.

Patience & the Search for Deeper Meaning

When I find myself painfully walking against the flow of the river, I need to ask myself what I am struggling with. Today after I found myself walking out of the breast cancer specialist's office without a diagnosis or even an appointment for the ultrasound that will eventually determine the type of biopsy I need, I experienced an almost suffocating wave of rage and sadness.

Every step I have taken seems to thrust me three spaces backward leaving me bewildered. Am I approaching "the waiting game" all wrong? Looking back I think the past three weeks of not knowing what has invaded my body has made me dig deeper into truth. Good thing. I've taken more long looks into the children's eyes, said a lot more I Love You's that packed a punch (at least for me) and completed a critical inventory of the things I want to do and do not want to do in my life. Good things.

So why is it I cannot comprehend that the specialist has me on a waiting list for an ultrasound. It's not like a need a kidney! It was waiting list or book their first appointment in September! What is happening here? Red tape spooling before me like toilet paper that a toddler gets his hands on for the first time (and last).

A lesson in patience perhaps? You don't have to remind me, I know it is not my strength. And I need to stop fighting what is and just flow with the river before me. As cold and deep as it feels right now, it is the only way to get to where I am going.