Wild for Weleda by Marilyn Walls, M.S
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PCCNATURALMARKETS.COM MARCH 2017 Dedicated to informing and educating members and the public about food and agriculture, consumer food Springtime soup recipes, page 5 concerns, and the cooperative business model. Board of Trustees election, page 6 Edible City: A delicious journey, page 8 Issue No. 525 SOUND CONSUMER Wild for Weleda by Marilyn Walls, M.S. Vitamin sale benefits Vitamin Angels or nearly a century, the March 1 through 28 German skincare company All PCC brand vitamins and F Weleda has pioneered clean supplements are 20 percent off body care with wild-crafted, organic now through March 28! For the ninth consecutive and biodynamic ingredients from its year, PCC is partnering with own gardens, fair trade farms, and the nonprofit Vitamin Angels. cooperatives around the world. Vitamin Angels works to reach women and children around the It’s dawn a few miles outside of world with the vital nutrients Schwabisch Gmund, Germany, and baskets they need for good health. PCC are being filled with the handpicked will donate 25 cents of every calendula flowers to be used in Weleda body bottle of PCC brand vitamins or care and baby products. Traditionally these supplements sold. Just 25 cents beautiful orange and yellow flowers are picked right after the dew dries, at their peak, can provide a child in need with before the sun warms them too much. An life-changing vitamins for an insect hotel, a bee hive, a reflective pond, a entire year! To learn more, visit compost heap and a greenhouse are nearby. vitaminangels.org. Lined ceramic containers once used to distill plant oils now are displayed as garden art. A Weleda gardener handpicks calendula, Employees enter the gardens through used to soothe and nourish skin. a living willow arch, which changes with the seasons. They take exacting data of the echinacea, poppies, arnica and more than 250 other plants that they harvest. Families Helping Families Then the fresh harvests go directly to offering herbs, flowers and fruits from coun- Good-for-gums ratanhia From March 1 to 31, PCC the processing facility, where great care is tries all over the globe. The partnerships will donate a percentage of taken to clean the roots, peel the bark and Weleda’s first cooperative started in Peru are with both small and large farms, with PCC Kid Picks product sales to hand-select the best blossoms and leaves. more than 40 years ago to protect the endan- cooperative and cultivation projects. Seattle Children’s Hospital’s The calendula is picked and blended into gered ratanhia (Krameria triandra) plant. With a team of Peruvian farmers and the organic gardens. a tincture on the very same day to assure Ethical partners freshness and potency. Nature Conservation Authority, one of the Your purchase of Kid Picks All of this seems fitting for Weleda, Weleda’s cooperative partners thrive be- early fair trade projects was begun to stop the products will benefit directly whose founder, Dr. Rudolph Steiner, cre- cause the farmers receive a fair price for their overharvesting of the ratanhia plant. Besides the Children’s Hospital Or- ated the principles that define biodynamic crops and a promise to buy a certain quantity assuring the local farmers of fair wages and ganic Garden where the goal farming in the 1920s. Steiner described each annually, and they work in safe, sustainable education, it safeguarded the dried ratanhia is to change the perception farm as a complete, self-sustaining organism conditions. Weleda even prefinances the roots used in Weleda Ratanhia Toothpaste, of hospital food by working — the soil was “alive,” and if kept in balance, harvests. The co-ops receive help converting Plant Gel Toothpaste and Salt Toothpaste. with patients and their fami- it had the ability to give life to healthy plants. to organic practices, get agricultural training Today 5,000 acres are dedicated to organic lies to create natural, healthy Composting, fertilization and pest control for their children, and often are established ratanhia, and for each root harvested, five dishes based on familiar, are achieved using natural farm resources, in cooperation with developmental organiza- seeds are planted in the exact location. home-cooked meals. There’s a and chemicals or growth hormones are tions, universities or international environ- Ratanhia grows in arid climates, usually focus on using organic, locally strictly forbidden. That’s the philosophy mental protection groups. at high altitudes, and likes a sunny spot. sourced foods that come from Known for the tannins in the bark of the root, behind biodynamics: take good care of your Weleda is a member of the Union for the hospital’s organic garden Ethical BioTrade (UEBT), a nonprofit certi- it has been used historically by Peruvians for farm, and it will take good care of you. and broader community. Since Weleda was started in 1921, a rever- fier in Europe. “UEBT certification is based their teeth and gums. As an astringent, the “The meals we create are ence for plants and an honoring of botanical on a blend of both social and biodiversity properties of ratanhia shrink and tighten about so much more than the benefits have been the foundation for the criteria,” a Weleda representative explained. tissues and protect against bleeding. These recipe — it’s about making creation of the company’s body care products. “Joining the UEBT came when we rec- benefits can ease oral inflammation and food part of the patients’ over- From the beginning Weleda has nurtured ognized the challenges to transparency strengthen gums. Since Weleda’s standards all healing experience,” says relationships with farmers and wild-crafters. across the supply chain. With UEBT we can for ingredients closely align with PCC’s Chef Ryan Garcia. “If our Weleda’s plant needs eventually outpaced use the organizations’ standards to ensure standards, ingredients such as sodium lauryl the supplies from its 50 acres of biodynamic that all of our sourcing practices promote patients are happy and enjoy- gardens in Germany, however, leading the the conservation of biodiversity and that ing what they eat, that’s also company into 50 fair trade partnerships benefits are shared equally.” CONTINUED ON PAGE 3 one less thing parents have to worry about.” The hospital’s overall food culture aims to educate pa- PCC Natural Markets CHANGE SERVICE REQUESTED PRSRT STD tients and families about the 3131 Elliot Avenue, Suite 500 US POSTAGE importance of fueling the body PAID Seattle, WA 98121 with natural foods. Fostering SEATTLE, WA the Seattle Children’s organic PERMIT NO. 401 garden to help it become a consistent food source for the hospital is one important part. SOUND CONSUMER Published monthly by PCC NATURAL MARKETS 3131 Elliott Avenue, Suite 500, Seattle, WA 98121 Phone 206-547-1222, Fax 206-545-7131 [ LETTERS to the editor ] The SOUND CONSUMER is dedicated to informing and educating members and the public about food and Letters must be 250 words or fewer and include DRINKING WATER QUALITY mins and minerals. As with all meat sold at agriculture, consumer concerns and co-op principles. a name, address and daytime phone number. PCC, the pigs are raised without antibiot- SOUND CONSUMER: circulation: 58,000. Copyright 2017: Thank you for the timely, thorough and We reserve the right to edit. Please email letters ics, added hormones, growth stimulants or All rights reserved including the right to reproduce. accurate article on our water quality (“Go Opinions expressed in the paper are the writer’s own and to [email protected]. animal byproducts. do not necessarily reflect co-op policy. with the flow?” January). We’re all thinking EDITOR Eli Penberthy about this. As a clinical toxicologist in the area I want to emphasize the water filter option. CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER Cate Hardy Though our tap water is some of the coun- PURE ÉIRE DAIRY NUTRITION PUBLIC AFFAIRS DIRECTOR Trudy Bialic POTASSIUM IN PCC SALADS try’s safest, lead is understood to be “toxic BOARD OF TRUSTEES I recently purchased your Pure Éire without a threshold,” meaning no exposure Carol Binder Maggie Lucas I’m wondering how much potassium is skim milk in a glass bottle. Only the cap Alice Cho Snyder Elin Smith is the ideal, particularly for children with says it is skim milk and although I know in a one-fourth-pound serving of each of their growing nervous systems. A family can Tania DePue Sandy Voit that it is grass-fed and not homogenized, these PCC deli salads: Moroccan Yam, Em- do a lot to push lead exposure closer to zero Michael Hutchings Bruce Williams the milk seems so creamy, even allowing Julianne Lamsek Catherine L. Walker erald City, and Pecorino Quinoa and Kale. by using a rated, inexpensive filter. For other for imperfect separation of milk and cream, — Leanne simple lead exposure guidelines visit www. I believe it is whole milk. Am I mistaken? cdc.gov/nceh/lead/infographic.htm. Corrections I can find no nutritional information PCC replies: These three salads are good Lead screening guidelines for children on Pure Éire’s skim milk on the bottle, on In the February Sound Consumer sources of potassium because they contain rapidly are becoming more rigorous. The we failed to include a proper at- its website or on PCC’s website. Is that not potassium-rich ingredients such as yams. Centers for Disease Control essentially rec- tributtion for a photo captioned Envi- required by law to provide a nutritional (A cup of yams provides more than 400 mg ommends that all kids with any significant ronmental org, Food & Water Watch, breakdown of the product? potassium, and a cup of quinoa has about lead exposure be screened by blood testing sponsors a rally against fracking that — Maribeth 320 mg.) Unfortunately, we’re not able to appeared on page 7.