MOTHER EARTH NEWS August-September 2013

Learn, Share Self-Sufficiency Join us this September in harnessing the power of neighbor-to-neighbor connections for our second annual International Homesteading Education Month. Last year’s inaugural event sparked skill-sharing festivities across the continent that were focused on a gamut of self-sufficiency topics, from composting workshops to hands-on draft horse demonstrations. (Read reports from many of last year’s event hosts online at http://goo.gl/m9tcf.) We want you to take part in this year’s 30-day celebration of “Neighbors helping neighbors — building more self-reliant communities,” and everything you need to participate is at www.MotherEarthNews.com/Homesteading-Month. There you’ll find the full listing of events (searchable by location, date and subject matter) as well as our Speaker Finder (if you’d like to invite an expert to give a presentation). Don’t be shy! All types of activities are…

Genes form the building blocks of all life. Genetic modification — the technological shuffling of those building blocks among unrelated species — has been heralded since the 1990s as a potentially powerful agricultural tool. But pretty much all the genetically modified (GM) foods that have come to market so far have been crop varieties engineered to resist herbicides or produce insecticidal compounds (so farmers could, theoretically, apply fewer chemicals), and milk from dairy cows given a GM growth hormone that forces them to give more milk. Some countries have adopted these products, but others have banned them because the actual benefits of GM varieties remain unclear, especially as pests adapt to the traits upon which the technology relies. Both benefits and downsides for consumers are controversial. In 1992, the U.S.…

GI Joes: Now Even Greener As an avid reader, I was thrilled to see the summary of the Army’s continuing net-zero efforts in a recent issue (“The U.S. Army Net-Zero Initiative,” April/May 2013). The Army is indeed making significant investments in sustainability and renewable energy, driven by the awareness that such investments contribute to our mission effectiveness, enhance the quality of life on our installations, and improve relationships with our various community partners, whether at home or abroad. Richard G. Kidd IV Deputy Assistant Secretary of the Army for Energy and Sustainability Washington, D.C. Positive About Poultry I recently received a gift subscription to your magazine and devoured my very first issue. I would like to thank you for the article on broody hens (“Raise Your Best Flock Using Broody…

Moo-ved to Milk My husband and I have been reading MOTHER EARTH NEWS for about seven years, and we love it. I can name each article that gave us a “we can do this” idea. The greatest one we implemented was raising our own cow for meat and milk. It really was easy when we followed the article, and we have been milking now for five years. Thanks to articles on backyard chickens and the best chicken breeds, we now sell eggs at the farmers market. Thanks to an article on growing your own grains, we have wheat ripening now, and an old Allis Chalmers All-Crop pull-type combine ready to harvest it — just to name a few successes. When an organic transitioning consultant came to create a plan for…

I recently had a puzzling experience and wonder whether you might be able to shed some light on it. Over the past few years I’ve become increasingly unable to eat wheat without experiencing significant gastrointestinal distress, and I’ve been eating a gluten-free diet for about two years as a result. A couple of weeks ago, I traveled to Hungary and succumbed to the temptation of eating some irresistibly fabulous, crusty bread. I figured I’d pay the price but that it would be worth it. However, nothing happened. By the end of the trip I was feasting on croissants, thin-crust pizza, layer cake and giant pretzels, and though my clothes are tighter, my digestive system was completely unaffected. In fact, it felt better than it had in a long time. A…

Your publication has changed my family’s life in a major way. I grew up with a mindset that “more is better,” and “convenience is easier” — that life is about finding timesavers so you can run more of the rat race to keep up with the Joneses. Fast-forward to me reading my first issue of MOTHER EARTH NEWS. I just recently turned 37, and over the past four years, my family and I have done an about-face thanks to reading your magazine. It was your publication that started opening my eyes to the fact that you can have less, consume less, appreciate nature, learn to be self-sustaining, and enjoy the little things in life that you can’t buy off a store shelf. I also learned to reduce my personal debt…