Today’s gallery is devoted to the beauty of nature and inspired by a lost energy policy.

Building an oil addiction that would lead us to erect thousands of oil rigs in mile-deep water was easy. Ensuring the safety and well-being of the world was not.

Even though we are 2,000 miles from the BP oil disaster in the gulf, we will feel the impact in the air, the water, the economy, the blame we all share in letting the oil industry get to this point.

Who is at fault? In any incomprehensible nightmare scenario there is always comfort in being able to  vilify someone, especially if they are holding the bag, so to speak, such as BP.

But let’s face it, the equipment that failed is another place to point fingers. The oil lobbies and Congress surely share some blame for an outdated and LOST energy policy. And perhaps easiest to blame are the federal regulators and their alleged incompetence, at best.

Let’s not forget you and I, with our oil-based lives, from clothing to cars, from chemicals to comfort, we have all grown dependent on massive supplies of oil.

Am I enraged? Horrified at the permanent destruction of the gulf and possibly the Atlantic coast? Saddened? Remorseful? Incredulous? Powerless? Yes, but all of these emotions won’t help us wake from this nightmare.

Does it make sense to continue this addiction to oil when there are thousands of more oil rigs, in the gulf alone, that could repeat this disaster? Does it make sense to continue to use oil as our manufacturing base when the supply is running out?

I will leave you to answer those questions on your own and hopefully share them with the world. For me, this disaster is a learning experience and wake up call that it is time to move beyond oil. For me and for anyone else who will listen. Let’s take a two minute break from Lady Gaga and think:

(Image: mirror.UK, Rolling stone)

What can I do? Let’s begin with sharing information that will help each of us Move Beyond Oil. One thing you can do is become a member of the Move Beyond Oil Facebook Community. Seize your power and share your feelings about our lost energy policy, beliefs and ideas on how we can ensure this will never happen again and most of all, move beyond oil.

All photos by LoveEarthAlways.com

Once or twice a year we try to encourage our customers to get their green on and take advantage of our great products. I can’t think of a better reason than the sacrifices that veterans have made to the USA and our citizens. That’s why we are offering 25% off any of our products now through Memorial Day! Maybe you are looking for a gift for Fathers Day, or maybe a summer birthday, or a gift to yourself. This is the time to buy. Use coupon code MemorialDay10 at our checkout to get your 25% discount on any and all items. Buy them here: http://loveearthalways.com/products.html

Recently at my “Wealthy Living” healthy food store I picked up a product that looked interesting. After hitting the seitan Philly Cheese Steak out of the park, I was ready to see if there were any other tasty and healthy non-meat products out there. I found a package in the cooler labeled ‘Field Roast’ smoked quarter loaf from the Grain Meat Company. It looked like quality and the label read like a list of antioxidants, fiber, lycopene and smartly seasoned panacea. Once home, I cut open the package. It looked like a bound sausage or pepperoni. I sliced off a few thin pieces. It had a texture and taste similar to pepperoni. Hmmmm. “This can’t be good for you,” I thought. I checked the ingredients again.

“Filtered water, vital wheat gluten, red wine, tomato paste, organic wheat flakes, barley malt, garlic, naturally flavored yeast extract, organic wheat flour, natural liquid smoke, paprika, lentils, granulated garlic, sea salt, Irish moss (sea vegetable) extract, yellow pea flour and spices.”

I thought again, “This would be a nice appetizer on crackers, with or without cheese.” I then tried a slice on a stone ground wheat thin cracker. Absolutely yummy. And healthy compared to various animal products. While Donna prepared a BLT with bacon, I thought, what would this sandwich taste like with field roast instead of bacon?  The recipe:

Two slices of organic whole wheat bread, a few slices of field roast, fresh organic lettuce, a fresh organic ripe tomato and mayonnaise. How was it? Of course it doesn’t match the greasy, salty smoky flavor of a bacon BLT. But, it comes very close. Any I will take the extra healthy years in return for eating bacon any day.

My conclusion? Absolutely delish! And healthy. And no heart burn! Five stars in my book. This will become a staple in our kitchen. Try it, and let us know what you think!

The US Department of Energy (DOE) predicts that we will have used up half of the Earth’s oil reserves and within the next two years. The implication is that as demand increases and oil supplies shrink, prices will continue to rise at a steady pace until we eventually run out of oil at around 2030. And as a society, we are largely unprepared to replace oil with anything else on a large scale. Expensive oil and oil-products from our oil-based economy will become an economic and survival issue for . Oil is a part of most of our lives.

Everything from furniture to chemicals to heating fuel to a lot of our clothing, gasoline and diesel come from crude oil. How could we instantly replace all of these products with non-oil alternatives? No one seems to have the answer. First of all let me assure you that I am not a radical, politically-oriented whack job! I am simply passing along what the unbiased experts have been saying for the past 40 years. Read it for yourself and you be the judge.

Unfortunately, the climate change concern has become a polarizing political battle, even though DOE, NASA and NOAA, which are three unbiased government agencies have shown data for years that our climate is changing with dire consequences. Let’s face it no one want climate change or the end of cheap oil to be true, as if we needed one more reason to be wary of fossil fuels. And consequently it seems that many people would rather believe political pundits’ opinions about the so-called pseudo-science of climate change than believe the hard facts and models. But if we look at the data it is very alarming. Why aren’t our leaders warming us about the impending crisis?

Only a few of our national and state leaders are talking about the necessity to transition to a post-oil economy. Many of us are living lifestyles like it was still an era of unlimited oil that we enjoyed in the past. What can you do to prepare for the crisis coming just over the horizon? Look at the data from reliable factual sources like the DOE. Go to your town Energy Committee meetings (listed on the town web site). Become familiar with organizations like Transition Towns (TransitionTowns.org) who are informing and planning for peak oil and the climate crisis. If you want to see and evaluate the Department of Energy data, check out DOE.

Nothing But Sky

Water vapor, a greenhouse gas and sunlight can do phenomenal thing together. Together they produce weather and climate; not to mention incredible sunsets! If we look beyond the science for a moment with an eye to qualities of beauty, we are rewarded with unusual and breathtaking sights. Here are some photos from the past few weeks. A couple were taken while flying through the atmosphere seven miles high along the eastern seaboard between Hurricane Bill and a big weather front blowing in from the west. The others were taken on the ground in the Green Mountain State of Vermont gazing towards the heavens. Can you name the cloud types shown here?

All photos from glennfay36, flickr

Certain foods can actually starve cancer cells from getting the blood they need to survive.

Anyone who has had a brush with cancer, as a survivor or with a friend or relative knows that we are far from figuring it out. The American Cancer Society is one of the comprehensive sites you can go to get really good information about preventing and treating cancer but even they don’t have a cure or even a solid prevention plan for cancer.

Recently William Li, MD. the President of The Angiogenesis Foundation presented a new way to think about treating cancer and other diseases: anti-angiogenesis, that is, preventing the growth of blood vessels that feed a tumor. The crucial first (and best) step  to doing this: Eating cancer-fighting foods that cut off the supply lines and beat cancer at its own game.

Li has come to the conclusion that we are treating cancer too late in the game. If we want to prevent angiogenesis, that could prevent cancer. Since diet accounts for 35% of environmental-induced cancer. he says we can eat to “starve” cancer. Angiogenesis can be stopped with resveratrol (red grapes) strawberries extract, teas , soy, parsley, garlic, and other common foods. He also found there is food synergy, in other words, combining foods enhance anti-angiogenesis. Men who eat cooked tomatoes (lycopenes) three times a week have a 50% prostate cancer risk reduction. Dietary cancer prevention actually beats drug cancer treatment, according to Li.

But cancer isn’t the only disease that anti-angiogenesis can starve. Many of society’s most devastating diseases — cancer, cardiovascular disease, diabetes and Alzheimer’s, to name a few — share a common denominator: faulty angiogenesis, the body’s growth of new capillary blood vessels. Given excessive or insufficient blood vessel growth, serious health issues arise. While researching under Harvard surgeon Judah Folkman, who pioneered the study of angiogenesis, Li learned how angiogenesis-based medicine helps patients overcome numerous diseases by restoring the balance of blood-vessel growth. What foods does Li point to if you want to starve cancer? Here are a few:

Check out this short TED talk with Li that describes how anti-angiogenesis works and how it will help to cure people with disease.

Video: Eating to Starve Cancer, William Li on TED.com http://www.ted.com/talks/lang/eng/william_li.html

Here at LoveEarthAlways, we take our wellness very seriously. We are building a whole cookbook of recipes that are high in lycopenes and other cancer-starving compounds. Check them out here in our Foodies category. We would love to hear about your healthy recipes too!

Is This Heaven?

This salad is guaranteed to melt in your mouth. We use the freshest local organic tomato we can find- it’s worth it (even at $3.99 a pound in the middle of the winter). And we use Vermont Maplebrook Farm organic mozzarella cheese (out of this world), fresh organic basil (smooth and sophisticated), available at most supermarkets or in your own herb garden, and  organic balsamic vinegar. Together, these ingredients make a salad fit for a queen or king. The complimentary flavors of the tomato, cheese and basil set each other off with a pure old-world flavor. It’s not a whole meal but a nice appetizer or salad that goes with any meal, especially during the spring and summer.

Simply slice the tomato and cheese. Layer cheese on top of the tomato slices, and place a basil leaf on top. Sprinkle with balsamic vinegar and serve at room temperature. Ahhhhh! Now that is wonderful!

Do you like this? Please let us know in comments below, and check out our other recipes from our Foodies category, and be sure to check out our latest homewares that support cold and hungry people. We are always interested in your healthy organic recipes too! Please send one along if you would like us to print it.

Please let us know how you like it!

But it is a new way of connecting investors to local food systems, catalyzing new forms of social investing and philanthropy for the 21st century. Join the emerging network of investors, donors, entrepreneurs, farmers, and activists who are giving birth to the nurture capital industry.” (From SlowMoneyAlliance.org)

I heard these guys in a Vermont Public Radio interview a couple of months ago talking about this concept.  The slow Money Alliance is about nothing less than creating social philanthropy to save the world.

We will write more in future posts. Interested now? Pencil in “the gathering” on your calendar and visit SlowMoneyAlliance.corg

Looking for a 20 minute quick, simple and fool-proof dish for a slam-dunk impressive eat-in date? This is one of my all-time favorites. It is a truly phenomenal vegetarian mediterranean pasta and I serve it with fresh baguette and garlic olive oil, a full bodied white or red wine or carbonated water with lemon. And best of all, like all of our recipes, VERY HEALTHY!

Here is the recipe:

Fresh pasta (I like fettuccine)

3 Tablespoons Olive Oil

5 Cloves Garlic, sliced or crushed

2 Large Portobellos or 5 Baby Bella Mushrooms

1 Large Tomato, diced

2 Sun-Dried Tomatoes, chopped

2 Leaves Fresh Basil, chopped or 1 teaspoon dried basil

Parmesan Cheese

Heat fresh pasta water. Combine garlic and mushrooms in hot sauce pan. Heat until garlic is translucent and mushrooms have shrunk a bit. Quickly throw in fresh, sun dried tomatoes, and basil. Cook gently for 2 minutes. Cook pasta until done ($ minutes). Serve with fresh grated parmesan cheese and your favorite beverage.

Do you like this? Check out our other recipes from our Foodies category and bookmark the Foodies Page. PLEASE let us know what you think!

I have developed a special friendship with a slick dude in a backwoods beaver pond. During the past month we have hung out together a few times. He is an adult, like me, and he has a strong work ethic too, but his hygiene leaves a bit to be desired. His oily hair and overweight body make him better suited for swimming than cruising through the woods. He has a great sense of humor though and he never fails to entertain me when I am in the area.

Any assumptions that this guy is not in shape are quickly put to rest when he slaps the water with a mighty WHACK!, disappears, then almost instantly resurfaces on the other side of the pond. That cat can swim! Actually he’s not a cat but a North American Beaver (Castor canadensis).

His peer group population has declined from 60 million in 1968 to only 6 million or so now. Where did the beavers go? Lots of over hunting for perfume and medical purposes and exterminating in order to protect trees and waterways. Bobby and his beaver friends are very industrious loggers who seem to have an innate need to dam water to create their perfect habitat. Problem is, in their quest to take over the world, they are a little too ambitious!

During my walks to the beaver pond I found that when I was alone he was quite sociable but when I had my pooch with me (on a leash of course, he stayed clear. Maybe coincidence, maybe survival instinct and he wasn’t taking any chances and can you blame him? In the wild outdoors, survival is job one. Besides, it was a great night to hang out in the reeds and privacy of the beaver lodge… I think it might be possible that you can see his abode in the center of this photo.

Bobby and his beaver friends strip and eat the bark off trees, especially willow, cottonwood and aspen, then chew on them until they fall. They do this in order to keep the water depth in the pond deep enough to swim in. They play a positive role in creating habitat for deer. Many o their natural predators such as cougars and coyotes have become scarce so it is a good time to be a beaver. Now, as the sun sets, Bobby reflects on another day of work, of play and plentiful food.