Health Archives - Page 63 of 90

Nearly 365,000 Americans selected plans in the Health Insurance Marketplace in October and November

1.9 million customers made it through the process but have not yet selected a plan; an additional 803,077 assessed or determined eligible for Medicaid or CHIP

Source: Health and Human Services

Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Kathleen Sebelius announced today that nearly 365,000 individuals have selected plans from the state and federal Marketplaces by the end of November. November alone added more than a quarter million enrollees in state and federal Marketplaces. Enrollment in the federal Marketplace in November was more than four times greater than October’s reported federal enrollment number.

Since October 1, 1.9 million have made it through another critical step, the eligibility process, by applying and receiving an eligibility determination, but have not yet selected a plan. An additional 803,077 were determined or assessed eligible for Medicaid or the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP) in October and November by the Health Insurance Marketplace.

“Evidence of the technical improvements to HealthCare.gov can be seen in the enrollment numbers. More and more Americans are finding that quality, affordable coverage is within reach and that they’ll no longer need to worry about barriers they may have faced in the past – like being denied coverage because of a pre-existing condition,” Secretary Kathleen Sebelius said. “Now is the time to visit HealthCare.gov, to ensure you and your family have signed up in a private plan of your choice by December 23 for coverage starting January 1. It’s important to remember that this open enrollment period is six months long and continues to March 31, 2014.”

The HHS issue brief highlights the following key findings, which are among many newly available data reported today on national and state-level enrollment-related information:

November’s federal enrollment number outpaced the October number by more than four times.
Nearly 1.2 million Americans, based only on the first two months of open enrollment, have selected a plan or had a Medicaid or CHIP eligibility determination;
- Of those, 364,682 Americans selected plans from the state and federal Marketplaces; and
- 803,077 Americans were determined or assessed eligible for Medicaid or CHIP by the Health Insurance Marketplace.
39.1 million visitors have visited the state and federal sites to date.
There were an estimated 5.2 million calls to the state and federal call centers.

The report groups findings by state and federal marketplaces. In some cases only partial datasets were available for state marketplaces. The report features cumulative data for the two month period because some people apply, shop, and select a plan across monthly reporting periods. These counts avoid potential duplication associated with monthly reporting. For example, if a person submitted an application in October, and then selected a Marketplace plan in November, this person would only be counted once in the cumulative data.

To read today’s report visit: http://aspe.hhs.gov/health/reports/2013/MarketPlaceEnrollment/Dec2013/ib_2013dec_enrollment.pdf

To hear stories of Americans enrolling in the Marketplace visit: http://www.hhs.gov/healthcare/facts/blog/2013/12/americans-enrolling-in-the-marketplace.html.

House Farm Bill Provision would make eating fish more dangerous

As featured on eNews Park Forest.com, Dec 5, 2013

Washington, DC–(ENEWSPF)–December 5, 2013. It’s farm bill debate time—again. And as conferee members saddle up to the negotiation table to attempt yet another meeting of the minds before the winter recess, most of the public watching and waiting for word on a resolution are focused on issues like food stamps and milk.

What most are not waiting for and has not been at the forefront of the media and public discussion concerning the pending farm bill negotiations are the small but dangerous provisions of the House bill concerning the Federal Water Pollution Control Act (expanded and overhauled as the Clean Water Act (CWA) in 1972) and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) ability to regulate pesticides used near, over, and in water. It should be.

Seeking to nullify the Sixth Circuit’s ruling in National Cotton Council v. EPA and the resulting general permit, sections 12323 and 100013 amend CWA to exclude pesticides from the law’s standards and its permitting requirements. Known as the National Pollution Discharge Elimination System (NPDES), CWA requires all point sources, which are discernible and discreet conveyances, to obtain either individual or general permits. Whether a point source must obtain an individual or general permit depends on the size of the point source and type of activity producing the pollutants. Regardless of whether it is a general permit or individual permit, an entity cannot pollute without a permit and in most cases can only permit in the amounts (called effluent limitations) and ways prescribed in the permit.

Separate, but inextricably linked to the NPDES program, are CWA’s water quality standards, under which states are responsible for designating waterbody uses (such as swimmable or fishable) and setting criteria to protect those uses. If a water body fails to meet the established criteria for its use, then it is deemed impaired and the states, or EPA, if the state fails to act, must establish a Total Maximum Daily Load (TMDL), a kind of pollutant diet. The system comes full circle in that impaired waters with TMDLs can be integrated into the NPDES permits.

Neither CWA nor the NPDES program are perfect, but one need look no further than the fish we eat to understand the important role that this critical environmental framework plays in limiting human exposure to pesticides and other toxins.

CWA, Fish, and the Pesticide Connection

In the recently released Environmental Health Perspectives’ article, Meeting the Needs of the People: Fish Consumption Rates in the Pacific Northwest, the complexities of the CWA, its NPDES progam, and its water quality standards criteria are laid out in a disturbing tale of environmental justice and failing bureaucracies.

In short, Native Americans in the Pacific Northwest eat a lot of fish. It’s part of their culture and a way of life preserved in their legal and tribal rights, but they are facing increasing health risks due to the toxic chemicals in those fish. The solution to this problem seems fairly straight-forward: reduce the toxins in the water so that the levels in the fish are safe to eat. It’s a solution envisioned by CWA and its web of regulatory protections, however, as the article explains, “One of the variables used to calculate ambient water quality criteria is fish consumption rate.”

While the takeaway from the article is somewhat defeating and shows the far-reaching weaknesses of existing risk assessment methodologies, the underpinnings of the article —the connection between a water body’s water quality criteria, an entities NPDES permit, and the safety of the fish we put in our mouths— cannot be dismissed as irrelevant tales of woe. Whether the system is functioning perfectly or not, the point is that a system exists that contemplates the risks inherent to consuming toxin-laced fish and has the potential to protect the general consuming public.

From Fish Back to the Farm Bill

What does not have this ability is the Federal, Insecticide, Rodenticide, and Act (FIFRA). It is this federal framework, however, on which supporters of the House provision hang their hats and point to as the already-in-place protective standard capable of preventing water pollution from pesticides. Beyond Pesticides has debunked this argument in more ways than one. Other environmental advocacy groups have also pointed out that the sky has not fallen since EPA’s implementation of the general pesticide permit under CWA.

The Clean Water Act is intended to ensure that every community, from tribe to urban neighborhood, has the right to enjoy fishable and swimmable bodies of water. There is a lot of work still to be done to improve the nation’s waters and protect the health of people dependent on those waters. Without the Clean Water Act, there are no common sense backstops or enforcement mechanisms for reducing direct applications of pesticides to waterways. It may not be perfect, but it is better than nothing, which would be the effect of the House farm bill. We can’t afford to lose these protections.

Tell your Senators to oppose any efforts to undermine the Clean Water Act.

For more information, read our factsheet, Clearing up the Confusion Surrounding the New NPDES General Permit and visit our Threatened Waters page.

Sources: Environmental Health Perspectives, Natural Resources Defense Council, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, http://www.beyondpesticides.org/

All unattributed positions and opinions in this piece are those of Beyond Pesticides.

Winona LaDuke: Keep USDA Out of Our Kitchens

By Tanya H. Lee, ICTMN

Native American author, educator, activist, mother and grandmother Winona LaDuke, Anishinaabekwe, is calling on tribes to relocalize food and energy production as a means of both reducing CO2 emissions and of asserting tribes’ inherent right to live in accordance with their own precepts of the sacredness of Mother Earth and responsibility to future generations.

She said during a recent presentation on climate change at Harvard University, “We essentially need tribal food and energy policies that reflect sustainability. Tribes [as sovereign nations] have jurisdiction over food from seed to table and we need to take it or else USDA will take it…. The last thing you want is USDA telling you how to cook your hominy, that you can’t use ashes in it …. I am the world-renowned, or reservation-wide renowned, beaver tamale queen. So who’s going to come to my house and [inspect the beaver]? I don’t want USDA in my food. I want us to exercise control over our food and not have them saying we can’t eat what we traditionally eat.”

LaDuke was talking about tribal food sovereignty.

Winona LaDuke of White Earth, Jackie Francke of First Nations Development Institute and Julie Garreau, executive director of the Cheyenne River Youth Project, at the first meeting of the NAFSA founding council. (Courtesy First Nations Development Institute)

Neither the United States Department of Agriculture nor the Food and Drug Administration is likely to turn up in your family’s kitchen, but federal policies have a lot to say about what food products are allowed to get into that kitchen in the first place. Antibiotics and growth hormones in the meat supply, vast harvests of corn, rice or wheat cultivated from the same genetic stock, genetically modified organisms—be they corn or soy or fish–and preservatives added to food during processing are primarily under the control of the USDA and FDA. As are the regulations about what foods can be served by tribes at day care centers, schools and senior centers, not to mention those on how food intended for commercial markets must be grown and processed.

Of particular concern right now is the 2011 federal Food Safety Modernization Act, which increases regulation and oversight of food production in an effort to prevent contamination. If the rules pertaining to the law are not changed in response to public comments, some of the federal government’s regulatory and inspection responsibilities will devolve to state governments, a direct threat to tribal sovereignty, according to First Nations Community Development Institute Senior Program Officer Raymond Foxworth, Navajo. “The [historic] loss of food system control in Indian Country is highly correlated with things like the loss of land, the loss of some aspects of culture related to agricultural processes, and … some pretty negative health statistics [including obesity, diabetes and lifespan]. It’s our belief that food sovereignty is one solution to combat some of these negative effects, be it the negative health statistics, the loss of culture or the loss of land.”

Harley Coriz, director of the Santo Domingo Senior Center, inside of the center’s new greenhouse. (Courtesy First Nations Development Institute)

The institute has been instrumental in establishing the Native American Food Sovereignty Alliance under its Native American Food System Initiative. The alliance will be a national organization focused on networking, best practices and policy issues. The founding members of NAFSA “have been working on trying to pressure the FDA into initiating tribal consultations related to FSMA.”

The alliance, in the works for more than a decade, recently got start-up funding from the W.K. Kellogg Foundation. FNCDI contracted with the Taos County Economic Development Corp. to coordinate its establishment. Directors Pati Martinson and Terrie Bad Hand convened a group of 16 people who have been working on food systems at the grassroots level to form a founding council. That group had its first face-to-face meeting in October.

Among the founding council members is Dana Eldridge, Navajo, formerly on the staff at Diné College and now an independent consultant and would-be farmer, who has done extensive work in analyzing food systems for the Navajo Nation. One of her main concerns is genetically modified organisms. GMOs, she says, threaten both the ownership of Native seeds and the spiritual aspects of food. “Corn is very sacred to us—it’s our most sacred plant. We pray with corn pollen–in our Creation story we’re made of corn—so what does it mean that this plant has been turned into something that actively harms people?”

Children at the Akwesasne Freedom School in New York near the Canadian border work in the their gardens in a farm-to-school project led by Kanenhi:io Ionkwaiontonhake. Much of the food grown in the gardens goes directly to the school for meals. Two teachers even instruct the older kids in the pre-K through grade 8 school in how to can and store their food, according to Elvera Sargent, Mohawk, who has been at the school since 1995 and who is a member of the NAFSA founding council. (Courtesy Akwesasne Freedom School)

Eldridge says food sovereignty is also important because it is a way to begin to address the trauma colonization has inflicted on Native people. “What I’ve learned during this food research is you can’t produce food by yourself. You need people, you need family, you need community and relationships, so a lot of it is about rebuilding community and reconnecting with the land and I think that’s a very important healing process for our people.”

The Taos County Economic Development Corp. has found that one way to keep USDA and FDA out of your kitchen is to invite them in. When regulators amped up their enforcement of regulations in relation to Native commercial food enterprises in northern New Mexico, TCEDC built a 5,000-square-food commercial kitchen where people could process their crops and learn directly from USDA inspectors what the regulations were. Says Martinson, “The food center was our way of modeling and bringing forward local healthy food through helping those people become actual businesses and entrepreneurs.” In 2006, TCEDC added a mobile slaughtering unit. Housed in a tractor trailer truck, the MSU travels out to small ranches where USDA inspectors oversee the slaughter of livestock—”bison, beef, sheep, goats and the occasional yak,” says Bad Hand–intended for commercial sale. The meat is then brought back to the center for cutting and packaging, again under federal oversight.

There is an irony to all this federal oversight of food production in sovereign Native nations, says Martinson. Traditional Native food growing, harvesting and processing principles kept people healthy for millennia before USDA even existed. The food contamination that FSMA is intended to prevent is a consequence of the industrialization of food production. “All these scares that you hear about, e. coli or salmonella making people really sick, if you trace those back, they come from huge packing plants, from industry.

A young girl at Cochiti Youth Experience (at Cochiti Pueblo) working in the garden. (Courtesy First Nations Development Institute)

“One of the things that I think Native people recognize and have passed down culturally is that you need to have human beings within food production ecosystems for all of those reasons—safety, quality, a relationship with your food. The principles of safe food are indigenous and inherent in Native communities,” Martinson says.

The answer to “What’s for dinner?” has profound implications for the well-being of Native American tribes. Tribal food sovereignty could mean the difference between continuing to retain (or regain) language, land, religious precepts, traditional lifeways and physical, mental, emotional and spiritual health or losing them.

Cranberries Were a Native American Superfood

By Toyacoyah Brown, powwows.com

The Algonquin, Chippewa, and Cree, among others, gathered wild cranberries where they could find them in what is now Maine, Massachusetts, New Jersey, and Wisconsin, all the way west to Oregon and Washington, and north to areas of British Columbia and Quebec, according to Devon Mihesuah, a professor at the University of Kansas and an enrolled citizen of the Choctaw Nation. The berry was called sassamenesh (by the Algonquin) and ibimi (by the Wampanoag and Lenni-Lenape), which translates literally as “bitter” or “sour berries.” Cranberries were used for everything from cooking to dyes for textiles to medicines.

According to Mihesuah, who also runs the American Indian Health and Diet Project, the Native Americans ate cranberries as fresh fruit, dried the fruit and formed them into cakes to store, and made tea out of the leaves. The Inuktitut of eastern Canada used the cranberry leaves as a tobacco substitute. There were also a range of nonculinary uses for the berry, says Mihesuah. Cree boiled the fruit and used it to dye porcupine quills for clothing and jewelry. Chippewa used cranberries as bait to trap the snowshoe hare.

And harnessing the nutritional power of the fruit—cranberries are extremely high in antioxidants and are thought to help prevent heart disease—Iroquois and Chippewa used cranberries for an assortment of medicinal purposes: as “blood purifiers,” as a laxative, and for treating fever, stomach cramps, and a slew of childbirth-related injuries.

Read more about Native Americans and cranberries on National Geographic.

Shared responsibilities: Celebrate World AIDS Day in Everett, Dec. 1

Events in Everett Sunday afternoon; free HIV tests by appointment for at-risk people Dec.2, 4, & 6

Source: Snohomish Health District

SNOHOMISH COUNTY, Wash. – The public is welcome to free events in downtown Everett to commemorate World AIDS Day 2013 on Sunday, Dec. 1. Three community partners will sponsor a memorial walk and program that afternoon to build awareness of the impact HIV/AIDS has on our community. All activities take place at the Snohomish Health District, 3020 Rucker Ave., Everett, Wash. Testing opportunities are available at the Health District Dec. 2-6.

Sunday, Dec. 1

1 p.m. Remembrance walk leaves the Snohomish Health District, 3020 Rucker Ave., goes to AIDS Memorial of Snohomish County at 3021 Wetmore Ave., Everett

2 p.m. Return to the Health District for a program, music, and light refreshments

The afternoon program includes remarks by Rev. Julie Montague from Everett Unity Church, and comments from Snohomish County residents living with HIV/AIDS. The program also features music by local musicians Terri Anson and Savannah Woods. The program is free and open to the public.

Local sponsors include Snohomish Health District, Snohomish County Gay Men’s Task Force, and AIDS Project Snohomish County. For information about AIDS Project Snohomish County, please contact Jeannine Fosca at 425.923.7656 or Dancing_lively@yahoo.com.

World AIDS Day events remember those lost to AIDS, support those living with the disease, reinforce the need to combat stigma, discrimination and intolerance, and underscore the need for routine HIV screening.

“The medical community has made great advances in treating HIV/AIDS in recent years,” said Dr. Gary Goldbaum, Health Officer and Director of the Snohomish Health District. “However, there still is no cure. Early treatment is critical to both help those who are infected and to prevent spread to others. Screening is key”

An estimated one in five Americans infected with HIV is unaware of it. According to the Washington State Department of Health, 1,130 people in Snohomish County have been diagnosed with HIV since 1982. Screening for tuberculosis is also recommended for HIV-positive people.

Monday, Dec. 2

9 a.m.-noon, 1-5 p.m. — Free rapid-tests for HIV offered to anyone at risk of the disease, the Health District, 3020 Rucker Ave., Suite 108. Call for appointment: 425.339.5298.

Tuesday, Dec. 3

3-6 p.m., special health event for gay and bisexual men – tests available for HIV, Hepatitis C, and syphilis; also vaccinations for Hepatitis A and B. Come to the Health District, 3020 Rucker Ave., Suite 106, Everett. No appointment needed.

Wednesday, Dec, 4

9 a.m.-noon, 1-5 p.m. — Free rapid-tests for HIV offered to anyone at risk of the disease, the Health District, 3020 Rucker Ave., Suite 108. Call for appointment: 425.339.5298.

Friday, Dec. 6

9 a.m.-noon, 1-5 p.m. — Free rapid-tests for HIV offered to anyone at risk of the disease, the Health District, 3020 Rucker Ave., Suite 108. Call for appointment: 425.339.5298.

Established in 1959, the Snohomish Health District works for a safer and healthier community through disease prevention, health promotion, and protection from environmental threats. For information about our HIV/AIDS education and outreach services, and to make an appointment call 425.339.5298. Please visit our Facebook page and website: www.snohd.org.

Calling fowl: How to pick the most humane turkey for Thanksgiving

By Deena Shanker, Grist

Once upon a time, in a land called the grocery store, customers could walk right in, grab a turkey, and take it home for Thanksgiving. The only choice to make was about size: big, huge, or insanely enormous? It was a time before words like “heritage” and “organic” became part of our food lexicon; back then, a bird was a bird, and feeding it low dosages of antibiotics in every meal had yet to be connected to the spread of antimicrobial resistant superbugs. It was a simpler time for the American Thanksgiving, but not a better one.

The turkey aisle has a lot more variety now, but it hasn’t made picking the best one easy. Free-range? Organic? Heirloom? Heritage? Is there a difference, and does it matter? Yes and maybe.

But before we delve into the specifics of one good bird versus another, it’s worth noting that all of these are better options than your standard Butterball or otherwise-branded factory farmed meal. The overwhelming majority of the 46 million turkeys that will be eaten this year on Thanksgiving will be CAFO-raised Broad Breasted Whites (BBWs) that each spent their lives in a giant, crowded, filthy shed with ten thousand other turkeys, including some that are dead or diseased. Their diets will have included regular dosages of antibiotics, making them more likely to be carrying antibiotic-resistant bacteria. They will grow to be three times heavier than they would have been in 1929, seriously debilitating them as their unnatural weight wears on their crippled feet and swollen joints. Many of these poor birds will have been thrown, beaten, or otherwise brutalized before finally enduring a cruel death. Add to that the environmental damage of industrial farming, allegations of employee abuse, and lurking dangers like salmonella, and your typical Thanksgiving centerpiece becomes a representation of all that is wrong with our food system. So as long as you avoid one of these, applaud yourself: You are doing humanity and turkeydom alike a serious favor.

Mr. Koch stands proudly before his flock of turkeys. — Shulamit Seidler-Feller

But even though the only way is up, it’s still hard to figure out where to go from there. So I ventured into hinterlands of rural Pennsylvania to visit Duane Koch at Koch’s Turkey Farm, where his family has been raising turkeys of all kinds – from organic to free-range to heirloom – since 1939. Rearing about 700,000 turkeys every year, Koch’s farm sounds like a Big Kahuna until you compare it to the rest of the industry: Just three companies raise more than half of the country’s 265 million birds.

Duane himself, in his jeans, hiking boots, and baseball cap, bears little resemblance to his suit-wearing Big Turkey counterparts. It’s hard to imagine Butterball CEO Rod Brenneman spending his days getting gritty on a farm, talking about which of the birds are more docile and which are “spooky.”

But back to the birds. Ninety-nine percent of the turkeys raised in the U.S. are BBWs, and like Butterball and most turkey farms, Koch’s also raises the white-meat-heavy breed. Since the 1960’s, these have been the industry’s choice, largely because they’re so top heavy. But as factory farmers began to rely exclusively on the BBWs, and to breed them for size, turkeys got more and more breasty, until they were so big they were unable to naturally reproduce. (To give you a better visual: The male turkeys’ chests got so big they couldn’t mount the females anymore.) Now, almost all turkeys only reproduce through artificial insemination. But comparing a Butterball BBW to a Koch BBW is like doing a side-by-side of Steve Urkel and his alter ego Stefan Urquelle. Same but not the same.

Yard birds cruisin' because they wanna. — Shulamit Seidler-Feller

Unlike the industrial version, Koch’s tall, white turkeys are all antibiotic-free and raised with the luxury of space. The free-range BBWs get plenty of outdoor access – though whether they choose to exercise that freedom is a decision every bird gets to make for itself. They leave the spacious barn for the yard outside, according to Duane, “whenever they feel like it.” They have no problem running when they want to, and as little chicks, before their D-Cups begin to runneth over, they can even fly over the surrounding fence. “Not a lot do,” Duane says, “but they can.”

Koch’s farm also raises organics, and more this year than ever. “A lot of people are scared of GMO grains,” Duane says, attributing the 30 percent increase in demand this year to that fear. His organics, like most, are BBWs, and consumers can rest assured that they were raised without antibiotics, growth enhancers, or GMO feed. They also have all the free-range amenities, including the outdoor space and the freedom to go in and out at their own leisure.

But although the BBWs have essentially cornered the Thanksgiving market, heritage and heirloom breed turkeys have been gaining traction. Unlike their modern, bred-for-breasts counterparts, these old birds are actually that: Heritage breeds date back to the 1800s, and so were probably what our colonial forebears were carving into. Heirloom breeds are a bit newer, dating to the early 1920s or 1930s.

A heritage bird, according to Whole Foods Global Meat Buyer Theo Weening, “is as close to a wild turkey as you can get.” They can fly like their wild cousins, and can technically reproduce naturally, though many farmers still “choose to artificially inseminate to meet demands.” Their genetics give them the multicolored feathers we envision on the hallowed First Thanksgiving turkeys, as well as significantly less white meat and a “gamey-er” taste, making them more like wild turkeys and less like the kind we’re used to eating. While Koch’s tried to raise heritages one year, they decided it wasn’t worth the investment. His flock grew slowly and had a higher mortality rate, too. “We can only get the poults [baby males] from these little hatcheries,” he said. “And a lot of them die the first week when you get them.” At $12 a pop, compared to $1 for a BBW, the Koch’s turned their focus to heirlooms, which come in in the middle at $6.

Heirlooms seem to strike a balance for Americans looking for something that harkens back to the days of yore but still tastes somewhat familiar. Like their heritage cousins, they have dark feathers, and their flavor is more robust and the meat more dense than your standard BBW — but they also have plenty of the white meat that Americans inexplicably crave. (Why anyone would prefer white meat over dark still baffles me – I might be a vegetarian, but I remember the dry lack of flavor.) Koch has been raising heirlooms for six years, with demand growing exponentially. “The first year we sold six hundred of them; this year we sold 12,000.” Duane said. “Next year, I’m going to have to grow more.”

On Koch’s farm, the heirlooms also get plenty of outdoor access and seem to enjoy it more than the BBWs in the barn nearby. “You should see them in the morning,” Duane says. “When you lead them out – they’re so happy!” (Barns stay closed at night to protect against predators like coyotes and foxes.) While Koch’s heirlooms aren’t technically organic, they still benefit from their proximity to the organic BBWs: When there’s leftover organic hay, guess who gets to eat it?

Koch's turkey wares, on display. — Shulamit Seidler-Feller

All of Koch’s birds, even the ones that aren’t free-range, are Certified Humane, which is representative of the growing third-party certification trend. Other popular certifiers include Animal Welfare Approved, Food Alliance Certified, and American Grassfed, and all come with their own sets of standards, though humane treatment is always part of the deal. (“All natural,” it should be mentioned, is utterly meaningless and should never be solely relied upon when choosing food — whether it’s turkey, pork, or Gatorade.)

For many consumers, animal welfare isn’t the only concern. Price is obviously a big selling point, too. Heritage turkeys (which can fetch as much as $10 per pound) are generally the most expensive, followed by organic, then the heirlooms, and finally, the non-organic, free-range, antibiotic-free BBWs. If cost is your determinative factor, don’t feel bad. There’s no consensus on which bird is the best. Even Duane’s own family, which will be carving up an heirloom on the Big Day, can’t agree that it’s the best option. “My dad’s a firm believer that they’re the best,” Duane says. “But I like them all, and my sisters [prefer] the organics.”

Holiday Stress and Smoking

20 Quick Tips to Help You Manage Holiday Stress Smoke-Free

By Terry Martin, About.com

Fa-la-la-la-ugh! The holiday season is a stressful time of year for most people. For those of us who are working to quit smoking, the holidays can be especially challenging. Use these tips to help you manage holiday stress smoke-free:

1) Get Enough Rest

When we’re tired and run down, cravings to smoke will seem stronger while we feel less able to manage them. Get enough sleep at night, and take a power nap during the day if you can.

Getting Quality Sleep When Stressed

2) Reduce Caffeine

Many of us reach for a cup of coffee when we need an energy boost, but too much caffeine can leave us feeling jittery and stressed. Avoid extra cups of coffee to stay awake. Rest if you’re tired.

Is Caffeine Your Friend or Your Foe?

3) Drink Your Water

Not only is water a great craving-buster, it’s an essential ingredient in a healthy diet. Keep yourself well-hydrated and you’ll feel better in general, which will in turn help you manage holiday stress more easily.

Drinking Water to Maintain Good Health

4) Eat a Well-Balanced Diet

Enjoy holiday treats, but be sure to give your body the fuel it needs to function properly. Eating a diet rich in fruits, vegetables, protein and complex carbohydrates will help keep you at your best, both physically and mentally.

Don’t Skip Breakfast!

5) Go For a Walk

Walking reduces stress and improves circulation. It also releases endorphins, the “feel good” hormone. So, when the urge to smoke strikes, head out for a quick walk around the block. You’ll come back refreshed and relaxed. If the weather is bad, use the treadmill or take a walk at an indoor mall.

Walking for Your Mind and Spirit

6) Don’t Forget Support

The support forum here at About.com Smoking Cessation is a thriving, active community of people who are working to quit smoking. Stop in for some tips and encouragement to help you manage the holiday season smoke-free. You may sign in as a guest to browse and read posts from other quitters, or register (free) to post messages of your own.

Smoking Cessation Support Forum

7) Breathe!

Deep breathing is a quick way to reduce stress. Breathe in through your nose for a count of three and exhale through your mouth for a count of three. Repeat this for a few minutes, and the tension in your body will begin to fall away.

Deep Breathing for Nicotine Withdrawal

8) Schedule Time For Yourself

While you’re running around taking care of holiday tasks, be sure to schedule a little me time daily. Take a hot bath or spend a half hour in a quiet corner with a good book (or both!). Choose activities that replenish your energy and renew your spirit. Avoid a piling on of stress and you’ll find it easier to manage your holidays without reaching for a cigarette.

The Value of Rewards When You Quit Smoking

9) Have a Cup of Tea

It only takes a few minutes with a cup of tea and honey to feel the stress of the day begin to slip away. Choose herbal teas rather than those with caffeine. It’s a quick and easy way to rejuvenate yourself.

Top 5 Herbal Teas

10) Focus on Today

Use a daily list to help you organize tasks. Don’t overwhelm yourself by looking at the whole picture: Keep things simple and in the present moments of the day you have in front of you. You’ll be more efficient and less stressed.

The Power of Now

11) Don’t Strive for Perfection

We are often our own worst critics. You’re working hard to quit smoking, so give yourself permission to loosen your expectations a little for this holiday season. In other words, don’t try to do it all. Think instead in terms of what is good enough rather than stressing over every detail.

10 Telltale Traits of a Perfectionist

12) Take a Mini Mental Vacation

Close your eyes and create a place in your mind that you can visualize when you need to slow down and relax. Return to the same imaginary location every time so that it becomes familiar and comfortable. As you settle in, focus on your breathing, and slow it down gradually. Breathe deeply in and out for 3 to 5 minutes.

The Benefits of Meditation for Stress Management

13) Delegate

Enlist the help of others to complete holiday tasks. Involve family members and friends; they’re usually happy to help if asked.

Time Management for Holiday Stress Relief

14) Minimize and Simplify

It’s so easy to take too much on this time of year. Make a list of things you’d like to accomplish and prioritize them. Decide what things must be done, and what things could be let go if need be. Sometimes less is more!

How to Simplify Your Holiday Party

15) Avoid Financial Stress

Don’t threaten your smobriety with worries about money. Make a holiday budget and stick to it.

7 Tips for Holiday Budgeting

16) Remember Why You Quit Smoking

Don’t lose sight of the bigger picture during the holiday season. The reasons you quit smoking are as valid today as they were the day you quit. Take 5 minutes and refresh your memory by reading your list of reasons.

Why Should I Quit Smoking?

17) Acknowledge Your Grief

If you get the holiday blues, take steps to acknowledge and manage your feelings. Denial only makes holiday depression worse.

When Grief Comes Home for the Holidays

18) Call a Friend

Take a few minutes to connect with someone you care about. Your spirits will be lifted, and chances are you’ll lift theirs too.

How and Why You Should Maintain Friendships

19) Count Your Blessings

Spend some time reflecting on all of the things in your life that you’re grateful for. It’s a simple, yet powerful way to pull out of a slump and renew yourself.

The Gifts of Smoke-Free Living

20) Practice Makes Perfect

Smoking cessation is a process of gradual release over time. The associations we’ve built up between smoking and the activities in our lives over the years must be changed, one by one. And the only way to do that is by simply living life, day in and day out, smoke-free. Navigating the holidays minus the cigarettes is a necessary part of the journey.

Deciphering the Urge to Smoke

While this first smoke-free holiday season may feel uncomfortable or downright difficult at times, you’re working to cement new habits in place. Keep your focus and meet the challenges that come along with confidence. You can do this, and you’ll thank yourself when the holidays are behind you and you’re still smoke-free.

Have a great, smoke-free holiday season!

Smoking Rates During Pregnancy Highest Among Native Americans

By Tristan Ahtone, Fronteras Desk

Debora Cartagena, CDCSmoking harms nearly every organ of the body, causing many diseases and affecting the health of smokers in general, as well as those inhaling “second hand” smoke. — Debora Cartagena, CDC
Smoking harms nearly every organ of the body, causing many diseases and affecting the health of smokers in general, as well as those inhaling “second hand” smoke.

Native Americans have the highest rates of smoking before, during and after pregnancy than any other ethnic group in the nation. That’s according to a new report from the Centers for Disease Control.

According to the CDC, 55 percent of Native American women smoked before pregnancy. During pregnancy, that rate dropped significantly to 26 percent. However, that rate was still the highest of any racial or ethnic group in the nation.

“One out of two American Indian and Alaska Native women were smoking prior to pregnancy,” said Van Tong, an epidemiologist with the CDC’s Division of Reproductive Health. “Only half of these women quit smoking by the last trimester of pregnancy.”

Tong says the reasons for these high rates aren’t well understood, but that more outreach needed to be done to get women to stop smoking while pregnant.

Smoking during pregnancy increases risks for complications including lower birth weights and babies more prone to health issues once their born.

Washington’s GMO labeling flop, two weeks later: What it means

By Nathanael Johnson, Grist

Ever since Washington state voters rejected a measure to label genetically engineered food earlier this month, I’ve been trying to understand what the vote meant.

On election night, I stressed the importance of advertising, but people on Twitter and in comments have questioned that emphasis. Political advertising rarely changes opinions; it generally sets people more deeply in their convictions. So perhaps what the Washington vote shows us is that fewer people care about GM food than it seems.

Why the measure lost is also related to the question of who voted. In the end, only 45 percent of registered voters cast their ballots — the lowest turnout in a decade. What does that mean? And what’s the significance of the fact that the race tightened up as officials counted ballots: The measure was losing by 10 percentage points in early tallies, but that margin eventually narrowed to 2 percentage points, with 49 percent voting for, and 51 against.

The answers to these questions have interesting implications for future labeling campaigns. The Washington vote seems to be telling us that concern about GM food is broad and shallow. That is, lots of people are vaguely worried about transgenics, but it’s not a core issue that drives majorities to the polls.

“This was a solution looking for a problem,” said Stuart Elway, president of the Seattle-based polling company Elway Research. “People were not highly agitated about GMO labeling.”

Let’s dig into the evidence that this vote gives us to suggest that conclusion:

Money

With nearly all the votes counted, I stand by my initial impression that money made all the difference in this vote. I did, however, get the precise amounts wrong: I wrote that opponents spent more than $30 per “No” vote, but more ballots came in than I’d estimated. In fact, they spent just under $25 per vote (that’s $22 million over approximately 890,000 votes). Still, that $22 million is a lot of money — more than has ever been spent before in either opposing or promoting a ballot measure in the history of the state [PDF].

And as soon as the money began to flow, Elway saw a shift in his polling numbers: The measure had a huge 45 percent lead in September. Then the ads began to run, and that lead dropped to 4 percent in October.

“There was a 41 point swing in six weeks, which is unprecedented,” he said. “I’ve been tracking politics in this state for 30 years and I’ve never seen such a big swing in such a short amount of time.”

Among the people who had seen the ads, the measure was losing.

“When we asked them why they were voting no, people were reciting the talking points from the ads back to us,” Elway said.

It’s clear that, in this case, advertising swayed public opinion. But at the same time economists have established that it’s hard to change opinion with political spending. So what gives? Well, there’s an exception to the rule. While it’s nearly impossible for advertising to shift core values — like getting a lifelong Democrat to vote Republican or vice versa — it is possible for advertising to change the mind of someone who hasn’t fully committed. When people haven’t encountered the arguments on each side, those arguments tend to work.

One poll found that 93 percent of Americans favor labeling GM food. But half of the people questioned in that poll weren’t aware that GMOs were already widespread in processed foods — in other words, they were concerned, but brand new to the debate. In previous Washington polls Elway conducted on food safety, GMOs had come in sixth out of six potential problems with the food supply. So, while it’s clear that there’s widespread anxiety about GMOs, it doesn’t seem to be deep-seated.

Voter turnout

The low voter turnout is especially remarkable since Washington sends a vote-by-mail ballot to every voter. From one perspective, this means that 55 percent of voters cared so little about GMOs that they ended up throwing out their ballots. Just 22 percent of all registered voters in the state sent in a ballot voting yes on the measure.

But look at it another way: If all the voters in King County, where the measure passed, had turned out, the initiative would probably have passed.

“Low turnout votes do tend to be more conservative,” said David Ammons, communications director for the Washington Secretary of State’s office. And Democrats had shown they were more likely than Republicans to favor the initiative.

In Elway’s October poll, the measure was trailing among people who had voted in all of the last four elections, but it was winning among those who voted less than half the time. All this suggests that a higher voter turnout could have led to the initiative’s passage. Perhaps if more people were motivated to vote by a concurrent presidential election, for instance, they would have checked “Yes” on this initiative a little farther down the ballot.

Perhaps. Or maybe those non-voters would be swayed by the same ads. When California voted on a similar initiative in 2012, during a presidential election, 72 percent [PDF] of registered voters showed up, but the initiative still failed by an infinitesimally wider margin than in Washington.

Either way, it turned out that Washington’s labeling initiative relied on infrequent voters — they favored the proposition 49 to 37 percent, according to Elway — and they couldn’t be bothered to vote this time. GMOs aren’t driving people to the polls. Once again, concern about GM food looks shallow.

Timing

Lots of votes came in late. “We did see a general trend toward people keeping their ballots longer,” Ammons said. “I think a lot of people were still studying the GMO issue. There was a lot of media on this, a lot of explanatory journalism. I think there were a lot of people seriously trying to understand if this was the right answer, weighing it, and holding onto their ballots up until Election Day.”

The later voters were more likely to favor the initiative, but Ammons said, “We don’t have a good working hypothesis on that yet.”

He pointed out that later Seattle-area ballots elected a socialist councilmember while also voting down a minimum wage hike. It’s hard to tell what, if anything, can be learned from the timing of the votes.

What’s the lesson here?

Advocates in Oregon are already preparing a similar initiative for the 2014 election in that state. If the pattern holds, we’ll see widespread support early on (they’ll have no trouble getting the signatures necessary to put it on the ballot). Then the food industry will wade in and begin buying up advertising slots, and sentiment will shift. In the end, the proposition will lose by a couple of points.

Of course, that pattern could break. Businesses could decide they don’t want to be forking over cash every year to defeat propositions. The seed-company Syngenta, for instance, stayed out of the Washington contest after contributing in California.

But if that pattern holds, I have some advice for labeling advocates: It’s not enough to raise the specter of danger. You’ve already got the populist base, so simple, broadly appealing arguments won’t be sufficient. You’ll need more sophisticated arguments that stand up to scrutiny — the kind of arguments that convince newspaper editorial boards (they almost all advised voting no in Washington) and scientific organizations, rather than alienating them.

Panic-free GMOS: See the full story list

The Great American Smokeout and the National COPD Awareness Month Team Up to Help Smokers Quit

National COPD Awareness month and the Great American Smokeout provide smokers in the U.S. with support to help them kick the habit this November.

Written by Joe Bowman, Healthline

If you are one of the nearly 44 million Americans who have yet to kick their smoking habit, November might be the perfect time to put the cigarettes out for good.

On Thursday, November 21, the American Cancer Society (ACS) will hold the 37th annual Great American Smokeout. In 1976, the California Division of the ACS encouraged nearly 1 million smokers to give up cigarettes for the day. The success of the first Great American Smokeout prompted the ACS to expand the program to the rest of the U.S. the following year, turning the third Thursday of November into a day when Americans can support one another in the fight to quit smoking.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), cigarette smoking is the principal cause of preventable death in the U.S. It is responsible for one in five deaths—or more than 440,000 deaths annually. Tobacco use greatly increases a person’s risk for cancer, heart disease, stroke, respiratory diseases, and a host of other conditions.

The ACS reports that smoking is not only responsible for nearly a third of all cancer deaths but also for about a fifth of deaths from all causes. Changes in attitude toward tobacco usage have helped the percentage of American smokers over the age of 18 drop from more than 42 percent to close to 18 percent. Though many states now have laws that restrict smoking in public areas, it’s estimated that 1 in 5 U.S. adults still smoke.

The ACS believes that even quitting for a day is a step in the right direction toward a healthier lifestyle.

Take a Minute to See the Timeline of What Happens When You Quit Smoking »

Starting a Dialogue About COPD

November is also National COPD Awareness Month. Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is a disease that affects the lungs, making breathing more difficult as it progresses. COPD, which is also known as emphysema or chronic bronchitis, is characterized by three main symptoms: shortness of breath during physical activity and, as the disease worsens, while at rest; chronic coughing; and spitting or coughing mucus from the lungs.

The University of Maryland Medical Center estimates that cigarette smoking accounts for around 80 percent of all COPD cases. With more than 120,000 deaths each year in the U.S. alone, COPD moved ahead of stroke in 2010 to become the third leading cause of death in the U.S. While more than 12 million people are currently diagnosed with COPD, the more disturbing fact is that there are likely another 12 million with the disease who are unaware of it.

In an effort to educate patients and health care providers of COPD, the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI) has launched the COPD Learn More Breathe Better campaign, aimed at current and former smokers over the age of 45.

James Kiley, director of the NHLBI Division of Lung Diseases, hopes that increased awareness of the disease will encourage more patients and health care providers to discuss symptoms and treatments for COPD in the doctor’s office.

“It’s no secret that early diagnosis and treatment can improve daily living for those who have COPD, but you can’t get there without an open line of dialogue in the exam room,” Kiley said in a press release.

Although there is no cure for COPD, lifestyle changes such as smoking cessation, exercise, and a healthy diet can lessen the symptoms of the disease. You should also speak with your doctor about medications that can also help.

Not Convinced? Here Are 7 More Reasons to Quit Smoking »

Additional Tips to Keep You Smoke-Free

While the task of giving up cigarettes might seem daunting to many current smokers, the ACS offers these tips to help you stick to your goal after the clock strikes 12 during this year’s Great American Smokeout:

Seek out support in the form of smoking cessation hotlines or stop-smoking groups in your city or online.
Look into counseling to give you an additional, professional support system.
Ask your doctor about prescription medications, including Bupropion or Chantix.
If counseling or medication aren’t possible, there are many books out there that can help.
Ask your doctor or pharmacist about nicotine replacement products, like patches or gum.
Talk about quitting with friends and family. Don’t underestimate the power of positive reinforcement and encouragement from loved ones.

For more information about quitting smoking and tobacco products, call the ACS at 1-800-227-2345.