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In this issue:

*Thank you
*Vaccines
*Gov Perry's antics
*Trans-fat's dangerous replacement
*Fryo-Diesel

Thanks to those of you who signed up for the daily Eco-tips; hope you're enjoying them.

There's still time to participate if you missed the last newsletter http://www.real-foods.net/ideal-bite

In the News:

Moms With More Education are Less Likely to Vaccinate Their Kids

Vaccinations

Women who never graduated high school are more likely to have their children vaccinated than women who graduated college.

To come to this conclusion, researchers examined data on almost 12,000 families from the National Immunization Survey, a nationwide survey of childhood vaccinations that includes information about ethnicity and socioeconomic status.

Children of less-educated mothers were 16 percent more likely to have up-to-date vaccinations.

The study's senior author posited that the reason could be the controversy regarding the safety of vaccinations, and a higher awareness of this among the educated. [New York Times]

For some tidbits on vaccines, please see http://www.personal-wellness-consultant.com/vaccine-residue-disease-residue.html

Our own Texas Governor Rick Perry is promising a mandate to require teenage (and even pre-teen) girls to get the new Papilloma vaccine.

In the past, if you wished to skip the vaccines "required" for public school, you had to jump through quite a few hoops, but you could register either a religious or philosophical exemption (state of Texas). I've heard the exemption may not apply in this case.

I'd be wary about giving the vaccine to MY daughter....

A few years back, in several third world countries, the World Health Organization (WHO) was caught giving seemingly innocent inoculations (can't recall exactly which childhood disease - mumps, chickenpox, or something) to women and girls 12 to 25 ONLY.

One of the volunteers got suspicious when the number of early miscarriages seemed to increase, and had the vaccine tested. There was evidently a rudimentary "abortion vaccine" in the shot as well as what was supposed to be there.

These young women - from at least five countries - will never be able to carry a pregnancy to term, because every time their bodies create the particular "pregnancy chemicals," the antibodies from the vaccine will take over and oust the "invader" AKA the fetus.

Our planet probably does have too many people to support "in the style to which we've become accustomed," but sly, forced abortions don't exist in my desired World.

State Park Funding in Danger

Luke Metzger of Environment Texas asked me to share this in my newsletter:

Last year during the gubernatorial campaign, Governor Perry pledged support for full funding for our state parks system. Unfortunately, he has since backed away from that position, telling the Fort Worth Star-Telegram he thinks "the Parks and Wildlife Department cannot effectively spend that money on parks."

Please sign the Environment Texas petition to Governor Perry asking him to live up to his campaign promise and support full funding for our parks. Then, ask your friends to do the same by forwarding this email to them.

Background:
From the desert wilderness of Big Bend Ranch State Park to the bayous and live oaks of Brazos Bend State Park, our parks system is a big part of what makes Texas special. Our parks help protect drinking water supplies and wildlife habitat, provide countless recreation opportunities, and are home to some of the most breathtaking views in America.

Shamefully ranked 49th in the nation in per-capita spending on state parks, the Legislature has willfully let our state parks go without even the minimal support needed to maintain them, never mind acquiring new land for our state's rapidly growing population. According to the Fort Worth Star-Telegram "while state government increased spending for services generally by 68 percent between 1990 and 2003 -- it decreased spending on parks by 34 percent".

The good new is that Rep. Harvey Hilderbran has filed HB 6, legislation which would increase funding for state parks by more than $85 million. The bill already has 71 co-sponsors, which means we have a great chance of success.

But the issue is far from over. Several weeks ago, Gov. Perry appeared to back away from campaign promises to fully fund the parks, saying that perhaps some of the money should be refunded to taxpayers as rebates.

Please sign our petition to Governor Perry asking him to live up to his campaign promise and support full funding for our parks. Then, ask your friends to do the same by forwarding this email to them.

To take action, click on the link below or copy and paste it into your web browser: https://www.environmenttexas.org/action/preserving-texas?id4=ES

Please send this link to your friends so they can make their desires known to the Governor of our beloved state.

(Perry again? this is starting to sound really political. May as well finish, I guess. Please don't forget that he is giving away our already-paid-for highways to US and foreign corporations to use as tollways. So we can pay for them again... and again. And now he's selling the Texas Lottery to his cronies. Aaargh)

Trans-Fats are Being Replaced by Another Dangerous Fat

From Science Dailycomes studies on fats: http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2007/01/070116131545.htm

Research indicates that a new method of modifying fat in commercial products, interesterified fat, which is intended to replace trans fats, raises blood glucose and depresses insulin.

What's more, just like trans fat, it reduces levels of beneficial HDL-cholesterol.

Trans-fatty acids, used because of their long shelf life, are now being abandoned by many manufacturers because they raise LDL ("bad") cholesterol levels and lower HDL ("good") cholesterol levels.

Interesterified fat is a modified form of fat that is hydrogenated and then rearranged on the molecular level.

Interesterification creates fat rich in stearic acid, and it is quickly becoming the method of choice for foods that require a longer shelf life (The process hardens fat in much the same way as the process that creates trans-fatty acids).

This research could mean that the structure of each individual fat molecule is important to health; the specific location of individual fatty acids on the glycerol molecule seems to affect the metabolism of both fat and glucose.

One finding of the study above, unmodified saturated fat, which has unfairly gotten a bad rap all along, was not associated with the negative effects of trans fats and interesterified fats.

If you want to avoid dangerous fats of all kinds, your best option is still to avoid processed foods as much as possible. Over 90 percent of the money Americans spend on food is spent on processed foods, so if you are like a typical American you have a LONG way to go to improve.

Ideally, you should try to avoid processed foods, even those with no trans fats, and opt for healthy fat sources from whole foods.

According to Sally Fallon's Nourishing Traditions, your body needs saturated fats to stay healthy. Among their many beneficial effects, they are:

*A major part of the phospholipid component of cell membranes
*The preferred fuel for your heart
*Useful antiviral and antifungalagents (caprylic acid)
*Effective as anticaries, antiplaque and anti-fungal agents (lauric acid)
*Useful to actually lower cholesterol levels (palmitic and stearic acids)

Coconut oil, a medium-chain saturated fat, can actually help you to lose weight, lower cholesterol, improve diabetic conditions and reduce your risk of heart disease.

Visit Powell's Books http://www.powells.com/partner/30913/biblio/0967089735 to get your copy of Nourishing Traditions.

Willie's not the ONLY ONE!

A Philadelphia "green entrepreneur" is making biodiesel from the gunk in restaurant drain traps.

Listen to NPR's story on Fryo-Diesel. http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=6585629

You know, you can make biodiesel yourself. Check out this eBook with all the how-to info, safety practices, etc.

http://www.real-foods.net/biodiesel

'Til next time,

Sherri and the Gang
Real Foods Market
410 Fourth St
Blanco, Texas 78606
(830) 833-2483

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