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Natural Awakenings Central New Jersey

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Strength in Numbers, It Takes a Village to Feed the World

Organizations worldwide are working to create a more sustainable and just food system. Food Tank lists 101 organizations to watch in 2014 (Tinyurl.com/FoodTank100). All are vital in creating a better food system. Here are a few examples.

Food MythBusters is telling the real story of how food is produced through short films, showing that we can have a food system that is truly affordable, delicious, fair and good for the planet.

Heifer International has been helping small farmers around the world practice better animal husbandry and develop more environmentally sustainable sources of food production for 70 years.

Oxfam, a confederation of 17 organizations worldwide, helps find lasting solutions to poverty and injustice. Oxfam America’s recent Behind the Brands campaign highlights how favorite consumer brands bring hidden costs to farmers, food security and the environment.

Real Food Challenge, started in 2008 mainly among students, aims to shift $1 billion of existing university food budgets from industrial farms and junk foods to community-based, fair, ecologically sound and humane food sources by 2020.

Seed Savers Exchange is dedicated to saving and sharing organic, heirloom and non-GMO (genetically modified organism) seeds.

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Tick Talk

Spring officially sprung on March 21. We have turned our clocks ahead. We are looking forward to warm winds, sunny skies and the smell of fresh cut grass. The daffodils and tulips have recently bloomed and we are just starting with the yard work that comes with the warmer weather.  Sadly, another season has started ramping up.  Tick season.

•             The best form of protection is prevention. Educating oneself about tick activity and how our behaviors overlap with tick habitats is the first step.

•             According to the NJ DOH, in 2022 Hunterdon County led the state with a Lyme disease incidence rate of 426 cases per 100,000 people. The fact is ticks spend approximately 90% of their lives not on a host but aggressively searching for one, molting to their next stage or over-wintering. This is why a tick remediation program should be implemented on school grounds where NJ DOH deems high risk for tick exposure and subsequent attachment to human hosts.

•             Governor Murphy has signed a bill that mandates tick education in NJ public schools. See this for the details.  Tick education must now be incorporated into K-12 school curriculum. See link:

https://www.nj.gov/education/broadcasts/2023/sept/27/TicksandTick-BorneIllnessEducation.pdf

•             May is a great month to remind the public that tick activity is in full swing. In New Jersey, there are many tickborne diseases that affect residents, including Anaplasmosis, Babesiosis, Ehrlichiosis, Lyme disease, Powassan, and Spotted Fever Group Rickettsiosis.

•             For years, the focus has mainly been about protecting ourselves from Lyme disease. But other tick-borne diseases are on the rise in Central Jersey. An increase of incidence of Babesia and Anaplasma are sidelining people too. These two pathogens are scary because they effect our blood cells. Babesia affects the red blood cells and Anaplasma effects the white blood cells.

•             Ticks can be infected with more than one pathogen. When you contract Lyme it is possible to contract more than just that one disease. This is called a co-infection. It is super important to pay attention to your symptoms. See link.

https://twp.freehold.nj.us/480/Disease-Co-Infection

A good resource from the State:

https://www.nj.gov/health/cd/topics/tickborne.shtml

 

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