Did you know that yesterday, August 30th, was National Holistic Pet Day? In looking for information about the event I came across a great reading list for raising pets naturally on Dr. Messonier’s Pet Care Naturally website. There are some great books here for your pet care library. I’d also add Marion Nestle’s Pet Food Politics. Any other suggestions?

8-10 teaspoons. That is the daily sugar limit recommended recently by The American Heart Association. In my opinion, the group took their own sweet time. For years, sugary sweet cereals like Count Chocula, Lucky Charms and Cookie Crisp carried the AMA heart-healthy symbol despite the empty calories from sugar and refined carbohydrates. When I questioned the AMA on it in late 2006, their reply was stunning: “There simply isn’t enough scientific data that proves sugar plays a role in heart disease” [excerpt from Eating Between the Lines (EBL)] Sometime since then the AMA wisely removed their endorsement from such cereals. But only now in 2009, after a study confirmed the obvious, and childhood diabesity is rampant, does the agency finally make a statement on sugar consumption. Sweet—but way too late. A better rule to follow for cereals is Dr. Sears’ 5g rule. Let your kids pick out cereals with 5g fiber, 5g protein and 5g sugar—one gram for each finger.

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Kimberly Lord Stewart is the author of Eating Between the Lines, and Editor Functional Ingredients magazine (sister publication to Delicious Living).

For the child (or adult) who’s just been diagnosed with celiac disease or a gluten intolerance, not being able to eat favorite foods like chicken nuggets can be hard. Applegate Farms has recently come to the rescue with all-natural, gluten-free chicken nuggets. I got a sample of these and had my gluten-intolerant son try them out. The verdict: Two happy thumbs up! They’re not only gluten free, but like all Applegate Farms products, the meat is raised without any hormones, antibiotics, nitrates, or nitrites. We were already fans of Applegate’s organic hot dogs; now there’s a new food choice to love. Look (or ask) for them at your local natural foods store.

I typically equate gift giving with selfless–not selfish–ness, but giftzip.com made me realize maybe we can all be more conscious of how we package our generosity. This site has linked up with hundreds of vendors (including glutenfree.com, featuring gluten-free gourmet mixes, baked goods, pastas, and more) to provide online gift cards that are just a click away. It’s unbelievably easy and free. But the biggest perk is that it reduces the environmental impact of plastic card production, and if you think about it, these plastic cards are the gifts that keep giving–rather, the gifts that keep taking. The plastic production depletes valuable resources and emits gas. Beyond that, the cards are “packaged, shipped, stored, likely reshipped, restored, displayed, sold, and then possibly wrapped, packaged, and shipped again.” Plus, they can be made from Polyvinyl Chloride (PVC), which contains dangerous chemical additives including phthalates, lead, cadmium, and/or organotins. All that for one use. It seems these online alternatives are worth more than any plastic in your wallet.

If you’re curious as to how your pet’s food stacks-up, here are a few online resources to help you assess your pet’s next meal.

Dog Food Analysis.com: Online since 2005, looks at the contents of more than 1500 dry dog foods. Includes ratings and reviews.

Consumer Search.com (dog food) , and Consumer Search.com (cat food): A service of About.com. Provides Best Reviews, product analysis, and ranking of pet foods.

Dog Food Chat.com and Cat Food Chat.com: ratings and recommendations of dog/cat food, product recalls, and information on dog/cat health.

The Kibble.com: Snarky site devoted to pet food, for that base their pet food selection on more than price.

Consumer Reports: Specific reports on pet food - from food safety to value for price.

Pet Food Institute: Everything you always wanted to know about pet food but were afraid to ask.

During my first visit to North Carolina last week (our daughter is now a freshman at Duke), we were treated to a North Carolina feast as part of new student orientation. Rather than serving a standard catered dinner, Duke partnered with the Bon Appetit Management Company, a catering group that’s a leader in sustainable and healthy food service, and I was delighted to see that the spread celebrated and showcased the region’s local foods and producers. I especially enjoyed the cucumber, onion, and heirloom tomato salad; green bean salad with herb vinaigrette; grilled-in-husk corn on the cob; North Carolina melons; and strawberry shortcake with fresh North Carolina strawberries. (OK, the classic pulled pork was really good, too.)

With a daughter starting kindergarten and a 2-year-old headed off to preschool (like such a big boy!), I’ve begun to pay more attention to health alerts, such as those about H1N1 virus outbreaks. Although up until now I’ve managed to take swine flu news (and press releases, so many press releases!) in stride, H1N1 is inching its way up my list of concerns. Today I spoke with Chicagohealers.com practitioner Martha Howard, MD, a holistic doctor who recommends a number of simple strategies and natural remedies to boost immunity and combat the H1N1 swine flu virus. more

On my last trip to the gym, I realized I hadn’t just burned a few calories. I had also burned nearly two hours (most of which was before and after setting foot in the gym) and probably entirely too much fuel in transport. When weather cooperates, we can easily avoid the gym and get active outide. But as summer comes to an end, your duties have unceremoniously multiplied and that leisurely hike or bike ride seems like less of a possibility, how can we still meet the American Heart Association/American College of Sports Medicine guidelines of at least 30 minutes of moderate intensity activity–FIVE days a week? more

It’s great that people are turning to community gardens as a way to increase the amount of fresh, local produce in their diets. Michelle Obama has even given gardening a bit of celebrity status, focusing media attention on the organic garden at the White House and spreading the word about the necessity of fresh, nutritious food for everyone in the fight against a national obesity epidemic.

The word has certainly caught on. This gardening season, so many people are interested in community gardens that cities and towns across the country are struggling to keep up with the growing demand. From Portland, Ore., to Richmond, Va., waiting lists for garden plots are getting longer and longer.

A new solution has sprung up though, that focuses on backyards instead of public plots. Sharing Backyards is a program that connects those who don’t have their own yard (people who live in condos, apartments etc.) with people who have unused backyard space that they are willing to let someone else make into a garden. With 40 percent of North Americans living somewhere without their own yard space, the program helps share the backyard wealth. Just type in your name and address to share your yard or find a yard near you that is in need of some gardening love.

I just received this alert from MomsRising, a nonprofit organization that works to improve children’s and families’ health and well-being. They are asking parents to sign a petition to eliminate PVC (a source of phthalates and other harmful chemicals) in kids’ school supplies.

Why worry about PVC-free school supplies? Many children’s school supplies, such as lunchboxes, backpacks and binders, can be made out of PVC-a toxic plastic that is dangerous to our health and the environment. PVC contains dangerous chemical additives including phthalates, lead, cadmium, and/or organotins, which can be toxic to your child’s health. These toxic additives can leach out or evaporate into the air over time posing unnecessary dangers to children. Evidence is mounting about the health risks of PVC, why would we put it in school supplies?

Sign the petition.