We are seeing home educators going back to the land more and more. After 40 to 50 years of processed food we are seeing the unhealthy lifestyle this produces and so realise we must change and go back to the foods our grandparents ate. The internet is a great source for finding out how to do things since many of our grandparents have now passed away with all their wonderful knowledge. Over the last few years I have been learning how to propogate seeds and now I am learning how to grow herbs and how to use them in cooking and for medicinal purposes. I am enjoying passing this information onto my children. There is so much to learn and pass on so that our future generations will be healthy. Here is a great website with wonderful information about healthy lifestyles. This page is focusing on food that are unhealthy for us. Let me quote a little from the page:

By Dr. Mercola

When deciding what’s healthy and what’s not, it pays to take note of what the actual experts are saying, as opposed to just listening to industry propaganda regurgitated by talking heads in the mass media and government health agencies.

Wake Up World has assembled a list of foods that are avoided by people who know the facts.

Here are a few examples:

Genetically engineered (GE) foods: Not only do genetically modified (GM) foods encourage the massive spraying of insecticides, but studies have shown that pesticide-producing genes in these foods transfer to your intestinal flora.

GM foods come with a staggering environmental, political, economic, and social cost.

Canned tomatoes: Food can lining contains bisphenol-A (BPA), a synthetic estrogen that has been linked to many illnesses.

The problem worsens when the cans contain acidic food such as tomatoes, which leach BPA into the food.

Corn-fed beef: Cattle evolved to eat grass rather than corn.

But modern cattle are fed so as to fatten them up faster, not to keep them healthy.

The result is beef that is much less nutritious.

Microwave popcorn: Chemicals that line the bag, such as PFOA, have been linked to infertility in humans and various forms of cancer in animal tests.

To see the rest of the list, please see the original article.

Here, I’ll focus on the issue of genetically engineered foods, as I believe that is one of the most pressing dangers facing us as a species.

Do read this link as there is a lot of good information in it plus a number of  YouTube clips. I’ll share just a bit more from this page here:

Since the U.S. government prevents the labeling of GM foods, it’s imperative to educate yourself on what they are, and to help spread awareness on how to avoid these foods.

First and foremost, avoid most processed foods, unless it’s labeled USDA 100% Organic.  You can also avoid GM foods that are not found in processed foods, if you know what to look for. There are currently eight genetically modified food crops on the market (plus GM alfalfa, which is used as an animal feed and will primarily affect animal products raised in confined animal feeding operations, aka ‘factory farms.’):

• Soy
• Corn
• Cottonseed (used in vegetable cooking oils)
• Canola (canola oil)
• Sugar from sugar beets
• Hawaiian papaya
• Some varieties of zucchini
• Crookneck squash

The free Non-GMO Shopping Guide is a great resource to help you determine which food brands and processed food products are GM-free. Print it out for yourself, and share it with everyone you know. If you feel more ambitious you can order the Non-GMO Shopping Tips brochure in bulk and bring them to the grocery stores in your area. Talk to the owner or manager and get permission to post them in their store.

I think this is a very important part of our home eductating – training our children in healthy lifestyles.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“Liberty has never come from the government; it has always come from the subjects of it.
The history of liberty is a history of limitation of governmental power, not the increase of it.”
–Woodrow Wilson

The Government is getting involved where it should not be – right into our homes and familes. We have to apply for an exemption to home educate our children, we can no longer use reasonable force to correct our children NOW they want to take our right to grow our own food from us. NOW is the time to ACT to protect this God given right. Who wants to apply for an exemption to grow food, save seeds, and even share the fruits of their labor with friends and family members? This page has links and idea for writing emails: http://www.providentliving.org.nz/2011/12/nz-food-bill/

From Natural News

The God-given human right to freely cultivate food is under attack in New Zealand (NZ) as special interest groups and others are currently attempting to push a “food security” bill through the nation’s parliament that will strip individuals of their right to grow food, save seeds, and even share the fruits of their labor with friends and family members.

In accordance with the World Trade Organization’s (WTO) Codex Alimentarius scheme for global food control, the NZ Food Bill, if passed, will essentially transfer primary control of food from individuals to corporations under the guise of food safety. And unless massive public outcry and awakened consciences within the NZ government are able to put a stop to it, the bill could become law very soon.

According to NZ Food Security, a group working to protect the food freedom of New Zealanders, the bill will turn growing and sharing food into a government-granted privilege rather than a human right. It will also make it illegal to distribute any type of food based on the bill’s language. This includes seeds, nutrients, natural medicines, minerals, and even water — without expressed government permission.

You see, agribusiness giants like Monsanto want full control of the food supply, which means putting an end to small-scale agriculture systems that operate “off the grid,” so to speak. This is why they have worked so hard in places like the US to convert conventional, staple crop systems to genetically-modified (GM) ones that are continually reliant upon new seeds and chemical interventions.

As far as enforcement, the NZ bill also authorizes private companies to deploy “Food Safety Officers” that can raid private property without warrant…

You can read a full summary of what the NZ Food Bill entails here:
http://nzfoodsecurity.org/2011/07/1…

What all this means, of course, is that the NZ government may soon be able to arbitrarily decide at any time to restrict individual freedom to plant vegetable gardens and share the produce with their neighbors, for instance. Even “cottage industries,” which include at-home food artisans, could be restricted under the new law.

To learn more and to help defeat the NZ Food Bill, visit:
http://nzfoodsecurity.org/

This article was originally published at Natural News.

Below is a petition you may like to sign:

I have just received this email from Katherine Smith, the editor of The New Zealand Journal of Natural Medicine.

Please read and ACT on this information.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Katherine Smith, editor
The New Zealand Journal of Natural Medicine
PO Box 44-128
Point Chevalier
Auckland 1246

Dear Home Schooling Families,

On March 24, 2011, the Report of the Health Select Committee’s Inquiry into “How to improve [increase] immunisation [vaccination] completion  rates” in New Zealand which was published on the parliamentary website. The government has six weeks (from March 24) to respond to the report.

The full report is posted at this link:
http://www.parliament.nz/NR/rdonlyres/BADCF722-D377-4451-8602-1E00938BFC74/188894/DBSCH_SCR_5060_Inquiryintohowtoimprovecompletionra.pdf

The Health Select Committee (under the leadership of Dr Paul Hutchison) has produced a report that recommends raising the targeted vaccination completion rate to 95% for NZ children aged 0-4.  It also proposes a target be set for 11 year olds.

The report also recommends that the government make children’s enrollment at school and early childhood centres  dependent on parents producing proof of their children’s vaccination status and – even more ominously – suggests that government consider linking “existing parental benefits” to vaccination.

If the government accepts the recommendations in the report, it appears that parents will be forced to choose whether their child has no vaccinations – or all vaccinations on the schedule in order to enroll in a school or early childhood education centre.  Eligibility for the 20 Hours Free Early Childhood Education may also be restricted to children who have had all recommended vaccinations (or whose parents have decided against vaccination) according to Page 33 of the Report.  Moreover, it is also possible that parents who do not comply with this “all or nothing” approach to vaccination (for example those who want their children to have some vaccines, but not others) may face financial penalties.

The report represents a significant attack on parents’ rights to make health care decisions for their children.

Even if you never plan to send your children to school, please take your time to read the website below and become informed about this issue.  In Australia, some students studying at tertiary level now face discrimination on the basis of their vaccination status. If we do not all act now to send a strong message to the NZ government that the right to education should not be linked to vaccination, the career prospects of many people could be damaged.  Christians (and others) who decide against MMR vaccination because of the use of cells derived from aborted foetal tissue in its production (or for any other reason) could be particularly badly affected if the government adopts these sort of discriminatory policies.

We are in an election year; if you disagree with the recommendations in the report,  please act now to let all political parties know that you find this unacceptable.

Please forward this message widely and visit the website www.noforcedvaccines.org as soon as you can for more information and for ideas on how you can help with the campaign to resist the erosion of human rights threatened by this Report.   Thank you.

Yours sincerely,

Katherine Smith