A definition of spiritual enlightenment or spiritual awakening is hard to pin down. This is, in part, because "spiritual enlightenment" and "spiritual awakening" have been used in so many ways to describe so many things, similar to the way in which "love" is used to describe everything from a preference for ice cream to a merging with everything. And it is also because spiritual enlightenment and spiritual awakening are such rich and complex experiences that they are innately hard to define.

Some definitions are very specific and narrow. One such definition for spiritual enlightenment is the complete dissolution of one's identity as a separate self with no trace of the egoic mind remaining. This sets the bar very high and means that very few people qualify as enlightened.

The opposite approach is to say that everyone is enlightened, that there is only awake consciousness. In this view, it's only a question of whether this natural awakeness has been recognized or not. Of course, when a word describes everything or everyone, it loses some of its usefulness. If everyone is enlightened, then why even talk about it?

Perhaps there's a definition that includes both of these perspectives, which recognizes that consciousness is always awake and enlightened, but the amount of awakeness, or aware consciousness, that is present in any moment can vary. This definition acknowledges that there's a difference in the amount of awakeness, or enlightened consciousness, that different people experience or that one person experiences at different times but still suggests that the potential for full awareness or becoming enlightened is the same for everybody. If every apparent individual consciousness is infinite in its potential, then each can also be infinite both in its capacity to expand or awaken and in its capacity to contract or identify with a narrow or limited experience.

If all consciousness is made of the same essential awareness and light, and if everyone has an equal potential for enlightenment, then all expressions of consciousness are equally valid and valuable. Everyone truly is a Buddha or enlightened being, at least in potential. So defining enlightenment in many ways now makes sense, depending on what is being pointed to. One may use the word enlightenment to point to the state of self-realization beyond the ego or to point to the innate potential for this realization in all of us.

As for differentiating between the words enlightenment and awakening, "enlightenment" implies a more finished and constant state of realization, while "awakening" has more of the active quality of a verb and therefore suggests a movement or shift in consciousness. An awakening may be defined as a sudden increase in the overall amount of consciousness an individual is experiencing. There can be small awakenings and bigger awakenings. Not only does consciousness have unlimited potential for the amount of awakeness, but it also has an unlimited potential to shift in any way, at any moment. Consciousness can and sometimes does shift from contracted states of fear, anger, or hurt to expanded states of peace and joy in an instant. Unfortunately, it can also shift in the other direction. Consciousness has no fixed state.

As it is being defined here, a spiritual awakening is a sudden expansion or shift in consciousness, especially a more dramatic one (we don't usually refer to a minor realization as a spiritual awakening). Enlightenment, on the other hand can be used to mark a particular level of realization or awakeness, even if the exact definition varies depending on who is using the word, as it does with every word.

What really matters is what your awareness is doing right now. How is your consciousness appearing or shifting in this moment? Are you realizing more of your experience and Essence right now? Or are you contracting and limiting your awareness with thoughts and identification? Is any shifting happening from reading these words?

Enlightenment or awakening is a profound mystery, and the best definition may be found in the actual experience of your own shifts in consciousness. Just as it's more nourishing to eat an apple than read about one, so it can be more rewarding to explore the movements of your own awareness than to try to understand these things mentally. While definitions of such things can be helpful, it can also be beneficial to not have too many concepts, which could interfere with your actual experience. It's a good thing that language isn't so fixed or defined when it comes to spiritual unfoldment. Maybe the best definition of enlightenment is no definition. Then there is only what is found in your own direct experience of awareness.

(The above is from the free ebook: That Is That: Essays About True Nature available here.)

What are the causes of spiritual awakening or enlightenment?

Consider the miracle of a flower. What is it that causes a plant to flower? Does sunshine cause a plant to flower? Does lots of water? Or is it good soil? Maybe all of these together? Or is there really something more subtle in the nature of the flower itself that causes it to flower? Is it something in the DNA of the plant? Does that mean the whole process of evolution over eons of time is involved? What other factors might cause the flowering? Does gravity play a part? The season and the temperature? The quality of the light? (Some plants will not flower under glass or artificial light.) What about animals that eat the fruit and spread the plant? Or the birds or bees that pollinate the flower? Do they cause the subsequent flowering of the newly established plants? Are there even subtler influences? What about presence and love? The intention and attention of a gardener? And is the existence of the world of form itself necessary for a plant to flower? And what about consciousness? Is there an ultimate force that directs the creation and unfolding of all expressions of form that is behind the appearance of a rose or a daisy?

What if it is a combination of all of the things mentioned? And also what if they have to all be in the right proportion? Is that proportion different for every species of plant? Some plants need lots of water or light to flower. Others will die with too much water or light. There is a unique formula that is involved with the appearance of the simplest apple blossom and the most complex orchid.

When you consider all of these influences and even more that were not mentioned or can't even be known or imagined, then it truly is a miracle when a flower happens. It is impossible to say what causes it to happen with any certainty or completeness. Yet, it's an act of incredible grace whenever all of these diverse, subtle, and gross influences come together in just the right way for an iris or a bird of paradise to open its unique petals to the sky. Ultimately, if you trace all the factors back to all their causes, you find that everything that exists is somehow intimately connected to the cactus flower or dandelion in your front yard. We need a vague and powerful word like "grace" to name this amazing interplay of forces and intelligence. Obviously, to reduce it to a formula doesn't come close to capturing or describing the vast richness of variables and forces at play. There is no formula complex enough to capture the whole mystery of a magnolia blossom...

Spiritual awakening is a kind of flowering of consciousness. When consciousness expands and opens into a new expression, we call that a spiritual awakening. And while there are as many kinds of awakenings as there are flowers, they are all equally mysterious. What is it that causes a child to start to awaken to the nature of words and language? What causes the awakening of sexuality in a teenager? How does one suddenly know they are falling in love? Or even more profoundly, how does one explain the birth of unconditional or divine love?

Finally, what are the causes of the most profound spiritual awakenings, where consciousness suddenly recognizes its ultimate true nature? Why does that type of flowering appear in one consciousness today and another one tomorrow? If the formula for a simple petunia is a vastly complex interplay of earthly, human, and even cosmic forces, then imagine how complex the formula is for the unfolding of a human consciousness into full spiritual enlightenment as one's true nature. The good news is that we cannot and do not need to know the totality of the formula involved to grow some petunias, and we cannot and do not need to know the formula for spiritual enlightenment. Yet, we can be curious about all of the factors involved and even play with them to see what effects, if any, they may have in our individual experience of consciousness unfolding.

Sometimes the mysteriousness and unpredictability of the whole process of awakening leads us to shrug our shoulders and say it is all up to grace or to God. And, of course, that is true; and yet, does that mean there's no place in this unfolding for our own actions? Is there a place for spiritual practice? What about meditation, self-inquiry, or study of spiritual texts? And how about devotional practices or the transmission of presence from being with a great teacher or master? We can easily become disillusioned with any or all of these activities because the results they produce are so unpredictable and varied, and it can seem simpler to avoid the question of their role altogether. Ask any gardener if it works every time to water and weed and fertilize a plant? Or does a plant sometimes fail to flower no matter how well it is cared for? But does that mean you never water or fertilize your plants?

At other times we can be overly convinced that our practice or inquiry will lead to the desired results, often because it seemed to work at least once for us, or for someone we know. The only problem with spiritual practices is that they occasionally work! Then we think that we have the formula and that every time we sit down to meditate or ask, "Who am I?" we will have that same experience of expansion or awakening again. That is like thinking you will always have a bumper crop of marigolds every time you plant them.

There is a middle way between denying the importance or role of spiritual practice and having unrealistic expectations that self-inquiry, meditation, or devotional practice is going to, by itself, cause an awakening. We can experiment and play with these processes, just as a gardener will experiment with different fertilizers or watering patterns to see what happens. It ultimately is all up to grace, and yet, what if grace works through us as well as on us? What if spiritual practice is as much a part of the mystery of existence as anything else?

Maybe we can hold the question of what role inquiry, devotion, effort, surrender, transmission, meditation, gratitude, intention, silencing the mind, study of spiritual books, involvement with a teacher or master, ripeness of the student, karma, grace, and luck play in our enlightenment with an openness and curiosity, instead of a need to define their roles once and for all. The flowering of consciousness in your own existence is as unique as every flower, and ultimately we are all here to discover how it is going to happen uniquely this time around. What is your consciousness like right now? How open is the flower of your awareness? Is it still budding or has it blossomed? Just as every flower fades and another comes along, what about now? And now? What happens this time when you meditate? What happens now when you inquire "Who am I?" How does it feel right now to open your heart with gratitude even if nothing much is happening? What impact does reading this article or any other piece of writing have on you? Every stage of a plant's existence is valuable and even necessary for its flowering. Your experience is always adding to the richness of the unfolding of consciousness in this moment. May you enjoy the garden of your true nature, including when spiritual awakenings are blooming, and when spiritual enlightenment seems far away.

(From the free ebook: That Is That: Essays About True Nature available here.)

About Nirmala:

Advaita spiritual teacher, Nirmala has been offering satsang and spiritual mentoring in the U.S. and internationally since 1998. Nirmala offers a unique vision and a gentle, compassionate approach, which adds to the rich tradition of inquiry into our true nature. He is the author of several books, including Nothing Personal: Seeing Beyond the Illusion of a Separate Self and Living from the Heart. In his books and mentoring sessions, Nirmala points to the wisdom within each of us, and fosters the individuals own potential for spiritual awakening. Free ebook downloads of several of Nirmalas books are available here.

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What Is Spiritual Enlightenment or Spiritual Awakening?

Robert Wright didnt think of himself as a candidate for enlightenment. He had turned to mindfulness meditation, in part, to combat lifelong ADDto focus his thoughts, give him a sense of control. So when his meditation teacher told him he could either focus on enlightenment or write a book about mediation, he was taken aback that enlightenment was even on the table.

He wrote the book, yet he hasnt given up on liberation. Wright recounts this episode in Why Buddhism is True, which is part memoir and deep exploration of mindfulness meditation. The Pulitzer Prize-nominated journalist realized that if he was going to start a regular meditation practice hed have to dive in. So he began his earnest quest with a ten-day silent retreat, known as Vipassana.

Once enlightenment was mentioned Wright stepped back to contemplate what that word even means. The term has a bit of ambiguity, given all of the contexts in which its employed. In his book, he writes that the specific sense, the meaning of nirvana, is to rid yourself of the twin illusions many people suffer from: illusions inside of your mind and those occurring in the world.

The illusions are the result of dukkha, a Pali word often translated as suffering, though more precisely implies unsatisfactory. In the Buddhist tradition humans suffer because they dont see the world, or their mind, clearly. They put too much emphasis on personal desires rather than objective thinking. We get too caught up in what we crave rather than what is. Enlightenment is freedom from such thinking. As Wright told me,

As a practical manner, I think of enlightenment as an ongoing process where you try to become more and more aware of the things that are influencing your behavior. By understanding them, to the extent that you want, you try to liberate yourself from them.

A great example of this process can be heard on the NY Times podcast, The Daily. Derek Black grew up in one of the most prominent white nationalist families in America. He believed whites are genetically superior. Relationships he forged while in college taught him otherwise. Two years after attending his first Shabbat dinner he recognized his familys overt reliance on eugenics didnt hold water. More importantly he came to understand that members of other races and belief systems arent inferior. He liberated himself from his narrow thinking.

All humans learn in a similar manner. We have genetic predispositions, but our environment, family, and peers shape our worldview. As we age we apply that worldview to our experiences, suffering when conflicting opinions arise. The Buddha realized thoughts are the problem. Enlightenment is the process of decluttering, or expanding, our worldvieweven, at a point, not having a worldview at all.

Thats a tall order for most, however. As Wright puts it,

Part of what can happen with meditation is you rearrange your narratives. If you want to get into the deepest aspects of Buddhist philosophy, youre trying to get rid of narratives altogether. But I think most of us could do with just dropping the more unfortunate narratives.

Which is what Black did, and what Wright practices. An important step in this process is understanding the difference between situation and disposition. We see a man yelling at the barista one morning. Our first thought: Hes a jerk. Maybe. Or maybe his father died last evening. The supposed jerk is really the victim of an unfortunate situation.

Yet we dont view ourselves this way. Since we are aware of our situation, we normally dont apply jerk-ness to our own experiences, even as we readily affix it to others. This is due to a belief in essentialism: the notion that we have an inner essence that defines us. This longstanding idea has played a role in our cognitive framework for thousands of years, at least. Problem is, its not true. None of us have a singular essence.

We are different people in different situations. All life is situational. Were sweet to this person, but that person really ticks us off, for no reason we can pinpoint. Our reactions are completely different, dependent upon situation. This has real-world consequences.

Incredible research shows that inmates up for parole have a 90 percent chance of receiving it if they appear in front of a judge first thing in the morning. If theyre one of the last cases of the morning session their chances drop to 10 percent. First up in the afternoon? Back to 90 percent. Why? Because the judge has eaten. Hes no longer hungry. Situation matters.

Same with students. Children and undergrads learn better later in the day. Yet for many the hardest classes are first thing in the morning. Is the child stupid for failing? Not necessarily. The science is in on this one. Yet still, as school kicks in this month, there are seven and eight am classes, because thats how weve done it.

Which gets to the heart of the enlightenment question. How Ive done it does not equate to this is best for me. When we confuse the two we dont feel satisfied. Instead of treating liberation as a life-shaking, earth-quaking event, as many interpretations of the Buddhas enlightenment have it, we can best understand liberation as a shifting of perceptions, a different way of being in the world. One in which we dont become so invested in things going our way, but rather seeing the way things go and adapting to the flow.

This is not to say that we don't have a say. We do. According to Wright, that means a daily meditation practice. As he says, the more time you put in, the better the results.

The more you invest, the more it translates into everyday life. If Im meditating regularly I find it easier to catch myself before doing something that Im better off not doing, whether thats sending off some angry email or saying something snide to somebody. You feel the impulse welling up and youre more aware of it. I also think youre just more appreciative of the beauty in the world.

The heavens might not open, but perhaps you can breathe a little more easily. Maybe you smile a bit more. Enlightenment is a process and a discipline. Theres no final state to achieve. Rather, its a state to always aspire to in all situations. A tall order, certainly, but one that puts us in control of our emotions throughout the day.

We do have means for achieving this. It just takes a bit of work to reign in the grasping nature of our mind.

--

Derek is the author ofWhole Motion: Training Your Brain and Body For Optimal Health. Based in Los Angeles he is working on a new book about spiritual consumerism. Stay in touch onFacebookandTwitter.

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How To Achieve Enlightenment | Big Think - Big Think

At the start of his bands concert, Herbie Hancock noted that he feels like a refugee from Mars, loves science fiction, and contemplates moving to another area. This simple quote was a harbinger of the idiosyncratic Sunday night that followed at Red Butte Garden on August 20, 2017. After stating his feelings, Hancock then declared that my wife is here and she would kill me for talking too much tonight! True to his laconic words, the two hour set engendered a triumphantly transcendental feeling.

The moving music included soothe saxophone solos, gutting guitar, peaceful piano progressions, and deafening drums. Drawing on a myriad of genres that encompassed jazz, funk, electronic, and classical, the eclectic instrumentation was marked by abrupt changes in volume and tempo. The music was occasionally sprinkled with chanting, a nod to Hancocks spiritual practice of reciting the Mahayana Buddhist chant Nam Myoho Renge Kyo every day.

The aforementioned chant, from the Lotus Sutra, emphasizes that all individuals are capable of Buddhahood. The concoction created by Hancock on Sunday night undoubtedly inspired a feeling that everyone is capable of enlightenment. In nod to their unique spirit, the band ended with a jazz funk encore that got the jovial crowd dancing even in nirvana.

Herbie Hancock At Red Butte Garden in Salt Lake City

The rest is here:
Enlightenment with Herbie Hancock - Daily Utah Chronicle

Photo Viewers cheered and howled as they took in the total eclipse in downtown Jackson, Wyo. Credit Celia Talbot Tobin for The New York Times

To the Editor:

Re The Moon Cloaks the Sun, and a Nation Gapes in Awe (news article, Aug. 22): Although I live in a reliably blue state that is home to Bernie Sanders, the national political divide is all too present here, too. Mondays solar eclipse, though, seemed to have no deniers.

Hurrying to court in Rutland, Vt., to represent a client, I came upon a group of 20-somethings outside our library, as I put my quarter in the parking meter. The sky had turned an eerie gray, from a morning of sunshine, and I realized that they just might be there for the eclipse.

Yeah!, one replied, smiling. Theyre handing out glasses in the library; go get one. I made my excuses and hurried off, only to come upon two members of the court staff on the front steps, offering a look through their glasses.

Stunning! And I had nearly missed it because of life.

It seemed as if our whole planet was spellbound, together, for a day. May that feeling of togetherness spread.

Excerpt from:
Seeing Unity and Enlightenment in Solar Show - New York Times

How does a Zen student know if a Zen teacher is a reliable guide, a verified representative of the Zen tradition?

A Zen teacher claims authorization within the tradition and encourages students to give time, heart, and financial resources to the Zen project.But because we dont know what we dont know, how is a student going to assess their teachers authenticity?Well, you could trust your gut. However, the gut can go wrong. Buddha cited intuition as one of the several things that could turn out one of two ways you can be right or you can be wrong.

Why is it important to work with an authentic teacher?

Id say, primarily, so that practitioners can plumb the depths of this way of awakeningand live accordingly with the best guidance possible.

In addition, as James Myoun Ford Roshi writes,

For a surprising number of people, and it seems increasing, the mythic qualities of dharma transmission have become a major seducer, with people seeking and obtaining titles without either significant training, nor, even more sadly, insight. Add in those who just make up titles and, well, there is a jumble of thorns for people to navigate if theyre hoping to practice Zen.

For more than a decade, the Soto Zen Buddhist Association (SZBA), of which Ive been a member since the 90s, has been working on this issue. The group came together with the promise of becoming something more than a collegial group. Led by the late Kyogen Carlson and others, the vision was to create a professional association, a Soto Zen denomination, that would support ethical practices and provide some verification of a teachers training in order to help teachers and students alike.

Granted, it is dicey territory. Zen teachers, and rightly so, are quite sensitive to any qualification of the teachers power to give dharma transmission to whomever they view as appropriate. Fortunately, the SZBA has been careful not suggest that we abridge a teachers authority, but that for membership in a professional organization, more is required.If we are to move in the direction of creating a profession of Zen teacher, then as with other professions in this culture, there are training standards that involve joining a community of similarly trained people who assess if an applicant is qualified. This is an important move from one person authorizing a new teacher to a groups recognition of a candidates qualifications.

Presently, the only qualification for joining the SZBA is that a candidate has dharma transmission in a recognized Soto lineage. Therefore, membership in SZBA says onlythat one person with dharma transmission offered it to another. And because there is a wide range of what is required in Zen training, both in terms of the process and the outcome, this really doesnt say much. And it seems to be saying less and less.

So, Zen students, you would do well to cut through the mist of the mythic qualities of dharma transmission, and pay attention. This, however, as I said above, is tough when you dont know what you dont know.

Here is what the SZBA board is now proposing:

According to Jiang Wu in Enlightenment in Dispute: The Reinvention of Chan Buddhism in Seventeenth-Century China, the Chan community 17th century China was dealing with some of the same issues. The standards that they settled on (both Linchi and Caodong lineages) required a verified enlightenment experience and transmission in a person-to-person unbroken lineage. Transmissions that were claimed remotely, either in time or space, where not respected. And the handing off of a transmission by one teacher for another teacher to distribute later, proxy transmissions, were also suspect.

One prominent branch of the Linchi lineage began to dig into the Caodong lines and question both the verified nature of their enlightenments and their transmissions. It resulted in many nasty letters, books, and even a lawsuit that led to book burning and a warrant for the arrest of one of the protagonists. These dudes may have had enlightenment experiences but seriously lacked social skills! Later research by the Caodong folks revealed that the Linchi lines also had some questionable links.

There are a couple important points here. First, what is more important in a teacher of the Zen way of awakening than to have had a verified awakening experience? The modern koan curriculum seems to have been developed, in part, for just this purpose and it is very effective. However, not all lineages in Soto Zen, indeed a considerable minority, use a koan curriculum. In the nonkoan lines of Soto Zen, to my knowledge, there is simply no method of verifying an awakening experience. Even if the SZBA standards are accepted, if a teacher is a new member (others will be grandparented in), that just means theyve checked off the boxes in the list, not that there has been any particular outcome like awakening and learning to live with it.

At first I thought Id vote against these standards. I was concerned that voting for them would affirm that the practice period and sesshin requirements are intensive. In my view, they are not. One ninety-day practice period (or four three-week sessions) and seventy-five days of sesshin sets a very low bar far too low by a factor of about five for someone to lead others in these practices.

Ive been surprised to see in the listserve discussions that many see the standards as too high.

So although I view the proposed SZBA standards as setting a very low bar, Ive decided to vote for a low bar better, I hope, than no bar. For those who train with us here in Nebraska, we will offer what we think fitting a much more rigorous process with equally rigorous attention to outcome.

Dsh Port began practicing Zen in 1977 and now co-teaches at the Nebraska Zen Center with his wife, Tetsugan Zummach. Dsh also teaches with the Vine of Obstacles: Online Support for Zen Training, an internet-based Zen community. Dsh received dharma transmission from Dainin Katagiri Roshi and inka shomei from James Myoun Ford Roshi in the Harada-Yasutani lineage. He is the authorofKeep Me In Your Heart a While: The Haunting Zen of Dainin Katagiri.

Excerpt from:
Enlightenment in Dispute: Standards for Zen Teachers Now and Then - Patheos (blog)

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Dog Food Guide: Grain Free, Organic, Natural Dog Food ...

A quick look at food, wine and more in the news. Time

Customers shop at a Whole Foods Market in Upper Saint Clair, Pa.(Photo: Gene J. Puskar, AP)

The news that Amazon would be lowering prices on a range of products at Whole Foods Market on Monday excited many shoppers.

And Amazon Prime members have even more reasons to be excited.

As Amazon completes its purchase of the natural foods grocery chain, it plans to make Amazon Prime the customer reward program at Whole Foods stores.

More: Amazon to lower prices at Whole Foods starting Monday

More: Here are all the benefits that come with your Amazon Prime membership

There are only limited details about the perks that will be available for Amazon Prime members, but this is what we know so far:

Prime members will be able to get special savings and in-store benefits that other customers will not be able to get.

Whole Foods private label products 365 Everyday Value, Whole Foods Market, Whole Paws and Whole Catch will be available through Prime Pantry and Prime Now.

Ordering though Prime Now allows members to get free two-hour delivery in select cities and zip codes. Need it faster? Prime Now lets you get one-hour delivery for $7.99.

Prime Pantry features discounts on a wide range of groceries and household products in everyday sizes instead of bulk sizes with free shipping for 5 qualifying items or more.

More: 9 ways to score Amazon Prime at a discount

More: Amazon Prime perks you're probably not using

In addition, Amazon Lockers will be available at certain Whole Foods stores that will allow customers to pick up items ordered online at Amazon.com at their local Whole Foods store or send returns back.

The first round of price cuts that are set to begin on Monday will be available to all Whole Foods shoppers and not just Prime members.

The discounts will be on such items as: Whole Trade bananas; organic large brown eggs, avocados, baby kale, baby lettuce and Gala and Fuji apples; "animal-welfare-rated" 85% lean ground beef; organic "responsibly-farmed" salmon and tilapia; creamy and crunchy almond butter; organic rotisserie chicken and its generic organic butter.

Amazon did not say what the price cuts will be.

Were determined to make healthy and organic food affordable for everyone. Everybody should be able to eat Whole Foods Market quality we will lower prices without compromising Whole Foods Markets long-held commitment to the highest standards, Jeff Wilke, CEO of Amazon Worldwide Consumer, said in a statement.

And this is just the beginning we will make Amazon Prime the customer rewards program at Whole Foods Market and continuously lower prices as we invent together.

The membership for Amazon Prime is $99 a year, or $10.99 a month. Students can get Prime Student for free for 6 months and then save 50% off on a Prime membership.

Same-day delivery? The option to share your benefits? Tech expert Kim Komando highlights the Amazon Prime perks you should start using.

Read or Share this story: https://usat.ly/2xzdgAL

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Amazon Prime members can expect these perks at Whole Foods - USA TODAY

In this week's 2 the Outdoors, Terry Belke visits an organic farm in Elba, New York.

Terry Belke, WGRZ 8:43 AM. EDT August 27, 2017

Some Beautiful Peppers Await Delivery To CSA Customers.

ELBA, NY There are more than two million farms across the country, and those farms employing over 800,000 people. Of those, only about 15,000 are certified as organic farms. Perhaps that's because the certification process to become an organic farm is so stringent.

It took Porter Farms in Elba, NY three years to make the transition from conventional to organic farming. Differences between the two include restrictions in the use of synthetic pesticides and fertilizers, and rotation of crops.

But there is much more to it than that.

"Being certified organic involves an annual process where an inspector comes out to the farm," said Emily Porter, the farm's Promotions And Marketing Coordinator, "They will check the quality of our soil. They will check the quality of our water, they test it, obviously, and they want to know what we planted, when was it harvested, when was it cultivated, when was it sprayed, what was used."

Porter Farms is also a model of biodiversity. Katie Metzler, CSA Coordinator for the farm, says that a visit here will find several different crops growing.

"We don't have what's called a monoculture, which is hundreds of acres of one crop out there," Metzlersaid. "If you look around you'll see all different crops planted. We've got our vegetable plot, we've got our corn, we have our Alfalfa, we have cloverfields, we have wheat, we have triticale."

The farm also offers a Community Supported Agriculture Program, a cooperative agreement that benefits both farm and customer.

"What people actually do is they purchase a share in our farm," Porter said. "They pay us in advance, and that helps us pay for seeds and for keeping up any of the machinery. It helps us pay for labor costs, those types of things."

Metzler says their members get fresh in-season produce every week.

"Every week our members get a grocery sized bag of whatever's in season," Metzler said.

Reann Engler is an enthusiastic CSA member .

"I like to cook; I like the diversity; I like the way we get whatever is in season. Work with what's in season,"Engler said.

Porter Farms Takes Pride In Both The Quality And Diversity Of Their Crops.

Porter Farms connection to their community is no surprise. The family is beginning their third generation running the farm, and Porter says they're teaching the next generation as well.

"My daughter will come out and sell flowers, and my nephew is here on a regular basis with my brother," Porter said. "We just want to expose them to this lifestyle, so they understand the hard work that goes into it, but also the wonderful connection with Nature they can have."

It's a bountiful formula rooted in tradition, one that binds the community in a lush green embrace.

"A lot of our customers want to know, first of all, where their food comes from, but also what care was taken to avoid any potential harmful chemicals on their food," Porter said.

Engler agrees.

"It gets you closer to the community, you come in here on a Saturday morning and everyone's coming to pick up their bags, and everybody else feels the same way about organic foods and just fresh food and local food," she said.

If you would like to learn more about Porter Farms, click here .

2017 WGRZ-TV

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Amazons acquisition of Whole Foods is set to close on Monday and the company is wasting no time in making changes. In a press release emailed out this morning, the company is making it a point to make healthy and organic food affordable to everyone. If youre familiarwith Whole Foods you know that their organic food can get rather pricey. Buying organic food, in general, hasnt been a cheap undertaking for consumers. Price is a big part of the reason many families dont buy organic food to begin with.

Were determined to make healthy and organic food affordable for everyone. Everybody should be able to eat Whole Foods Market quality we will lower prices without compromising Whole Foods Markets long-held commitment to the highest standards, said Jeff Wilke, CEO of Amazon Worldwide Consumer. To get started, were going to lower prices beginning Monday on a selection of best-selling grocery staples, including Whole Trade organic bananas, responsibly-farmed salmon, organic large brown eggs, animal-welfare-rated 85% lean ground beef, and more. And this is just the beginning we will make Amazon Prime the customer rewards program at Whole Foods Market and continuously lower prices as we invent together. There is significant work and opportunity ahead, and were thrilled to get started.

Its been our mission for 39 years at Whole Foods Market to bring the highest quality food to our customers, said John Mackey, Whole Foods Market co-founder and CEO. By working together with Amazon and integrating in several key areas, we can lower prices and double down on that mission and reach more people with Whole Foods Markets high-quality, natural and organic food. As part of our commitment to quality, well continue to expand our efforts to support and promote local products and suppliers. We cant wait to start showing customers whats possible when Whole Foods Market and Amazon innovate together.

Heres what will be new in Whole Foods Market stores on Monday and what customers can expect over time as the two companies integrate:

To add to all of that,Amazon and Whole Foods Market technology teams will begin to integrate Amazon Prime into the Whole Foods Market point-of-sale system. Prime members will also get in-store specials and benefits. It certainly sounds like Amazon has a plan to possibly make Whole Foods more accessibleto everyone.

What do you think of Amazons plan for Whole Foods? Let us know in the comments below or on Google+, Twitter, or Facebook.

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Amazon wants to make healthy and organic food affordable for everyone - Techaeris

In a recent survey, Natural Grocers asked customers to weigh in on what matters most when shopping organic

LAKEWOOD, Colo., Aug. 24, 2017 /PRNewswire/ --In a recent survey of Natural Grocers customers, respondents revealed their top 3 reasons for choosing to purchase organic produce.

These survey results offer insight into the growth we've seen in the organic sector over the last decade. This growth has been mirrored by an increasing amount of scientific evidence emphasizing the benefits of organic food and organic agriculture. Recent large scale meta-analyses that carefully weighed all the data available from previously published studies have shown that organic produce is higher in antioxidants and much less likely to be contaminated with harmful pesticides and heavy metals than conventional produce.i

Organic buyers reduce their exposure to pesticides

More than 90% of the respondents said that one of the main reasons they buy organic "is to avoid pesticides." This reasoning is backed by solid scientific evidence, as one study found that 94% of people in the United States have detectable levels of pesticide breakdown products in their urine.ii Conversely, studies focused on the effect of eating organic have shown that consuming a diet that contains at least 80% organic ingredients for just one week reduces the pesticide breakdown products in subjects' bodies by 96%.iii Given these examples, it's no wonder that avoiding pesticides is a primary reason consumers choose to eat organic.

Organic produce is naturally non-GMO

The next most common reasonchosen by 70% of survey respondentsto buy organic is to avoid genetically modified organisms (GMOs). GMOs are pervasive in our food supply, and produce is no exception. Currently, genetically modified (GM) summer squash, such as zucchini, is grown in the United States and sold as fresh produce in both the United States and Canada. Similarly, approximately 80% of the total papaya grown in the United States (predominately in Hawaii) is also genetically modified, which is likely to increase as more GM papaya is in the process of being grown in new places such as Florida. A small amount of sweet corn sold in grocery stores is also GM, meaning that the delicious sweet corn you throw on the grill could be a GMOunless it's organic. Other types of GM produce that have been approved to be sold in the United States include potatoes and apples, though they haven't made it to the marketplace yet. Buying organic is a great way to be 100% sure that your produce is non-GMO because GMOs are never allowed in organic production.

Organic produce provides higher nutritional content

The third most common reason Natural Grocers customers choose organic produce is because they believe it is a more nutritious option to feed their families. And they are rightside-by-side comparisons of conventional tomatoes and organic tomatoes have shown that organic tomatoes have 20% higher levels of lycopene and 30% higher levels of vitamin C.iv Other studies have shown similar results when comparing organic and conventional fruits and vegetables.

Many of the phytonutrients in fruits and vegetables that are beneficial for human health are naturally produced by plants in order to discourage pests from eating the plant. When plants are sprayed with pesticides, the plant's innate production of these beneficial phytonutrients is reduced, resulting in a less nutritious product, while organic crops are forced to rely on their own defenses and produce more phytonutrients to deter pests. And it's not just about what organic produce has more of, it's also what it hasless ofdata shows that organic produce has 48% lower levels of cadmium, a harmful heavy metal that makes its way into conventional soils through contaminated synthetic fertilizers.

Organic produce supports a healthy ecosystem and agricultural economy

As you can see, there are some pretty significant reasons why consumers choose to buy organic produce. There are other reasons to consider, too.

Organic agriculture is known to regenerate ecosystems and the soil, while conventional agriculture strips the environment, destroying our natural resources, and requires constant chemical inputs. There are also numerous hidden costs of conventional agriculture that burden society and decrease quality of life.

On the other hand, a recent study conducted by a Penn State agricultural economist found that communities with high levels of organic agricultural activity are more successful economically. So no matter what your reason is for shopping organic, you should feel good about your purchase and know that you are voting with your dollar for a type of agriculture that benefits the environment, the economy, and human health.

Written by Jonathan Clinthorne, Ph.D. Manager of Scientific Affairs & Nutrition Education

Jonathan F. Clinthorne, Ph.D., is an ultra-endurance athlete trained in immunology and expert in human nutrition. Clinthorne has served on numerous medical advisory boards and has authored a number of research papers covering topics such as probiotics, immune function, inflammation and human nutrition.

Jonathan's mission is to help make free science-backed nutrition education available to everyone and reduce our dependence on pharmaceutical drugs. Jonathan has been seen on Fox TV, Forbes, Ultra Running Magazine, Runner's World and Organic Authority.

About Natural Grocers by Vitamin CottageNatural Grocers by Vitamin Cottage, Inc. (NYSE: NGVC; NaturalGrocers.com) is a rapidly expanding specialty retailer of organic and natural groceries, body care and dietary supplements. The company offers a flexible, neighborhood-store format, affordable prices and free, science-based nutrition education programs to help customers make informed health and nutrition choices. Founded in Colorado in 1955, Natural Grocers has more than 3,000 employees and operates 140 stores in 19 states.

i Baranski M, et al. Higher antioxidant and lower cadmium concentrations and lower incidence of pesticide residues in organically grown crops: a systematic literature review and meta-analyses. British Journal of Nutrition. 2014; 112(5): 794-811.ii Barr, Dana B et al. Concentrations of Dialkyl Phosphate Metabolites of Organophosphorus Pesticides in the U.S. Population. Environmental Health Perspectives 112:186200 (2004).iii Oates L,Cohen M,Braun L,Schembri A,Taskova R. Reduction in urinary organophosphatepesticidemetabolites in adults after a week-longorganicdiet. Environ Res.2014 Jul;132:105-11.iv Vinha AF,Barreira SV,Costa AS,Alves RC,Oliveira MB. Organicversus conventional tomatoes: influence on physicochemical parameters, bioactive compounds and sensorial attributes. Food Chem Toxicol.2014 May;67:139-44.

View original content with multimedia:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/the-top-3-reasons-shoppers-buy-organic-produce-300503419.html

SOURCE Natural Grocers by Vitamin Cottage, Inc.

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