It wasnt double digit growth for organic food sales, but 8.4% growth for organic food sales in 2016 is nothing to quibble about.

The OTA report notes that the 8.4% increase in organic fruit and vegetable sales in 2016 - the same percentage as overall sales gains for organic food - is nearly triple the 3.3% growth for total fruit and vegetable sales. The survey claims that organic fruits and vegetables account for 15% of the produce that Americans eat. Does that sound a smidge too high? Perhaps a little, it seems to me.

The survey numbers from the OTA differ in no small degree from the United Fresh Produce Associations FreshFacts on Retail report, which pegged organic produce sales at retail (not including processing or foodservice outlet sales) at $4.46 billion in 2016, up 13.2% (double digit!) from 2015. Whats more, the United Fresh numbers - from Nielsen Fresh - said organic sales in 2016 accounted for 9% of all fresh produce sales. The 9% number from FreshFacts is fully 40% below the OTAs 15% estimate for organics share of the produce market.

Of course, the OTA release takes an enthusiastic approach to the sector, and there should be no apologies for that.

The first sentence of the news release reads:

The robust American organic sector stayed on its upward trajectory in 2016, gaining new market share and shattering records, as consumers across the United States ate and used more organic products than ever before, according to the Organic Trade Associations (OTAs) 2017 Organic Industry Survey....

This wording is only slightly different than about a year ago, when the Organic trade Associations 2016 Organic Industry Survey was released with these words:

The booming U.S. organic industry posted new records in 2015, with total organic product sales hitting a new benchmark of $43.3 billion, up a robust 11% from the previous years record level and far outstripping the overall food markets growth rate of 3%, according to the Organic Trade Associations 2016 Organic Industry Survey.

So, the OTA says, the double digit growth rate of 2015 and many previous years has settled down below 9%. The point is that organic sales are growing at several times faster than the overall market and warrant the attention and marketers and retailers.

Here are more highlights from the 2017 OTA survey:

Where to from here?

Organic Trade Association CEO and executive director Laura Batcha said the organic sales are growing but said more is needed to keep the sector growing. From the release: ...the organic sector is facing challenges to continue its growth. We need more organic farmers in this country to meet our growing organic demand, and the organic sector needs to have the necessary tools to compete on a level playing field. That means federal, state and local programs that help support organic research, and provide the organic farmer with a fully equipped tool kit to be successful, she said in the release.

We know the OTA wants a federal promotion and research checkoff for organic products, but nothing is assured for that outcome now.

When will organic growth plateau and begin to look like the pedestrian results of the overall U.S. food sector? The larger the sector gets, the harder it is to capture big percentage sales gains. Organic has room to grow, but the comfortable moniker of double digit organic produce sales gains must be revised - at least according to the OTA 2017 survey.

Read more:

OTA numbers solid but fall short of double digit yardstick - The Packer

Credit: Pixabay.

Many people are rightfully disappointed by how most conventional farmers grow food, which has springboarded a massive movement around organic food. This is supposedly food derived from crops and meat thats been grown in a healthier and simpler manner, akin to how it was done in the good ol days before intensive agriculture. Because organic food has a smaller yield, buyers often have to pay a premium for the same amount of conventional-corporation-poisoned food thats a market worth $35 billion in the US. But is the price tag really worth it? Organic food buyers will tell you theyre not only providing themselves and family with healthier, better quality food theyre also helping the environment. A recent study, however, suggests thats not the case at all.

According to the study authored by Hanna Treu fromHumboldt University of Berlin and colleagues, Germans who ate an organic diet required 40% more land to grow their food than those who ate a conventional diet. And in the end, the two diets had roughly the same carbon footprint.

These counter-intuitive findings can be explained by meat consumption. As we often write here at ZME, growing meat is the most unsustainable kind of agriculture, particularly beef, as it requires immense amounts of water, land, and feedstock. Organic meat even more. So, although the participants who ate a conventional diet consumed 45% more meat than those who preferred organic, their land use was far smaller.

Credit: Clean Prod.

These findings arent at all surprising given a previous studywhich found organic farms have a 20% lower crop yield than conventional farms.

Sales of organic food have grown by 20 percent annually, and experts predict that the industrys share of the U.S. food market is expected to grow from about 2 percent to roughly 3.5 percent by the end of the decade. About10,000 American farmers have made the transition to organic food production on about 2.3 million acres of land, according to the USDAs Economic Resources Service.

If all US wheat production were grown organically, an additional 12.4 million hectares (30.6 million acres) would be needed to match 2014 production levels. If you extrapolate these numbers for the rest of the world, it soon becomes clear that organic farming is unsuitable as a mainstream option.

Bearing this, as well as the higher costs, in mind, it seems unlikely organic food will ever become the go-to choice for most Americans. There simply isnt enough room to farm it and it might not even be worth it. Thats because contrary to popular opinion:

Journal reference: Hanna Treu, et al. Carbon footprints and land use of conventional and organic diets in Germany. J Clean Prod 161: 127-142. Published online: 2017.

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Meditation Has Drawbacks, Too Newser (Newser) Meditation is widely considered a worthwhile practice, particularly as it relieves stress. But it can also cause stress, forcing practitioners to experience fear and even relive traumatic experiences, according to a new study. To put a ...

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Meditation Has Drawbacks, Too - Newser

All the songs on Capacity, the upcoming album from Big Thief, are guitar songs save for one. Instead of Adrianne Lenker and Buck Meek's wiry guitar arrangements, "Mary" pairs a hallowing piano and organ with the closeness of Lenker's consoling voice. It's hard to imagine any other arrangement sounding this fitting. Recorded in one take with Mat Davidson from Twain on piano, "Mary" is a song that so flawlessly captures an ineffable, deeply personal experience of the world that it becomes universal. It is the sound of snow piling on the windowsill of your childhood home, of a summer rain slanted against some beloved attic's cooling roof, of a childhood photograph rediscovered in a faded frame.

And it's the sound of Lenker's grandparents' house in Andover, Minn.

"We had a fireplace there," she remembers. "And every winter we spent every single winter there. I have memories of sledding down in the backyard; there was a hill that went down a path through this patch of woods. And we would just slide down the hill for hours. And then go inside and my grandma would make incredible hot chocolate with whipped cream and cinnamon she was a heavy cinnamon user and my grandpa would put a fire on, and we would be there. And my grandma painted. And she'd bring out all these crafts and we'd sit and work on paintings and making things ... My grandparents and my grandma, in particular defined homey coziness in my life when I really needed it. Just that feeling of being completely cradled. That was my safe space. It just had this particular smell like potpourri and cloves and cinnamon. And it always smelled that way."

Lenker wrote "Mary" in that house. She first played it on her grandparents' keyboard some years ago, when she was 21 and just home from college, where she'd met a lifelong friend named Mary. ("There's really nothing like meeting a real friend on this earth who holds a space for you to be yourself," Lenker says.) "Mary" carries the warmth of that friendship and those winters.

"It's about childhood being brought to life and reignited after the slush of the teenage years," Lenker says. "There's just a little capsule of a song that allows me to revisit all these colors and pictures and textures and feelings. There's a few lines where I realized that sometimes it's easier on this journey for me to give love and kindness and tenderness and empathy to those I really care for ... and sometimes a little more challenging to direct it inwardly and give it to myself. And when I first wrote the song I thought I was definitely writing it all about this dear friend and these experiences and that time folded into other memories and just like a non-linear stream of life but then later I started realizing in listening to it that a lot of the lines were applicable to myself, and things that I needed to hear."

The song has a simple structure, but its chorus especially is uncommon in its elegant lyricism. As the piano draws back, Lenker incants a quickening series of memories and images in alliterative, internally rhymed fluidity. She lands on a note and repeats it ("What did you tell me, Mary, when you were there so sweet and very / Full of field and stars you carried all of time"), swoops on the beguiling phrase "monastery monochrome" and eventually lands on a passage where she flickers between two notes so lightly the change is almost imperceptible: "Aching planning high and smiling cheap drink dark and violent full of butterflies the violent / tenderness the sweet asylum." Her phrasing, lyrics and performance recall Judy Garland in "Over The Rainbow" the sound of a voice rocking back and forth in a lullabying third as if it were the beating of small wings, lifted off a catalog of simple beauty. Lenker writes at once from the sound of words and their meaning, creating a blissful avalanche of euphonious phrases like the childlike "boom balloon machine and, oh."

"First it sounds and then it means," Lenker says. "That song feels like crying and laughing at the same time. That's what it feels like to me."

That's the sound of Capacity's two polarities. The front of the record is often intense, and sometimes violent. It's a meditation on resilience and recovery with an emphasis on the painful moments that beget them. To Lenker's mind, "Great White Shark" is, roughly, the bridge from the troubled opening to the record's nurturing latter songs. "Mary" is at this section's apex. It is the feeling of being held at last in love, by yourself, through others.

"There's a lot that happens to the body in the beginning of the record that's harsh," she says. "And I think there's a lot that happens to the body in 'Mary' that is finally wonderful."

Standing outdoors, talking by phone on a May afternoon in Wimberley, Texas, Adrianne Lenker remembers winter in her grandparents' house in Andover, Minn., and the song that breathed from its walls with the smell of potpourri, cloves and cinnamon.

"It always feels good to sing that song."

Capacity comes out June 9 on Saddle Creek.

Link:

Big Thief's 'Mary' Is A Meditation On Resilience And Recovery - WBAA

Kris Williams, Flickr cc

I suppose its not really that awareness and realization arent important, but rather that they arent things we can cling to. We dont want to attach to them. The Heart Sutra tells us that even the path isnt worth clinging to. The Emptiness teachings arent telling us that nothing exists so much as that theres nothing for us to hold on to.

When we meditate on Emptiness we arent meditating with a technique. We are simply trying to open our minds, to make them open to dwelling in the void.

It seems hard to grasp concepts like Emptiness at first. It definitely isnt our usual way of perceiving the world. But as we develop our awareness and mindfulness practices, it starts to get a little easier. When we develop awareness and start to loosen our attachment to the self, the mind that focuses on I-Me-Mine all the time, then we can start to understand Emptiness a little better.

Excerpt from:

Emptiness and Meditation - Patheos (blog)

If someone had told me that I would be writing an article on meditation and money a few years ago, I probably would have looked at them weirdly, laughed and posted about them on social media.

And theres the thing. If youre into rapid self development, you look back and see a completely different version of yourself.

Take facebooks on this day post that whisks you back three years and you think to yourself did I really post that?. Yep, been there a few times.

Heck, my king Charles cavalier puppy is even called Buddha. I never thought I would own a dog, let alone name it after a spiritual teacher.

So lets wind back a few years. I think its important to put this post into context for you so that you really understand that I truly do mean it when I say I believe you can meditate your way to millions, and potentially into a Ferrari.Actually, that shot was taken on my black 458 in La Jolla, California. I thought it was quite fitting for this post.

Lets wind back to 2012. I was in a pretty tough place in my life. I had about $50k worth of debt, much of which was linked to gambling and drugs. Iwas really living two lives.

I had been a personal trainer since 2005. By day I was helping people get fit, and by the weekend, a DJ and crazy party-goer. My life was on autopilot, and I was really unaware of what I was doing to myself and to the people around me.

The turning point was one Christmas. I had been out partying heavily on xmas eve and was due to be at my sisters house at 11am on xmas day. I had been popping pills and a cocktail of all sorts of drugs that night. I was a mess that morning.

I looked in the mirror, and my eyes were bulging. I was still high. I turned up at my sisters house, spent a few minutes talking and ended up in my nephews bed on Christmas day unable to operate.

I left that day completely ashamed of myself. About a month later, I had a massive calling to basically sort my shit out.

The key turning point was me packing my bags and moving away from where I had been brought upExeter, United Kingdomand moving to Bristol, UK.

I changed my environment, and this started to help me. But I still had a lot of issues. My beliefs, my thoughts, my identity, didnt match who I knew I was deep inside. I had to figure it out, and meditation was going to play a huge role in my success.

Just like in Joseph Cambells famous heros journey, mentors played a huge role in my success and in kick starting my spiritual and emotional growth.

With $50k of debt, I had about $7,0000 left available on one more cardI had 7 maxed outand I handed over $5000, the first part of of a $30,000 investment that I had no idea how I would pay. But I was to make every single payment without fail.

This investment really helped me to find my strength in business, and I started to work with personal trainers to get more clients, leverage their time and market themselves. I started to get amazing results.

But, at this time, while I was making more and more money, I was still drinking and otherwiseself sabotaging. Iwas deeply unhappy.

This is where I made a key decision. I committed to reinvest about 20% of what I generated back into me.

One of the toughest decisions I made was to invest in Tony RobbinsPlatinum Partnership. This would allow me to hang out with Tony in more intimate settings, one of which being India, the home of meditation and spiritual development.

At the time, this was a $65,000 investment, plus travel and trip costs, so comes out to about $150,000, especially if you are flying business classwhich I had decided to do for long haul trips to get more work done and be more productive or sleep!

While I had been meditating for some time prior to this move, it was the trip to India and a post event trip to the Oneness University that really opened my eyes into a whole new dimension of spiritual growth.

Here I was to experience and really start to go deep within myselfto start clearing out past issues that had led me to self sabotage, and to create a destructive lifestyle. I didnt want to generate new financial strength and then go and mess it all up.

As the layers started to be pulled back, I started to grow as a man. I started making meditation a daily non negotiable practice, and the results in my business started to show.

Because I was more centered, more calm, I started to make better decisions. I started to make quicker decisions. I started to tap into my intuition.

I would meditate and then come up with product ideas and blog content. When I was stressed, I would meditate and ask quality questions to remove blocks.

The more I did this, the more I would be raw on social media, and this started connecting me with my audience. I started to become the go-to guy in the fitness business mentoring space in the UK and then it started to go globally.

One of the big shifts I made was starting to touch more and more about mindset and its importance in generatingresults.This would then create more and more powerful case studies.

My meditation practice went from using apps like Calm and Headspaceboth great beginner appsto going deep really quickly and using my state shifts to create shifts in others.

At one event in the UK, I had a large part of a room breaking down in tears and creating breakthroughs through a guided meditation. During this meditation, I asked questions around forgiveness, mission and purpose. This, to me, was hugely fulfilling .

I think that there are a lot of entrepreneurs out there who are disconnected from themselves, and thats why i found it hugely useful for me to master meditation to help my business and my mission.

Its an integral part of my life, my business and my mission and its certainly generated millions of dollar0s in business. I can safely say that my business would not be where it is today if it wasnt for meditation.

Today, my daily meditation practice changes depending on what I have going on in my life.

Now I meditate and get myself to a place where I feel the feelings of already owning the things I want and helping the people I want to help.

Theres so much talk about money and meditation on their own, but few conversations about how to marry both together so that you can be more connected to your business and financially benefit.

As we grow spiritually, we have a great opportunity to take our business to the next level, and its my secret weapon. If you make it a daily, non-negotiable routine, im pretty certain it will have the same results for you too!Opinions expressed here by Contributors are their own.

Simon Lovell is a former personal trainer, TV presenter, speaker, best selling diet author and founder of The Fitpreneurs, a heroic business and self development program for personal trainers which he grew from zero to $1million in 18 months. He also helps high level entrepreneurs get into alignment. Simon is calls himself a spiritual hustler and his sidekick Buddha is his spaniel puppy. Hes hung out with the likes of Tony Robbins at west end shows and drunk Pussy Vodka with Richard Branson in a hot tub on his private island.

Published May 31, 2017

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How to Meditate Your Way to Millions - Influencive

Maya Lewis, WUSA 12:27 PM. EDT May 30, 2017

(Photo: Hero Images, Custom)

WASHINGTON (WUSA9) - This years National Day of Meditation falls on the most despised day of the work week, hump day.

If you need an extra push to make it through the week, try adding some of these easy meditation techniques into your daily routine:

Mindfulness

This technique includes monitoring the idle thoughts that cross your mind. To do so, find a quiet spot to sit with your eyes closed, and let your usual thoughts float through your mind. Instead of getting stuck on one thought, let your mind race and come back to whats important. Take note of what you find yourself thinking of often. Some people pair mindfulness with concentration meditation.

Concentration Meditation

Find an open place to stare at an object (candles are pretty popular), or even your feet as you walk to lunch. Experts agree that by choosing one object to focus on, you become more in tune with intricate sensations throughout your body. Its also a great way to let your thoughts race.

Visualization

This one you can do just about anywhere. Take a couple moments to visualize your idealized job, vacation, home or future. Focusing on this picture serves as a moment of clarity and motivation.

Mantra

Repeat words or phrases to yourself daily to produce a sense of calmness and focus. You can choose a quote thats important to you, or one of the abundance of Sanskrit mantras available online.

Controlled breathing

Several experts name this technique as one of the best for beginners. Once in a comfortable position, begin to take deep breaths while observing the motions and sensations of air moving through your lungs. Controlling and observing your breath gives you a sense of focus.

2017 WUSA-TV

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5 meditation techniques you can do at your desk - W*USA 9

HomeTourismMultimillion naira cultural-tourism Art Gallery emerges in Osogbo

Wale-Ojo Lanre Tourism

Culturaltourism activities which seem to be at the lowest ebb in Osun State will soon aim skywards going by the reflection of opinions of artists who converged on Osogbo in preparation for the inauguration of the fondest Art Gallery in the South West of the country.

The seven cultural artists who met on Saturday in Osogbo under the leadership of Yinka Fabayo, Curator-In-Chef, Genesis Art Gallery revealed We are committed to the resuscitation and rejuvenation of the pristine Osogbo Art culture which lured the spirit of Ulli Bier and late Susan Wenger and others to the town and state. We are propelled by that inner conviction that what led to the Mbari Mbayo Club are still here only crying for proper direction and packaging.

Mr Fabayo said we have set our hands on the plough of reactivation of the cultural aura of Osogbo, we are going to institute a chain of cultural-tourism activities planted on the fundamentals of the various forms of arts works and perception . Those authentic, natural, inspirational and grassroots arts which once made Osogbo the second tourists destination in Nigeria.

He revealed the first step in this direction will be the opening of the multimillion naira Genesis Art Gallery which is a multi-disciplinary complex of threestorey solely constructed for the expression of the Art.

Mr Fabayo disclosed the inauguration ceremony will not be business as usual, but an inauguration which will accentuate and stoke the real motive of the Art excercise, Osogbo Cultural Art Risorgimento.

Nigeria should tap cultural festivals for tourism economy Gani Adams

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Multimillion naira cultural-tourism Art Gallery emerges in Osogbo - NIGERIAN TRIBUNE (press release) (blog)

For those who are still looking to get in shape for the summer, but may not be able to do the harder workouts, theres water aerobics.

It is offered in two places in town, one is at the YMCA on the Eagle Way and the other is in Baptist Health Occupational Medicine on Clinic Drive.

For Baptist Health, they offer classes at noon on Monday, Wednesday and Friday all year round. Its in a heated pool, which is at around 90 degrees. Britteny Richardson, exercise physiologist and instructor of the class, said anyone can join at any time.

She added they are looking for another instructor so they can add evening classes to the schedule.

To join, they can either get a class pass, which is like a punch card that allows up to 12 classes. Anyone interested can also because a member, which costs $20 a month after a $50 entry fee. That gives the user full access to the pool when its open along with any classes in the pool and the walking track. Or someone can pay $8 a class.

The sessions last about 45 minutes long, she explained, and they try to target all of the muscle groups.

We dont do a whole lot of cardio, because its so hot, she explained.

She uses dumbbells for the core muscles and have Silversneaker Splash class on Fridays, which is when they use a kick board. That will work a lot on the arms and legs.

Most of the class will be held in the water thats only three to five feet deep. There will also be some work at the end of the session in the deeper water, which goes to 8 feet, but those who cant swim can either skip on that part or use floatation devices. She added many of her students cant swim.

Richardson recommended this kind of exercise for those who have arthritis, joint problems or recently was released from treatment.

She explained this kind of workout gives this who cant work out on land an opportunity to still do it just in the water.

This also helps with balance, because Richardson does do some exercises to help with that. The heated water also helps relax the muscles as they work. It will still be a hard workout because Richardson likes to challenge her students. She said the sore muscles may not be felt during the class, but the students will feel it afterward or the next day.

She would stay up on the side of the pool and out of the water while instructing. That is so she can monitor her students easily in case they are doing something wrong.

For more information, call the center at 270 707-3390.

As for the YMCA, classes began Tuesday. Water aerobics instructor Carolyn Altman explained her morning classes use resistance, dumbbells and noodles. Her class also has no music playing, which is helpful for those who dont like music playing while they workout.

Classes are 9 a.m. to 10 a.m. and 4:30 p.m. t 5:30 p.m. Monday to Thursday. Jenny Rush is the afternoon instructor, who will play music.

Altman said everyone would benefit from water aerobics and is available for all ages.

The classes are held in the outside pool and will be canceled for bad weather, such as thunder and lightening.

To join, a YMCA membership is needed. Pricing can be viewed on the YMCAs website.

The rest is here:

YMCA and Baptist Health offers water aerobics classes - Hopkinsville Kentucky New Era

VACAVILLE Music floated out from Andrews Park on Sunday, a peppy tune that drew people out to dance. More people sat in chairs they brought from home, some ate a little lunch and drank a margarita in the sun at the Fiesta Days Hispanic Day celebration.

Steve and Wendy Perry of Vacaville found a quiet spot beneath a tree to have some cotton candy and listen to the music.

Its such a nice day to get out, she said.

They didnt make it to the parade those days are over since their children are grown but they came out to have a relaxing day of food and music.

I like the mariachi band, Steve Perry said.

I was craving a corn dog, his wife said. The first thing I saw when we walked in was the corn dog booth.

Up the way from the couple were a group of college students from the University of California, Davis. Brandon Findling is working on his thesis and set up a small area with a couple of wooden couches, a coffee table on top of a rug and a bookshelf. Its a public space project.

Its a place for people to hang out and relax, he said. Its a way for people to meet each other.

The landscape architect major is graduating in a few weeks. This project is something he wants to incorporate into different communities after college. A space for people to feel like they are at home, take a book and read or meet new people.

People seem more comfortable when Im not here, Findling said.

He said he feels lucky that he is different than any other vendor at the Fiesta Days event.

Im helping people enjoy themselves, he said.

Fiesta Days will continue on Memorial Day with the carnival opening at 11 a.m., which will coincidewith a moment of silence for the veterans. Then the Mike Ward Band will play at 11:15 a.m., followed by the Charlie Wade Band, who play until 6:45 p.m.

Reach Susan Hiland at 427-6981 or [emailprotected]

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Fiesta Days celebrates with music - Fairfield Daily Republic