Newsletter - November 14, 2023

My dear brothers and sisters,

It is with so much pleasure that we guide you in creating a Thanksgiving salad.

We begin by creating a creamy salad dressing with our alive organic Tahini, Hawaiian Honey, Vermont Maple Syrup and Medjool dates. We then chop carrots and beets and add some  magnificent salad greens  grown by Full Belly Farm, one of the finest of family farms here in California. We start with a beautiful red lettuce with a yellow core and then kale-Russian Red and Dinosaur. Spinach follows, but of course.It is a pleasure to pour on the dressing and give it a toss. Exuberant and vivacious, this salad will resonant on your Thanksgiving table, delighting family and friends.

On sale this week is our Pumpkin Seed Butter. Our pleasure to  offer $3 off. Pumpkin seeds are a good source of antioxidants, magnesium, zinc, and unsaturated fats, all of which may help keep your heart healthy.

Then we call to your attention Hetch Hetchy: Yosemite's Lost Valley. This is the extraordinary story of the valley 20 miles to the north of Yosemite, one of the most beautiful in the world and how a dam was built across it. It was flooded and turned into a gigantic lake to provide water for San Francisco. John Muir, fought zealously to save Hetch Hetchy, it was his last struggle.  It now lies under water.We are confident that one day the dam will be removed and the valley restored. This may well mark the redemption of this North American earth.

Our Victory Garden Sale, this November, includes  Lake Baikal Siberian Pine Nut Butter, Brazil Nut Butter and our Red Quinoa.We offer these at a 10% discount.
Remember you receive an additional 10% off when you purchase 3 jars or more.

Ziziphus is back! Ziziphus jujuba, Chinese date apples grown for you by the outstanding family farmers with Full Belly Farms here  in California. Jujubes are red outside with a crispy texture, edible skin, and a sweet-tart flavor. Experience their intriguingly, pleasant flavor.

We then present an article on how social media is a key driver of the current mental health crisis among children and teenagers. It is so sad to see kids hunched over their cell phones for hours on end.

Then Ben, our favorite gardener, exuberant and erudite as always, gives us some useful hits on things we can be doing in our gardens even this late in November. Who would have known that pepper plants will overwinter and so can be treated as perennials.We rejoice as he sows arugula, a powerful germinator even in cool weather.Keep it in a tray in a south facing window; it will provide salad greens all winter long. It was exhilarating to watch Ben add compost teaming with life to his growing beds. What a vibrant garden he will have come Spring.                           

Please accept our best wishes  for good health, prosperity and success  to you and your family,

Jesse Schwartz PhD
President
Living Tree Community Foods

by Defender Staff

Social media platforms know the harm they do to children. Kids spend huge portions of their days in front of screens. About 40% of kids between the ages of 9 and 12 use Instagram daily, despite current law ostensibly restricting social media use for people younger than 13.

Researchers, including Big Tech‘s own internal researchers, continue to confirm what American parents already know firsthand: social media use is a key driver of the current mental health crisis among children and teenagers, including growing rates of suicidal ideation and self-harm. Over 80% of parents support strong federal measures to protect children on social media. No wonder 41 states and Washington, DC, just sued Meta (formerly Facebook) for its “scheme to exploit young users for profit.”

The problem, of course, is that reducing this harm might also reduce Big Tech’s revenues. Addressing parents’ concerns requires policy intervention, which is why Senators Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.) and Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.) introduced the Kids Online Safety Act (KOSA). KOSA provides parents and children new tools to mitigate or avoid some of social media’s harmful features. It also creates a duty of care that legally obligates platforms to act in the best interests of the minors using them.

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