Learn how to start a successful food garden quickly and efficiently. Emergency gardening is not a new concept. For example, during WW2 Americans were encouraged to start “Victory Gardens” in order to be more self-reliant in case of food shortages.

It’s not hard to stock up on packaged “emergency food,” but lets face it – there’s no substitute for fresh, organic, wholesome, homegrown food.

With the recent events surrounding COVID-19 and it’s effects on society, many people are turning to “Pandemic Gardening” for two main reasons.

First, people have more time on their hands due to job loss or lockdown orders to stay at home. And the other reason is food security and self-reliance. 

Nobody likes seeing empty shelves in grocery stores (due to hoarding). Nobody likes the idea that their favorite food item is out of stock due to supply chain problems.

Additionally, living in the middle of the Pacific Ocean presents Hawaii residents with other types of potential emergencies like hurricanes, storms, and tsunamis, which could all lead to disruption of normal life.

Affiliate disclaimer: As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases. You don’t get charged extra and I make a small commission that supports Organic Hawaii. Mahalo!

In this article I will focus on how to grow a successful food garden for self-reliance, food security, and even survival during an emergency such as a pandemic or an unforeseen natural disaster.

Finding space for your garden

The first question is do you have enough space to grow enough food to sustain you and your loved ones. The quantity of food you harvest will largely depend on the area you have available to grow it.

You can grow your own food even in small spaces and growing some of your own is better than none at all.

Having that said, it’s widely believed you can grow all of your food on as little as 1/4 acre of land for complete self-sufficiency. Of course, this takes planning and there are entire books dedicated to this fine subject like this one and this best seller.

If you don’t have enough space, maybe your neighbor with that large green lawn does. And maybe your neighbor would allow you to use that space in exchange for some of your harvest. Let’s turn boring lawns into exciting gardens!

If you have access to a larger space, it prudent to layout your garden design on draft paper in advance.

In some cultures like Indonesia forest gardening is a way of living. After all, before farming, humanity practiced hunting and gathering wild food grown in the wilderness. When it comes to wilderness survival in the islands, there’s an handy book called Emergency Food Plants & Poisonous Plants of the Islands of the Pacific.

Back to the home garden..

Finding Good Seeds and Starters

Finding good seeds means that:

1. Seeds are non-gmo, open pollinated, and preferably organic.
2. Seeds are preferably local. So that they are adapted to your local growing environment, including pest and disease resistance.
3. Seeds are appropriate for your climate zone.

Many tropical and subtropical plants like dragon fruit, bananas, taro, sweet potato, moringa, etc. can be grown from cuttings or shoots, which speeds up the growing process.

A note on hybrid seeds and plants. Hybrid seeds are usually labeled as F1 (meaning first generation). Hybrid seeds can be organic. Hybrid seeds are bred by crossing different varieties to achieve disease resistance.

The benefit is disease resistance. The downside is future generations (F2, F3..) will not be true to parent (F1), so these genetic traits of disease resistance aren’t necessarily passed down to future generations.

Which Food Plants Grow the Fastest?

Heads up. Gardening means growing “slow food” which is complete opposite of fast food. Plants take time to grow. Patience and care are a prerequisite for gardening success.

When it comes to quickly growing food – it’s about what food you can harvest the fastest.

Fastest fresh food you can harvest are sprouts and microgreens.

Sprouts don’t even require planting in the soil. They can be made in as little as 24 hours by properly soaking the seeds, such as alfalfa, sunflower, beans, etc. Sprouts are by far the quickest “live” food you can “grow” and are packed in nutrition.

Microgreens require planting into soil (or soil-like medium). Microgreens are young leafy greens such as kale, swiss chard arugula, even beets, carrot tops, etc. Once you plant the seeds, microgreens can be harvested in as little as 7-14 days.

Microgreens are also very nutritious, tender, and delicious. They require no cooking, but you have to plant a lot. Microgreens can be planted in flat trays and stacked vertically on shelves to save space.

Leafy greens. After microgreens you have your leafy greens. These are basically mature versions of microgreens. Leafy greens can be harvested after about 3-4 weeks from the date of planting. These can be eaten raw in salads, sandwiches, or added to sous, stir-fries, and omelets.

Vegetables. When people think of growing their own food garden first thing that comes to mind is probably garden veggies like tomatoes, peppers, etc. Garden vegetables take about 2-3 months to produce fruit. So, planning and planting in advance is crucial.

Always try to plant more than less, just in case.

To speed up the process, you can buy pre-grown potted vegetable plants. Just make sure they have no disease and are not root-bound. Otherwise they may not grow well. Newly potted plants should be isolated in quarantine for at least one week away from all other plants.

Most vegetables require a good amount of sunshine, especially the Nightshade family such as tomatoes, potatoes, eggplant, and peppers – ideally at least 6 hours a day.

Fruit trees by far take the longest to produce. Depending on variety it can take as little as 1 year up to 8 years! Grafting speeds up fruiting, but it still takes at least a couple of years for most grafts. The benefit of this long wait is large, lifelong, harvests and hardiness (given that you properly take care of your trees).

Fastest fruit producing tropical plants

The good news is that some fruit trees can produce in as little as about 1 year. These fast producing fruit trees include bananas and papayas. Please avoid Rainbow Papaya, which is a GMO variety. Grow Solo Sunrise instead.

The cool thing about growing your own bananas is that you can grow different varieties. Especially rare, delicious, and nutritious varieties that you’ll never find in a grocery store. This awesome book is highly recommended.

Since we’re talking about quickly growing fruits, here are some more examples of fastest fruit producing tropical plants: fig, dragon fruit (Pitaya – grow from cuttings to speed up), poha berry (Cape Gooseberry), Passion fruit (Lilikoi) grow on wall or fence, Pineapple, and Noni (highly medicinal “canoe plant” and emergency food source).

Creating the Best Growing Environment for your Food Garden

Is it nature or nurture? In gardening it’s definitely both. And creating best conditions for your food garden plants will increase chances of success and decrease chances of set-backs.

Best soil. Start by creating best soil you can. Most plants don’t like clay soil. Most plants don’t like sandy soil. Most food plants like nutritious soil that is well-draining, but can also hold moisture and is dark in color.

Most plants like the soil’s pH to be somewhat neutral, but some like it more acidic or alkaline. To find out your soil’s pH and essential mineral content you can simply do a soil test.

Mixing in organic compost and some all-purpose organic fertilizer is a great way to make poor soil much better. I usually mix it at a 1 to 1 ratio of compost to poor soil. Adding organic worm castings is another excellent way to make your food plants grow better.

Deep soil. Most food garden plants like deep rich soil. A popular way to create depth is by using planting boxes and raised beds. This also elevates your plants above the ground level, making it harder for bugs to get to your plants. A spading fork and this tool are very handy at mixing and breaking up soil. Aim for at least 1 foot depth.

Best seeds. As mentioned earlier, start with best seeds suited for your local growing environment. Or plant healthy pre-grown potted plants to speed up the process.

Many tropical plants can be grown from cuttings i.e. taro, bananas, moringa, sweet potato, etc. This speeds up the growing process.

If you’re starting from scratch I recommend doing both, since most food garden seeds take at least about 1 week to sprout. And from then it’s still a long time until harvest.

Getting cuttings and pre-grown established plants will instantly lively up your new garden and make it more exciting to look at. Plus you can harvest pre-grown plants and cuttings sooner.

Annual vs. perennial. Annual plants only live for about 1 year (or one growing season), while perennial keep on living. So, it important to know which of your plants are annuals that way you can harvest on time, save the seeds, and replant in advance.

Sunshine vs. shade. If you want your food pants to thrive you have to provide them with optimal sun or shade requirements. Think where those locations are in your new garden in advance, according to the type of plant to avoid placing them in the wrong spot.

Generally, many subtropical and tropical plants prefer full sun, this includes the nightshades. Leafy greens, however may get burt by too much Hawaiian hot sun. So part shade may be appropriate to avoid burning those plants.

Optimal watering. In Hawaii, most plants like to be watered daily, especially in the Summer, but overwatering can create root rot and other fungal diseases. It’s best to water in the morning and/or evening.

Watering will also depend on how much rain your location receives. Some plants like aloe, can be easily killed by regular watering, so more is not always better.

Watering with purified water is better because a garden water filter reduces the amount of toxic chlorine, toxic heavy metals, and other contaminants that would otherwise end up in your soil and your plants.

Chlorine is known to kill off beneficial bacteria in your soil, which is not good and certain plants uptake toxic heavy metals from the soil more so than others.

Companion planting. It’s well established that certain plants like to be planted next to each other, while others grow poorly together. Some plants, like mints and certain herbs, actually help repel bugs from their companion plants like tomatoes. You can use companion planting tables to see which plants to plant together and which not to.

Pollinators and other good bugs.

“Is it a friend or foe?” – is common question in gardening circles. Not all bugs are bad. Some insects, like the pollinators are essential. Pollinators include bees, butterflies, but other insects that pollinate your plants’ flowers, ensuring fruit production.

Not all plants are self-pollinating, so attracting pollinators is important by planting what attracts them. For example, bees absolutely love basil plus it’s a great culinary herb. Planting a nice variety of flowers will not only brighten up your garden, but will also attract the pollinators.

Without the pollinators we’d have to pollinate many plants by hand, which is very labor intensive, as you can imagine.

Other bugs are beneficial because they feed on the bad bugs that destroy your plants. These beneficial insects include wasps, lady bugs, and lacewings.

Dealing with bad bugs, pests, and viruses.

There are many books dedicated to this subject. But to keep it simple, I recommend to at least get Diatomaceous earth (DE) and organic Neem oil. DE is great for many bugs such as ants, roaches, cutworms, etc.

You can even make your own DIY organic bug spray using basic ingredients and essential oils.

Neem oil is great for different kinds of bugs that have soft bodies and waxy coating like aphids, mealy bugs, mites, and white flies, but it’s actually very versatile for other plant pests including scale. In this video we talk about benefits of Neem oil in detail.

Slugs are awful and can quickly eat your leafy greens and kill young seedlings. Plus they can carry nasty disease such as the rat lungworm.

Slugs usually come out at night. Introducing ducks or even attracting garden frogs may help. Also using copper tape around your pots or raised beds is definitely worth a try.

Viruses are a bit harder to deal with since they are so tiny, but using colloidal silver on plants and soil is very promising. Colloidal silver is also effective against bacterial and fungal pathogens.

Mulching.

Mulching is adding chopped, dry plant material on top of your soil and around your plants. Benefits of mulching include: water conservation, weed control, and pest control.

Optimal Nutrition for Your Food Garden.

Plants require basic nutrition, as expressed by N-P-K (Nitrogen, Phosphorus, and Potassium). Nitrogen (N) can speed up the growth of your plants, especially leafy greens. However, tToo much N is not recommended during the flowering/fruiting stages, since you want your plant to focus on making fruits, not new leaves.

Plants also highly benefit from other minerals, beneficial soil bacteria, and worms. So, don’t forget to feed your plants every now and then with organic amendments like organic compost, compost tea, composted manures, worm castings, and all-purpose organic fertilizers.

Optimal Nutrition from Your Food Garden.

Humans require three basic food groups for optimal nutrition and health: protein, carbs, and fats. We also require vitamins and minerals. Most food garden plants are low in protein and fats, but high in vitamins and minerals.

However, certain nuts and seeds are actually great sources of both: protein and healthy fats. Plus, they are high in multiple minerals. Without a doubt, sunflower, hemp, and pumpkin seeds are Superfoods that contain generous amounts of the essential magnesium, selenium, Vitamin E, manganese, and zinc just to name a few.

Also, backyard chickens and ducks are a popular option for homegrown protein and organic eggs are an excellent source of choline and essential omega-3 fats. Additionally, they will eat the bad bugs (and slugs) while fertilizing your soil with their manure.

For further reading..

Check out this simple, but crucial guide: “Can I Grow A Complete Diet?” on what exact tropical and subtropical plants to grow for optimal nutrition and self-reliance in Hawaii.

Final thoughts..

If you’re just starting out just remember to be patient. Once your garden is established, it will be easier to care for, requiring minimal time and effort.

Food gardening is about the journey AND the destination. It’s a great form of light exercise, and it’s a meditative process that connects us with our source.

Best of all, growing your own food makes you more self-reliant and independent, while providing you and your family with healthy, ultra fresh, and nutritious food at your doorstep.

Wishing you great success and happy growing!!

EMFs are Electro Magnetic Frequencies. They are invisible to us, yet we are saturated by them anywhere we go. EMF-free or low EMF spaces are hard to find, but it’s doable.

5G, 4G, 3G, LTE, cell phones, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, microwaves, mobile base stations (cell phone towers), and smart meters are some examples of (HF) high frequency EMF radiation.

Bad electrical wiring (especially ungrounded wires), certain electrical appliances, and overhead power lines are some examples of ELF (Extra Low Frequency) and VLF (very low frequency) EMFs.

Are there naturally occurring EMFs?

Yes, there are. The reality is that Humanity has evolved over hundreds of thousands of years alongside natural EMFs such as UV (ultraviolet radiation), infrared radiation (both produced by the Sun), Schumann resonances aka the “Heartbeat of Our Planet”, and geomagnetic storms produced by the Sun’s solar cycles during Coronal Mass Ejections.

For the most part, our planet does a wonderful job at protecting us from these naturally occurring EMFs. And some may be even beneficial to our well-being, such as the Schumann Resonance.

The Schumann Resonance oscillates at about 8 Hz (Hertz), and coincides with our Theta-Alpha brainwave activity – a therapeutic state of being: a meditative state of calm, reflection, creativity, relaxation, enhanced learning, and even helps with depression.

On the other hand, unnatural EMFs have been linked to various health conditions, as documented by the Bioinitiative Report.

Therefore, reducing and eliminating unnatural EMFs is a health conscious step for a healthier life.

Medical Disclaimer: If you have a medical condition please speak to your doctor regarding any health concerns. Information in this article is not a prescription or medical advice. Affiliate disclaimer: As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases. Thanks for your support.

15 ways to reduce or eliminate harmful EMFs around you

In short, harmful EMFs (including 5G) can only be reduced by: turning off the source of radiation, increasing physical distance from the source, or using Faraday Cage type of physical barriers to block or reduce EMF radiation. There’s no known device or pendant that effectively blocks radiation around you, although research into scalar waves is interesting.

1. Find a “Low EMF” home, work, and school.

Location, location, location..

We go in great detail in this article on how to do just that. But in summary, the further away you are from the source of EMF radiation (especially cell phone tower, 5G tower, base station, or neighbors’ Wi-Fi, smart meters, even your own cell phone) – the less high frequency EMF radiation.

The only way to exactly know how much EMF radiation is around you is to measure it. We personally use Acousticom 2 and PF5 Power Frequency Meter. This EMF meter seems pretty cool too.

2. Turn off your Wi-Fi and Bluetooth when not in use. Hardwire, if possible or increase physical distance away from it.

Reduce and eliminate your own EMF sources. This is by far the easiest way to reduce EMFs that you have direct control over.

Turn off your Wi-Fi and Bluetooth when you sleep and when it’s not being used. Move it out of the bedroom or another area where you spend a lot of time in close proximity.

Having a Wi-Fi router that allows you to easily turn off Wi-Fi signal without turning off the wired Internet is very practical. We’ve personally tested and used this Netgear Wi-Fi router. We discovered that you can actually significantly reduce it’s Wi-Fi radiation by easily removing 1 to 3 of its antennae while still getting signal. This is practical for areas that don’t need large Wi-Fi coverage.

Disabling bluetooth in “smart” devices (including cars) will also reduce EMFs around you.

A lot of people unknowingly have their Bluetooth and Wi-Fi turned on on their mobile devices. Even though they are not using it, those settings create extra EMF radiation. Check your settings to make sure your Wi-Fi and Bluetooth is completely of when you aren’t using it.

Hardwiring your Internet router using ethernet cables is best, because it eliminates the need for Wi-Fi altogether, while boosting your internet speed for your computers.

The downside of completely hardwiring your Internet router is the fact that your cell phones and other mobile devices will have to be on mobile data, which creates a bit more EMFs from those mobile devices.

A compromise solution is to hardwire what you can, while having Wi-Fi available for your mobile devices. This Wi-Fi router allows you to do just that.

3. Increase physical distance between you and your cell phone.

Especially, avoid holding your mobile phone next to your ear (brain), heart, reproductive, and other vital organs. Use speakerphone or wired headphones instead.

“Holding your mobile phone next to your head increases you chances of brain cancer!”

Source: Study

Don’t sleep next to a cell phone, unless it’s on airplane mode or completely off. If you have to keep it on during the night, simply put it as far as possible from your body, but close enough so you can hear it if it rings in the middle of the night.

Also, avoid having your cell phone in close contact with your body, especially vital organs. This includes: front pockets, back pockets, chest pockets, bras, fanny packs, etc. unless it’s on airplane mode. Women can use purses and guys can use cargo pockets, or handbags, or anything else that creates more distance from vital organs.

There are also EMF blocking cell phone cases.

4. Reduce mobile phone time when driving.

Cell phones radiate more EMFs when you’re driving because they are forced to always look for a new mobile base station (cell phone tower) to stay connected, as you drive around.

Also, your cell phone has to work (radiate) slightly harder when you’re inside the car because your car is a weak EMF barrier, which your mobile phone tries to overcome to stay connected, so it radiates more.

6. Stop using wireless headphones, bluetooth headsets, and “smart watches.”

Wireless headphones, headsets, and “smart” watches create convenience (of not having wires) at the expense of exposing you to EMF radiation. Wireless headphones and headsets rely on wireless Bluetooth technology to stay connected.

Smart watches usually rely on mobile data and/or Wi-FI to stay connected. The trouble with these devices is that the person is actually wearing it, so there’s no physical distance to reduce the EMFs these wireless devices produce.

Smart watches, wireless headsets, and earphones can easily be substituted with their wired counterparts to completely eliminate EMFs radiating from them. For many years we’ve been using these excellent Sony headphones that function as a headset and offer superb sound quality for lovers of music.

8. Use Wi-Fi instead of cellular data whenever possible.

Mobile devices connected via cellular data instead of Wi-Fi tend to create more EMF radiation. This is likely due to the fact that cellular data relies on connecting to distant mobile base stations, rather than nearby Wi-Fi. Therefore, mobile devices have to work (radiate) harder, increasing EMFs.

9. Use wired connections instead of wireless whenever possible.

Wired devices such as keyboards, speakers, printers, microphones, etc. don’t radiate high frequency EMFs, since they don’t rely on Bluetooth or Wi-Fi. Wireless DECT phones should be replaced with wired telephones too.

Switching to wired versions of these appliances will eliminate high frequency EMFs. Just don’t forget to disable “wireless mode” after wiring.

10. Stop using the microwave oven.

We’ve completely stopped using the microwave oven about two decades ago. We consciously choose to forgo the convenience of quickly “nuking” our food in favor of nutrition and health.

Microwaving food not only destroys it’s nutrition, while exposing it (and us) to toxic packaging materials (which are usually nuked too), but it also creates a very high EMF environment in the kitchen. Although, microwaves are designed to contain most of the EMF radiation, it can still leak through.

Not surprising, since the microwave oven technology has it’s roots in WW2 microwave weapons technology.

To go around the microwave we’ve been relying on simply warming up food on the stovetop or the oven. A toaster oven is also a great substitute to the microwave.

11. Download music and videos instead of always streaming.

When you’re streaming music or videos you are increasing your exposure to EMF radiation. This is especially worrisome for kids who are glued all day to their iPads, tablets, or phones. Kids and babies absorb more EMF radiation.

To go around streaming – download music and videos in advance. Nowadays apps like Amazon Music (try Amazon Music Unlimited Free Trial), YouTube Premium, and Spotify Premium allow you to download music and videos to your mobile device.

It’s a great feature, which allows you to put your mobile device on “airplane mode,” thereby completely eliminating high frequency EMFs. As health-conscious parents we use this feature as much as possible not only for our child, but for ourselves, as well.

12. Opt-out of “smart” meters.

Smart meters are known to be constant sources of dangerous EMF radiation. They are usually installed by the electrical company to measure electrical use and wirelessly send data back to the company.

If it’s already installed some people put a smart-meter shield over it. The problem is that electrical company might take it down.

So if a smart-meter shield or moving is not an option, then a Faraday cage type of “shield” inside the home may need to be implemented. This type of smart meter shield is usually composed of large rectangular piece(s) of solid metal (such as copper) or wire mesh placed on the wall(s) near the smart meter. Please consult a licensed electrician for safe instillation.

13. Inspect for Extra Low Frequency (ELF) EMF radiation.

This is often an overlooked point, due to overemphasis on high frequency (RF) EMFs (i.e. from mobile devices, etc.)

However, ELF radiation has been linked to severe health conditions such as childhood leukemia (blood cancer). – Source

Childhood leukemia mostly occurs in children ages 2-5 years old. When I found this out I was alarmed because my child was in this age group and our rental unit had ELF radiation averaging 8mG and as high as 20mG!

I used the PF5 Power Frequency Meter to measure it.

Considering that the average home has ELF radiation in the range of 0.5 to 1mg and the fact that the risk of childhood leukemia increases at levels of 1mG and above I was shocked. No pun intended.

I suspected that there was an ungrounded or improperly wired stray electrical current that was being picked up and dispersed by the metal framework inside of our unit’s flooring and walls.

In time, we ended moving out of that unit into a home where ELF EMF radiation was within normal range. I definitely felt relieved and re-lived, since ELF EMFs clearly have an effect on adults, as well. And it’s not just “in the head.”

But the reality is that basic non-wireless electrical devices produce ELF EMF radiation when in use. This could be the fridge or the blender, the heater or the convection stovetop.

The good news is that ELF radiation from these appliances drops off significantly with distance. Meaning only a distance of a few feet makes a huge difference in exposure levels.

Having that said, “some close-proximity” devices like ungrounded laptops are a concern. So properly grounding your laptop (or another ungrounded appliance) will make a huge difference.

It’s easy to ground a MacBook laptop using this type of cable. It basically needs to have a third prong for grounding. Plugging in small ungrounded appliances such as essential oil diffusers, air purifiers, etc. into grounded extension surge protectors will reduce their (ELF) EMF radiation.

Also, unplugging your laptop power adapter when it’s fully charged and running it on battery power will reduce these ELF EMFs.

14. EMF-proof your house.

For those living within several blocks distance to a cell phone tower and when moving is not an option, EMF proofing would be the only solution to reduce outside EMF exposure.

EMF proofing the house basically entails turning your home into a Faraday Cage to a degree. It all depends on what degree.

Most people wouldn’t want to live in a Faraday Cage type house because they want their cell phones to work. A full on Faraday Cage would block out all or most EMFs. This is too extreme for most people, but not all people are like most.

Having that said, properly installed copper roofs, EMF blocking paint, fine wire mesh made out of aluminum or copper, and special EMF blocking fabric would reduce high frequency (RF) EMFs inside your home.

The hard part is blocking ELFs coming from electrical substations and overhead wires (in the street). ELFs can penetrate the above mentioned materials, whereas microwaves and RF (radio frequencies) are effectively reduced.

ELFs (Extra Low Frequency) radiation needs magnetic type of shields in order to be reduced or blocked.

15. Spend more time in Nature.

Cities are inundated by harmful EMFs, so to escape this environment we must spend more time in nature away from the city. Plants and trees reduce and block EMFs plus they produce fresh oxygen.

Nature also psychologically breaks down the hyper-structured, artificial, rectangular, “box-like” monotony of the city vibe.

In this article we went out and measured EMFs throughout Honolulu in search of a Low-EMF-Environment. Our findings confirmed that there are significantly less or no harmful EMFs when we are surrounded by Nature.

The sad reality was that in August of 2020 the State of Hawaii made going to Nature mostly illegal due to COVID-19 by closing all public hiking trails, beaches, botanical gardens, community gardens, parks, and playgrounds while keeping shopping malls open.

Luckily this sad reality (above) is over, but there’s another threat to our open spaces that needs your urgent input.

“5G ROLLOUT IN U.S. NATIONAL PARKS”

– URGENT: please sign petition to STOP 5G in U.S. National Parks

In a unimaginable move, the U.S. National Parks and Forests are now a target of the 5G rollout. This is simply unnecessary and unacceptable. Our natural spaces must remain the way nature intended it – EMF free.

Please spread the word and sign the petition. Mahalo!

GMO food (updated Feb. 1, 2020) remains unlabeled in the US despite consumers wanting to know (and having the right to know) what they are eating and drinking. Some US companies started voluntarily disclosing that their food products are made using genetic engineering, yet they don’t specify exactly which ingredients are GMO. Supposedly, if a product code on produce (PLU) begins with the number 8, then it’s genetically modified.

By the way, here’s a video summary of this article, in case you’re short on time or would like to hear it instead.

With the introduction of CRISPR technology we have entered a time when practically any living organism can be genetically modified. The list of processed food products which use these GMO food ingredients is very, very long. For now, however, the list of approved genetically engineered whole food is relatively short.

This won’t last long, as new GMO food varieties are approved every year. So, it’s not too late to start avoiding GMO food and products by switching to non-gmo, organic, wholesome food, since most GMO food is found in processed food (and drinks) that are not certified organic or non-gmo.

Affiliate disclaimer: As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases. You don’t get charged extra and I make a small commission that supports Organic Hawaii. Thanks for your support.

List of GMO Food

Updated as of February, 2020. Listed by the number of GMO varieties approved and deregulated in the US. All GMO food in this list are approved for food use in the United States. Other countries may have different approval status. GMO food and their derivatives are mostly found in processed mainstream food, drinks, and animal feed. (Sources: USDA, FDA, ISAAA)

1. Corn

GMO corn is the king of GMO food with more than 33 genetically engineered varieties taking up 80%-90% of all corn farmland in the US. GMO corn derivatives are a staple in non-organic processed food ranging from the notoriously unhealthy HFCS (high fructose corn syrup) to Ascorbic Acid (synthetic Vitamin C), corn starch, and much more. GMO corn can produce their own pesticide in the form of bT bacteria toxin, as well as resist applications of highly toxic herbicides which contain glyphosate i.e. RoundUp. Could be the reason why lots of people have a corn allergy. GMO corn is also used to feed livestock. Mainstream beer is not required to list any ingredients, but it’s highly likely using GMO corn derivatives such as genetically modified corn syrup.

Instead we prefer food made with organic corn. You can even grown your own corn from organic corn seeds and varieties such as organic blue corn, organic sweet corn, and even black corn.

It’s interesting to note that organic blue corn is very healthy due to it’s anthocyanin content. (Source: Dr. Michael A. Smith) Eight blue corn chips with each meal are even recommended by Dr. Lawrence Wilson for a healthier life.

2. Soybeans

GMO Soybeans are another heavyweight GMO food. If Genetically Engineered corn is the king of GMOs, then GMO Soybean is the queen! Hard to believe, but there are at least 20 approved GMO soybean varieties. Like GM corn, the GMO soybeans are mostly found in non-organic processed food. Soybean oil is extensively used in shortenings, margarine, baked goods, salad dressings, etc. Of all vegetable oils, Soybean oil accounts for 55% of US consumption – the most widely consumed vegetable oil in the United States. (Source: USDA) Many people are allergic to soy. Genetically engineered herbicide tolerant soy makes up around 94% of all soy crops grown in the US. Now that’s a lot of herbicide! Is this why people are allergic to soy?

We don’t eat non-fermented soy products due to their estrogen-mimicking compounds. Instead we love to use this gluten free organic Tamari Soy Sauce. It has great flavor without any GMOs or bad preservatives like sodium benzoate common in regular soy sauce. Lots of mayonnaise (even organic) has lots of soybean oil in it. Instead, we prefer this organic mayonnaise made with organic sunflower oil.

3. Rapeseed/Canola

Rapeseed and Canola are closely related. Canola plant was derived from the Rapeseed plant. The two plants share about 10 genetically engineered varieties. Canola oil is the second most widely consumed vegetable oil in the U.S. after Soybean oil. You can find GMO canola in processed food such as canola oil, vegetable oil, margarine, emulsifiers, and packaged food. It’s estimated that 90% of all canola grown in USA and Canada is Genetically Modified. More so, GMO Canola has become a major source of genetic contamination, escaping into the wild. According to Monsanto’s environmental policy lead Tom Nickson, you can expect around 90% level of roadside GMO canola contamination. This happens usually when genetically engineered Canola seeds fall off into the wild during transportation and become part of the ecosystem.

We never cook with rapeseed or canola oil even if it’s organic because canola oil is inflammatory and disturbs the omega 3 ratio, which many people are deficient in. However, lots mayonnaise products are made with canola and or soy oil base. We prefer this organic mayonnaise made with sunflower oil instead. For cooking with use either organic butter or extra-virgin unrefined organic coconut oil.

4. Potato

There are at least 9 approved varieties of GMO potatoes in the US. Potato is a major staple in the Western diet a source of energy through carbohydrates. As a result, the GMO potato could be the next big GMO food on the market. Genetically modified potatoes are engineered to withstand bruising, viruses, fungi, bugs, and expected to exhibit low levels of acrylamide. J.R. Simplot’s new generation of GM potatoes is expected to be more marketable. In the Summer of 2014 about 400 acres worth of Simplot GMO potatoes sold at Midwest and Southeast grocery stores. The company aims to significantly increase it’s output of genetically engineered potatoes in 2017. GE potatoes will be marketed to grocery stores and restaurants due to their longer shelf life and “prettier” appearance, since the don’t bruise. Potatoes, just like tomatoes are part of the Nightshade family. People who follow AIP (Autoimmune Protocol diet) tend to avoid members of the Nightshades.

We actually stopped eating potato chips and fries (organic or otherwise) due to their unhealthy, although delicious status. Unhealthy because potato chips and fries create inflammation, contain carcinogenic acrylamide, make the body more acidic, and distort the omega 3 balance, since they are fried in vegetable oil.

Having that said, potatoes are actually high in potassium, which is an essential mineral required for proper heart function. So we still eat potatoes. But to avoid acrylamide (a carcinogen) and inflammatory vegetable oils organic potatoes need to be boiled or steamed. You can even try growing your own non-gmo organic potatoes!

5. Papaya

Most GMO papayas are grown in Hawaii on the Big Island. Lots of Big Island locals have a general dislike for the GMOs and there have been cases of destruction of GMO papaya fields by activists. A big portion of genetically engineered papayas, known as Rainbow papaya, is exported to Japan, where by law it’s supposed to be labeled. In Hawaii GMO papayas are not labeled, so buying organic Papayas is the way to go.

Papaya is considered a superfood known to contain a beneficial enzymes that are good for digestion, anti-oxidants, and vitamins. Organic non-gmo papaya seed extracts in tincture form, papaya leaf extracts, and papaya leaf tea are popular natural remedies.

6. Zucchini and Squash

GMO zucchini and squash have been deregulated in the US since 1994 according to USDA and approved for human consumption since 1995 by the FDA. There are 2 genetically engineered varieties.

7. Beet and Sugar Beet

More than 50% of all processed sugar comes from GMO sugar beets. You can avoid it by switching to sugar that comes from sugar cane, honey, or agave. Safest bet is to make sure that it’s certified non-gmo and organic.

8. Alfalfa

GMO Alfalfa is commonly used to feed livestock. Alfalfa sprouts is a popular health food too, so if you’re trying to avoid GMOs make sure your Alfalfa sprouts come from organic seeds. GMO alfalfa seeds may be treated with synthetic chemicals and have residues from herbicide/insecticide applications.

9. Flax

GMO Flax was developed by the University of Saskatchewan in Canada. It was approved by the USDA and the FDA for use as human and animal food in the late 90’s. GMO Flax is supposed to tolerate herbicide sulfonylurea. This chemical is also used as an anti-diabetic pharmaceutical drug! Flax and flax oil are known as a health food, but are they still healthy when sprayed with a chemical that induces hypoglycemia in animals and humans?

10. Apple

GMO apple, also known as the Arctic Apple was also developed by a Canadian company. GE apple was approved by the FDA and USDA in 2015, making it one of the more recent approvals. The GMO Apple is modified to prevent browning due to oxidation when sliced.

11. Plum

In 2009 the FDA approved the GMO Plum, which is modified to be resistant to the plum pox virus. It was developed by the Agricultural Research Service of the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA).

12. Salmon (farm raised)

At the end of 2015, the FDA approved the first genetically engineered farm-raised Salmon known as AquAdvantage Salmon. This GMO Salmon is anything, but local. It is bred in Canada, the eggs will be transported and raised all the way in Panama, and then supply the United States (and other countries). GMO Salmon is not required to be labeled as such, so if you want to avoid GMO salmon, you will have to get wild caught salmon. Luckily, Alaska and New Zealand have still a good amount of wild salmon. GMO Salmon is a cross between salmon and a sea eel, which makes that genetically engineered salmon grow faster and double the size.

13. Cloned Meat

In 2008, the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved Cloned Meat and it’s derivatives, such as milk for human consumption. The FDA concluded that ‘(cloned) food from cattle, swine and goat clones is as safe to eat as food from any other cattle, swine or goat.’ For the purposes of this list, cloned meat is considered a Genetically Engineered product, since it requires precise, lab controlled replication and propagation of host DNA, and does not occur in nature.

14. Yeast, Enzymes, and Hormones

GMO Yeast is used in non-organic winemaking. Enzymes isolated from GMO fed animals are used in non-organic cheese making. You can expect GMO yeast and enzymes to be used in other areas of food and supplement production. Many mainstream brand vitamins and supplements rely on genetic engineering. In Japan genetically modified yeast used in the production of a popular supplement Tryptophan was behind the deaths of several dozen people in 1989 shedding light and raising questions about the safety of genetic engineering. Synthetic sugar substitutes such as Aspartame are made using genetically modified bacteria. rBGH and rBHT are genetically engineered artificial hormones injected into dairy cows in the US to produce more milk.

15. Pineapple

GMO Pineapple is the latest GMO fruit to be approved for human consumption as of December, 2016. It’s a product of Del Monte and is characterized by pink flesh on the inside. The pink Pineapple was genetically engineered to have higher levels of carotenoids.

16. Rice

GMO Golden Rice (Provitamin A Biofortified Rice) was approved for human and animal consumption in the United States in 2018. For direct food use and food processing. But not crop cultivation. This means GMO Golden Rice is grown in other countries and then imported to the United States, as well as Australia, Canada, and New Zealand.

Rice is a main staple food for billions of people and more than half the word’s population rely on it as a source of energy. Two strains of GMO rice was approved by the FDA for human and animal consumption in 2000, but did not achieve commercialization. The patent belongs to Bayer Crop Science. GMO rice is meant to withstand applications of persistently toxic herbicide glufosinate-ammonium. In 2006 30% of US rice production were affected by trace amounts of unapproved GMO rice variety. 

Another genetically engineered strain of rice called Golden Rice (see above) was created by Syngenta, but started out as a project of the Rockefeller Foundation in the 80’s. An experimental plot of GMO Golden Rice crops was uprooted in the Philippines by eco activists in 2013.

17. Sugarcane

GMO sugarcane was approved in the United States in 2018, as well as Canada and Brazil. It was created in Brazil by the largest sugarcane research center in the world known as Centro de Tecnologia Canavieira (CTC). It’s not approved in the US for cultivation, where the GMO sugar beet is a readily available, but GMO sugarcane is approved for human consumption. This means GMO sugarcane is grown in other countries and then imported to the US for direct food use and processing.

Additional GMO Considerations

There are always on-going experimental trials of GMOs all over the world. This includes many plants, animals, and other life forms that are not listed above or below. Hawaii remains the capital of GMO experimentations due to it’s all year round favorable climate and good infrastructure. Other tropical places, such as Africa, Philippines, Brazil, Costa Rica, and even French Polynesia currently have or have had GMO trials. Of course, Europe and Asia are not exceptions.

1. Cotton

Around 90% of all cotton grown in the US is GMO cotton. This means that it’s highly likely that your cotton clothing, personal hygiene items, towels, bedding, etc. are made from genetically modified cotton, unless it says non-gmo or organic cotton on the label.

2. Tobacco

GMO tobacco – is this the reason why tobacco is so toxic? After all, many genetically modified crops are modified to withstand high levels of pesticides, herbicides, and fungicides.

3. Humans

Sounds unbelievable, but England became the first country to legalize three-parent GMO human babies in 2016. Early in 2017, the first peer-reviewed study was published on Chimera – a human pig hybrid created by Salk Institute for Biological Studies in La Jolla, California. Mostly pig, but having human genes Chimera was the first step toward growing human organs inside of pigs. Also, GMO babies were secretly and illegally created in China in 2019. These GMO babies were genetically modified using CRISPR technology to supposedly withstand HIV. The scientist involved, He Jiankui was sentenced to three years in prison on December 30, 2019 for this.

4. Grass: GMO Creeping Bentgrass

While many Americans were focused on the presidential inauguration, the USDA approved GMO Creeping Bentrgass on January 18, 2017. It’s expected to be used primarily for golf course greens. It was USDA’s first GMO approval of 2017.

5. Trees and Flowers

Roses are.. genetically modified, at least some. Flowers grown in the garden or purchased could be genetically engineered. The idea of a GMO forest is not farfetched, but it doesn’t mean that it’s a good idea, since environmental risks have not been established. Eucalyptus (Brazil) and Poplar (China) are examples of GMO trees.

6. Tomato

Currently there are 11 approved genetically modified varieties of Tomato, but they are not commercially available (supposedly). The first GMO tomato was approved back in 1992. Commercial production stopped in 1997. Lots of people love tomatoes or its derivatives, such as ketchup. However, tomatoes are part of the Nightshade family of plants which could be an irritant to certain people with digestive issues. This is why Nightshades are not part of the AIP (Auto-Immune Protocol diet).

7. Wheat (Colombia, New Zealand, and US)

Glyphosate resistant GMO wheat was created by Monsanto (now Bayer). It was approved in 2004 for human consumption, but not cultivation. Could it be coming from other countries? GMO wheat is not approved in the US for cultivation, but that didn’t stop it from growing in Washington. In 2016 the USDA confirmed that an unapproved strain of Monsanto’s GMO wheat was growing in Washington state. This caused a panic in global wheat trade in 2016.

8. Chicory/Radicchio

GMO Leaf Chicory also known as genetically engineered Radicchio was approved by the FDA and USDA back in 1997. The patent belongs to a Bejo of Netherlands. It was modified to be tolerant to herbicide glufosinate-ammonium, which is classified as persistent by the EPA. Although it’s still approved for cultivation and consumption in the US, it seems that GMO Chicory/Radicchio is not on the market. Additionally, Bejo (the company behind it) switched to non-gmo and organic farming methods. Nice move!

9. Melon and Cantaloupe

Application for growing GMO Cantaloupe in the US was withdrawn from USDA in 2004. Yet, it remains approved for consumption by the FDA. Could this GMO food be coming from other countries?

10. Bananas

GMO bananas are probably the next big GMO fruit to be approved. Genetically modified bananas are currently part of multi-million dollar on-going experimental trials happening in several places around the world, including Hawaii.

11. Mosquitoes

Another controversial GMO animal – the GMO Mosquito created by Oxitec of England was approved by the FDA in August of 2016 to be released in Florida. The genetically engineered mosquito is supposed to wipe out non-gmo mosquitos by making them sterile. Thousands Oxitec mosquitoes were released in the Florida Keyes in 2016. The GMO mosquito is supposed to be identified by it’s green glowing eyes. Seriously.

12. Stevia

The popular sugar substitute Stevia comes from a plant by the same name. The Stevia plant itself is not a GMO. However, chemical compounds that mimic Stevia’s sweet taste are synthesized from genetically modified yeast by Cargill. They call it EverSweet and the best way to avoid it is by buying organic or non-gmo verified Stevia containing products. (Source: Dr. Mercola)

The truth is EMFs are impossible to avoid completely. But they can be reduced. Thus, a safer “low EMF” home, work, or school can be found with some research and proper tools.

Generally, the further you are from mobile base stations aka cell phone towers – the less high frequency EMF (RF) radiation you will experience.

Cell phone towers radiate very strong EMF signals at a very high frequency RF range anywhere from 2G, 3G, 4G to LTE. They enable our mobile phones to work properly by giving us reception and the Internet. But living in close proximity to cell phone towers has been linked to adverse health conditions ranging from minor ones like insomnia to major ones like cancer and DNA damage. (Source: Bioinitiative Report)

Therefore, it is prudent to live as far away from cell phone towers as possible. The trouble is that in an urban setting mobile cell phone towers can be spaced every few hundred feet apart. This ensures that you always have great signal, but at the expense of everyone being exposed to these harmful EMF frequencies. 

It’s not easy to find a “low EMF” home, work, or school in an urban environment, but the effort is worth it in the long run. Especially for individuals with electromagnetic sensitivities (ES).

Some people are more sensitive to EMFs than others. In fact, some people are so sensitive to EMFs that they choose to abandon their work and home and live in the country where EMFs are the least. They become EMF refugees.

A great example of this is a story of a former Ericsson cell phone engineer Per Segerback who ditched the city life to escape the EMFs by living in the woods. He became an EMF refugee. Popular Science article

How to Find a Safer “Low EMF” Home, Work, and School

The Search Begins: Preliminary Research

We can only do our best to find a place to live, work, and go to school, that’s as far as possible from the nearest cell phone tower by doing preliminary research on the area.

If you’re moving to a new home, looking for a new place to work, or go to school you can use this awesome Cell Phone Tower Map Tool to look for cell phone towers nearby. For 5G towers locations you can use this Hawaii 5G towers map courtesy of Stop 5G Hawaii.

It’s also smart to double check the area using Google Maps in satellite and street view to look for objects that look like cell phone towers, since the Cell Phone Tower Map Tool did miss some cell towers.

In Hawaii cell phone towers are usually placed tall poles or on top of buildings’ elevator shafts – on the roof! They are usually white or gray thick rectangular antennas spaced closely and parallel to each other. 

Why would they put cell phone towers on top of peoples homes? It’s because the building makes extra money from renting out that space to a cell phone company. At the expense of exposing people living nearby to these harmful EMFs. 

What’s even worse is when the cell phone towers are placed right across from child daycare centers, schools, and hospitals where children and the sick are even more susceptible to health risks associated with EMFs.

Scouting the Area in Person

If the prospective area looks good on the map, next step would be to go there in person to make sure that there are definitely no cell phone towers nearby. Satellite and digital street maps are not in real time. And sometimes it’s hard to spot cell phone towers just from the map. 

Going in person and scouting the area within at least a 300 foot radius of the proposed home, work, or school is a good idea. Again, special attention must be paid to building roof tops as well as tall poles with cell antennas. 

Some mobile cell towers are camouflaged as trees! In Hawaii these fake trees are usually large palm trees or large pine trees. Their antennas will be painted dark green towards the top of the tree.

Affiliate disclaimer: As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases. You don’t get charged extra and I make a small commission that supports Organic Hawaii. Thanks for your support.

How to Measure EMFs: HF, VHF, and RF

HF, VHF, and RF stand for “high frequency”, “very high frequency” and “radio frequency.” Microwave frequency is also part of this range.

Having an EMF meter like the Acousticom 2 is very helpful and recommended since it can show actual exposure levels in the immediate area. It’s extremely easy to use and it fits in the pocket.

The Acousticom 2 measures high frequency EMFs in the RF (radio frequency) microwave range from 200MHz – 8GHz. This range catches cell phone towers, Wi-Fi, smart meters, radar, cell phones, and common 5G frequencies. It even lets you hear these dangerous EMFs, which is helpful in determining its source. The audio function can be turned on and off.

When we were apartment hunting we brought the Acousticom 2 to every potential apartment to test it during the previews. We turned down a few apartments due to high EMF readings from nearby cellphone towers.

The one we settled on had the lowest EMF readings and not a cell phone tower in the line of sight! We were so happy to find such a rare place in an urban environment of Honolulu. 

Another way to test the area for (RF) EMFs is by looking at how many bars of reception you have on your cell phone. Generally, the less bars you have the further away a cell phone tower is, the less exposure from the tower.

How to Measure ELF and VLF Power Frequencies

ELF stands for Extra Low Frequency and VLF stands for Very Low Frequency.

To measure low frequency EMFs (ELF and VLF) from electricity inside the walls, substations, power meters, and electrical devices we use the PF5 Pocket Power Frequency Meter.

It’s the same size as the Acousticom 2, so it easily fits in the pocket. Most importantly it’s very easy to use with just one button and a clearly labeled scale. Basically you don’t have to be an engineer to interpret the results.

Using the PF5 Pocket Power Frequency Meter we uncovered an ungrounded MacBook Pro laptop. It was giving off strong magnetic signals – for years! We were able to eliminate these high magnetic frequencies after properly grounding the laptop. It was a very quick and simple solution with immediate results.

More importantly, the PF5 Pocket Power Frequency Meter helped us uncover a very strong magnetic field running along our office wall and through our bedroom! In essence, affecting our entire home.

It’s probably caused by ungrounded or poorly grounded electrical wires running through the wall. This is something we need to closely investigate in the near future.

The reason for our concern about this strong magnetic radiation is because it’s been linked to childhood leukemia in amounts as low as 2 mG! Our average was around 8mG and as high as 20mG!!!

Wi-Fi from your neighbors

Love thy neighbor (but not their Wi-Fi)

Another area to consider is your neighbors’ Wi-Fi networks, since Wi-Fi is another high frequency EMF source that travels through walls. New modern Wi-Fi routers are very strong and can emit 2 bands of frequencies: 2.4 GHz and a 5 GHz at the same time!

The worst type of Wi-Fi environment would be where you have neighbors all around you, such as an apartment building or a high-rise. And they most likely never turn their Wi-Fi off! 

If feasible, moving to a corner unit might make some difference, but you may still have neighbors’ Wi-Fi below, above, and on two sides that you share walls with. I suppose that’s a bit better than being in the middle surrounded on all sides by the invisible sea of Wi-Fi.

In this case living in a single family home has a clear advantage of (hopefully) not having your neighbors’ Wi-Fi nearby.

One way to test this is to enable Wi-Fi on your smart phone, tablet, or laptop computer and see how many strong signal Wi-Fi networks it can pick up nearby. The more bars and the more Wi-Fi signals nearby – the more the radiation exposure from Wi-Fi EMFs.

Another way to test this is with an Acousticom 2 meter mentioned earlier. This will give you the actual measurement of all the high frequency EMFs (RF) around you.

Wi-Fi in Schools and Work

Wi-Fi in schools lately has become a subject of controversy. A child’s brain is more susceptible to the damaging effects of EMF radiation since their sculls are thinner than that of an adult. Plus their whole body is still developing!

Thus, EMFs can create problems in learning, productivity, behavior, and overall health of children. American Academy of Pediatrics article.

Because of this, certain health conscious, forward thinking schools such as Waldorf, Montessori, and many others have eliminated their school’s Wi-Fi use. Since our choices of schools are limited and the number of Wi-Fi free schools is very low we can only try to petition our local schools to at least reduce the number of Wi-Fi routers and instead use Ethernet cables to connect other devices.

At work this could be challenging too, so working as far as possible from a Wi-Fi router would be the simplest and quickest solution to reduce exposure.

Global Deployment of 5G

With the global rollout of 5G in urban areas it may be especially prudent to think ahead in terms of location of proposed and existing 5G towers. This map by Stop 5G Hawaii. shows 5G towers already in place in Hawaii! 

Although 5G is a very high frequency microwave signal, 5G signals don’t travel as far as standard mobile network signals like 3G, 4G, and LTE.

Of course, this doesn’t make 5G towers any safer since they are a much higher microwave frequency. Furthermore, 5G towers are placed closer together, and closer to the ground than the traditional cell phone tower.

If Moving is Not an Option

If moving to a location that’s lower in EMF radiation is not feasible, then there are things you can do to reduce your EMF exposure from cell phone towers and neighbors’ Wi-Fi nevertheless.

You can implementing a Faraday cage type of shield design using EMF blocking materials on the walls, ceilings, roofs, and floors such as fine metal wire mesh, EMF blocking fabrics such as curtains for windows, and EMF blocking paints. These special materials can help reduce external sources of EMFs you would otherwise have no control over since they all come from the outside.

Picking a low EMF location in the city can be one of the hardest, but effective in the long term ways of reducing EMF exposure. From cell phone towers, “smart” meters, Wi-Fi signals, to high magnetic fields from poor electrical wiring.

There are more steps you can take to reduce harmful EMFs around you. For example, you can escape to a EMF-Free zone. And in our next article we will list 11 ways EMFs can be reduced or even eliminated in your immediate environment.

Header photo: Casey Horner / Unsplash

Is Giving Birth at Home Legal?

Most people don’t realize or consider that a home birth is an alternative option to a standard hospital birth delivery. It’s legal in the state of Hawaii and many other places around the world. And it should always be, since giving birth naturally and at home is a fundamental human right.

More so, midwife assisted home birthing has been practiced by humanity for thousands of years. Way before hospitals came into existence.

In the state of Hawaii, however, a new 2019 law regarding Traditional Midwifery limited the freedom to choose a Traditional Midwife.
Lots of Hawaii families showed up to protest against it at Honolulu Hale, including our family with our home birth one year old to urge Hawaii lawmakers not to pass this law. The law passed.

This law grants 4 years to traditional midwives to continue their practice as is, but by the end of the 4 years the midwife needs to be “certified” in order to continue her practice legally.

However, there are no “certifying” schools in Hawaii, so traditional midwives would have to move to the mainland! And pay lots of money and spend a lot of time to get the certificate. Even if the traditional midwife has practiced for many years and has a great track record.

The following video shows the rally at Honolulu Hale in support of traditional midwives. The rally was also covered by the local news.

Our Home Birth Experience

Home births are usually done with the assistance of one or more traditional midwives, since time immemorial.

The midwife gets to know the mother-to-be on a very personal level. A solid relationship is established through pre-natal visits, the birth, post-natal visits, and friendship.

We were blessed to have two traditional midwives one of whom was also a doctor of naturopathic medicine.

Our Home Birth Midwives Were Amazing!

The Naturopathic Doctor (ND) was also a very experienced traditional midwife with decades of practice in Hawaii. Along with our traditional midwife who worked for this same office they made a great team.

They were a perfect pair, truly loving what they do, very knowledgable and aware, very positive, fun, and most importantly they were on the same mental philosophy as us. Natural, simple, traditional. With love and soul.

From that point most of our prenatal visits were at the comfort of our own home! The prenatal (and postnatal) visits were very positive, informative, fun, and human. Something we didn’t feel with other prenatal (mainstream doctors).

Every once in a while we went to our naturopathic doctor’s downtown office and those visits were very nice too with the complementary benefit of second opinion.

We were truly blessed to have them.

How Much Did It Cost?

$3500 in 2018. This included everything such as pre-natal, post-natal visits, the birthing pool, and even placenta pills made from the mother’s placenta. A a cute bonus was a heart made out of the umbilical chord!

Was it worth it? Absolutely!

$3500 may seem like a lot compared to a zero-dollar no-cost hospital birth, but we didn’t want a hospital birth. And I believe that “you get what you pay for.” So, sometimes free is not the best option.

When it comes to such an important event like giving birth I didn’t mind paying. Also, the insurance did cover for some of it – mostly the in-office visits.

The Water Birth

When it comes to home births, it’s popular to give birth in the water – also known as the Water Birth.

It makes sense. The embryo inside is submerged in embryonic fluid for around 9 months. So a water birth is a great transition, but it’s also more comfortable for the mother.

In our case the midwives brought a special inflatable pool large enough to fully fit the mother-to-be (5’8). They set it up inside of our living room and filled it with warm water.

Some mothers choose to use their bathtubs or even large bodies of water like the seas, the ocean, rivers, lakes or waterfalls! But our bathtub wasn’t large enough and the ocean was too wild of an idea for giving birth for the first time.

Even the simple idea of giving birth at home (with all the home’s comforts) seemed wild to some of our friends and relatives. Some didn’t know it’s even an option. Simply because the mainstream hospital birth is so standardized in people’s minds of our time (Others questioned if it’s safe. And so did we.

Natural Birth Means..

To us Natural Birth means: no injections, no vaccinations, no pharmaceuticals, no pain meds, no epidural shots, no invasive or controversial procedures. We simply focused on maximizing nutrition (through clean organic food and quality supplements) and a healthy, active lifestyle.

We are very fortunate and truly blessed. Our baby has never gotten seriously sick, and never even had a diaper rash. (We mostly use reusable cloth diapers.) She’ll be turning 2 soon.

Why Give Birth at Home: The Risks (of Hospital)

The reason why we decided to do a natural home birth was actually out of safety and philosophical reasons. For many years we’ve enjoyed and lived the natural organic lifestyle. And so we thought that giving birth in the hospital was too risky and unnatural for us.

Giving birth – creating life is one of the most (if not the most) important events in a person’s life. Doing it the natural way was on our mind, naturally. And we like to keep things simple.. as much as possible in the complex urban environment of Honolulu.

We already knew that giving birth in the hospitals usually comes with a lot of interventions we didn’t want and didn’t agree with. From chemical injections to unnecessary c-sections or other invasive procedures we didn’t want to risk getting.

Also, learning grim statistics that newborn mortality rate in the United States hospitals is quite high, despite it being an advanced developed nation pushed us more towards a home birth. 

We knew that any birth is risky whether done at home or in the hospital. But, we also understood that there are different degrees and types of risks.

It was determined that my wife is in the low risk category based on her prenatal checkups, blood tests, good health history, and biological age (she was 31). Throughout her pregnancy she was also very energetic and even regularly worked out! She rarely felt ill.

Even though she was in a low risk category, we still had a plan B: to go to a predetermined hospital of our choice if something goes really bad. Luckily nothing went bad that require plan B.

When Birth Risks Materialized

Everything went according to plan A. Most everything. Other than pushing the baby, which is naturally painful (especially without any chemical numbing agent) my wife had a tear during delivery.

Tears in the vaginal openings are not uncommon, especially when the baby is larger in size. Our newborn baby girl weighed 8 pounds and 2 ounces at birth. Not the biggest (luckily!) and not the smallest. Just a solid baby. Very large babies often require c-section.

The tear was carefully stitched together by our experienced midwives in the bedroom. No hospitalization was necessary.

More Birthing Risks: The Umbilical Chord

When our precious baby girl was coming out, her neck was slightly tangled in her umbilical chord. If this were to happen in a hospital, then this would most certainly involve a c-section.

C-sections are all too common nowadays. Some women even choose this invasive and unnatural procedure to quicken the delivery!

Sometimes c-sections are medically necessary and must be done to save lives!

In our case, the midwife quickly recognized that the umbilical chord was around the baby’s neck, when the head started to come out. She quickly and carefully moved the umbilical chord over baby’s head to remedy this potential chocking hazard.

Umbilical chords often wrap around the neck of newborns. It’s an obvious hazard that can choke the baby if not taken care of properly. Luckily, umbilical chords are flexible, soft, somewhat stretchy, yet tough.

So, they can be pulled on without breaking and stretch enough to be untangled from a baby’s neck or another body part.

The Prenatal Visits

Prenatal Ultrasound: Against Our Consent

When my wife was pregnant we decided not to do any ultrasounds out of safety considerations after researching on the dangers of ultrasound. Ultrasound subject the developing fetus to unnaturally high frequencies of sound in order to create a black and white image of the fetus, supposedly.

You don’t need to be a musician or sound engineer to know that a high pitched sound can crack a glass! We definitely didn’t want to subject our precious embryo baby to the documented risks of ultra sound. 

We explicitly told our first (mainstream) prenatal doctor (MD) that we don’t want any prenatal ultrasounds. The doctor stated that ultrasounds are safe, while I was reading scientific research that showed otherwise!

The same doctor also told us we don’t need iodine because we’re surrounded by the ocean, so “it’s in the air”!! Just breathe. We thought it was a very ridiculous thing for her to say.

During the next prenatal visit to this doctor an ultrasound was performed on my wife without her knowledge or consent! It was actually performed against explicit demands of both parents during the first visit!

When my wife told me about the fact that the doctor did an ultrasound without our consent and knowledge I was shocked, disappointed and angry.

My wife was disappointed and shocked too. But at the same time very happy. Happy to see the black and white ultrasound image of our tiny 11 week-old baby fetus for the first time.

I completely understood her emotion and instead of focusing on the negative I did my best to focus on her happiness from seeing that ultrasound picture of our tiny baby inside of her for the first (and only) time.

That was the last time she saw that doctor who broke our trust more than once and that time was in a major way. A way that in my mind constitutes medical malpractice.

My wife tried another mainstream doctor for prenatal visits. He quickly failed in what we were looking for.

After that we were 100% with our midwifes (one of whom is a Doctor of Natorpathy).

Our Midwife prenatal visits were great. Mostly at the comfort of our home and occasional downtown Honolulu office visits for second opinion. We liked to to switch things up too once in a while.

Labor of Love

The labor lasted about 6 hours. When the contractions started to become obviously more frequent we called our midwife in the evening. She showed up shortly after, along with the doctor midwife. They quickly set up the inflatable birthing pool for the home water birth and filled it with warm water.

It was just the six of us at home, all in the living room during the birth: myself, my wife giving birth, the baby (inside), two midwives, and wife’s mother, who was very supportive.

Others wanted to come to witness the birth, but we wanted to keep it very private, as it should be. A home birth is not a spectacle. It’s a very private experience and having that comfort is very important, especially for the mother-to-be.

After heavy pushing and lots of pain, the baby’s head started to appear.. in the water. The umbilical chord was quickly pulled away from the neck and head and then baby came out into the water into the midwives hands who was patiently waiting to catch the baby all along. And out into the air!

The Water Home Birth: of a.. Natural Wonder Baby

Baby was calm, quiet, and her eyes were open. She was seeing the outside world for the first time! It must have been a weird experience for her, but she didn’t cry. It was night time and our lighting was dim at comfortable levels. There was excitement in our living room. It’s a brand new baby!

We didn’t know weather it was a girl or boy yet! The only ultrasound was done too early to tell. So I asked the midwife and she showed us.

It was a girl! That girl that everyone wanted so much! That girl that puts smiles on strangers faces and brightens people’s lives with her wonderful soul. That girl, that reconfirms that Life truly is a miracle.

EMFs are dangerous to health

EMFs (Electro Magnetic Frequencies) including 5G are invisible, untouchable, and virtually undetectable, but they pose significant health risks to humans and other living beings according to many leading health experts of today and numerous scientific studies throughout the years.

Scientific studies on EMF exposure have shown DNA damage, Blood Brain Barrier damage, and a multitude of health symptoms ranging from fatigue to sleep disorders, headaches, skin conditions, and nausea just to name a few.

(Source: Bioinitiative Report)

Public Safety Limits on EMFs

Exposure limits in the US, Canada, and Japan only protect the public from death from overheating, not accounting for health risks mentioned above.

EMF public safety exposure limits vary greatly from country to country. The worst EMF public safety limits are in the US, Canada, Japan, and Israel.

Best EMF public safety limit is in Salzburg, Austria and few other European countries.

Types of EMFs

Non-ionizing EMFs are categorized by different frequency groups, for example: RF (Radio frequency), PF (Power Frequency) from power lines, electricity in the walls, sub-stations, etc. HF (High frequency), and VHF (Very High frequency) – a microwave frequency such as 3G, 4G/LTE, and 5G are part of.

Ionizing EMFs are UV (ultra violet), x-ray, infra-red, gamma rays, etc. are not the focus of this article.

Sources of EMF (VHF) Radiation

Very High Frequency microwave EMFs including 5G are the one we’re concerned about the most, since it’s so prevalent in today’s urban high-tech environment.

Some of the worst EMF sources include: cell phone towers, wi-fi routers, smart meters, cell phones, bluetooth signals, cordless phones, and microwave ovens.

These devices operate in a very high frequency range of 800 MHz – 8 GHz. That is 800,000,000 Hz (800 million Hz) to 8,000,000,000 (8 billion) Hz!

5G stands for 5th generation (after 4G/LTE). 5G frequencies are expected to be at least 10 times higher than 4G frequencies mentioned above. Up to 86 GHz (86 billion Hertz).

For comparison, the human brain oscillates in the range of 1 to 30Hz range. (30Hz being a stress response/anxiety and 10Hz being an calm Alpha brain wave of creativity, reflection and mediation.)

Since these artificial EMF frequencies easily penetrate the human body and especially the brain, it’s no wonder top 10 symptoms of (ES) electro-sensitivity are related to areas of the mind such as mood, learning, and feelings (of anxiety/depression).

Conclusion

To reduce the health risks associated to continuous exposure to EMF radiation (including 5G), it may be wise to avoid it as much as possible.

After learning that EMFs and 5G are dangerous to health we decided to write an article on how to avoid or reduce this type of EMF radiation.

In the following article we give practical advice on how to reduce and avoid exposure to harmful EMF waves and 5G. We surveyed Honolulu area in search of low to non-existent EMF (VHF) environment.

Our conclusions are presented in the next article.

GMO potatoes: the latest. As of May, 2017 there are at least 9 approved varieties of genetically engineered potatoes in the US. The GMO potato made it to #4 (out of 15) on our updated list of GMO foods.

The potato is a major staple in the Western diet and source of energy through carbohydrates. Indeed, potatoes are very popular, therefore patenting them through genetic modification is highly lucrative.

Genetically modified potatoes are engineered to withstand bruising, viruses, fungi, and bugs. GE potatoes are also expected to exhibit low levels of acrylomide – a carcinogenic toxin produced by cooking potatoes. (Source: www.innatepotatoes.com)

J.R. Simplot is one of the largest suppliers of potatoes in the US. J.R. Simplot’s new generation of GMO potatoes is expected to be more marketable. It’s called “Innate.” In the Summer of 2014 about 400 acres worth of Simplot Innate GMO potatoes sold at Midwest and Southeast grocery stores.

Simplot aims to significantly increase it’s output of genetically engineered potatoes in 2017 by planting more than 6000 acres. These GMO potato varieties come from: Russet Burbank, Ranger Russet, Atlantic, and Snowden potato cultivars. (Source: USDA APHIS)

Genetically engineered potatoes don’t bruise or turn brown when cut, unlike non-gmo potatoes. GE potatoes will be marketed to grocery stores and restaurants due to their longer shelf life and “prettier” appearance. J.R. Simplot has been the main supplier of potatoes to McDonald’s. Even so, McDonald’s made a pledge that it won’t be buying Simplot’s Innate GMO potatoes.

Special Note: Potatoes, just like tomatoes are part of the Nightshade family. People who follow AIP (Autoimmune Protocol diet) or people with leaky gut tend to avoid members of the Nightshades, since they are thought to be irritating to the gut regardless of GMO status.

Different varieties of potatoes. Image credit: Scott Bauer, USDA ARS

How to Avoid GMO Potatoes?

1. Buy certified organic potatoes. The surest way to avoid the GMO potato is to make sure your potatoes are organic. Organic farming specifically prohibits use of GMOs. The other benefit is that your potatoes won’t be grown in artificial chemical concoctions of pesticides, herbicides, fungicides, bio-sludge, irradiation, and other unhealthy farming methods.
2. Avoid non-organic processed food with potato ingredients. This includes frozen meals with potatoes, powdered potatoes (including mashed potato powders), canned soups with potatoes, potato chips, etc.
3. Avoid Russet-looking potatoes when eating out. Unless the company or the food prep manager can tell you with 100% certainty that the potatoes they use are 100% non-gmo. This includes restaurants (big and small, fast and slow), deli departments, ready-made-meals at grocery and convenience stores, gas stations. The amount of Russet, Snowden, and Atlantic varieties of potatoes being GMO is increasing over time.
4. Switch to sweet potatoes. If organic potatoes are not available or the non-gmo potato status cannot be verified, opt-in for the sweet potatoes. Sweet potatoes are healthy and delicious. Currently there is no GMO sweet potato on the market. There are several varieties of sweet potatoes. They can be identified by their color on the inside such as the purple “Okinawa,” the orange sweet potato, the yam, and the white sweet potato. Our personal favorites are the purple and the orange organic sweet potato.
5. Switch to non-Russet potatoes. If organic potatoes or sweet potatoes are not available or the non-gmo potato status cannot be verified you can reduce your chances of bying GMO by getting potato varieties that haven’t been genetically modified. So, stay away from: Russet Burbank, Ranger Russet, Atlantic, and Snowden potato cultivars. These can be identified by light brown skin and off white inside.
6. Switch to other sources of non-gmo carbs. Potatoes are carbs. Carbs are required by our bodies for energy production. Too much or too little carbs is not good. Other sources of non-gmo carbs, other than the sweet potatoes mentioned above include: rice, carrots, pumpkin, beans, pasta, bread (if made with non-gmo ingredients) etc. Basically any carb or starch that’s not on our list of GMO Foods.
7. Grow your own! Gardening is fun, grounding, and connects us directly to what sustains us: our food, water, the Sun, nature. Potatoes are relatively easy to grow. There are techniques using barrels or large pots that allow you to really multiply the harvest substantially by adding more and more soil into the container as the potato grows. You can even go to a grocery store or farmers market to get your initial potato starters. Just make sure you start with fresh organic potatoes.

Organically grown Russet Burbanks potatoes. Please note: GMO version exists. Image credit: Steve Caruso

Blue Swede (non-gmo) purple potato variety. Image by Paebi

Earth Day 2017 is on Saturday, April 22. There will be lots of fun, family friendly Earth Day events in Hawaii to celebrate and raise the awareness of environmental preservation. We will be adding more events to this list, as information becomes available. If you know of an Earth Day event that’s not listed, please let us know and we will be happy to add it!

Oahu

Waikīkī Beach Clean-Up
Cost: FREE: Validated Self Parking at the Hyatt Regency for Beach Clean Up participants.
FREE Continental Breakfast provided
When: APRIL 22, 2017 Saturday 7am – 9am
Where: Meet at Dukeʻs Statue Kūhio Beach Park in Waikiki
More info

Mauna to Makai Earth Day at Waikiki Aquarium
Cost: FREE
When: Saturday, April 22, 9am-2pm (Free Admission!)
Location: The Waikiki Aquarium
Description: Guests will take part in interactive booths, entertainment and a variety of hands-on learning activities and displays that showcase preservation and protection of Hawaii’s environment. Among the activities will be a fish release and native plant giveaway. More info

VSH Earth Day Celebration
Cost: FREE
When: April 22, 1-6pm
Where: Banan
1810 University Ave.
Honolulu, HI
Description: Vegetarian Society of Hawaii event with lots of live music, t-shirt giveaways, special speakers/presentations, plant sale, delicious treats, fundraiser, and more. More info

Plant it Forward 2.0
Cost: $5 donation. Snacks and water provided.
When: Sat, April 22, 2017. 8:00 AM – 12:00 PM
Where: KEY Project
47-200 Waihee Road
Kaneohe, HI 96744
Description: Learn and Help Restore the Waihe‘e Lo‘i. Join us for our Earth Day service project torestore the Waihe‘e Lo‘i and learn about the history and importance the lo‘i plays in our current local culture.
More info: Society of Young Leaders

Earth Day After pARTy!
Cost: $10 donation
When: Sat, April 22, 2017, 6:00 PM – 10:00 PM
Where: Arts At Marks Garage
1159 Nuuanu Avenue
Honolulu, HI 96817
Join us for an engaging night of art, activism & environment gathered around the idea that we can create progressive positive change through passion, creativity & activated community! More info

Earth Day at the North Shore Country Market
Cost: FREE
When: Saturday, April 22 at 8 AM – 2 PM
Where: Sunset Beach Elementary School
59360 Kamehameha Hwy, Haleiwa, Hawaii 96712
Description: Live music, Yoga, community plant and seed swap. The market will have produce, flowers jewelry, art, kids clothes, succulents, jard drinks, healing ointments, photos, and much more. Everything is made in Hawaii. More info

Optimysstique Earth Day (North Shore)
Cost: Donation
When: Saturday, April 22. 10 AM – 9 PM
Where: YMCA Camp Erdman
Mokuleia Forest Reserve, 69-385 Farrington Hwy, Waialua, HI 96791
Description: Hosted by Optimysstique. Live music, djs, yoga, bodywork, clothing swap, seed swap, vendor village, and more. More info

Big Island (Hawaiʻi)

Earth Day 2017 Fair & Conservation Career Day
Cost: FREE
When: Friday, April 21^st, 2017 • 9am – 2pm
Where: University of Hawaiʻi at Hilo
200 W. Kāwili Street

Description: “2017 Earth Day celebration boasts educational videos, informational exhibits and science demonstrations, expert guest speakers, a food sustainability panel, environmental science skill-building workshops, marine touch-tanks, dance troupes, HICCUP Circus performance, hula, storytellers, face-painting, campus garden tours, an environmental career fair, unmanned aerial vehicle flight simulators, and many other engaging activities. Free plants, fruits, and other giveaways will be available throughout the day.” – Source: http://hilo.hawaii.edu/earthfair/

Maui

West Maui Greenway Earth Day 2017 Celebration
Cost: FREE
When: Saturday, April 22 at 9 AM – 4:30 PM
Where: Lahaina Civic Center
Phone: (808) 661-4685
Website: http://www.westmauigreenway.org/events.html

Description: First kick-off event to help raise awareness for the West Maui Greenway project, a proposed 25-mile, multi-use pathway along Maui’s Western shore. Lots of activities such as yoga, hula, keiki activities, arts, Greenway exploration rides, and music entertainment.

Canoe Plant Festival Celebrates National Farm-to-School Month

KALIHIWAI – On October 16th, 2016 Malama Kauai will host a Canoe Plant Festival gathering to celebrate National Farm-to-School Month and the fall harvest at their Community Farm in Kalihiwai Ridge from 10am to 5pm.

A wide variety of activities and workshops will be offered, including chef demonstrations and cooking workshops, as well as agriculture and growing-focused workshops, all centered around canoe plants, such as taro/kalo, coconut/niu, breadfruit/ulu, and others. There will also be music and vendors.

Adult tickets are $15 and those who purchase advanced tickets online will receive a special gift upon check-in at the event. Children 18 & under are free and there will be a variety of keiki activities offered.

The event is brought to you by Malama Kauai, a local nonprofit celebrating its 10-year anniversary of focusing on sustainability and food production issues for Kauai. Their programs include the 7-acre Community Farm that this event will be held at, as well as the Kauai School Garden Network, Hawaiian Charter School Food Program, Village Harvest Gleaning Project w/Kauai Master Gardeners, Kauai Ag Internship Program, and more.

This event is sponsored by Hawaii Tourism Authority, The County of Kauai, and KauaiFestivals.com. For more information on the event, including schedule of activities or to purchase tickets, visit www.MalamaKauai.org or call 828-0685 x12.

Mahalo!