SP
EC
IAL
IS
SU
EHealth andFitness 2015
JANUARY 22-28, 2015 WWW.MONTEREYCOUNTYWEEKLY.COM LOCAL & INDEPENDENT
NEWS Revealing the school district with the most bullies in the county. 17
CULTURE Latino MacArthur Fellows gather in Seaside to rally kids. 46
Bill Monning introduces controversial assisted suicide bill. 14
gyrotonicscryotherapycounting stepshealthy skepticismholy mackerel andthe amazing tale of one man’s insanely healthy lifesaving diet
ENTER THEJAZZERMAN+
Health & Fitness2015
PRINT | WEB | MOBILE
FOR MORE INFO: 831-394-5656www.mcweekly.com/marketing
PUBLISHESJuly 23, 2015
AD DEADLINEJuly 16, 2015
RESOLVE TO GETYOUR MESSAGE OUTWe don’t have just random 90,000
weekly readers, we have infl uential,
and knowledgeable readers, who
people look to for advice.
Who is your dermatologist?
Which vein specialist do you use?
I need a new dentist - who do you see?
Where did you get those glasses?
Where are you taking those fun
dance classes?
I really need new running shoes -
where can I fi nd the best?
Let us help you get your name
to the tip of their tongues.
HEALTH & FITNESS
baby velociraptor skeleton is mounted on my desk—at least, that’s what it looks like in peripheral vision. Really it’s an Ergotron Workfit-S, the sit-stand station I installed in my home
office to mitigate chronic shoulder and neck pain, not to mention the slow poste-rior puddling I’ve dubbed “office butt.”
When I floated the idea of an adjust-able computer station at a work meeting, just about everyone at the table echoed, “I want one too.” And when I put it out on Facebook a half-dozen friends comment-ed on their own sit-stand setups, from fancy models retailing in the thousands to DIY hacks for under $100. My cousin, a digital artist, messaged pics of his own hack: He just propped one monitor on his dresser and another on his desk.
“Ergonomics is the hot word for fur-niture these days, kind of like organic is with produce,” says Frederick De Young, a workplace consultant for Peninsula Business Interiors in Salinas. “There’s been a huge explosion in demand and use, whereas before it wasn’t a thought in people’s heads.”
Kristi Markey, County Supervisor Jane Parker’s chief of staff, invested in a sit-stand arrangement to alleviate lower back pain after working desk jobs for 25 years. She says an anti-fatigue mat—something thick and squishy to stand on—is also key when she’s on her feet. “If I stand about three or four hours out of the workday, I feel a lot better,” she says. “I don’t need to take any Aleve.”
De Young sold the county a Walkstation installed at 168 W. Alisal for open employ-ee use. The retail price is $4,599, but the county’s is a discounted model—and he
says it’ll pay itself back quickly.Groups including the American
Medical Association, the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the American Cancer Society identify major health risks of remaining static during the work day. De Young says changing positions every hour or so results in better general health, fewer workers’ compensation and health claims, higher alertness and increased produc-tivity—good returns on an employer’s investment.
Among the sit-stand options sold by Peninsula Business Interiors: height-adjustable desks, Walkstations with treadmills, electric models that change positions with the push of a button and pneumatic designs that shift with the pull of a paddle.
The company doesn’t, however, carry Ergotrons like the one I just bought for $250 on eBay. (It retails for closer to $400.) They’re too clunky, De Young says: “You feel like if you make any sudden movements it’ll attack you.”
Fair enough, especially considering my home office doubles as my bedroom. But if it means less shoulder pain and a longer lifespan, I’ll take the velociraptor nightmares.
Sit-down desks are so over. Here’s why.By Kera Abraham
Stand and Deliver
AP�ninsula Busin�ss Int�rior arrang�d forCounty of Mont�r�y of fic�s to r�c�iv� andus� a stan�-up Walkstation.
NIC
CO
UR
Y
2� MONTEREY COUNTY WEEKLY JANUARY 16-22, 2014 www�����e�e����wee� ���
Store Hours are 9AM - 9pm, Mon - Sat, and 10AM - 7pm on Sundays and Holidays ... Advertised
items are subject to stock on hand ... Call us at 1-888-344-9500 or Visit us at theOutdoorWorld.com
SANTA CRUZ136 River St
(near Pacifi c Ave)
831/423-9555
CAPITOLA1440 41st Ave
(in 4 Star Center)
831/479-1501
SEASIDE1130 Fremont Blvd
(near Canyon Del Rey)
831/373-3615
Store Ad Prices, now being listed
at our website, are effective 3 Days Only!THU
16FRI
17SAT
18January
2013
for over
35 years!
b i li t db i li t d THU FRI SATJJ
Lots More Great Outdoor Gear is on Sale EverySunday and Thursday Now Posted on Our Website at
theOutdoorWorld.comStore Ad PricesStore Ad Prices
SSSSSSu
Winter ClothingMen’s & Women’s
long sleeve shirts, sweat-
shirts, fl eece, hoodies,
sweaters, vests, and jack-
ets are on Sale!(World Famous,
Maxxsel, 10,000 Feet
Above, I5, Oscar Sports,
Sportcaster, Stillwater Supply, Ava-
lanche, Nina Capri, Blue Stream
Outdoors, Holstark, Burnside,
North 15, American Wear, Wintery
Dream, PJNY, Oscar Jeans, Bot-
toms Up, Alaska
Wilderness,
Game Time, 6th
Man, All Pro)70%ff
Men’s,
Women’s,
and Youth, Outdoor, Indoor, Bas-
ketballs, Footballs, Soccer Balls,
Volleyballs are on
Game Balls
20%ff
Long-lasting comfort in
every stitch, every
pattern, and
every detail
Slippers
40%ff
for ove
35 year5
W Ba
GetOutdoors&Save!
Men’s & Women’sMen’s
Winter ClothingM ’ & W ’
Game Slippers
on Great Gear from
The Monterey Ski and Social Club IS NOT just a great ski club! We ARE:
Over 110 active, fun-loving skiers and non-skiers having year-round adventures!
Couples and singles meeting since August 1995.
A non-profi t, civic-minded Club that gives back to our world-class community.
Monterey Ski and Social ClubReal Fun. Real People. All Year.
Prospective New Member’s NightWednesday, Jan. 22, 6-7:30pm$10 includes Appetizers, Beverages & Fun Raffl e
Please call to RSVP and for restaurant location in mid-Carmel Valley.
Greg 831.582.9303 or [email protected]
Come learn about our club and upcoming ski trips to Snow Basin, Utah and Squaw Valley.Don’t Ski? That’s OK! We have many social activities to suit a variety of interests.
2 MONTEREY COUNTY WEEKLY JANUARY 16-22, 2014
(near Pacifi c Ave)
1440 41st Ave
3 Days Only!3 Days Only!3 Days Only!3 Days Only!3 Days Only!3 Days Only!3 Days Only!3 Days Only!3 Days Only!3 Days Only!3 Days Only!
toms Up, Alaska
Man, All Pro)ff ff
M ’ & W ’
club! We ARE:$10 includes Appetizers,
Squaw Valley.
’ve always understood an organic farm is a magical place,” Maria Rodale says. “It is amaz-ing and beautiful and delicious and utopian.”
Rodale, this year’s closing speaker at the
EcoFarm Conference at Asilomar, knows a thing or two about organic farming: Her grandfather, J.I. Rodale, was an organic pioneer in the years following World War II. The shortage of nitrogen fertilizer in the war years revealed how nutrient-poor the nation’s soil had become, and in 1947 he founded the Soil and Health Foundation, which was dedicated to developing organic methods to rebuild soil fertility in a time when chemicals were seen as cutting edge.
“My grandfather got made fun of and ridiculed by scientists and the medical establishment,” Rodale says. “They said there was no proof [organic farming] works.” When J.I. passed away in 1971, his son Robert (Maria’s father) “became determined to prove or disprove it.”
Robert bought a 333-acre farm in Pennsylvania and established the Rodale Institute (which Maria now co-chairs). In 1981, he launched one of the most impor-tant experiments in the history of modern organic farming: the Farming Systems Trial (FST), in which he divided his land into plots of organic and conventional and farmed them side by side, tracking yields and cost. Robert died in a car acci-dent in 1990, but his desire to cement his father’s legacy has been since realized. FST, the longest-running trial in America of its kind, has produced incontrovertible revelations about organic farming.
Among the findings: Organic yields match conventional yields, and beat them
in years of drought or flood. They are also more profitable, and use 45-percent less energy. “One of the main reasons is the microbial life in the soil,” Rodale says. “That helps in absorbing water, making plants healthier, enabling bigger root sys-tems and even storing carbon.”
Still, Rodale acknowledges the chal-lenges farmers face when looking to transition to organic, and even for organic farmers who’ve been at it for years. “The traditional farmer is very plugged into their local chemical dealer. To be a really good organic farmer, you have to think for yourself, and you have to be very attuned to what’s going in your environment,” Rodale says. “There’s no one box solution that’s gonna fix all your problems.”
Providing solutions to the many chal-lenges facing organic farmers is what EcoFarm is all about. Though this year marks the first time Rodale will attend, it’s long been on her radar. “I remember
my father going, and when I saw the pro-gram I thought, ‘This going to be fun!’ I’m really looking forward to it.”
This year’s lineup—featuring 80 work-shops and discussions—is also highlighted by Temple Grandin, a doctor of animal sci-ence who has revolutionized the philoso-phy for handling livestock on American farms. The range of other wholesome subjects that EcoFarm covers could hard-ly be wider, including raw milk, young farmer education, nutrient management, GMOs, urban permaculture, slow money (see p. 12), dry farming and more.
That variety speaks to what Rodale considers a bedrock principle of organic farming: the interconnectedness of nature. “Organic farming strives for a natural healthy balance,” Rodale says. “If you have that balance, you don’t need to kill the weeds in the same way. You get birds, bats. In balance, everything takes care of itself.
“When there’s healthy microbes in the soil, the whole farm is healthy,” she adds. “Think about your own health. It’s a holistic process. A chemical system is like a sick person who’s taking more drugs.”
And though the chemical system of ag is still entrenched as the norm, Rodale has hope that organic farming will even-tually reclaim the term “conventional.”
“I’m incredibly optimistic,” she says. “When you see how far we’ve come in 60 years it’s pretty amazing. I think the hard-est part is behind us. A lot of the evidence is there for the health benefit and the envi-ronmental benefit. It’s now about people using their own economic and political power to take it the rest of the way.”
One thing she’d like to see more of is research on GMOs that is not funded by the companies that manufacture them. The Rodale Institute grows GMO crops
on her father’s FST conventional plots because they are the best performing of conventional crops. But like many organic activists, she has reservations.
“My concern is that these have been widely released into the universe with-out testing in health on humans or ani-mals,” she says. “You’re not allowed to do research because of the patent process in a lot of cases. There’s a tight rein on what research can be done, and not a lot of uni-versities want to stick their neck out.”
But frustration with the power of chemical companies has ultimately taught Rodale a valuable lesson: Instead of trying to fight them head on, undo them by spreading organic wisdom.
“How many petitions have we all signed online against Monsanto and it doesn’t make a dent?” she says. “The number one thing that changes minds is when [conventional farmers] see an organic farm that works. We have to get out of our comfort zone and meet people who are not [organic farmers] and tell them ‘It’s wonderful, it’s healthy, you’re going to be OK.’”
In a country where chemicals have long been used to keep pesky nature in check, whether in the form of pesticides, herbicides, or even hand sanitizer, that struggle—shifting the paradigm to organ-ics, towards reestablishing a balance with nature—is sure to be hard-fought. But it’s one Rodale is happy to be a part of.
“It’s like a friendly revolution,” she says.
The 34th annual EcoFarm Conference takes place
Jan. 22-25 at Asilomar Conference Grounds in Pacific Grove.
Register by Jan. 17 (and learn much more) at www.eco-
farm2014.org.
HEALTH & FITNESS
Movement maven and EcoFarm linchpin Maria Rodale separates real natural growing progress from holistic hype. By David Schmalz
"I
Organic Progress
MA
TT
RA
IN
EY
RO
DA
LE
IN
ST
IT
UT
E
Maria Rodale, a third-generation organic
farmer, says, “There’s no such thing as a
problem-free farm. It’s just a matter of how
you outwit and work with nature.”
The Rodale Institute’s
farming trials found that
organically-farmed plots
produce equivalent yields
to their conventional
counterparts, and perform
better in drought and flood.
22 MONTEREY COUNTY WEEKLY JANUARY 16-22, 2014 www.montereycountyweekly.com
���.montereycountyweekly.com JANUARY 16-22, 2014 MONTEREY COUNTY WEEKLY 21
For class times call 372-KICK or visitwww.americankaratemonterey.com
182 Country Club Gate Plaza, Pacific GroveCheck out our brand new location!
The workout that packs a
punch!
Cardio Kickboxing
Free trial week
$75
3 MonthsUnlimited
WINNING WHEELS BICYCLE SHOP318 Grand Avenue • Pacifi c Grove • 375.4322
Open Tues-Fri 10am-6pm • Sat 10am-5pm • Closed Sun & Mon
"The Locals Bike Shop”
’12
BEST
BICYCLE
SHOP
Wherever you’regoing...We will get you there!
• Road Bikes• Commuter/
Hybrid Bikes• Mountain Bikes• Women’s Bikes• Kids Bikes• Clothing & Accessories• Parts & Repairs