It’s pretty much undisputed that Memorial Day kicks off summer.  When I think of summer, I think of the beach.  And who among us hasn’t encountered a horseshoe crab while strolling along the sand?  Especially if you’re hanging out along the East Coast.

I admit  I’ve always been a little fearful of those primitive crustaceans with their spear-like tail poking out of the sand, threatening to impale a barefoot beachcomber.  I’ve never fallen victim, but I know people who have. 

Horseshoe Crab: To be admired, not feared

While researching a story for this season’s All Things Connecticut (on CPTV), I recently learned that horseshoe crabs are not to be feared – unless of course you step on one – but rather respected.  In fact, they play a critical role in the pharmaceutical industry.   Horseshoe crabs  have a compound in their blood (which is a shocking shade of blue) that causes it to instantaneously clot in the presence of contaminants. This compound, which is called Limulus Amoebacyte Lysate or “LAL” for short, is used by every pharmaceutical company in the world to test for the presence of bacteria in their medicine and vaccines.  In fact, I was recently at Protein Sciences in Meriden, which manufactures the H1N1 Vaccine, where they were conducting “LAL” tests before releasing the vaccine to the public.  Quite amazing, really. 

But it’s how the  ”LAL” is extracted from the humble horseshoe crab that is truly eye-opening.  The unsuspecting creatures are pulled from their natural habitat, brought to the labs where “LAL” is synthesized,  drained of most of their exotic blood, and then tossed back into the wild.   Sink or swim.  While, the generally accepted statistic on survival rates after a “bleeding”  hovers at 10-percent, when you actually witness the proceedure,  that does seem a little dubious. 

Protecting people from tainted drugs – not the only medical miracle these primitive creatures perform:  the chitin in their shells is used for sutures and healing burns, and they’ve been involved in nobel prize winning eye research.  As one enamored horseshoe crab researcher affectionately told me, “Horseshoe crabs just keep on giving and giving and giving.” 

This researcher, Dr. Carmela Cuomo from University of New Haven, is in the midst of a major scientific breakthrough that will likely  ensure that we preserve this prized species despite their high demand.  After 10 years of diligent work, she managed to breed and raise the crabs in captivity,  keeping  them alive longer than any other scientist  in the world.   She generously gave me and my two sons  some “newborn” crabs to try to raise as pets at home, conducting our own little experiment.  They died within the week.  (Just another reminder of why I’m a journalist and not a scientist.)  But, under Dr. Cuomo’s  loving care,  her little beauties are well into their second year of life.  And, despite their teeny, tiny size, they are the spitting image of their spider-like parents.  If you want to see for yourself, check out my segment that is airing on CPTV’s All Things Connecticut by clicking here.

Moult Skins on the Beach

 Another tidbit of information on my new favorite sea creature:  when you see their shells littering the beach, don’t  mourn another untimely horsehoe crab death by bleeding.  Chances are, what you’ve stumbled upon is the empty shell of a crab who has merely outgrown his “crib.”  Just like the lobster, these guys moult and then move on.  I told you they were cool.

While we sit and wait and hope and pray the government’s “top down’” approach to fixing the economy-by bailing out banks and automakers-ultimately works, I wanted to share a grassroots approach to addressing the nation’s health care crisis, that, as far as I can tell, is already paying off. It’s the brainchild of the legendary actor and humanitarian Paul Newman, whom we lost last summer, and his partner, chef and food policy advocate Michel Nischan – easily one of the most dynamic and inspiring people I’ve ever met. The Newman-Nischan team partnered with local farmers in Connecticut to bring fresh, seasonable, locally grown food to patrons at The Dressing Room, Nischan’s restaurant. Now, their Wholesome Wave Foundation has taken this effort to a whole new level.

The mission behind Wholesome Wave is simple: everyone deserves to eat locally grown,  healthy, sustainable food. Let’s face it, produce is expensive. It costs a lot more money to eat foods that nourish you instead of fare that is overly processed and mass produced. For those on a tight budget (senior citzens, families on state assistance), eating sustainably can be out of the question because food dollars stretch further by buying inexpensive, and oftentimes, less healthy, food.   So the Wholesome Wave Foundation, under the direction of Michel Nischan, (its President and CEO), has created a way to get healthy food into underserved, vulnerable neighborhoods and make it much more affordable.  Nischan created a Double Value Coupon Program , raising money through private foundations, that doubles the value of food assistance checks (for seniors, families, and the W.I.C. – Women, Infants, Children) used to purchase fresh fruits and vegetables at farmers’ markets in or near their neighborhoods.  This does not cost taxpayers any additional money; it simply stretches the value of an existing program.  This initiative is currently underway at farmers’ markets in Bridgeport, Connecticut, Holyoke, Massachusetts, Atlanta,  D.C., and five other states.  True Environmental Justice!

Michel Nischan Shares Nature's Bounty

I went to the Park City Harvest farmers’ market, stationed conveniently outside Brigeport’s health department (where people receive those food assistance checks) and was overwhelmed at the sheer brilliance of the idea.  It couldn’t be easier for people to eat healthy because now they could literally walk 50 yards, cash their checks for double the value, and use the tokens to buy fresh produce for their family.  One lovely woman, who was carrying her beautiful daughter Grace told me that she has four kids, some with food allergies, and it is extremely difficult to stretch the food budget to include fruits and vegetables, even though she knows her kids need this to avoid getting sick.  With this program, she can now afford to buy more of the good stuff for her kids. 

Park City Harvest regularly brings in about $2,500 when it runs the farmers’ markets on Wednesdays.  There’s nobody more pumped about this than Bridgeport’s Health Director Dr. Marian Evans, who says obesity is a major health issue among her clients; providing them with healthy nutrition right at their doorstep, at very affordable prices, galvanizes her mission.  She’s also been offering cooking demonstrations for her clients and she’s working on ways to keep the farmers’ market open during the off-season.  Michel Nischan and Bridgeport Mayor Bill Finch have even bigger plans: they’re working with University of Connecticut to turn some of the city’s acres of brownfields into community farms.  That’s next year’s goal.

When I asked Nischan how he thought his buddy Paul Newman would view the scene of a bustling farmers’ market in the heart of Bridgeport, he choked up when he told me that these were the kinds of things that moved Paul: “He just wants everbody to have an opportunity to have a bite at the same sandwich.”  

You can watch my interview with Michel Nischan in one of my Treading Lightly segments in the upcoming season of All Things Connecticut.  I’ll keep you posted when it airs!

I spent a morning talking seafood with Tom Neal at Whole Foods in West Hartford, Connecticut.  Specifically, sustainable seafood and how do we ensure that we’re able to enjoy oysters, lobsters, clams well into the future.  This is a real concern of mine, given all the reports of overfishing, especially here in New England where I’ve spent my whole life (save my college years in North Carolina and some time in the 90s in upstate New York as a TV reporter)

I’ve grown up eating just about everything from the ocean – and I mean EVERYTHING!  Like, fried smelts (apparently a favorite in Italian families).  And, how about this? Periwinkles (almost a little embarrassed to admit this).  These are snails – but let me assure you, they’re not French prepared escargot!  In fact, if my kids knew this, they would be totally grossed out.  You would steam them, then use a needle to remove the membrane and, voila, consume your “catch.”  Shrek-food comes to mind here.

Periwinkle - good eatin'!

When I go out to dinner, I exclusively choose seafood as my entree.  I ate my first Lobster Savanah at Boston’s Pier 4 when I was 10.  It was enormous and I devoured the entire meal.  Now you get the picture.  But, I think it’s important to acknowledge that there are some fish and shellfish we just shouldn’t be eating.  For a piece I’m working on for an upcoming “From the Green Files” segment, I’ve done some research on Seafood Watch, which has really taken the most hard line stance on what seafood we should avoid to best preserve the oceans.  The organization also weighs in on farm-raised fish.  I was devastated to see that one of my all time favorites, Atlantic Cod, is on their “AVOID” list.  Yikes.  I’m always ordering that.  I should mention they do specify how the fish is caught and what is the country of origin.  So for example, it’s not recommended to eat Haddock that’s trawled (that involves dragging a huge net along the ocean’s floor, which results in lots of  unintended, innocent, dead fish being thrown back into the ocean ), but it’s okay to eat Haddock that’s been caught via hook and line. As you can imagine, Seafood Watch is not hugely popular among many who catch and sell fish for a living.  And we here in New England do not want to put our hard-working fishermen and fisherwomen out of work.  Not to mention push “Deadliest Catch” off the air!  So how do you strike a healthy balance????  Well, I definitely think Whole Foods has got it right.  They do not view Seafood Watch as gospel.  They sell farmed salmon, despite SW’s “Avoid” recommendation.  That’s because they’ve sent their own specialists out to investigate the farming practices and the impact on the environment.  They also sell Atlantic Cod.  Yes.  Because their research indicates that  quotas imposed on fishing that species have replenished the stock.  But you’ll only find lobsters in their Portland, Maine store.  Whole Foods stopped selling them everywhere else a few years ago because the store felt the storage of the live crustaceans was inhumane:  They were kept in small, dark  tanks for months before they were sold.  That’s pretty hardline but it makes sense.

Seafood Watch pocket guide

So, what to do?  Well, I’ve printed out my own copy of the Seafood Watch guide, which you can pull of  SW’s site.  And, I’ll be making “greener” choices:  no more Blue Fin Tuna (considered the “posterchild” of overfishing by the Marine Stewardship Council and worldwide  fishing organizations), Orange Roughy, or trawled Haddock for me.  Print out your own Seafood Watch pocket guide.  When ordering seafood, ask where it comes from.  You should be able to see the country of origin at your local fishmongers.  They’re required by U.S. law to post that information. And you can rest easy, smelts and periwinkles are not on the “Avoid” list….so enjoy!

It’s true – in the future, you may actual gas up with a fuel that comes from seaweed or microscopic organisms that float in the ocean.  University of New Haven is in the midst of a research project that is pulling algae from Long Island Sound to test its potential to be turned into a biofuel.  I spent a day at sea with lead researcher and marine biologist Dr. Carmela Cuomo, her grad students, and a group of high school students who attend marine-focused high schools along Connecticut’s shoreline.  They’ve been pulling samples from the Sound, feeding them nutrients in their lab to create “super algae,” and testing them to see which would make the best biofuel. 

Dr. Carmela Cuomo analyzes algae data

Biofuels are created from lipids – the fat content – that are present in the algae (and any other fuel “source” – think corn, switch grass, kelp- all being tested in various labs across the country).  The lipids are extracted, then treated and turned into a fuel that could be used with a diesel engine.  Very cool.  And it all really makes sense.  Especially when you consider that the petroleum we drill for in the sea is actually made from ancient algae (or phytoplankton) that’s calcified over thousands of centuries.  In the words of Dr. Cuomo, with this project, “we’re just short-circuiting the process.”  Cuomo and crew will be pulling samples from the Sound through the end of the summer.   They will determine this Fall which algae is more productive as a biofuel.
You can watch the story in my Treading Lightly report.

Treading Lightly on CPTV's All Things Connecticut

In my research for the Treading Lightly segments on All Things Connecticut, my final piece featured a Fairfield medical practice that offers Ayurvedic Medicine. This is an ancient form of medicine founded in India. It falls under the umbrella of Naturopathy – an alternative form of medicine that relies on natural remedies and the body’s ability to heal itself (no synthetic drugs here). The Institute of Ayurvedic and Naturopathic Therapies is run by two doctors, who also happen to be married. The Drs. Kaushik have the only practice of its kind in Connecticut and is one of only a dozen nationwide. They say clientele is growing – they’re seeing people who travel from as far away as New Jersey and Maine.

The basic principle of Ayurveda, which means the science of life, is that there are essentially three body types: vata (people who are thin and hyperactive), pita (people who are medium built and energetic), and kapha (people who tend to be overweight and sluggish). These body types dictate the diet and exercise program that works best to restore and maintain optimum health. So there’s an emphasis on nutrition as well as eliminating the toxins that build up in a person’s system – the result of stress. Some of the therapies offered include saunas, enemas, and an ancient oil drip that involves warm oil being poured on the head (this looked like some form of Chinese water torture to me, but the woman undergoing the therapy swears by it).

While I was there, I met two patients who have spent years on maintenance medication and were just fed up with how those synthetic drugs impacted their moods and energy levels. With the acknowledgment of their traditional medical doctors, they embarked on a program to wean themselves off the drugs. Both say they enjoy the natural approach to medicine that the Institute offers.

Let me be perfectly clear here, no one is advocating the denial of Western medicine when there’s an emergency or a required surgery. Ayurvedic Medicine focuses on maintaining a general level of wellness so instead of relying on outside medication, it teaches people non-invasive, non-toxic ways to heal themselves. It also stresses the mind-body connection when it comes to chronic illnesses. And really, who can deny the fact that a positive outlook wields instrinsic healing powers?

In the words of one of the patients at the practice the day I was there, Eastern medicine counts its successes in thousands of years…modern medicine dates back to the 17th Century.
You can watch my story by clicking on the following link: http://www.cptv2.org/allthingsct/treading-lightly/institute-ayurvedic-and-naturopathic-treatments