March, 2014 - Running The Country

As far as David’s concerned, the best part of Albuquerque was leaving it. But that’s to be expected from a true blue Sitkan. David’s opinion aside, Albuquerque’s got a lot of great stuff, most of which we didn’t get to see.

Was great catching up with former SEARHC colleagues, Melody and Anita, at Sweet Tomatoes restaurant.

And was also great visiting Los Poblanos, an organic lavender farm. We interviewed Kyle, the lead farmer, and a few of his co-workers, regarding their work and thoughts on GMOs. Kudos to the people of Los Poblanos for the important work they’re doing.

We didn’t get to our starting point for the day’s run until 3:20 pm, a record late start. A few miles into our run, a man stopped and said he had a bunch of GMO food in the back of his car if we were interested. (Mike was joking with us. He later told David beer and pizza was on the dinner menu.) The man’s name is Mike and, as good fortune would have it, Mike and his wife, Susan, were hosting us at their home for the evening outside of Sedillo. Mike offered to pick up David and me after our run. Wonderful offer because Kris had so much to do in Albuquerque that she and Olivia did not arrive at Mike and Susan’s home until nearly 10 pm.

After our run, Mike drove us home and we met Susan and enjoyed an awesome vegan “goulash.” Mike and Susan were gracious with our late arrival and supportive of our run and mission. The next morning, they gave us a tour of their place and shared more stories they’ve accumulated over the years. As if that wasn’t enough, they also made a generous donation! We enjoyed our time so much with them that driving away was difficult.

Now we’re either running the frontage road beside I-40 or, when there isn’t a frontage road, we’re running I-40. Not necessarily “fun” but it’s a straight shot toward our goal of running across the USA.

I picked up new shoes at ABQ Running Shop in Albuquerque which helps, and David’s got new blisters which doesn’t.

We completed our final mile today—mile 23—with a 7:12 pace. Not smart to risk injury, but wow! It felt good to pick up the pace and run after putting in so many miles at putt-putt pace.

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Brett and his 15-year old son, David, are currently running from coast to America coast promoting a GMO-Free USA. Brett and David blog at RunningTheCountry.com. Support their run and mission at RunningTheCountry.com/donate.

We facilitated GMO Free USA discussions in both Gallup and Albuquerque. Following are the recorded videos. Thanks to everyone who arranged and attended these discussions.

** Please note. I incorrectly stated in the Gallup discussion that Steven Marsh’s organic canola crop was contaminated by his neighbor’s GMO canola. Luan Van Le, the Development & Communications Director with GMO Free USA, offered the following correction and information about Baker Creek Heirloom Seeds:

“Steve Marsh is actually an organic oats and wheat farmer. His oats were contaminated by his neighbor’s (Michael Baxter) canola. In Australia, they have a 0% contamination policy for their organic certification. Any contamination of any organic field by any GMO crop is considered contamination. In this case, GMO canola harvested seed heads blew into Marsh’s oat field.

“Baker Creek Heirloom Seed Company tests their seeds for genetic purity. Although they’re on a large list of those that have taken the Safe Seed Pledge, they’re the only company that we know of (there could be more, but we don’t know of any others personally) that tests their seeds. That’s also one of the reasons that Baker Creek is always the first company that we recommend when people ask about seed companies.”

Thank you, Luan, and thank you GMO Free USA for your ongoing efforts to share accurate, up-to-date information about the harms associated with GMO agribusiness.

Month: March 2014

Mike and Susan To The Rescue

Gallup and Albuquerque Recorded GMO Free USA Presentations