I love to grow my own food. And I am a mostly vegan. So this article really made me smile.

Long Live Microbiomes!Nourishing microbial communities both inside our bodies and on our farms could be crucial to the health of humans and the planet we live onblogs.scientificamerican.com

Lots of great information and worrisome details about what is happening to our food supply.

"Food writer Mark Bittman has argued that because food is defined as “a substance that provides nutrition and promotes growth” and poison is a substance “that promotes illness,” then “much of what is produced by industrial agriculture is, quite literally, not food but poison.” While that may be an extreme statement, our food system is arguably at risk for several reasons, including the increasing use of herbicides and pesticides; the rise of genetically modified organisms (GMOs); and climate change."

The author makes a great case for growing organically and keeping our microbiomes healthy.

I believe the discovery of the microbiome and its health effects is the greatest advance in nutritional science of the last decade. It's pretty simple, really: the bacteria that make up the microbiome feed off the fiber in food and they're killed by antibiotics. The best thing we can do is eat food that has fiber and avoid antibiotics when we can (not always possible).

This talk is astounding:

I read somewhere that taking antibiotics is like swallowing a hand grenade. Yeah, it will kill the bad guys, but lots of good guys will get wiped out, too. That is not to say that antibiotics are bad per se (sometimes you really need to be brutal with bad guys), but to be very careful about when you want to use them.

And, also, anti-bacterial this and that... Thanks, but no. I just want to wash myself, not to commit a bacterial genocide in the process. :-)

And, also, anti-bacterial this and that... Thanks, but no. I just want to wash myself

Studies seem to show friction and water, maybe some soap is more effective than anything, including hand sanitizers and UV radiation.

Hand sanitizer shown less effective than hand washing against fluThe problem appears to be a mucus barrier that takes awhile to overcome.www.cidrap.umn.edu