Food, Inc.

How do we meet our needs for clean, healthy food? Having just seen the movie, Food, Inc., it's not that easy anymore. With the growth of the world's population, and the consolidation of that population into cities, agriculture has become big business that taxes the very fabric of life. Plants and animals were not meant to be manipulated into ever higher yields and rapid growth curves; doing so has stressed the system and put our health at risk.

Proponents of agribusiness would argue that this system is the only way to feed the world. Huge, consolidated, high-consuming populations require huge, consolidated, high-yield farming, feeding, and slaughtering operations. That represents what I once called the Planetary Predicament: what's good for individuals and local communities may not produce enough calories to feed 6.5 billion people (let alone the predicted 9.5 billion people by 2050).

Others disagree, however, arguing that huge, consolidated, high-yield farming, feeding, and slaughtering operations may collapse under the weight of disease and detritus. Nature has its ways, and the jury is out as to our long-term ability to go against the grain. Such concerns argue for a more local, distributed, and sustainable approach to the consumption and production of food. If you share that concern, here are ten simple things you can do to make our food system more fair according to Takepart.com:

1. Stop drinking sodas and other sweetened beverages.
2. Eat at home instead of eating out.
3. Support the passage of laws requiring chain restaurants to post calorie information on menus and menu boards.
4. Tell schools to stop selling sodas, junk food, and sports drinks.
5. Meatless Mondays -- Go without meat one day a week.
6. Buy organic or sustainable food with little or no pesticides.
7. Protect family farms; visit your local farmer's market.
8. Make a point to know where your food comes from -- READ LABELS.
9. Tell your government that food safety is important to you.
10. Demand job protections for farm workers and food processors, ensuring fair wages and other protections.

Coaching Inquiries: What concerns do you have about the food you eat and the liquids you drink? What would you be willing to do to make our food system more fair? Who could join you in the cause? How could you act together to make life better for all?

We invite you to Contact Us using our Feedback Form if you are interested in learning more about LifeTrek Coaching or participating in our Evocative Coach Training Program.

Evocative Coaching Book Contents Unveiled!

We've just posted the cover, coaching model, and table of contents to our new book, Evocative Coaching: Transforming Schools One Conversation at a Time. You can view these materials by visiting our companion website, http://www.evocativecoaching.com/, or going directly to the PDF file.

The book will be in bookstores in July, and can be pre-ordered today through Amazon and other online book sellers. The book forms the basis of a 12-week coach training program, launching in September, that is ideal for anyone concerned about or tasked with the responsibility for improving the performance of teachers in schools. That includes school leaders, instructional coaches, teachers, and other professional educators. The program can also be helpful to those coaching in other organizational settings.

By learning the art of Story Listening, Expressing Empathy, Appreciative Inquiry, and Design Thinking, we become better able to find our voice and design approaches that work. When we shift awareness and structure conversations using the Evocative Coaching model, new possibilities emerge for enlivening performance improvement and learning conversations. Whether you want to do that for yourself or to help others, this enjoyable and fast-paced training program can make a real difference. We invite you to give it a try. Find out more...

Nurture Planet Earth

Laser Provision: This truth applies to one and all: we are duty bound to protect and nurture planet earth. Buckminster Fuller long ago challenged us to "do more with less" if we hope to keep this "spaceship earth" in good working order. Others have recognized the need to develop sustainable energy economies and environmental practices. From the micro level of our individual decisions to the macro level of our global policies, our planet is straining under the weight of over-consumption and over-production. Can we do better? This Provision suggests we can and argues we must. Read full article...

Coaching Inquiries: How would you evaluate your "green" consciousness? What is one thing you do to help conserve energy, preserve the environment, and/or advance "green" policies? How can you take a few more steps in the right direction? Who could become your partner in nurturing planet earth?

To reply to this Provision, use our Feedback Form. To talk with us about coaching or consulting services for yourself or your organization, use our Contact for Coaching Form to arrange for a complimentary conversation.

Go Green! Newsletter

It's not often that I feature a government website in LifeTrek Provisions, but given today's topic it's hard to ignore the Go Green! resources through the United States Environmental Protection Agency. Their Monthly Newsletters are archived since they started publishing in July 2007. Recent topics include:

• Turn off the tap while brushing your teeth
• Recycle your tree
• Build a Watersense home!
• Heat from the ground up!
• Pick 5 for the Environment
• eCycle your old computers
• Buy or switch to energy efficient lighting
• Prevent poisoning in your home
• Allow grass clippings to stay on the lawn

You can easily subscribe to the monthly newsletter by email, and I encourage you to do so as a simple way to increase your awareness of green strategies for nurturing planet earth.

Coaching Inquiries: What helps you to become more environmentally conscious? What little things can you do to make a big difference? Who do you know who sets the pace and serves as a positive role model for environmental awareness and action?

We invite you to contact us using our Feedback Form if you are interested in learning more about LifeTrek Coaching or participating in our Evocative Coach Training Program.

Nurture Well Being

Laser Provision: Today's Provision tells a story of hard work, exhaustion, and recovery with a surprising twist at the end. It's not a story I copied from the Internet. It's my story, and I hope you will find it both interesting and instructive. Only one set of those Ten New Commandments that I introduced last December talk about the importance of looking after the well-being of mind and body. The others are big on caring for children, orphans, parents, families, neighbors, friends, other living things, and the world in general. Apart from healthy rhythms of self-care, however, our caring for others will come up short. If you've been meaning to get around to taking some time for yourself, then perhaps my story will give you a little push to get started sooner rather than later. Read Entire Article...

Coaching Inquiries: What assists you to recover from the stresses and strains of life? How often do you put yourself first, and how often do you sacrifice yourself on the altar of busyness? How would you describe your rhythms, in small, medium, and long chunks? What and who could assist you to make your rhythms more regular and consistent? What's stopping you from taking a break, right now?

To talk with us about coaching or consulting services for yourself or your organization, use our Contact for Coaching Form to arrange for a complimentary conversation.

Running Barefoot?

I'm not there myself, but there is growing research and debate regarding the biomechanics of running shoes and barefoot running. No one can argue with the fact that running shoes are a pretty recent invention in the grand sweep of human evolution. People have been running barefoot for most of the past 2 million years. The question, then, is whether or not running shoes represent a step forward or a step back in human evolution. In other words, do running shoes do more harm than good?

Fortunately, that question can be researched. In Kenya, which produces many of the world's great marathoners, barefoot running is the norm. Research indicates their biomechanics are different and they suffer fewer injuries than their many equally-fit competitors who run in shoes. Shoes produce more of a heel strike and more of an overall impact shock to the body.

Heel striking is apparently a more efficient way to walk than to run. And many runners just can't imagine giving up their shoes. So there's no definitive, one-size-fits-all recommendation. Yet the proponents are filled with passion, watch video, and many shoe companies are now making shoes designed to simulate barefoot running.

The most extreme is Vibram Five Fingers, which is essentially a rubber glove for your foot. It protects against debris and dangers without changing the biomechanics of running barefoot. The Nike Free 5.0 is less extreme, with a little more padding and still calling for a sock, while its flexible sole seeks to emulate the freedom of barefoot running.

I've been running in the Nike Free for the past month and it is fast becoming my favorite running shoe. It's funny how less can be more. If you give it a try, let me know what you think.

Coaching Inquiries: What helps you to have fun and run injury free? When was the last time you went out to a park or meadow, took off your shoes and socks, and went for a barefoot walk or run? What helps you feel like a kid again? How can you cultivate more spring in your step for life?

We invite you to contact us using our Feedback Form if you are interested in learning more about LifeTrek Coaching or participating in our Evocative Coach Training Program.

Nurture Children

I'm surprised that only two lists of The Ten New Commandments urge us to protect and nurture children as a guideline for living. If not us, who? If not now, when? Throughout history children have been abused and exploited for the gain, benefit, and sadistic pleasure of adults. Although the world community has clearly condemned such violations and inhumanity, problems continue to this very day. That's why it's important to support organizations like UNICEF. And that's also why it's important to pay attention to our own attitudes and approaches when it comes to children. I say we put the needs of children first. What about you? Read Entire Article...

Coaching Inquiries: Who are the children in your life who need to be protected and nurtured? How can you reach out in ways that help them to become more fully alive? What kind of support are you able to offer? Why not make some child's day today?

To talk with us about coaching or consulting services for yourself or your organization, use the Contact for Coaching Form to arrange for a complimentary conversation.

Support UNICEF

I don't know about you, but one of my long-time charities has been the United Nations Children's Fund otherwise known as UNICEF. Created by the United Nations General Assembly in 1946 to provide emergency food and healthcare to children in countries that had been devastated by World War II, UNICEF has grown into a permanent part of the United Nations system, providing long-term humanitarian and developmental assistance to children and mothers in developing countries.

The UNICEF website highlights the following focus areas:

• Child survival and development
• Basic education and gender equality
• HIV/AIDS and children
• Child protection
• Policy advocacy and partnerships

And the following reasons for doing what they do:

• Because children have rights
• Because the world has set goals for children
• Because children demand a voice
• Because poverty reduction starts with children
• Because the people of the world say 'Yes' for children
• Because children should not be dying from preventable causes

As one of the primary responders to the tragedy in Haiti and as one of the leading development organizations in the world today, I encourage you to find out more and to support them as best you can. Support UNICEF.

Coaching Inquiries: How might you be able to extend more care and support to children around the world? What kinds of initiatives intrigue or attract you most? Who do you identify as champion of children? How can you reach out today and let them know you care?

We invite you Contact Us using our Feedback Form if you are interested in learning more about LifeTrek Coaching or participating in our Evocative Coach Training Program.

Respect Quotes

• "The first duty of love is to listen." Paul Tillich
• "I'm not concerned with your liking or disliking me... All I ask is that you respect me as a human being." Jackie Robinson
• "Never take a person's dignity: it is worth everything to them, and nothing to you." Frank Barron
• "People are respectable only as they respect" Ralph Waldo Emerson
• "Self-respect is the fruit of discipline; the sense of dignity grows with the ability to say no to oneself." Abraham J. Heschel
• "I have found the best way to give advice to your children is to find out what they want and then advise them to do it." Harry S Truman
• "If we lose love and self respect for each other, this is how we finally die." Maya Angelou

Coaching Inquiries: What increases your self-respect? How well do you listen? When was the last time that you said no to yourself? How can you connect more fully and respectfully with your children? With your parents? What might you do to make love grow?

If you would like to learn more about our Coaching Programs and to arrange for a complementary coaching session, Click Here.