06 February 2010

GROWH- A eco-lifestyle coaching firm run by a Deaf woman

http://growh.com/

While checking out Kiss-Fist, an online magazine for the signing community, I came across an article about Shanada Schwartz, a Deaf woman who has set up her own lifestyle coaching firm called "Grow Holistically". I watched her video...

This is the first and only one of its kind to provide consultations in American Sign Language via videophone. Aside from this unique feature, they can also connect you through other methods to provide continuous support as you learn about the nature of your well-being, improve your health, and grow holistically.
She grew up on "Living Food Farm", which is a organic food business operated by a Deaf family in Minnesota.

On her website, Shanada answers the question:

What is the holistic approach to health all about?
And expands on the 5 Holistic Areas:

Nutrition
Fitness
Relationship
Spiritual
Green Living
An example of her eco-advice: Green Living embraces the goodness and healthfulness of natural things and products. Doing so will help you avoid harmful chemicals and toxins that many people use for their hygiene, cleaning supplies, clothes, toys, and food. While it is impossible to avoid all toxic and chemical things, the greener your life is, the better! We offer a wealth of easy and affordable ideas for improving the quality and safety of everything you need to live with!

For some eco-consultation, contact Shanada.
Posted by Summa at 9:30 AM
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8 comments:

  1. Definitely a great resource to have available.

    I browsed through and found a Living Food Farm Blog by the same family at www.livingfoodfarm.com. I enjoyed checking out some of the pages. I am glad to see that they included a topic about pet food that is the worst to feed pets, which many people aren't aware of. Even their own pets eat as well as them. Go to this link and scroll down:

    www.livingfoodfarm.com/blog/archives/2007_10_01_archive.shtml
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  2. summa,

    what a great post! i'm excited for the deaf community and shanada. we need more eco-consultants & guides in how to live better with ourselves and earth. thanks so much for sharing!

    katherine,

    awesome about their pets eating fabulously! :) i just don't know what to do about my picky cats :( i have to be patient i guess.

    maybe i need to change my own diet!! (i love sweets and carbs, probably same stuff that goes into factory dry pet food, so we're all addicted....). i change mine, my cats change theirs. hmm.
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  3. What I have seen work is to take away the food they prefer and put in what you want them to eat. When they get real hungry, they will eat them. Don't give in :) It's like when they get lost out there, they would eat what they can find edible. I'd rather give them cooked if they won't take raw over pet food.

    You'll be surprised what's put in pets food. It is a profitable industry for many corporations with little or no concern for the animals, including pets. Here's a couple of links:

    http://www.purelypets.com/articles/whatsinfood.htm

    http://www.bornfreeusa.org/facts.php?more=1&p=359
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  4. I agree with Katherine, same goes for human kids :) If you don't have potato chips or soda in the house, they won't eat them (at least at home!). If you want them to eat veggies, don't offer them anything else. They won't starve and will eat what is on the table.

    If they have something different than what others are eating at the dinner table, then that will become a habit. Start feeding children food straight from your plate rather than store-bought baby food, cut it up as appropriate.

    I've seen too many children eat nothing but chicken nuggets and mac n' cheese because their parents are afraid that they would lose weight. Unfortunately that fear starts very early- check out Jenny's at mountainmama-jenny.blogspot.com and look at her older posts about her doctor reporting her to CPS because her breastfed baby was not gaining enough weight according to the American growth chart. A friend of mine told me that her doctor told her to feed her children instant noodles to get them to gain weight. Her children looked very healthy and alert but slender and ate very well. I suggested that she compare her children's weight to this chart rather than the American chart (which is skewed by the overrepresentation of obese and formula fed children)

    http://www.who.int/childgrowth/standards/cht_wfa_boys_p_0_2.pdf

    (convert lbs to kg at http://www.convertunits.com/from/lbs/to/kg)

    Sorry for going off the topic, but great site and wonderful to see a social work doing holistic counseling in ASL!! I will definitely recommend her to others who might be seeking counseling..
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  5. yeah it's difficult for me because one of my cats stopped eating for about a month and nearly died... it took us several months of forcefeeding her wet cat food slush through a tube in her throat just to get her to have some skin on her bones again. and she's the fussiest one of em all. i know she'll starve to death if she doesn't get what she wants, because she nearly did it once... and cost me a lot of money in the process (several visits to the vet and two visits to the hospital for a liver biopsy and so on), all to find out there was nothing wrong with her, and that she just simply stopped eating :( poor thing is now better though, but skinny. (she used to be chubby)

    but i agree with the general principle of having just the healthy stuff at home for (both kids and pets). i guess when i start feeling confident again with sky, i'll go ahead and try it again.
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  6. P:

    It is just a shame. Preventative is not cost effective for doctors or vets but it is for us. This is not to say I do not appreciate their profession but I still do my homework and get a second or third opinion. If I heard otherwise or don't agree, I'm not afraid to question them.

    Raychelle:

    Sorry about your experience. I am so glad Sky is ok now. She surely knows how to get her way by giving you the scare :) Would she at least eat cooked organic chicken? Hope it'll work out somehow down the road.

    While the real thing is better and if one cannot get the pet to eat, there's organic pet food that's better than commercial pet food in the meantime.
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  7. thanks... yup i get the natural grain-free dry cat food, she seems to like it. weaning her off the grain-based ones.... step by step. will get to meats eventually :)
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  8. Before I forget, I thought this link is good to share for anyone with pets in addition to eating healthy. While there are many kits available for your pets, depending on what their illness is, I am using essential liver function kit with my dog.

    I would suggest you to consult with your vet about it first as I have before deciding to use the kit. My vet said in my dog's case, the kit looks fine. My local vet specializes in homeopathy and is very familiar with liver disease.

    http://www.petnutrisystem.com/
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