Heart attack hospitalizations in the city of Pueblo, Colorado fell sharply after the implementation of a municipal law making workplaces and public places smoke-free, and this decrease was sustained over a three-year period, according to a report in this week′s Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved the cobas TaqScreen MPX Test, the first nucleic acid test that screens for the presence of two divergent types of HIV in donated blood plasma and tissue.

(NaturalNews) The Consumer Wellness Center, led by Executive Director Mike Adams (editor of NaturalNews) has announced a second grant in its Nutrition Grant Program. The Consumer Wellness Center (CWC) is a 501(c)3 non-profit dedicated to promoting nutritional education. The Executive Director position is a non-paid position.

Our Nutrition Grant Program awards $1,000 grants to individuals or institutions that can put the money towards the sharing of nutritional knowledge among children, expectant mothers or other important groups.

The grants are awarded based on the number of people that can be positively impacted, the detail of the grant proposal and the enthusiasm and commitment of the teacher or administrator who will use the funds. Each award recipient is asked to report the results of the grant back to the CWC after the funds have been used. Our intention is to then post these nutrition "success stories" on NaturalNews.com so that these records of what works can be shared with the world.

Farm to School Program receives $1,000 from the CWC
Our second well-deserved Consumer Wellness Nutritional Grant Award is awarded to The Corvallis Environmental Center for their "Farm to School Program."

The Corvallis Environmental Center (CEC) in Corvallis, Oregon is a 501(c)3 nonprofit with a mission of providing sustainability education and information to area residents. This grassroots organization is working tirelessly in many, many was to raise awareness about the importance of supporting our earth through practical application projects, such as the support of local growers as well as the proper nourishment of our schoolchildren.

The Farm to School program helps local schools purchase and feature locally produced, farm fresh foods. Schools then incorporate these foods into a nutrition-based curriculum and provide students with experiential learning opportunities such as farm visits, school garden programs and produce tasting. In essence, Farm to School provides a model for positively influencing children's eating habits through school cafeteria improvements, hands-on nutrition education and direct experience with real food.

By providing food and nutrition learning opportunities to the students, the CEC staff found that students were encouraged to make healthier food choices on their own. The efforts also reinforced the school district's commitment to purchase fresh, local foods -- a hearty win/win for everyone in the community.

With the Nutritional Grant from the Consumer Wellness Center, the CEC will be able to

1) Provide six additional tasting tables that feature fresh produce from local farms

2) Provide teachers with easy-to-use information and activities about the fresh foods featured at each tasting table.

The tasting tables encourage students to try fresh foods and give them an opportunity to meet the farmer who grew the food.

In all, this is a fabulous educational and experiential opportunity for a large number of students to learn about real food: Where it comes from, what it looks like, how it supports their health, etc. With the additional $1,000 provided by the CWC, this program will reach 1100 to 1400 K-8th grade students in up to 4 schools in the region, and facilitate fresh veggie and fruit event once per month throughout the school year.

"We are thrilled to support the CEC's efforts to teach schoolchildren about real food," said Mike Adams, the Executive Director of the Consumer Wellness Center and the creator of the Nutrition Grant Program. "This is the kind of activity that's needed throughout modern society to reconnect children with food and health. I hope this becomes a model of food education that's replicated throughout the nation."

The CEC has committed to connecting with you, our readers, by sending us photographs of the children experiencing the events, information regarding the children's food experiences, teachers' feedback and any positive response from the local growers.

Congratulations to the Farm to School Program Director, Jen Brown and staff at the Corvallis Environmental Center for your continued and successful efforts to support the health of our school children, the local growers, and our planet!

Check out their website at www.CorvallisEnvironmentalCenter.org

NaturalNews also thanks the many sponsors of the Consumer Wellness Center who have donated funds to help us launch these important nutritional programs. Sponsors include Boku Superfood, Global Healing Center, Health Products Distributors, Inc. and others. View featured sponsors at www.ConsumerWellness.org

Learn more about the Consumer Wellness Center here: http://www.ConsumerWellness.org/index.html

More CWC grant award announcements are coming soon.

(NaturalNews) Recently in a Dear Heloise article, a pet owner wrote she buys treats at a Dollar store for $1 that are "almost the same as $5 treats from the pet store." Unfortunately for this pet owner, discounted dog treats might cost her far more in the long run.

The old adage 'you get what you pay for' usually holds true with pet foods and treats. Discount store pet foods and treats are no exception. Typically, 'Dollar stores' purchase lots of soon to be outdated/expired goods for pennies on the dollar, and then sell cheap hoping to retail all before the expiration date. Some discount stores also purchase lots of imported 'look alike' goods. The red flag for pet owners would be Chinese imported look alike pet foods and treats. However, either way, the pet isn't being provided with much of a treat.

For explanation's sake, let's say that the $1 bag of dog treats is called Fido's Best Chicken Flavored Natural Dog Treats; the bag contains 20 small dog treat pieces, 20 ounces. Just as with pet foods, it is legal for the manufacturer to make "unqualified claims either directly or indirectly" on the pet treat label; Fido's Best Natural might not be 'best' and probably isn't all 'natural'. Let's assume that the discount store purchased the treats for $.50 per bag. If half of the price is manufacturer labor, packaging, and markup expense, each 20 ounce bag of treats contains $.25 worth of ingredients.

Now, if the ingredients cost only $.25 per 20 ounces or 1.2 cents per ounce (about $.19 per pound), how much quality nutrition can this treat actually provide your pet? According to AAFCO regulations, pet treats are only supplemental to the diet; very few labeling or ingredient rules apply to pet treats. So, if a pet food can contain chicken feet and cow intestines and be dubbed Natural Pet Food, just imagine what is allowed with pet treats and what quality of ingredients can be in them. At 1.2 cents per ounce cost for ingredients, you can safely assume the discount treats have only the cheapest left over, garbage ingredients and/or the cheapest of the cheap imported ingredients. Even purchasing bulk ingredients ($380.00 per ton) only the cheapest ingredients could be included in these treats. Either way, there is no actual nutrition provided to your pet and/or your pet's health could be at risk from consuming them.

The other concern of purchasing discount store pet foods and treats is pet owners purchasing expired products. Expired treats or foods can make your pet sick costing you far more in vet bills than the savings from the discounted prices.

If you're ever tempted, if you ever let the thought into your conscious that it's just treats, they won't hurt anything, even if they're cheap my dog or cat will eat them regardless, just consider for a moment what you are giving your pet. Cheap treats (and foods) can ONLY mean the cheapest of ingredients, the poorest quality of ingredients. Don't be tempted. One mistake from the manufacturer that makes foods or treats using the cheapest of ingredients could cost your pet's life and/or thousands in vet bills. If you need to save money on treats, give your pet green beans, carrot and apple slices, or spoonfuls of canned pumpkin. These are inexpensive and provide your pet with some nutrition.

Wishing you and your pet(s) the best,

Susan Thixton

About the author
Susan Thixton has an international pet people following providing dog and cat lovers a trusted source for pet food and pet food ingredient information. She's been called courageous, perseverant, even "the Caped Crusader for Pets" for her 16 year study of pet food. Susan Thixton is the author of hundreds of pet industry articles and the 2006 released book Truth About Pet Food (currently being updated for a second edition). She developed and publishes the pet product consumer magazine Petsumer Report and is a frequent speaker and radio guest all over the U.S. and Canada with more than 70 appearances in the last 2 years. If you are looking for straight forward pet food information that can have an almost immediate impact on your pet's health - subscribe to the free newsletter, and subscribe to Petsumer Report to see reviews of close to 700 dog and cat foods and treats (adding 40+ each month). Susan Thixton's 'truth' will help you find a safer, healthier dog or cat food that could add years to your pet's life. http://www.TruthAboutPetFood.com