Sunday, July 31, 2011

Today's eco-fashions are sexier than ever

BY KAREN GRAM, CANWEST NEWS SERVICE
Source: leaderpost.com
Slim-fit pant and raglan scoop top, two of the sustainable fashion pieces by Nixxi.

Remember the early days of sustainable clothing? Your choice was hemp, or hemp. Once you got past the jokes about smoking it, you almost had to pick the granola out of the threads. It was scratchy, thick, unflattering, and hippie-dippy. You had to be pretty dedicated in those days to don it.
Oh, what a difference a few years can make. Today, sustainable fabrics are soft, silky, form-flattering. They offer so much variety, you can even find sustainable fabrics in haute couture.
There is bamboo, sustainable because it grows so fast; soy, a byproduct of the tofu industry; and linen, a flax product that grows well without pesticides and uses very little water. There's modal, a cellulose fabric made by spinning reconstituted cellulose from beech trees. It's soft like rayon and more absorbent than cotton. There is tussar silk, made by silkworms that are not killed at the end of the process. And there is organic cotton, much better than the conventional cotton, but still requiring a lot of water.
Then there are the blends of all the above. But hemp is still the apex of environmental sustainability. It grows really quickly, needing little water and no pesticides or herbicides. The hemp fibres are long and strong, but also porous so they allow your skin to breathe. It has been used for 6,000 years but now, finally, designers can find hemp fabrics that are soft, and sheer, and even knit. Sustainable designers are giddy with the options.
But there are other ways to be sustainable in the fashion business. You can recycle, like the folks who turn water bottles into fleece or athletic wear. You can reuse, like Ashley Watson, who remakes old leather products into great new bags. And you can keep production local to reduce the carbon footprint. What is cool today is that fashion designers often use as much creativity to be sustainable as they do to create their spring or fall lines.
Here's a look at some Vancouver-based designers who have found their own unique ways to be sustainable and fashionable.

Katherine Soucie
Katherine Soucie is a reuser, or maybe a repurposer. She takes hosiery waste from a Montreal manufacturer who would otherwise throw it out, and creates spectacular pieces for her label Sans Soucie. Using a process she developed while at Capilano University's textiles program, she creates pieces for clients aged 30-75 and all sizes. Some are casual, some formal. Sometimes she gets a lot of ultra-sheer hosiery, sometimes it's opaque. What she gets defines her designs. This spring, she got small pieces.
She stabilizes the nylon in the (non-toxic, metal-free) printing and dying stage. When the inks cool on the fibre, it gives it a sense of structure and reduces the stress on it, she says.
"Nylon is a really strong fibre, she says. "It's a petroleum byproduct, so it lasts a long time, but if it runs or pills, we toss it out after one wear. I thought, 'That isn't right.' It made me take a disposable non-functional textile and make it into something functional."
Sans Soucie's lines look different every season, but this year, due to a collaboration between Capilano University and Emily Carr University of Art + Design, she has access to a digital embroidery machine.
"It completely changes the fabric," she says, adding she's excited to see her work evolve. ÒThere is a lot of waste in the textile industry. Hopefully, it won't always have so much garbage, but as long as it is wasting, I will be producing work with it. It is my responsibility to give back."
Soucie says her clients like the pieces, because they're so comfortable and figure-flattering. As a size 12 herself, she attests to its plus-size wearability. She loves to see how women integrate the pieces into their own wardrobes, layering and accessorizing or wearing it alone as a statement.
Sans Soucie is available at several stores in Vancouver and Canada. www.sanssoucie.ca
A spring look, made sustainably, from WE3.

Jada Lee Watson
Jada Lee Watson started her sustainable line, Nixxi, four years ago, but was working with eco fabrics for two years before that and conventional fabrics before that. She remembers the old hemp days, but she also remembers how well using environmentally friendly fabrics sat with her.
"As soon as I sourced those fabrics, knowing they came from a good place really resonated with me," she says. "It works with my lifestyle. I believe in taking as gentle a step as I can."
Back then, there wasn't much variety and Watson had to really stretch to create something even workable.
"It is really exciting to see how far it had come in six years."
In its first few seasons, Nixxi was exclusively a jersey line, blending organic cotton with bamboo or soy. But gradually she has added woven fabrics like linen to her line and this spring, the mix of knit and weave is nearly 50-50. But she is most excited about the hemp jersey she discovered. It's as soft as bamboo, but it's 100 per cent hemp. Everything is produced in Vancouver. Style-wise, Nixxi offers a mix of edgy contemporary looks with more feminine classics. Watson wants women of all ages to be able to wear them through the seasons and change them up for day or night with accessories.
Nixxi is available at many stores in Vancouver and Canada. www.nixxi.ca
Slim-fit pant and raglan scoop top, two of the sustainable fashion pieces by Nixxi.
Nicole Bridger
Nicole Bridger sees eco-friendly design as a work in progress. When she first started, choices were more limited both because she was a smaller company with a smaller voice, but also because she lives by the adage of taking one step at a time.
Right now, sustainable means the fabrics she uses. These include organic cotton, bamboo, hemp, soy and, her newest addition, organic wool from New Zealand that's woven into fabric in Vermont. She also produces her line locally. Eventually, Bridger would like to create a zero-waste system in which all scraps get used for other products or are recycled. A solar-powered studio and green stores are also on her dream-big list.
Bridger uses blends, and while spandex isn't exactly a green fibre, she likes to have about five per cent spandex in her fabrics because it extends the life of the garment and that is sustainable. "It's not always crystal-clear," she says, adding that in her mind, linen and hemp are the most eco-friendly of fabrics.
In terms of design, Bridger interned years ago with Vivienne Westwood and learned the art of draping. Then she worked for lululemon, which wanted clean lines and no draping. When she started her own company, she returned to draping, incorporating it into most pieces. Now she has found a nice balance, she says, adding her pieces are wearable, functional, and easy to wear and wash.
"The styles I like are more about what I really like to wear," she says. "Kind of rocker-cool but really mom-friendly," says the mother of a 13-month-old boy. "My pieces are easy-looking," she says. "You're not walking down the street like a parade. But you are in your own.Ó
Nicole Bridger can be found at various locations in Vancouver and Canada. www.nicolebridger.com
Wearable, functional linen dress from Nicole Bridger
WE3
WE3 is a collaboration of three local women: Glencora Twigg, Christine Hotton and Jessica Vaira, who are also owners of the store Twigg and Hottie. In an interview, Hotton says each of them lives conscious of her footprint on the earth, so it was a natural progression to bring the green theme into the business.
WE3 uses blends of organic cotton with bamboo or soy and merino wool. The locally produced line is a three-part combination of knit essentials that provide the basics to a wardrobe, plus pieces that can be layered over the essentials and, finally, a few fashion-forward designs. While many of the pieces are basic designs, women make their own unique statements by combining them in various ways.
So for example, the V-neck kimono top in the spring line can be worn with the V in front or in back. And the mobius strip can be a scarf, a shawl or a headpiece. The trio's inspiration for spring 2010 is change or growth, says Hotton, adding that choosing sustainable fashion is part of that. But personal expression is, too.
WE3 is available at various locations in Vancouver and Canada. www.we3.ca
Vancouver Sun

Friday, July 29, 2011

Field of research hemp destroyed by vandals

By RANDY RICHMOND, THE LONDON FREE PRESS
Source: lfpress.com/news/london

Oxford OPP are looking for the public’s help in tracking down vandals who destroyed a field of hemp being grown for research.
Sometime between 1 a.m. and 6 a.m. Thursday, vandals got into a half-acre field of hemp on Oxford Rd. 59, south of Tavistock, police said.
They destroyed the plants by pulling out the roots, cutting the stalks or stomping on them. Damage is estimated at $15,000 to $20,000, police said.
The field was clearly marked as a research project for Health Canada, Const. Michelle Murphy said.
“It was fully licensed, and there were signs explaining the reason for the field.”
Police ask anyone who witnessed any suspicious behaviour or has any information about the vandalism to call them at 1-888-310-1122 or Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-8477 (TIPS).
Industrial hemp describes the fibre cultivated from the cannabis plant. It has a variety of industrial uses, from concrete to fuel.
E-mail randy.richmond@sunmedia.ca, or follow RandyRatLFPress on Twitter.

Thursday, July 28, 2011

A Trip Down Memory Lane: Hemp For Victory

By Joe
Source: the420times.com


Many of our readers have seen this video, but since new people log on to the Internet every day, it’s worth a post. Besides, it’s important in this age of constantly moving information to remember that it was not too long ago that the U.S. federal government was very gun-ho on the amazing abilities of industrial hemp – the farming and production of which is banned nationwide today.
Hypocrisy abounds in the federal government, and here is yet another example. After all, what has changed about hemp since 1942?

Ottawa to give funding for Quebec clean energy projects

BY LYNN MOORE, THE GAZETTE
Source: montrealgazette.com
Ottawa provides funding to several clean-technology projects in Quebec.
Natural Resources Minister Joe Oliver announced an investment of $53 million in 17 clean technology projects across Canada through Sustainable Development Technology Canada. Four of these projects are based in Quebec.
Natural Resources Minister Joe Oliver announced an investment of $53 million in 17 clean technology projects across Canada through Sustainable Development Technology Canada. Four of these projects are based in Quebec.

Ottawa is investing $13.2 million in four clean technology projects in Quebec, the federal government said Thursday.

Natural Resources Minister Joe Oliver announced an investment of $53 million in 17 clean technology projects across Canada through Sustainable Development Technology Canada.

The money is slated to help realize the commercialization of clean technology in the areas of agriculture, transportation, mining and energy.


The investment comes from funds that were never spent in pasts SDTC budgets.
In Quebec, the federal funding goes to:

• Logistik Unicorp in St. Jean sur Richelieu for a textile fibre project.
A consortium has identified a technology that can process hemp and flax fibres into a quality textile-grade fibre. It would be an alternative to cotton which requires pesticides. Logistik is to receive $1.1 million;

• BioAmber Inc. in Montreal for a downstream purification demonstration.
The company has a bio-based technology that uses glucose to make succinic acid rather than petroleum-based chemicals. It intends to build a demonstration plant in Sarnia, Ont. BioAmber is to receive $7.5 million;

• Northex Environment Inc. in Contrecoeur for a soil remediation project.
It is proposing that soil contaminated with inorganic compounds, such as metals, can be remediated for less cost than the usual dig-and-dump method. Northex is to receive $1.5 million;

• TM4 Inc. in Boucherville for an electric powertrain project. It is to receive $3.1 million.
TM4 president and CEO Claude Dumas said the federal funding will further development of an ongoing all-electric made-in-Quebec bus project.

The project, which has received provincial funding, is being developed by a consortium of companies including Nova Bus, of St. Eustache.

Work started on the project in 2010 but has picked up speed this year, Dumas said.
The technology can be used in other applications, he added.

The federal government “is committed to supporting clean energy technology in Canada as an effective measure to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and create high-quality jobs for Canadians,” Oliver said in a statement Thursday.

“The projects announced today demonstrate our leadership in driving clean energy technology innovation to help create a viable clean energy industry in Canada.”

Sustainable Development Technology Canada’s SD Tech Fund™ has supported more than 220 projects and allocated $548 million, generating more than $1.3 billion in leveraged funds.




Extreme Healing Homes: Nontoxic Building Could Cure What Ails You

posted by Robyn Lawrence
Source: care2.com/greenliving


3 Extreme Healing Homes: Nontoxic Building Could Cure What Ails You
I’m proud that Natural Home was one of the first magazines to recognize the importance of healthy homes. I’ve been in many houses built from natural materials over the years, and I’ve felt the difference that keeping out chemicals and fumes makes. Homeowners who move in with health problems see their symptoms clear after living without ubiquitous toxins such as flame-retardants and formaldehyde.
The people who built and remodeled these three houses were forced by health issues to keep their homes completely free of chemicals, petrochemical fumes and other poisons such as arsenic-treated wood. For all three, better housing has meant better health. Most of us don’t need such extremes, but we can learn a lot from their healthy, nurturing homes—and we might choose differently next time we order curtains.
Santa Fe, New Mexico 
After a chemical-heavy remodel in the late 1970s made Daryl Stanton sick, she and her daughter fled Los Angeles in a travel trailer retrofitted with all-natural materials. They landed in Santa Fe, New Mexico, where she opened a store featuring healthy, nontoxic materials and had a chemical-free straw-clay cottage built by Econest Homes. We featured Daryl’s home in 2003, and she now runs Natura Design and Consulting in Nelson, New Zealand. Econest has moved to Salt Spring Island, British Columbia.  Photo by Laurie Dickson
Breathable straw-clay walls are covered with light mud plaster dug from nearby Galisteo, textured with mica and straw. Photo by Laurie Dickson
The sofa cushions are stuffed with down and feathers. Antique or recycled tables, chairs and cabinets have had time to shed potentially harmful chemicals. Not having curtains in areas where they’re unnecessary eliminates a dust trap. Photo by Laurie Dickson
An organic mattress, hemp/silk sheets, organic cotton and wool blankets, a plant-dyed hemp/silk bedspread, and hand-dyed hemp/silk pillows keep chemicals out of Daryl’s bed. The metal-free Samina Sleep System bed was designed by an Austrian orthopedist who studied baubiologie (building biology). Photo by Laurie Dickson
Scottsville, Virginia
 
Linda and Peter Mellen stripped down and rebuilt this 18th-century 2-over-2 farmhouse south of Charlottesville, Virginia, after the stains and sealers they used to finish their newly built log home triggered Multiple Chemical Sensitivity symptoms in Linda. With the remodel, they eliminated anything made using petroleum or formaldehyde: carpet, plywood, particleboard, stains, sealers and glues When Linda and Peter bought it, termites had eaten through bottom floor; everything sagging and falling in. They used borax and nontoxic Sentricon pest-repellent system when they replaced the home’s joists and its stone and concrete foundation and sided the house with wood from a fallen poplar tree. Photo by Philip Beaurline
 
In the kitchen, new cabinets were made from vintage wood and wainscoting, which was sandblasted by professionals to remove old lead paint. Found behind the wainscoting, 14-inch planks with the original saw marks were re-used for the kitchen walls. Aging red and white oak from the Mellens’ property was used to make new ground-level floors. “We had as few finishes as possible,” Peter says. “We wanted to keep a simplicity, as if the house had been built 150 years ago.” Photo by Philip Beaurline
 
With the renovation, Linda and Peter opened up the farmhouse to bring in passive solar heat gain. Radiant heat eliminates blowing dust, and exterior doors with screens allow for summer cross ventilation. Fans frequently exchange air when the windows are closed. Photo by Philip Beaurline
This simple shed houses the home’s mechanical heart—keeping fumes and allergens out of the house. Heat is pumped to the house through underground water pipes. The building also houses a VACUFLO 460 central vacuum system that doesn’t recirculate dust and dirt because the suction takes place outside. Photo by Philip Beaurline
Columbia County, New York 
Cathy Grier was suffering from hepatitis C and needed a place to heal when she built this modern saltbox with her partner, Michele Steckler. She specked nontoxic materials, from untreated lumber to glue, grout, spackle and sealers—and she watched carefully to make sure the builders used them. Decorated with family heirlooms and natural materials, Cathy and Michele’s bright, airy home has the warm feel of a house that’s been around for centuries and has provided the healing space that Cathy needed. Photo by Michael Shopenn
The kitchen’s wood countertops are made from a maple on the property and finished with tung oil, and the wood floors are finished with tung oil and citrus based solvents. Photo by Michael Shopenn
The bedroom has non-VOC paint and organic bedding. Concerned about electromagnetic fields, Cathy installed a “kill” switch, which turns off electricity to the room when she and Michele sleep. Photo by Michael Shopenn
 
Sunlight streams through the great room’s insulated, double-glazed windows and French doors in winter, providing passive solar heat. This room is Michele’s favorite. “It’s the center of the house—a place for hearth, home, food and gathering together,” she says. “It’s where we begin and end our day; it’s where we nap, relax and connect.” Photo by Michael Shopenn
 
This is where I would nap. This shot always brings to mind the Navajo Blessingway Prayer: “May our home be sacred and beautiful, and may our days be beautiful and plenty.” Photo by Michael Shopenn
Robyn Griggs Lawrence writes the daily Natural Home Living blog for Mother Earth News, the original guide to living wisely. The editor-in-chief of Natural Home magazine from 1999 until 2010, Robyn’s goal is to help everyone create a nurturing, healthy and environmentally friendly home. Her book, Simply Imperfect: Revisiting the Wabi-Sabi House, introduces Americans to the 15th-century Japanese philosophy of simplicity, serenity and authenticity

The Domestic Debate: Local Clothes

By katelynnorcross
Source: business.transworld.net
parkinphoto-hank-gaskell-in-organic-cotton-tree-tee-steep-wave-design-and-walk-the-talk-hemp-short.jpg

We sat down with Anthony Circosta, known as multimedia maestro at the brand Local Clothes, to discuss using hemp to produce sustainable clothing, mitigating the environmental impacts of importing, and having more control over the manufacturing process by keeping it local.
Are all of Local’s clothes made in the United States?
No. Unfortunately, hemp is illegal to grow and manufacture in the United States. So, a foreign source was our only choice.
How did you go about finding apparel factories that could meet your needs and were aligned with your goals for creating an environmentally and socially responsible business?
Local’s main goal is to operate a truly sustainable clothing company that benefits the community. Our original intention was to offer a custom line of hemp apparel because it’s the most sustainable clothing fabric.
However, like many start-up clothing companies, Local began making products using goods purchased through a distributor-and hemp wasn’t available. So, to kick start our operation, we began working with organic cotton tees and sweatshirts. For the last year we’ve purchased organic cotton products through a distributor who sources their blank tees from a socially/environmentally responsible supplier in Central America. But, cotton is a very resource heavy clothing fabric, so we continued to seek custom hemp clothing from the US.
We had a friend hook us up with a fair trade supplier in Europe. To show our customers our hemp manufacturer was legit, we made a documentary video our quest for fair trade hemp and published it on our website. You should check it out. Our new line will arrive at our warehouse in Santa Margarita, Ca, in a couple weeks.
For the organic cotton, we wanted a secure, totally transparent supplier, fair trade, good treatment of employees. We weren’t that confident in our original supplier so we took a trip to Central America and hooked-up a with a non-profit that helped us find an authentic supplier of quality, fair trade, organic cotton products.
The sustainably produced hemp comes from Europe, and our organic cotton products come from Central America. All of these “blanks” arrive at our warehouse in Santa Margarita, California. To make up for the emissions from shipping, we plant a tree for every item sold through a program called Trees for the Future.
In our solar powered warehouse the Local team designs and prints graphics on the organic cotton tees and hemp products using a non-toxic digital printing technology. We don’t use plastisol or other environmentally damaging compounds common in the t-shirt printing industry. Local’s finished products come with recycled paper/soy ink hang tags and are placed in recycled boxes, then shipped to shops in bio-fueled vehicles.
Local operates a truly sustainable action sports clothing company, so we do everything we can to minimize our impact on the environment while provided our customers with edgy, natural products.
What have been the greatest benefits of developing and manufacturing products in the United States?
Not using China for everything, and knowing Local Clothes don’t contain synthetic materials common in mainstream surf industry products. It’s also great to establish strong, meaningful relationships with everyone involved. We get to monitor the environmental impact of our products every step of the way and make improvements immediately when necessary.
What have been the greatest challenges?
Not using polluting, low wage sweatshops like most companies do in the surf industry. The customer wants a rad organic product, and they want it cheap. It’s hard to balance those two things.
How has sourcing and creating your apparel locally allowed you to minimize the company’s environmental impacts?
Every aspect of Local is oriented to minimize environmental impact. By creating our product locally, we’re able to control and monitor virtually everything that goes in and out of our business.
Within the action sports industry, to what degree do you feel consumers value goods made in America?
I think most people just come to expect their trinket or whatever is made in China or elsewhere. If they SEE it’s made in the USA these days, they’re stoked. However, if it’s a sustainable surf product, hopefully it doesn’t really matter where it’s “made”. We’re all for patriotism and national support, however, the USA is the second highest grossing polluter on the planet, second only to China! Our business focus is to protect the environment and the people who produce goods for the citizens of this planet.
How sustainable is the product’s life cycle and is it made from organic materials? Is it produced in a fair labor factory? Who am I supporting with my money when I purchase this item? What are they doing for the world? These are the kinds of questions we believe action sports consumers should consider when looking for new surf and skate products.
Even if the product is being made in America-where underground sweatshops do exist-it doesn’t make necessarily a “good” product, as the company could still be treating their employees poorly and operating with reckless disregard for the environment. We all share Earth’s resources and ecosystems, and the action sports industry is exploiting both. Our goal is to operate a business that ensures these pristine places and resources are around for future generations, and to ensure a bountiful future for the action sports business.
Anything else you would like to share?
We just found out Local will be featured (alongside other people from companies such as Lost, Volcom, Quicksilver, SIMA, etc) in documentary about sustainability in the surf industry. The film is called “Manufacturing Stoke”. You can find more info at www.manufacturingstoke.com
Unleash your Alter-Eco at www.localclothes.com
Go Organic with Local’s Tree Tees and other sustainable hemp apparel. Check out our Hemp Surfboards and eco-printed Bamboo skateboards too. If you have any questions or comments, please feel free to email us at localclothes@gmail.com

Wednesday, July 27, 2011

Yolo County scared of hemp farms or beholden to the DEA: You decide.

Published By Daily Democrat
Altered by your blogger
Source: dailydemocrat.com


As tempting as it would be to take Yolo County government to task for its desire to opt out of a pilot hemp farming program, it's probably the right thing to do.

Yolo County was initially included under the provisions of Senate Bill 676, sponsored by Sen. Mark Leno, D-San Francisco, which authorized five counties statewide for commercial farming of industrial hemp under an eight-year pilot program. Now, before anyone gets excited, "industrial hemp" is very common. It's used as a source of fiber and oilseed for textiles, food and cosmetics. It is also not psychoactive. It contains only minute traces of THC, the stuff in marijuana that gets one high.

The problem is that hemp for all practical purposes looks and smells a lot like marijuana [citation needed]. It's not impossible to distinguish hemp from pot, but it is difficult.[citation needed] A trained observer such as a sheriff's deputy or other law enforcement officer might have trouble, let alone a private citizen.[citation needed]

Can you imagine the confusion that would occur should Yolo County farmers get in on hemp growing? People would be calling law enforcement all the time to report what they considered to be "illegal" marijuana growing operations -- even if the fields were in plain sight.

If you don't think that's true, try asking people to distinguish tomato, pepper and canola plants sometime. Not everyone is up on what grows in the county (unless they see it on the shelf of in a grocery store).

We'll give credit where it's due and thank supervisors for supporting a 2007 bill -- later vetoed by then-Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger -- that would have allowed hemp farming statewide. So, it's not like the county is totally opposed to hemp farming.

It's simply that with resources stretched to the breaking point, why add more work to our local law enforcement agencies?

Blogger's comment: Okay how ignorant does the writer think that law enforcement is in Yolo county? Cops can't distinguish between a tomato plant and a pepper plant? I guess if your job depended upon not being able to tell the difference between an industrial hemp field and a marijuana grow operation, then maybe that explains the position of law enforcement, but that would apply  to CAMP and the DEA, not to local cops. It is possible that law enforcement needs some training but it would take all of 15 minutes to educate someone to distinguish industrial hemp from marijuana.

Yolo county government is either ignorant or captive to the DEA.

Ignorance can be cured quickly. Just call the Kings County government for some perspective.

If the Yolo County government is captive to the DEA, then the cure may take a bit longer but can happen at the next election.

Below are some good comments from readers of the original article in the Daily Democrat.


  • Kevin Hoes · Sac State
    Realy? The only argument against growing hemp in Yolo County is that, the average person cant tell the difference between tomatoes and peppers? I've got an idea, if you want to grow hemp, then call the sherifs department and let them know what you are doing. Kind of like calling the fire department when you are doing a controled burn. I suppose the real problem is the DA's ignorance regarding marijuana and hemp.
    • Sharon Alderman · Elder at Living In The NOW
      Cut your nose off despite their faces.....short term thinking. What about educating the public? Hemp will do so much for their economy in the long term.....this is an example of the dumbing down of Americans......HoOponoOpon​o
      • Kevin Gallagher ·  Top Commenter
        If the hemp fields were registered as such, then locations of those fields were be known. Any cannabis that is not grown at those registered locations would not be legal. Signs identifying the fields as industrial hemp fields would help. Other than that, you can tell by how it is grown. If the plants are grown very close together, it is hemp. If each plant has a lot of room to grow and branch out, then it's medicinal cannabis. It is not possible to grow medicinal cannabis in an industrial hemp field, as they would ruin each other. This is not hard to figure out, unless one doesn't want to figure it out.


      From Hemp to Flax: 8 Vegan Sources of Omega-3s

      By Jenny Sugar
      Source: fitsugar.com

      I don't eat fish very often, so my very concerned mother said, "You're not getting enough omega-3s!" I assured her that this healthy fat is found in many other foods besides a tuna salad sandwich. If, like me, fish doesn't make it onto your plate regularly, you can easily obtain the recommended amount — 1.1 grams (1,100 mg) a day. Just make sure you're including these vegan foods in your diet.
      1. Flaxseed products: One tablespoon of whole flaxseeds has 2.3 grams, one tablespoon of ground flaxmeal has 1.6 grams, and one tablespoon of organic flaxseed oil has a whopping eight grams of omega-3s.
      2. One tablespoon of chia seeds sprinkled on your cereal or salad provides 2.5 grams of this healthy fat.
      3. Hemp products: Two tablespoons of creamy hemp seed butter offers 2.5 grams of omega-3s, and one cup of creamy Hempmilk contains 0.9 grams.
      4. Cooking oils: One tablespoon of canola oil offers 0.8 grams of omega-3s, while the same amount of olive oil may not have much, 0.1 grams, but if you cook with it often, the omega-3s will add up.
      1. Top your salad or oatmeal with 1/4 cup of walnuts and you'll obtain 0.6 grams of omega-3s.
      2. Snack on one cup of edamame (soybeans) and you're 0.6 grams closer to reaching your RDI.
      3. The one cup of kidney beans in your bowl of soup or rice and beans gives you 0.3 grams of omega-3s.
      4. Two cups of Silk DHA Omega-3 & Calcium soymilk in your morning cup of cereal offers0.06 grams of omega-3s (from flax oil).