Proving beyond all doubt that natural products, environmental responsibility, and luxury are not mutually exclusive, Stella McCartney is well known for her clothing designs, which use no leather or fur. Instead of retreating into the comfortable world afforded her by her famous parents, Paul and Linda McCartney, she has chosen the path of activist, and is a staunch supporter of PETA (People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals). In 2000, McCartney refused the opportunity to take on the role of lead designer for the Gucci Group because the fashion house uses leather and fur in its designs. A lifelong vegetarian, McCartney recently introduced CARE, a line of luxury skincare products made from 100 percent organic ingredients. CARE is free from GMOs, animal-derived products, animal testing, and the inclusion of endangered plant species. The line carries the Ecocert label, an internationally recognized certification program that takes into consideration the composition and origin of product ingredients, as well as the entire development process from conception to packaging. McCartney explains that her inspiration for CARE came with the birth of her baby.

“I looked at the products in my bathroom,” explains McCartney, “and realized that I wouldn’t want to put any of them on my baby’s skin, because it would penetrate into this innocent creature and affect him in some way. I feel that we are a funny generation. We’re slightly trapped in that paradox between the 90’s world of Botox and the growing awareness of health and environmental issues. I’m of the opinion that we need to think ahead – to think about what is going to happen to our bodies and to our planet in twenty years time, and start taking responsibility.

“What we are trying to do is to give you a very high quality luxury product for a reasonable price. I think that people expect luxury from their organic products, and yet those are two words that are never linked together. Why shouldn’t it be possible to adopt a more natural, organic lifestyle without forgoing luxury? I believe that it’s possible to have a luxurious skincare product and not compromise either one’s personal beliefs or the safety of the environment. I know that most of what I put on my skin is also being absorbed by my body. I eat organic food and I live a fairly healthy lifestyle, so I demand that of my skincare.” www.stellamccartney.com

Sharon Salzberg – Changing the Way We Move Through the World

An author and leading spiritual teacher, Salzberg has been a student of Buddhism since 1971, and for the past 30 years has led meditation retreats around the world. Cofounder of the Insight Meditation Society (IMS) in Barre, Massachusetts, she maintains that the very foundation of her work is rooted in the Buddhist practices of lovingkindness (metta) and vipassana (mindfulness). Salzberg is the author of multiple books including The Force of Kindness: Change Your Life with Love & Compassion (Sounds True, 2005) and A Heart as Wide as the World (Shambhala Publications, 1999). Her mission includes redefining social activism by expanding its definition, and Salzberg is of the firm belief that the role of the artist can be every bit as powerful as that of the politician or protester in instigating social change.

“In 1974,” says Salzberg, “I went to Calcutta to see my teacher, Dipa-Ma. She said two things that were very important to me: ‘You really understand suffering, that’s why you should teach,’ and ‘You can do anything you want to do, it is just thinking that you can’t that will hold you back.’ When I came back to the U.S., I began teaching with Joseph Goldstein at Naropa Institute, then with both him and Jack Kornfield at retreats around the country. Eventually, we began IMS.

“I first went to India when I was eighteen, and this path has formed the center of my whole adult life. My practice is still essential to my own well-being, and it is the sincerity and vulnerability and courage of my students that keeps me teaching. As time goes on and meditation becomes less fringe and more mainstream, it is very gratifying to see the wide range of applicability – domestic violence, shelter workers, neuroscientists, schoolchildren – the list goes on and on.

“I really believe we need to do the good right in front of us, even if it seems very small. We don’t actually know where things are going, or how they will ripple out. I have experienced this many times. I was once involved in helping my meditation teacher, a monk named Sayadaw U Pandita, bring a book to fruition. It was called In This Very Life, the Liberation Teachings of the Buddha. Years later, I discovered that it had been sent to Aung San Suu Kyi, the leader of the democracy movement in Burma, living under house arrest, and that she described the book as her great spiritual support. I was astonished. I never imagined that something I did could ever really be of help to her, a woman who was one of my heroines. So we should never discount any action.” www.SharonSalzberg.com.

Nell Newman – Changing the Way We Eat

In 1993, equipped with conviction and a great-tasting pretzel, Nell Newman introduced Newman’s Own Organics as a division of Newman’s Own, her father, Paul Newman’s company. The products offered by Newman’s Own Organics reflect Nell’s passion and personal commitment to organic and sustainable agriculture. Newman holds a degree in human ecology and has demonstrated her dedication to environmental causes by working to reestablish bald eagles in central California with Ventana Wilderness Sanctuary, and through extensive fundraising for the Santa Cruz Predatory Bird Research Group. She’s the author of The Newman’s Own Organics Guide to a Good Life: Simple Measures that Benefit You and the Place You Live (Villard, 2003). Responsible for her company’s product development and marketing, Newman’s commitment includes opposition to the inclusion of Genetically Modified Organisms (GMOs) in organic foods. She says her goal is to support the environment through the growth of organic agriculture.

“I’m kind of a throwback,” says Newman. “I’m a hunter-gatherer. I grew up fishing, and I like eating the fish I caught myself. I also grow a lot of my own fruits and vegetables, and am very selective about what I eat. I have chickens, and I’m really picky about my eggs, and I feel very strongly about how things were grown and raised. The conventional agriculture world has really kept the lid on how they grow things. They tell us it’s okay for us, that it’s healthy, but if they were required to list on their produce label that the food was fumigated with this, treated with that, then followed by a systemic, and sprayed with something for fungus, people would have a completely different perspective about organic versus conventional. But it’s something that’s kept secret.

“And when it comes to GMOs, the GMO industry can talk about being able to keep things separate, but that simply doesn’t follow the laws of physics. You cannot continue to cross-contaminate crops. This affects not only organics, mind you, but also conventional produce that doesn’t have an antibiotic engineered into it, or another medicine bioengineered into it.

“One of the things people don’t really think about – because they don’t generally understand how their food is grown – is the fact that organic farming is more labor intensive. For instance, you have to weed by hand. So many aspects of growing crops organically are more labor intensive, that of course it costs more. If you go to Europe, food is more expensive, probably because it’s not subsidized like a lot of our food in America is. Our crops are subsidized – there are corn subsidies, wheat subsidies, even the gasoline to get to our farms is subsidized. Not too long ago, I overheard a conventional potato farmer commenting that he couldn’t understand why the supermarkets are able to sell five pounds of potatoes for less than it costs him to grow them.

“In America, we pay a very strange, artificially low price for conventionally-produced foods, which makes people question the cost of organics. But organics is really the true cost of food. The price on the organic label is the true cost of what it takes to produce your food, without chemical inputs, and without a cost to the environment.

“Something my mother taught me is that every little bit makes a difference, and that the whole cannot be changed without a lot of people making an individual effort. It has to start somewhere, and it really does have to start with small, individual movements. Then, when they’re added up, every little bit does make a difference. That’s really how it works. I learned from my parents literally through example, and I think people are more easily convinced by seeing the examples made by others than they are by being proselytized to.” www.newmansownorganics.com

July/August 2007

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