In recent years, we’ve all become familiar with terms like “going green” and “eco-friendly”. In fact, these buzz words are used so often in media and product packaging that their meaning can sometimes get lost or forgotten.  Eco-friendly literally means earth-friendly or not harmful to the environment. This term most commonly refers to products that contribute to green living or practices that help conserve resources like water and energy. Eco-friendly products also prevent contributions to air, water and land pollution.

Developing eco-friendly habits doesn’t have to be an all or nothing venture. You can engage in eco-friendly habits or practices by being more conscious of how you use resources. Taking small continuing  steps towards a common goal can have more of an effect than you know. Turning off lights in empty rooms or using a programmable thermostat- so you’re only heating or cooling your home when it’s occupied- is a good place to start.

At Woodstock and Village Apothecary, we are always looking for ways to help contribute to green living.  In addition to our daily recycling efforts, our recent switch to using thermal labels is one more small way to lessen waste and help promote healthier living for the planet and its inhabitants.

Thermal labels are significantly smaller and therefore result in approximately a 300% reduction in paper. No ink is needed and the hardware is smaller and lasts longer than traditional printers resulting in less waste.

Working together, we can maintain a healthier planet as well as a better quality of life for ourselves and our future generations.

Popularity: 12% [?]

These days, almost nothing in the supermarket is grown the way it was fifty years ago. Most meat comes from Concentrated Animal Feeding Operations (CAFO), yielding heavily medicated, hormone infused proteins. Factory produce farms sell you processed flavorless vegetables that look good but are tasteless and are nutritionally compromised. CAFOs and factory farms take a heavy toll on the environment and in recent years we’ve seen these giant food companies besieged by recalls.

Luckily for us, Hudson Valley Harvest was created in 2011 to provide a reliable source of local, all-natural food to the New York City (and surrounding areas) marketplace. They couple the highest-quality products from a collection of sustainable, small-scale farms across the Hudson Valley with modern distribution and sales efficiencies to offer a unique, cost-effective local food source.

Hudson Valley Harvest believes in keeping food close to the source, both by keeping it local and by minimal processing. They feel that – and we agree – keeping things simple and food grown from the ground and put on your plate is the healthiest, best way to nourish yourself and your family. Hudson Valley Harvest only works with farms and product from the Hudson Valley. This isn’t the easiest way to do things but they believe that it’s the right way.

Getting your food from Hudson Valley Harvest means you can finally count on easy access to the incredible bounty of the Hudson Valley: fresh, flavorful local food. In contrast to national distributors who mix produce and meat from multiple regions into one untraceable national inventory, they operate locally. Everything you get from Hudson Valley Harvest will be transparent and traceable to its source. Each package tells a unique story: the variety of vegetable or breed of animal, the farm of origin, the farming methods used, and the distance traveled from farm to processor.

Everyday we learn more about irresponsible — and often cruel — commercial farming practices. Product recalls seem to happen weekly. Supermarket shelves are packed with highly processed products that, to us, barely resemble food. Hudson Valley Harvest is different. Their farmers produce food — good food. For a farmer to make it into their network, they have to respect the earth and the animal, and cherish that a harvest reaped from such respect is unparalleled in quality.

We know food has gotten confusing. Put simply, food that travels the shortest distance from the farm to your plate is healthier and tastes better than conventionally grown meats and produce.

To find out more about Hudson Valley Harvest, check out their website: http://www.hv-harvest.com/. You can also find a list of locations on their site where their products are sold. To get you started, try Adams FairAcre Farms in Kingston, Wappingers, Newburgh and Poughkeepsie, Bistro-To-Go in Kingston, Vinnie’s Farm Market in Saugerties and Red Hook Natural Market.

Popularity: 9% [?]

Sprout Creek Farm’s creamery, located on 200 beautiful acres in LaGrange of Dutchess County, NY, is where the magic happens: where milk becomes cheese. But not just any cheese. This cheese is made from the rich and creamy milk of their herd of grass-fed Jersey, Milking Shorthorn, Normande & Holstein Cows and their Nubian, Toggenburg & OBerhasli goats.

These artisan cheeses (antibiotic and hormone free) are made in the age-old tradition of European farmstead cheese, using a method that enhances the innate quality of the milk. From season to season you can actually taste subtle differences as the pasture grasses change with fluctuating temperatures and amounts of rainfall. The farm’s unique aging process is what delivers the milky conversion of soils & grasses to your palate and creates the distinct flavors and textures in the cheese.

The goal of the farm’s grass – based product is to provide their animals with their ideal eating habitat. Pasture-raised animal products have less harmful fats, cholesterol and calories than grain-based ones. They have more antioxidants, high levels of the beneficial omega -3 fatty acids (anti-inflammatory) and more of the cancer – fighting fat, CLA (shown to help in the prevention of breast cancer). A pasture raised system also means less tractor work, less fuel consumption & no herbicides or pesticides.

Sprout Creek Farm is not only a real working farm but it also offers both children and adults alike a fun & educational experience through the farm’s year round educational programs. Check out their website, sproutcreekfarm.org, for information on their daily, weekly and summer programs. You and your children can stay at Sprout Creek and learn the workings of a real farm including how to milk a cow and gather eggs. More importantly, they teach us to love our fragile earth, to understand our connectedness to it and develop a passion for protecting its integrity. Not to mention, you will have a lot of fun and an opportunity to try some great tasting cheese.

If you have a healthy food highlight of your own that you would like to share, let us know. Friend us on facebook and share your favorite healthy food and we’ll check it out.

Bon appetite and remember to eat healthy.

Popularity: 13% [?]

Happy New Year Everyone!

2012 is going to be a big one!  There are a lot of things coming down the pike affecting pharmacy patients across the state and country:

• January is traditionally a mess with insurances.  Everyone’s plans change and the computers can’t keep it straight.  To make it worse, nationally the communication system is being upgraded to a new standard.  That means our pharmacy staff will need lots of wine to prevent us from dreaming about insurances until February 15th or so.
• We’ll see the dissolution of mandatory mail order, thanks to you.  Our Anti-Mandatory Mail Order legislation passed and goes into affect for 2012.  Starting this year, insurances will be prohibited from forcing anyone to use mail order.
• The NYS EPIC changes go into affect.  If you are 65 or older and make less than 50k/year married or 35k/year single, PLEASE SIGN UP.  It’s free!
• Many big brands are going generic, saving everyone major bucks!

At our store, many great improvements are coming:

• New register systems to make the check out system smoother.  We’ll have a rewards program started in Saugerties that will work with both stores.  Exciting stuff.
• Monthly lectures for 10-20 people on different topics.  We’ll have diabetes education, heart healthy tips, nutrition, and vitamin lectures among much more.  These will be hosted weekly and topics will change monthly
• Rx Sync – make one trip to the drug store for all your medicines, on a day YOU choose.  Never run out of refills before your next doctor’s appointment!
• More Shingles clinics to increase access to these important vaccines!

You’ll see more on Facebook and our blog as well.

A few things we’re working on that get us really excited:

• an app for “scanning” your rx’s and sending them for refills
• coupons for the stuff you need
• a generic savings program:  you switch from a brand to a generic drug and we’ll buy you 1 month free!

Again, Happy New Year to all.  We could not do it without you!

Popularity: 13% [?]

It worked!  All of our efforts have finally paid off!

Governor Cuomo signed our legislation into law last night!

“AMMO” or Anti-Mandatory Mail Order gives patients a choice:  mail order pharmacy OR community pharmacy for their prescriptions, with the same benefits, with the same price for the patient.  It was a common sense law that puts in a protection for patients against the mega-corporation pharmacy benefit managers.

How it works from here is as follows:

1. It has to become law, which is 13 business days after he signs it.  This is about New Year’s.
2. Any contract written thereafter will not allow mandatory mail order.  Some insurances have 2-3 year contracts, so this will take 2-3 years to be 100% official.
3. You will be notified with your next benefit notice probably

This truly could not have been done without the patients of Village and Woodstock Apothecary.  You signed petitions, called, emailed, and commented on blogs.  It was a true grassroots effort and restores my faith in the system.  The big guys don’t always make the rules; they don’t always win.

I feel that this is the beginning of something big.  With the “Occupy” movements fresh in our minds, I believe Americans are realizing that the small businesses that were taken for granted are necessary for us to survive as a nation.  The big guys grow in a manner to benefit stakeholders only and they will step on all in their path to get it.

In the world of pharmacy, this means attacking the pharmacy benefits managers.  They lack transparency and create market conditions that favor themselves at the expense of good care.  We will be working to reclaim what was taken in an effort to care for our patient family for years to come.

Thanks again.  This would not have happened without our awesome patients.

You rock.

Popularity: 17% [?]

Consumer Reports recently did a study on fish oil; purity, potency, consistency.  This third party analysis is essential information that NEEDS to be done as frequently as possible.

BUT, Consumer Reports tested final products for spoilage.  Many fish oils are flavored with lemon and orange flavors which create a false positive for anisidine on tests.  This means, pure fish oil looks rancid if tested with flavors in them.

Consumer Reports January 2012 issue shows a very clean, diligent manufacturer, Nordic Naturals, as having evidence of spoilage.  Guess what flavors they were?

So how do we tell if it is fresh or not?  Normally manufacturers supply pre-flavored fish oil to third party groups.  Nordic Naturals is actually leading the industry by developing a procedure to allow flavored fish oil to be tested without false positives for spoilage.

In conclusion, when the headlines show misleading information, don’t believe it.  The study was flawed.

Popularity: 14% [?]

An interesting read…

Very much why we exist:  the pendulum should not swing entirely one way or another.  We have science to provide us with answers to important questions like “Will X help me treat Y.”  It may be a natural remedy, it may be traditional.  In the end, all that matters is that it carries the greatest benefit with the lowest risk.

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Popularity: 17% [?]

This is great timing, as Village Apothecary and Woodstock Apothecary will be accredited Diabetes Education Centers in 2012.

Enjoy the read.

Popularity: 15% [?]

Over the counter “Asthma” inhalers are now an endangered species, soon to be extinct.

The FDA will halt the sales of OTC inhalers as of Dec 31st, 2011.  This is part of the FDA’s latest efforts to remove CFC producing substances from the marketplace.

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Popularity: 14% [?]

A new emerging trend is in coconut water. Currently, it is a 200 million dollar industry.

Coconut water is basically natural Gatorade. It is a fluid that has a high concentration of electrolytes such as potassium, magnesium, and sodium. It also has a small amount of naturally occurring sugar, so like Gatorade and other sports drinks it has some calories.

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Popularity: 16% [?]