April 22 is Earth Day. What will you do on this day to celebrate the diversity of life on our planet? What will you do promote a healthier environment? My mom thinks I should start a compost pile. Our local Home Depot is selling compost bins for $35. This would be a pretty affordable way to make a difference by cutting down on yard and kitchen trash and nourishing the soil in my yard.

Publix GreenWise Market magazine recommends I honor Earth Day by putting together a tropical snack mix with ingredients from around the world. Each yummy item listed below comes from a crop grown in ways that protect the rain forest.

• Dried papaya, diced (Mexico)

• Dried pineapple, diced (Phillipines)

• Dried banana chips (Central and South America)

• Flaked coconut, unsweetened (Philipines)

• Macadamia nuts, chopped (Hawaii)

• Cashews, raw (India)

For more Earth Day inspiration, visit earthday.net.

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Fortified foods are all the rage these days. But, there were foods rich in antioxidants and other healthy nutrients well before food and beverage companies began adding them. This is certainly the case with fruits and vegetables. So, the next time you're at the grocery store and are looking for some healthy eats, why not grab a bag of bloody oranges? Literally.

Blood oranges, the reddish variety that are in season from January to April, contain anthocyanin, a powerful antioxidant that may help defend against heart disease, diabetes, and cancer.

Finding these oranges isn't always easy, though. More or less, they look like regular oranges from the outside (although they sometimes get a reddish hue on their skin, as well), so you have to keep an eye out for them.

If you're not the type that likes to tear into a piece of fruit and eat it as-is, then take a look at this page for a list of recipes for foods, drinks, and desserts that make use of the tasty blood orange.

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I posted two blogs a while back, Hey Smokers! This is what your friends won't tell you! part 1 and part 2, and got a firestorm of comments. Lots of defenders of smoking, and of course the ones who despise it. One interesting thing I've pulled out of it, is that people are comparing it to drunk driving. To me, the topics are two different beasts with some similarities. I 'm one of the despisers of smoking, and now even more than ever before, I am a despiser of drunk driving.

Two weeks ago, Lieutenant Corey Dahlem, our family friend and hero from the Gainesville Police Department in Florida was hit by a drunk driver and killed. Corey was on a street that was closed for the University of Florida National Basketball Championship celebration. The festivities were winding down, and Corey was on the road to make sure none of the student and local partiers were. A drunk male, age 20, drove through the police barricades and struck Corey. Two motorcycle officers had to jump from their bikes to avoid being struck as well. A few blocks away, the driver was stopped and had no idea why he was stopped. He later blew a 2.4 on his breathalyzer test. Almost three times that of Florida legal limit. (Corey, far right, was photoraphed the night he was struck, congratulating UF students on their teams victory).

Corey was a humble man, hard worker, and spectacular father, friend and husband. If he and the other officers were not on that road at that time, dozens of civilians would have been killed before the drunk stopped. Hero is an understatement. Two thousand people mourned his loss and celebrated his life at his funeral. A lesson on parenting was preached by the stories of how Corey ate lunch at school with his kids several times a week when they were little. At 18 and 21, he was still cooking them meals and driving his daughter to college.

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