Bernadette Smith

09/30/2026

What an absolute joy it was to be a small part of today’s Ribbon Cutting at Tremont Elementary School.
This is just the 8th school in the nation to be a part of Emeril Lagasse Foundation Emeril’s Culinary Garden & Teaching Kitchen program.
We have been dreaming of gardens in schools for years and years because all the research shows that when kids learn by doing, and grow food, somewhere around 70% will eat more fruits and vegetables daily and 80% will start cooking at home.

Former principal Emily Wernau pushed for years to get a farm in that courtyard. Current principal Dr. Chris Kelly did a whole doctorate on the subject, Former Superintendent Dr. Donna Jones listened to trustees dream about about school gardens, chicken coops and beehives with Business official Mr Maise figured out a way to get a greenhouse into the HS. (the beehives were nixed immediately)
And when the opportunity to apply for the Lagasse Foundation’s grant presented itself, former Superintendent Lori Cannetti jumped on it.
Through sheer grit, teamwork, and unmatched dedication to our students and community, our District office, administrators, faculty, maintenance team, HS CTE construction trades students, and local businesses - and the amazing people at Emeril Lagasse foundation completed what is normally a 2 year process in less than one year!
I can’t WAIT to see how this beautiful program and curriculum grows!

09/28/2026

08/13/2026

This afternoon’s much-needed moment of peace at H.O.G Farm

02/11/2026

Just a little reminder that when the heartbreak and the horribleness gets to be too much, that rest is also resistance and tiny steps matter. Slow down. Breathe deep. Go outside. Read an actual book. Move away from the screens and find your community again. Look for the good stuff. It’s there, I promise. Then you can come back rested and ready.

02/11/2026

Just a little reminder that when the heartbreak and the horribleness gets to be too much, that rest is also resistance. Slow down. Breathe deep. Go outside. Read an actual book. Move away from the screens and find your community again. Look for the good stuff. It’s there, I promise. Then you can come back rested and ready.

09/17/2025

That summer fruit ain’t gonna last forever. If you’re like me, you probably end up with some good fruit, some imperfect stuff that’s just fine but nobody’s going to eat it.
Chop that stuff up little and make a confetti fruit salad. Add a little citrus zest or honey, or both, and put that stuff on everything. Ricotta cheese cream cheese, or cottage cheese on toast smothered in fresh berries just can’t be beat for a quick, refreshing breakfast or snack.

04/01/2025

Still hoping the MAHA crowd starts to wake up. These were my tribe until it became abundantly clear that the wellness-to-right-wing pipeline was a thing.
This is NOT making anyone healthy. Decimating the systems that support public health because ‘Big Phood’ and ‘Big Pharma’ prioritize profit over people, and vaccine disinformation campaigns worked is the opposite of what everyone was advocating for.
Do all of those things need to be fixed? 100%. Can we do a better job of looking at vaccine schedules to optimize safety? To keep herd immunity while also protecting the ones that a certain shot may not be appropriate for? Absolutely.
This is not going to do anything to solve a chronic illness epidemic. It will explode it.
Tearing apart everything that addresses all the things that support and address social determinants of health and marginalized people will make it all so much worse.
Tearing apart the regulatory agencies like FDA & EPA that were already underfunded and under-supported will not do anything to keep toxins out of food, water, and air.
They lied to you. MAHA was never about us and our work. It was a marketing ploy to get the enormous wellness industry onside to elect a team of authoritarian f@cists. And it worked.
I’m sorry you were lied to.
What are you going to do about it now?

Go to for this story.

11/22/2024

Some updated concerns about montelukast (SINGULAIR):
🚨Don’t EVER stop taking a medication without talking to your physician. If you decide together that this medication is no longer appropriate for you, they may need to monitor you as you titrate down your dosage. 🚨

From the article:

“The researchers found that the drug, sold under the brand name Singulair and generically as montelukast, attaches to multiple brain receptors critical to psychiatric functioning.

The behavior of montelukast appears similar to other drugs known to have neuropsychiatric effects, such as the antipsychotic risperidone, according to FDA slides reviewed by Reuters. The FDA has cautioned that its studies are ongoing, and results have not been finalized.
When the FDA added the black box, it cited research from Julia Marschallinger and Ludwig Aigner at Austria's Institute of Molecular Regenerative Medicine.

The two scientists told Reuters on Thursday the new data showed significant quantities of montelukast present in the brain. The receptors involved play a role in governing mood, impulse control, cognition and sleep, among other functions, they said.
The research does not show whether that binding mechanism leads directly to harmful effects in individual patients, or who is particularly at risk, the two scientists said. However, Marschallinger said the new data bolsters reports from people who reported suffering side effects.
"It's definitely doing something that's concerning," she said.”

U.S. government researchers have found that a widely prescribed asthma drug originally sold by Merck & Co may be linked to serious mental health problems for some patients, according to a scientific presentation reviewed by Reuters.

11/05/2024

Put this on a loop today.
Listen.
You’ll breathe better.
Thank you Elmo 💕