eat less meat!

How preposterous of me to tell you so?  Not.  Surprisingly, this is a huge environmental issue that goes way beyond the potentially ethical question of killing (they call it harvesting now, to make it sound more harmless) a living being and eating it. Don't get me wrong, I'm not a vegetarian.  However, in the Western industrialized world meat consumption has skyrocketed from eating meat once a week or so to just under 200lbs/person/year in the US since the advent of cheap meat!  This enormous meat consumption in combination with the rise in world population and the increasing numbers of people able to afford the cheap meat has become a recipe for disaster.

The environmental calamity arises from "cheap" and "too much."  Why?  Because the CAFOs (concentrated animal feeding operations) that these poor animals are raised in are among the biggest greenhouse gas emitters on this planet - generating about 18% (!!!) of greenhouse gases.  In addition, the huge amounts of animal waste leach antibiotics into our ground water.  And to top it off, the conditions under which these sorry souls are being raised, then killed and processed are so horrendous that it is literally unbelievable (read Jonathan Safran Foer because you must know).

There is nothing necessarily wrong with eating meat per se.  As a matter of fact, especially during childhood and adolescence animal protein helps to grow the brain.   But like with anything balance is the key and industrialized nations have become meat addicted.   Food researcher and author Marion Nestlé has advocated eating meat in condiment quantities.

How can we help?  First and foremost by resisting to buy cheap supermarket meat, which comes from CAFOs.  Instead, buy your meat at or from a local farm where the animals have been raised sustainably.  Yes, it will cost more.  But we ought to consume much less of it!

It's in the quality, not the quantity.

You may also want to revisit a series of three posts on meat eating.

do not ask your children

“Do not ask your children

to strive for extraordinary lives.

Such striving may seem admirable,

but it is the way of foolishness.

Help them instead to find the wonder

and the marvel of an ordinary life.

Show them the joy of tasting

tomatoes, apples and pears.

Show them how to cry

when pets and people die.

Show them the infinite pleasure

in the touch of a hand.

And make the ordinary come alive for them.

The extraordinary will take care of itself.”

                                                                                    William Martin

treat yourself

It's not always about money or what money can buy.  Sure, that luxury spa day makes you feel pampered.  But it also costs a ton of money and that's not what this  is about.  It's about spending quality quiet time with yourself.   And you can do that in many forms and most of them cost nothing. Yesterday I went to yoga, slow yoga to be exact (not that high-energy type of yoga, that's not me, and it's not quiet time).  At night, while I cook dinner, I often have a glass of wine while chopping and sautéing.  It makes my cooking experience more enjoyable.  Or how about a bubble bath before going to bed or out to dinner?  Or 10 minutes of meditation (you can find guided meditations online if you don't trust yourself to stay focused, check out the Chopra Center's free guided meditations).   Spending time watering my indoor plants is kind of a meditative quiet time for me, and I love to discover new air roots and flower spikes emerging from my orchids.

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As a matter-of-fact, I enjoy writing this blog post right now.  So in a way I am treating myself.  So what is something you will be doing for yourself?  And about that glass of wine - be sure to drink it out of a beautiful glass.

more focus, less effort

In yoga we learn to listen in on our body and feel it, to hold a posture for several breaths, and breathe into the muscles that are being worked.   While yoga builds strength over time it is not about straining to push ourselves to the limit, but rather about finding that perfect balance between ease and effort. The best thing I recently became aware of was my yoga teacher's suggestion to notice those particular muscles that do the work during a specific asana or posture, and then to relax all the other muscles that are not involved (especially the facial muscles, which are usually not involved, yet tense up with all the other muscles).  This takes a conscious effort because we tend to tense all the muscles indiscriminately.   But it is quite a revelation to be able to let go of the strain in most of your body and then precisely concentrate on where the effort actually needs to happen.  Instead of being all over the place it takes a lot less effort. 

More focus, less effort - and not only in yoga.

how big is your garbage can?

Actually, I should ask "How big is your recycling can?"  I am hoping your recycling can is bigger than your garbage can.  If so, you are on the right track.  If not, there is a lot you can do to reverse that. It is insane how much household waste we generate (and which has to be disposed of somehow).  In 2012 in the US we produced close to 251 million tons of garbage or 4.38 pounds per person per day!!!  That is 17.52 pounds per day for a family of four, or almost 6400 pounds per year!!!!  Holy mackerel.  And consider this:  household garbage only accounts for about 2% of all garbage generated, since there is also industrial, construction and commercial garbage.

No wonder we are collectively beginning to wake up to the need to generate less garbage, recycle more, consume less, make smaller packaging, and compost more.

At our house we have the smallest garbage can available, a 35 gallon can, while our recycling can is huge, it takes 95 gallons.  I am a fervent recycler, as well as bottle (to the store to get my 5 cents back) and egg carton (I get my eggs from a farm) and plastic bag returner (to the supermarket collection bin for all sorts of plastic bags I somehow ended up with).  And even though I have temporarily stopped composting, we usually only generate about one full garbage bag (made of recyclable plastic) per week (sometimes two) for our family of four (and about half of that is produce and other compostable stuff).  Everything else gets recycled.

Moreover, recycling services are for free (or rather paid through your taxes), while you pay for your garbage pick-up by can size directly out of your pocket - the smaller your garbage can the less you pay.   And if you have a garden and can compost you'll end up with even less garbage.

So you can do something good for the environment and save money on top of that (although this goes beyond the mere money question since we pay a huge environmental price for every bit of irresponsibility).  Also refer to an earlier blog post about what else you can do.

move over fragrance free body products

As a Christmas present my daughter received a beautiful selection of body products from Germany, all made from organic ingredients  (and they don't cost an arm and a leg and are available in mainstream drugstores).  They smell sooooooo good!  There is a hand creme that smells of oranges (all essential oil fragrances), a body lotion that smells of roses, a shower gel that also smells of oranges, and a roll-on deodorant that smells of baby powder.  Every time she uses them I go "ahhhhhh"  and "mmhhhhhh."  Meanwhile, I am using a natural fragrance free face cream, a natural fragrance free body lotion, and a fragrance free crystal deodorant.

I am tired of the guilt ridden attitude - of puritanical origin in my mind - that it's better for you and your body if it's denuded of fragrance, and if it smells good it must be bad for you.  I am not advocating synthetic fragrances (I wrote a blog post on those), their smell is offensive and aggressive.  But I mixed rose essential oil into that puritanical face cream and will buy a different one next time.

The little pleasures in life add quality and depth, they make us feel alive.  It is good to indulge in them and feel good about yourself and the world - guilt be gone.    We always have a choice, and I am going for the (natural) fragrance next time I buy a body product.

sunshine! warmth! greenery!

I am so ready for spring this year (although I seem to say that every year - take a look at last year's post).   After a long and cold and very snowy (at least in my short recent memory) winter I am  thirsty for comforting warmth, sneeze-inducing sunshine and joyful greenery.  And the signs are definitely there beyond the calendar's spring equinox announcement yesterday. My yoga teacher reminded us yesterday that while birth is synonymous with exuberance, it is also associated with pain.  And shifting from winter to spring is a bit like waking gradually from a deep slumber.   So, when stretching our body in expansiveness, ready for exercise and movement, we need to do so slowly and gradually to prepare ourselves gently for more vigorous exercise and greater energy intake.  So it is good that the temperatures zig-zag up slowly, some days are warmer, some days are still quite cold.  It takes a while for our body to get used to warmer temperatures.

Early spring flowers grow very slowly through the packed wet leaf cover.  The last of the snow is receding in my garden, although it may take until April for the large snow mountains on the big box stores' parking lots to melt away.  This time of year I love to bring some bare fruit tree branches from the garden into the house.   Soon enough, and ahead of nature outside, the buds burst open with tiny leaves. 

Somehow it is always thrilling to watch this reemergence of life.  Ahhhh, another spring, a new beginning, in the eternal cycle of life.

on sauerkraut and kimchi

I love Sauerkraut and Kimchi.  Both are simple and cheap traditional cabbage based fermented foods, the first from northern Europe, the other from Korea.  Fermented foods in general are enormously healthy because they replenish your gut system with beneficial bacteria - and a healthy gut is prerequisite for a strong immune system (see an earlier post on fermented foods). While you can easily buy them both, beware of Sauerkraut (and pickles, for that matter) made with vinegar or the cooked canned version, and Kimchi with MSG (must read the labels!).   Sauerkraut and pickles in vinegar are not fermented and therefore do not have the beneficial bacteria we so need!  The sour taste of inauthentic mainstream Sauerkraut (or pickles) comes from the vinegar used for ease of manufacturing in an industrialized process.  And MSG is definitely not something you would want to eat - follow the link for more information if you don't know already.

So why not make both yourself?  It is so easy, quick, satisfying and fun (the pounding part of Sauerkraut especially).   I save large wide-mouth glass jars for storing them.

Sally Fallon's Sauerkraut has exactly three ingredients (cabbage, salt, whey), or four if you like caraway seeds in it.  I am a purist and prefer it without.  Saveur magazine dedicated a whole issue to Kimchi a few years ago since you can make Kimchi (like pickles) with just about any vegetable, and you can become more or less sophisticated with your ingredients.  But start nice and simple (follow the link to an easy recipe) and see whether you like the process and the result.

To the good bacteria!

local food relationships

In other parts of the world, whether Europe, Asia, South America or Africa, farmers' markets that sell fresh fruits and vegetables, but also meat, dairy, bread, spices and condiments (and kitchen utensils, clothing, and what not) year round, are nothing unusual.  Our local market in Paris, where I grew up, was held three times a week, as is Union Square Market in Manhattan.  Here in the US farmers' markets are relatively new, as is the entire foodie movement in general, and markets are mostly held once a week during the growing season.  Yet, the whole food movement has taken root quickly and with a vengeance.  People now love to know where their food comes from. Beyond the farmer's market a CSA (community supported agriculture), basically a subscription to a portion of the farmer's harvest, is a great way to get to know your local farmers, invest into their crop for the season and reap the benefits.  While produce CSAs are the most common, some CSAs also offer flowers, fruit, honey, eggs, even meat.  A few farms in the immediate area that do CSAs are Rogowski Farm, High Breeze Farm and Bialas Farms, to mention just a few.

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I buy as much as I can locally.  Many of our eggs come from a friend who has chickens and sells her surplus during the warm season, but also from High Breeze Farm (although they run out of eggs so quickly I can't get there fast enough much of the time).  Honey I buy in 5lb jars from a local potato and onion farmer who is also a beekeeper.  Some of my meat comes from a young professional couple who started raising their own chickens and hogs at their farm Hickory Field a few years ago to assure high quality meat, and who dream of making a living at it in the future.  I get beef, some pork, as well as maple syrup from High Breeze Farm, and raw milk from Freedom Hill Farm.  And until recently we even had our very own cheese maker in the area, Bobolink Dairy, who unfortunately moved away.

Then there are farm-to-table restaurants, which are either farms that also run a restaurant (in our direct area Rogowski's once-a-month Field to Fork Gourmet Supper Club comes to mind), or a restaurant that grows its own produce, and even its own meat, such as the Stone Barns research center in Tarrytown, NY with its fabulous Blue Hill at Stone Barns restaurant.

And if all of that does not get you in touch intimately enough with your local farmers now there are entire communities built and centered around a working farm, called agrihoods, as the NY Times reported.

Of course there is still your local seasonal farm stand for spur-of-the moment drive-by buying if you don't want to commit to a CSA for the season.  But if you would like to try a CSA now, in early spring, is the perfect time to scout out your local farms and find out who offers what.

the flat earth syndrome

Heretics are out-of-the box thinkers who challenge culturally accepted beliefs (dare I say dogma?).  More mildly we may call them activists.  A big historic idea challenger for example was Galileo Galilei, who determined that the sun is at the center of our solar system, not the earth.  And remember that before him we believed the earth to be flat.  The way we think about things stays around for a few centuries, even millenia, then cultural beliefs change again. I believe that we are currently going through such a big belief shift right now.  On the one hand we have our currently accepted paradigm - scientific materialism with its glorification of science, that's been around for the past 300 or so years -, on the other a more balanced and holistic view is wedging itself into our culture.  This 'holistic' paradigm recognizes the unseen aspect of life - emotions, beliefs, stories, spirit, consciousness -, and integrates it into our world view for a more complete picture.

Many scientists and thinkers fight this holistic view tooth-and-nail (how about Richard Dawkins?).  However, I believe the holistic approach leads to a deeper, more satisfying, more encompassing, more complex, more sustainable and more compassionate life.  A marriage of science and consciousness offers us far better options than one without the other.

Take the reductionist scientific understanding of nourishing ourselves, now called nutrition, as a composite of quantified nutrients and calories that fuels that engine of a human body.  In juxtaposition, we can look at food from the holistic perspective as nourishing mind, body and spirit by way of appreciating it, celebrating it, healing us, bringing us together, growing and creating the best of it.

It is good to be aware of our beliefs and our culture's beliefs and to inspect them periodically.  Also reread a previous post on The Great Transformation.