the importance of local

Why is local so important?Locavorism, buying and eating from local sources in season, is very much in the headlines these days.But localism is important on many levels, not just food and agriculture.

When things become global they also become abstract, and with that they become profit oriented as opposed to quality-of-life oriented.As an example, we currently have a Malaysian-based casino operator vying to build a huge casino in the midst of our protected woods.Since the operators live and work in far away Malaysia and not right here they have no vested interest in the environmental and quality-of-life implications.Their interest is strictly financial and that means that environment and quality-of-life will suffer.

By being involved on a local level you have a say, you have influence in local matters, you participate in something tangible that has a direct implication on your quality of life.Your voice counts.

When you buy from local sources, from farmers, from gift shops that sell local artists's works, from second hand clothing stores, from services (massage therapy, sports studios, hair salons) you put money right back into our local community (see an earlier blog post on local food relationships).Getting involved in local politics, organizations or initiatives allows you to contribute directly to the quality of life of where you live.It gives you a vote, a bit of control, and lets you be a part of what's going on where you live.

There are initiatives out there that promote localism on a global level.One of them is the Transition Movement (they are about reducing our fossil-fuel dependence through going local).Another one is the International Alliance for Localization.

But you don't really need an organization.Just think about what matters to you.Is it how your food is grown?Is it how the land in your community gets used?Are you passionate about the environment and preserving it in good condition for future generations?Relationships with people in your community?Cultural events? What the schools in your community are doing?It's easy to donate $50 over the internet to some abstract cause that sounds good. Instead, get involved locally. It makes a bigger difference than you think.

imaginary enemies

"You make enemies, they don't really exist," my wise 13-year old daughter said the other day while we were driving to the library.    Did you nod your head just now, or did you think "huh?" Here's the thing, at least from my perspective. Our beliefs shape our reality, and our reality, at least to a large extent, shapes itself around our beliefs. Suppose you feel really vulnerable and are fearful of someone breaking into your house. If this is a prevailing thought you play over and over in your mind, you may well be setting yourself up to experience just what you fear.

When you understand the world around you as dangerous and adversarial, when you see people as "other" and treat them with mistrust because "well, you never know," when you believe you need to fight a cause or someone, you are making imaginary enemies. That is why some of our ways don't work so well, because we "fight" an illness, we "fight" pests and weeds, we "fight" obesity, we "fight back."

Instead, let's cooperate, let's work together, let's try to understand, let's try to be compassionate - with others, with ourselves, with the environment. If you put out with your thoughts, beliefs and expectations more of what you actually want to experience you will get more of that back.   They had a point in the 60s when they said to make love not war.  Enemies are imaginary because we make them up in our mind.      Also take a look at an earlier related post "love those germs."

ditch your microwave

In the name of speed we often enthusiastically adopt new technologies without fully knowing their effects and implications. Microwave ovens are ubiquitous in office pantries and kitchens, and are practical for quickly heating up a cup of soup or leftovers, or thaw frozen food you forgot to take out last night. Some people are even cooking in their microwave to reduce kitchen time, such as for making baked potatoes, which would otherwise take well over an hour in the oven.

Growing up in Europe we never had a microwave at home. And I ditched the one and only I ever owned about 20 years ago and don't really miss it.   At the time it hadn't been proven that microwaved foods were safe to eat.  Now we know that microwaving food alters its molecular structure, rearranging the food's biochemistry, and with it our blood chemistry (!!). In addition to what it does to your food, which has of course an effect on your body, we also know that the electro-magnetic field of a microwave, even if it doesn't leak, has health implications. See a comprehensive article in the HuffPost on the whole microwave issue.

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  It's no big deal to live without a microwave oven. I reheat a single cup of tea or soup in a very small casserole on the stove on simmer - doesn't take much more than the minute it takes in the microwave.  I try to remember to take my frozens out ahead of time so they can thaw in the fridge. But if I do forget I either thaw them in a big bowl in room temperature water, or I simply leave it out on the counter to thaw (I know I know, those bacteria scare tactics, but I am alive and well, and I don't make a habit of it). Soup or broth can be thawed on the stovetop on simmer as well. And frozen vegetables go right into a casserole with a bit of water or butter on low. Leftovers, such as casseroles without liquid, go in the oven to reheat. As for popcorn - put a generous tablespoon full of oil in a large casserole, add 1/3 cup of popping corn, close the lid, put on the stove on high, and in less than five minutes your popcorn au naturel is ready. Sprinkle with some salt, some parmesan cheese, some nutritional yeast, or whatever else strikes your fancy (cumin gives it a TexMex taste). It doesn't get much faster than that (and it won't rearrange your blood chemistry).

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why heirlooms?

Heirloom fruit and vegetables are older varieties that will reproduce exactly the same kind of plant again from its seeds (hybrids can't).   Biodiversity is also a very important reason to choose heirlooms over hybrids (and let me not even mention the G word), as we need as many plant varieties around as possible, and especially those that grow well under specific local or strained weather conditions. As a matter of fact, I read somewhere that Peruvians have almost as many potato and corn varieties as growing places, because these plants were all developed for very specific local conditions, and would not perform as well if planted elsewhere. Now that is biodiversity!  In addition, heirlooms are often more disease resistant and have more intense flavors - think intensely flavorful strawberry or tomato instead of those watery spongy supermarket kinds. There are now even seed libraries to preserve heirloom varieties for future use and generations. Sometimes you can draw from them, but you have to return seeds at the end of the season in exchange for your loan. Lastly, it is infinitely more interesting to taste many different pepper or tomato or apple or carrots kinds (love the purple carrots) than the one or two same old same old you get at the supermarket.

Hybrids, in comparison, while having some desirable characteristics, can't reproduce from their seeds - think of seedless watermelons or grapes.

And by-the-way, heirloom breeds exist among animals as well, and some farmers are now bringing these older breeds back for the same reasons heirloom produce is desirable.

please don't take my sunshine away

The whole controversy about sunscreen and skin cancer has made us scared to be out in the sun without a thick layer of white sunscreen on our face, long sleeves and a hat. However, this prevents us from soaking up vitamin D through the skin, which the body needs for calcium absorption and a healthy immune system.   So we put ourselves between a rock and a hard place and take vitamin D supplements (and make the whole supplement industry very profitable along the way), although those supplements are not the same as sunshine au naturel.

In addition, we need at least 10 minutes of real sunshine a day to reset our circadian rhythms, which promote a healthy sleep cycle.

And, talking about the absence of sunshine in our life, people have gotten so used to wearing sunglasses for fashion looks that their eyes are becoming overly sensitive (have you ever seen an indigenous person with sun glasses?), when in reality our eyes were made for sunshine (other than extremely bright conditions, such as a walk in the Sahara, skiing in the mountains under a sunny sky, or a sunshine filled glacier walk).

Get some real sunshine in your life by going out at lunchtime, parking your car a bit further on a sunny day and walking that extra half mile, sitting on a park bench and soaking up that sun, getting off the subway or the bus one stop before your's to get that extra bit of sunshine, and a bit of hiking and biking on the week-end.

let go of the breaks

We cling to predictability, try to find safety in laws and ordinances (there are more of them every day; what a morass to navigate and enforce), and more warning labels come out all the time. From notifications about how to wear your bike helmet safely, to signs meant to prevent young children from ingesting small toy parts, from signs to keep us from jumping into a 3' deep pool, to labeling on your nutfree cereal that it was processed in a facility that does process tree nuts, to shots that are supposed to safeguard us from everything and anything (and there are more of those all the time as well), and insurance for everything including life (although that one can't give you your life back if you lose it), we have become a society obsessed with safety.

Most of us want to be in total control of our life, prevent it from bringing us unpredictable situations, rolling along nicely and rather boringly (and then people go on these crazy adventure vacations where they can live a bit of that letting go in a somewhat controlled environment and under supervision; so ironic).

They say "what doesn't kill you makes you stronger." It is only natural that we wouldn't willingly and knowingly subject ourselves to some of the harder lessons we may have learned, although in hindsight these may turn out to have been valuable, character building, or, as my husband says, "built hair on our chest."

On the flipside this cautiousness and timidity prevents us from living life to the fullest and may keep some beautiful opportunities at bay the universe may otherwise send our way in its infinite wisdom. There are many situations where I couldn't have planned things better than the universe did for me.   Our move this past summer ended up happening almost simultaneously with the closing on our old house. Yet, we put the house on the market back in the fall of last year for fear of not finding a buyer in time. If we really had sold the house any earlier either we or the buyer would have been in trouble.

I often now put out to the universe a wish for the most benevolent outcome of a particular situation. And then I watch and see what happens and let things unfold. Trust yourself, trust the universe, try sending out this "most benevolent thing," but refrain from putting the breaks on life too much. You might just miss out on some beautiful moments and some great opportunities.

on balancing

"If you don't take care of life it becomes messy," my yoga teacher said this morning. Health is an ongoing and continuous balancing act which requires that we keep checking in with ourselves.   Health is not "just there," it's something that needs to be worked at. And health consists both of mental and physical aspects. So, not only do we have to eat healthy foods, get enough sleep and some exercise here and there. We also need to dust off the cobwebs in our mind on a regular basis. For that we need time to check in with ourselves.

Whether that means meditating, journaling, simply being aware of what goes on "up there" or in your body, doing yoga or any other practice that rebalances and refocuses you, doesn't matter much. It just matters whether you do it or not. Otherwise it's easy for things to get out of kilter, and that's when we can get sick, either physically or mentally.

Take a look at your life and scan it for such balancing activities. It is good to spend time alone with yourself. Such a grounding and alone practice could also be writing a poem, doing calligraphy or ikebana (the Japanese art of flower arranging), gardening, or going for a massage. The possibilities are endless as long we do such activities in a mindful way that focuses inwards.   If you don't already have such an activity in your life consider making time for one, or two, or three.

from me-age to we-age

What an amazing time we live in! Big cultural changes are happening as we speak, although it's sometimes a bit difficult to see them when you're in it. From a greater perspective it's been said that we are entering the Age of Aquarius, that our consciousness is evolving from the me-age to the we-age as we proceed into the new millenium.  And climate change is now forcing the issue and mandating that we unite across the globe to mitigate and address this biggest of current problems.

Culturally, there are already a lot of indications of a shift from the me-age to the we-age, and it's all been jumpstarted by the internet.   While spiritual people have always said that we are not separate, that it just seems that way, the internet now demonstrates directly how connected we all are - and this is nothing woo woo. Think of how the internet has changed our lives in the past two decades. "Knowledge is power," they always say, and that is what the internet has brought us with all this shared information right at our fingertips. It has led to so much more transparency and accountability, which empowers us all. Whether Wikipedia, free music sharing, free movie and e-book sharing (and yes, there are royalty issues involved that go way beyond the scope of this post), free college lectures, free internet help forums on anything and everything, it's all there for the sharing and taking.

On the service side there is the Uber car service and several spin-offs that circumvent the traditional taxi and car service net and lets riders contract directly with car owners for their transportation needs. The lodging site Airbnb circumvents the traditional hotel industry and lets homeowners share their homes for a fee directly with tourists.

Connecting empowers us.

feeling fall

I just love the fall! I love to feel it, hear it, smell it, see it, taste it and think about it. I love to feel the different temperatures. The nights are already cool, and the air feels crisp and dry on the skin, so invigorating.  We have had summer warmth during the days when we could catch the last of the t-shirt weather. And on rainy days I love to feel the cool humidity on my face.

I love to hear the wind wooshing through the tall trees, the crispy leaves rustling under my feet, the rain drumming on the roof and against the windows, or the crackling of a fall fire in the yard.

I love the smell of decaying leaves, especially on rainy days. I love the smell of pumpkin spices. I love the smell of candles. I love the smell of wood fires in the air as people begin to light their wood burning stoves again.

I love the sights of fall. Early fall is a feast for the eyes - incredibly blue sky, deep orange, yellow and red leaves, bright sunshine, gray rainy days, piles of orange pumpkins and bumpy gourds, shiny red apples peeking out among the green apple tree leaves, triangular formations of birds in the sky flying south, and of course Halloweeny costumes.

I love the tastes of fall. Pumpkin is THE fall taste, although it's the spices that make the tasteless pumpkin taste like pumpkin, the nutmeg-cinnamon-allspice combination. But other tastes come to mind as well, like mulled cider, hearty stews (chili is the dish I make for Halloween), apple pie, or chestnuts.

And then I love to sense fall's significance.  A cycle slowly coming to an end, a slight melancholy in the air, a slowing down.

Feel the fall.

organic soil and flowers?

A lot of people are now aware of the notion of growing food organically. But did you know that there is organic potting soil and that you can buy organic flowers? "Huh," you might say, or maybe "enough already with all this organic stuff." But if you recognize the value of organic food - to your health, to the environment's health, and to the farm workers' health - buying organic potting soil for either your houseplants or perhaps, more importantly, for your vegetable garden, makes a lot of sense. Organic potting soil doesn't contain pesticide and fertilizer residue, ergo better for your houseplants or the vegetables you grow in it. In addition, this soil is much richer in natural nutrients and minerals, as it hasn't been chemically enhanced and "propped up."  The vegetables or houseplants you grow in this soil will be more resilient and the former more nutritious to eat.

Now, what about organic flowers? Even more far fetched? The cut flower industry uses huge amounts of fertilizers, fungicides and pesticides, the same way conventional agriculture does for growing produce. Furthermore, when the cut flowers come from outside the US - and most of the cut flowers in this country are imported from huge Central American cut flower farms - they were likely grown with chemicals that have been banned in this country for their high toxicity. These poisonous chemicals leech into the soil and groundwater, are lethal to bees and other pollinators, and are of course toxic for the farm workers. We are less aware of this problem because it happens so far away, but it's worth a thought.