Food for thought...

Food. We need it. We want it. We consume it. But, do we really know what's up with our food system in America? This semester we have talked indirectly about our food consumption. We watched Food Inc., talked some about what is being grown in American and recently heard a lot about food recalls. With all this food talk, it got me thinking. You see, paying close attention to food is a life-or-death situation for me. Not just in I need the nourishment like everyone else but because I have food allergies.  

No more wheat!

For a quick reference:


1. I have celiacs. To be brief my body does not digest gluten properly. Check out more information here. 
2. I have anaphylactic reactions to wheat, buckwheat and large amounts of peanuts.
3. My body develops unpleasant skin rashes to watermelon, shellfish, navy beans, lima beans and large amount of latex containing fruits. 
4. The fun part of all of this is that my body cannot handle medical steroids which are used to control and treat these reactions. As a result, I get a special medical cocktail that is ridiculously harmful to my body but life saving. 

On any given day I carry between 2-4 epi-pens and 4 different
medications in case of an allergic reaction. 

I carry around a lot of my own food, epi-pens and am suppose to wear a medical ID bracelet. All of this happened within the last three years. Coming to college I not only experienced the normal change of going to college but also experienced a huge lifestyle change. 

Not only is our environment affected by our food choices, but so is our body. While still a theory, many scientist believe the increase in food allergies is a result of GMO foods and corn being in virtually every product. In fact, food allergies have risen 20% in the past 10 years! That is a HUGE increase. 

The food allergy dilemma is not all bad though. You see, when diagnosed with any type of food allergies or celiacs, many find it easier, safer and cheaper to go back to an all natural diet. So what are some changes one can make to their diet? 

1. Learn to read produce labels! (see picture at left)

2. Shop only the perimeter of a store. The stuff in the middle is prepackaged, filled with chemicals and excess packaging. 

3. Grow your own food. It is fun, inexpensive and helps the environment. Plus the added benefit of personal satisfaction of growing your own food. 

4. Become informed and be an advocate for friends with celiacs, gluten intolerance or food allergies. In the beginning many feel shy about their condition and try to downplay it. This is not only harmful to their body, but misleading to the public. As they learn to cope with it, learn to be an advocate. Don't down play it. 

The Land of Bigger and Better...

I spent a week in the state where everything is bigger and better (aka Texas) with my sister and her boyfriend. While they are nursing students by day they turn into food critics by night. If nursing school were to go south (which lets pray it doesn't- graduation is only a few short weeks away!) they would qualify to be some kick-butt food critics (their words, turned PG). 

Friday night we ventured out on to the town, in search of a dinner I could eat. With my nice assortment of food allergies and intolerances, dining out is quite a feat and in some cases has proved to be impossible. Armed with a phone, a gluten-free restaurant app and a GPS we finally located a restaurant. Finally! 

Dinner that night was at Ruggle's Green, Houston's first certified Green Restaurants. Dinner was nothing short of amazing. Food options were more then a bowl of lettuce. Food was organic. I had a wide range of choices from pizza to pasta to sandwiches. Everything was prepared fresh, food was piping hot and most of the food was locally sourced. Sugar was minimally used and most sweeteners came from organic honey or organic sugar cane. The soda had no chemicals, condiments were made on site. The list goes on and on, but that is not the point of this blog post! (Except, if you are in Houston anytime soon- give them a try!) 

While the food was a delightful part of the experience and eating organic, locally sourced food nourished my body, their green philosophy was even more exciting. Formed in 2008, Ruggles Green is a four-star certified green restaurant. So what makes them green? According to the Dine Green regulations, an establishment must create programs in Energy, Water, Waste, Disposables, Chemical & Pollution reduction, Sustainable Furnishing and Building Materials. In all, conservation methods must be employed in every step of a restaurant: from building it to running it. 


So what does Ruggle's Green do? Well they: 
1. Don't use any styrofoam 
2. Covert fry oil into biofuel
3. Utilize all recycling programs
4. Purchase and sell organic and mostly locally sourced food
5. Get employees in on the conservation: from organic uniforms to giving them 'green' living classes
...And the list goes on! 

Seeing how much they go out of the way to conserve, it made me curious as to how much traditional restaurants waste. It's appalling. Some of the most shocking include:
1. Americans alone waste between 50 to 90 million pounds of food each year!
2. Restaurants in the United States are the LARGEST consumer of electricity. 


3. The prepared food industry makes up 10% of our economy- they dictate what we eat, what we breathe, how we do things, etc. 

And this is only the start! So before you dine out, consider how your purchase will hurt or support the environment. Your every move makes an impact! 

A drop, a pond or an ocean?

Warning, this is brutal honesty.

As we began this semester, I was dreading colloquium: really, all out dreading it. On the first day of class, as we wrote down our views on our environmental philosophy, I was grimacing at the amount of weeks we had to spend together to get this required class out of the way. My original thoughts, as taken from the notecard on our first August meeting. 
"My environmental philosophy is that our planet is a mess and we are doing the bare minimum, if that, to help it survive." 
One could say my view on life, at that point, was a little off. I had not even been back in the States for a week, culture shock was hitting hard and class was the last place I wanted to be. (Really, honest to goodness it was the first time in my life where I did not desire a formal education.) 

As the weeks past, assignments came and went, field trips happened and readings finished my outlook on this class (and life) became lighter. No longer was a raging mad, ticked off at our first world country and finding every outlet to let the world know. 

This past weekend as I was driving back to Fort Myers after attending the celebration of life for my late step-grandfather of two years. As usual for when I am alone it was a lot of thinking and singing along. The drive across the state is not a hard one, and a certain times of the year it's breath taking. This weekend was one of those moments. There are these yellow flowers that pop up and cover fields. It's a sea of yellow for as far as the eye can see. 

As I saw the picture (left) and heard this song, I could not help but think back to colloquium. You see, along the way when I saw only one flower it was pretty but gone in a flash. When I saw two, it was beautiful but once again gone in a second. But when the sea appeared and the population was as far as they eye could see, the drive was magically and the scene lingered in my head even after I had passed the last yellow sea. 

When we work one or two for something good, it's cool. A change may take place. People see it, smile and move on. But when you work in a sea of people, you last longer, make a bigger impact and cause that 'scene' to linger in ones mind a bit longer. My environmental philosophy has changed.
"Our plant may be a mess, but as the ponds of environmental activist join to form a sea the impact they make on changing the planet will no longer be a dream, but a reality." 

Even though we are not finished with the course I have (for the most part) come to enjoy colloquium. The ideas it presents, the challenges it gives and the change it inspires. 

Hoo (Who) are you trying to be?

Our nature campus walk was a memorable day in colloquium. (This is said in all seriousness, promise.) Colloquium for me is sometimes the hardest part of my week or the highlight of my week in area of classes attended. This week was one of those weeks I did NOT want to be there. I was sick and tired and did NOT want to be sloshing around campus. I did NOT want to walk through water, I did NOT want to be outside, I did NOT want to be stopping to look at animals that I may or may not care about and I really did NOT want to be getting sweaty, smelly and nasty. Even though I did NOT want to do this, I did but it was done with a rotten attitude, a really rotten attitude. After giving myself some distance on thinking about that day and reflecting on it, I have learned about a few things about nature and myself.

First, the lessons on nature. Nature never ceases to give an amazing or breathe-taking view- from the savannah of Africa to the swamp land of Fort Myers- nature sparkles in its own unique way. As we began our walk with a rude awakening of wading through water, it occurred to me that nature adapts. Now, this does not always mean it adapts for the better, but nature adapts to SURVIVE. It may degrade its quality, but at least it is still surviving. At the start of our walk we learned how the entire area used to be a swamp, now only today some of our land is a swamp. Nature has adapted to its new space. As we ventured further into the woods, our group was stopped by an owl. An owl, who ten years ago may not have been confident enough to stick around with a group of twenty-five plus adults walking through the woods, was comfortable chattering away perched above our heads. As we stopped and looked on the owl continued to show off. Another example of how nature had adapted. Much of our colloquium study has focused on how BAD the environment is, but this walk was a testimony of how nature is adapting.

Eating time at the orphan center. Often the children would
bring bowls to get extra large helpings and then take some
home. On this day, they were excited because they were
getting rice, a meal generally reserved for Christmas.

Second, the walk allowed me to reflect on, well, me. Since I have returned home from Africa, I have been struggling with trying to find who I am (hence the title). This summer I was exposed to poverty that as an American, is hard to fathom until you see it. I was exposed to minimal to no healthcare, something we as American's take for granted at times. I was exposed to poor living conditions, something that even our homeless population would find highly unacceptable. My world as I knew it has been shattered. So on the day of our walk, I was in a poor me, feel bad attitude. That day I was struggling with finding joy and happiness and as a result, my attitude was bad. As I was reflecting on how nature adapts, it reminded me that humans adapt too.

Clean water, a luxury in some areas is being
fetched from a well with various materials cut
into strips to make a rope. 

My experiences do not mean that I will adapt and forgot what I saw. My experiences and the testimony nature gives means that I can see life in a different way. A way that has been adapted to my past experiences and present situation. So, hoo (who) are you trying to be?

Magical food! (that doesn't make you toot)

Miracle fruit

Our Wednesday at ECHO was an interesting afternoon. Returning to ECHO I had mixed emotions after partially hating the place after a not so fun experience three years ago and excited to see some of the farming techniques I taught over the summer in Africa in action. Within five minutes of starting our tour these emotions were in part resolved. When we stopped to listen to Vic explain and demonstrate the magical tree leave I was excited. During the summer we heard a lot about these trees, the wonderful effects it had but sadly we never had the pleasure of trying it. It was fun to watch as a classmate got to experience its magical effects but the joy soon turned into anger when Vic told us that this magical leaf was not being utilized here in the States. 

Why? Simply because of politics, money and companies controlling politics through money (read, Big Sugar companies here in Florida). This tree and the effects of it are miraculous. It makes sour food taste sweet, bad food taste good. At this point in history everyone knows at least a single person who has battled cancer, undergone treatments and lost weight because they cannot handle the tast of food. Numerous third world countries already use this product to aid in taking other medicines that do not have an appealing taste. Why can't we, one of the wealthiest nations on this earth, use this miracle fruit too? Simply because our fortune trumps the will to help the ill. 



This tree can do much more then simply help out the ill who need help eating food. It can decrease our dependance on sugar. Our sugar dependance is, in part, what is making America so unhealthy today. After 2006 research conducted by Phytotherapy Research it was found that the miracle fruit could aid treating diabetes. The metallic taste left in cancer patients mouth, leaving them unwilling to eat was gone with this food.

Florida Big Sugar 

If this is how our country continues to press on, we will all get to fully experience the effects of what happens when money controls our actions and not the unconditional love of loving thy neighbor as yourself. All changes start small- so what will you do today? Decide to let money rule your actions or decide to put others over yourself in the process starting a better future?

A recent article in Men's Health gives a fantastic overview of the fruit. You can check it out here.

What's a cow without legs?

Answer- Ground beef!

Our gift- a cow! We watched him go from mooing to collapsing. In a span
of four hours it went from being a pet to being our food.

It was our forth day in Zambia. We spent three days just to to Chama, Zambia after already spending fifty hours in travel to Lusaka alone. A village other Zambian’s rarely go to and even fewer foreigners venture too. Our presence brought about an air of excitement in the village and a sense of celebration. After breakfast our first morning, we were began our journey over to the church where we were teaching at and no sooner had we started then were we stopped.

The village, church and youth had given us, the three Azungu's (white people) a cow, a pig and a chicken! After accepting and ‘re-gifting’ our gifts we were led to meet the cow. The cow was a sense of pride and the elders wanted us to see the cow. Not only did they make us see the cow and touch it, they proceeded to kill it in front of us. My mind reeled from the killing of the cow. It was not humane (I’ll spare those details!), but is there really a humane way to kill anything?

After four intense hours of teaching, singing, shakes hands and turning down marriage proposals it was time for lunch! Take a stab at what we were served for lunch. Besides the local shema and encabagi we also had cow liver. The cow we had to meet, touch and then watch as it was killed. No later then ten minutes into lunch I was crying. We had to eat what was just killed.

Cow!

These days I do not eat beef on my own- it must be served to me. To say I am a bit traumatized is, well, a bit of an understatement. Just maybe my distaste of cows isn’t such a bad thing. After digging into this cow thing a bit more and watching Food Inc., it turns out that cows are not the best thing for our environment. Cows alone produce more then one thirds of the carbon dioxide produced today along with many other harmful fumes. Now this effect combined with the corn shortage from this summer we have a bigger problem on our hands.

How would our environment be today if each American consumed less beef? According to the USDA, Americans’ consumed 61 pounds of beef in 2009. Imagine the sustainability we could obtain with this reduction. Just how could we convince American’s to reduce this habit? 

Quack quack!

 At the age of four, Julian saw his first family of
ducks! 

‘What is that?’ I heard a Julian squeal. As I whipped around to see what the problem was I couldn’t help but laugh. In a split second I went from shear panic thinking something was wrong to dissolving into a fit of giggles as the four year old I was in charge of pointed incredulously at a family of ducks. It was only two weeks into the summer and my job and my eyes had been pried open to the nature-deprived kids that were filling the halls of schools these days. Julian, then four, and Noah, then eighteen months, were my sole focus for the next eleven weeks and it became my mission to get them to appreciate nature.

Within just a few days of being with them I learned quickly how much they did not know about nature. As a result each day in between morning snack and lunch we took a walk through the neighborhood. The first week Julian complained and had to be bribed to get out of the house. It wasn’t fun. I had to come up with a plan and quickly to make sure this time was kept special, scared and educational. It was then that Julian noticed the trash that littered the streets and we began picking up trash each on our walks.

Julian at the age of four, learned the importance of being
a responsible citizen. This is just one day of trash off of
one street! 

Two weeks after this began Julian learned where the hands had to be on the clock so that we could go outside on that special walk. Through picking up trash he not only learned about being a responsible citizen, but he was able to witness many creatures in nature and together we were learning and exploring.

Last week as we walked the boardwalk, I was bored and flat out just didn’t want to be there and it was then I remembered sweet Julian. How his hatred for nature turned into something he delighted and took peace in. Just as he was learning his sense of place, I have to relearn my sense of place in southwest Florida.

Where we find our sense of place defines who we are. If we find it in a store our sense of place is items. If we find it in nature our sense of place is everywhere. It’s free. We are able to appreciate all of life because we find our meaning in sustains us in every way- food, materials, entertain, transportation, etc.

With this realization came the reality that children are not finding this today. If they are not connecting with nature today then where are they placing their sense of place? How are you encouraging that?