Archive for Shift in Consciousness
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Kate
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I love having good food for myself and my family! You might say it’s one of my passions! In fact we are a family of ‘foodies’ and have been long before the word was coined. You can hear us having conversations about heirloom tomatoes from my daughters abundant garden, and summer salads of balsamic vinegar, new greens and watermelon. Yum, yum!
Of course, having an urban life, I also go to the grocery store. I love the selections and variety as much as anyone, and sometimes just browse the aisles looking for new food and sales on old favorites. Much to my dismay, this is no longer fun! There are fewer and fewer foods I can feel good about buying now.
In the late 70’s while I had young kids, I read the labels for sugar. I’d read John Lennon’s favorite book “Sugar Blues” and took the hint! With a hyperactive child I cut out red dyes and overly processed foods. Later on I watched the fats and washed the pesticides off the veggies and fruits. Preservatives came under scrutiny next, so these were eliminated from our diet.
I took a hiatus from food label scrutiny after all my kids were out on their own. I felt safe in doing so, sure I now knew what was what in the packaged goods I bought. After all, I had peered at every label more than a dozen times, pretty much memorized the contents. I cooked from raw ingredients most of the time because I like to cook!
Then, in the first decade of this millennium, I noticed I was slowly but surely gaining weight. How could that be? I ate very well and hadn’t put on a pound in years (well maybe a pound or two). So I started looking at labels again and noticed an ingredient I was not that familiar with: high fructose corn sweetener (HFCS). Looking it up, I discovered it was a substance the body can’t use so it immediately converts it to fat. It also had the alarming property of ‘fooling’ the body into thinking it hadn’t eaten, so you wanted more since you were still hungry!
After cutting out all HFCS from my diet, I lost 10 lbs in two weeks. Hummmm….
Today my shopping is more vigilant than ever. I’ve conquered the HFCS problem, however I am now faced with the hidden toxins of GMO’s glaring at me from the shelves. This is now in 80% of all our prepacked foods and can be found in old stand-bys like Boca Burgers (bought by Kraft) and most items that have any corn, soy, canola, or beet sugar in them. The only foods you can be sure do not have GMO’s are organic or say no GMO’s on the label.
What’s the big fuss? It just so happens the genetically modified seeds are specifically designed to be untouched by pesticides and herbicides. Some of them even manufacture their own poisons. This means they can be sprayed with Roundup throughout the growing cycle, right up to harvest. This poison is then taken into their system and is found in the harvested plant. Genetic modification has altered soy beans so much that there are many times more powerful allergens in them than they had before.
So now a peaceful stroll down the aisles of the grocery store is gone. Four GMO’s in this, three GMO’s in that, what’s a woman to do? Well, as has been said before, buy local, seasonal, organic, sustainable, fair-trade foods! You think it costs too much? In the 1940’s food was 25% of your income. Now it’s 7.5%. You get what you pay for! Would you buy the cheapest car on the market just because it was cheap?
And what if you saved $1000.00 in doctor bills and prescriptions just by buying good, clean food? Is that worth it?
Posted by:
Kate
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As everything ‘heats’ up in a world preparing for change, I have had some deep questions about my own role in this. There are many ways I could help, or teach, or present others with options for a healthy future. As various ideas arose in me, I would explore them in my heart and mind to see which ones really caught fire. Some were close to that ignition point – just not quite there yet.
Recently I took a road trip to New Mexico to visit three different sets of friends. First I connected with a dear girlfriend from my childhood in Santa Fe. Much to my surprise and delight we were more natural and at ease than ever before. Even though more than forty years had passed, we had a very ‘in the moment’ relationship together. Yet, to me, it was also rooted in our childhood, in the Earth, at my roots. This stirred me deeply as the love and the warmth between us was so very real.
This warmth and love has happened with other best girlfriends from childhood, and it has re-grounded me to a past that is suddenly alive and well in the present! This is a sea change for me, and adds a depth to my presence I didn’t know I was missing! This has connected me back to the Farm, the Earth, and childhood in a positive, nourishing way.
Next I went to hang out in the loving presence of three Sisters Of Honua, my beloved Spirit sisters. We Sisters of the Earth are connecting, communing, and supporting one another for the sake of our Mother Earth and all my relations. Here, after the drumming, during the night, a fire started burning in me, a fire I had no words for yet.
Two hours North, I stopped and parked on the other side of a juniper, on the other side of a ranch gate, and waited for my friend to come get me. She arrived before I got the gate pulled closed over the rough, rutted ground. [There is no way for my low-slung ride to navigate the road to her home.]
Finally, after much bumping and twisting around on dusty roads, we could look down into a small valley and see the donkeys, a horse, the river, and the beautiful buildings she and her husband call home on the range! A year ago I built a labyrinth for her on this land and I knew we were going to walk it again in the moonlight as it was to be a full moon that night.
While waiting for the moon to rise, my friend pulled out an album and a DVD . Her sister had put together the story of part of the Suffragette Movement, the part their Grandmother played in giving Women the vote. We immersed ourselves in that story, really experiencing what our Grandmothers did, what they endured, and what it was all for. It was truly inspiring! I wanted to join them, to stand on their shoulders and make a difference in my world.
There it was! The fire in the belly had words, and it went like this. One of the wisest advisers President Obama lost was his Grandmother! He has missed and still needs that counsel of wisdom in Washington. Now all the Grandmothers need to speak to him and to all leaders everywhere! We have something to say that needs to be heard!
The time has come to speak our truth: about the food, about the water, about the seeds and the lands and about the children and grandchildren of our lands. We Grandmothers, and supporters of the Grandmothers, and supporters of Mother Earth need to SHOW UP in force. We need to BE WILLING to stop the madness. We need to TELL THE TRUTH from our hearts. We need to say to all the powers that be: “I will only accept the best from you!”
If not now, Women, then when? For if we cannot speak out now to stop the poisons, stop the killing, and start healing ourselves and our home there will be no tomorrow to do it in. This is the Grandmothers Wake Up Call! This is the right time for peaceful action. We have our Grandmothers shoulders to stand on. This is when we shine in all our power, so that there is an Earth to pass down to the next seven generations, and humans to live on it. This is why we are here at this moment on this Earth, our home!
I propose we meet in all the capitols of all the lands on Earth Day, April 22, 2012. I see us walking, riding, pedaling, flying, and car pooling to our capitols. I see us pushing baby carriages, pushing each other in wheel chairs, riding on floats, dancing great daisy chains, and singing our way to the capitols. Let us make a huge noise for life, joining together heart to heart in community to get this house cleaning done once and for all.
Roll up your sleeves, Ladies! It’s time to have some serious fun! And don’t forget to ask all those wonderful men in our lives along for protectors. The more the merrier!
Posted by:
Kate
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I am one of those fortunate people that never lost touch with being able to find out what foods my body wants. I feel part of this is great genetics; part of this was being raised by a Mom who used portion size and dish size to indicate what a normal amount of something was; and part of this was having a Dad who changed what he ate and the amount he ate when the activity changed. The last part was trusting my inner knowing to decide on foods and amounts that suited me in the moment.
This is evident in some patterns and habits I have that seem to be quite different from most of my friends and acquaintances. If I am hungry and can’t find anything in the refrigerator or cupboards that interests me, I drink a glass of water or have a cup of herb tea. I take this as a sign to fast for the moment. When all I want is one item for a meal, I go with that, even if it seems a bit odd – like a whole bunch of kale or a grapefruit or two. Since I sometimes only want a bite or two of something and at other times I want a lot, I figure it all balances out.
Seasons also bring changes in what foods I want and how much! In fact I will gain roughly 10 pounds by January. In cold climates in winter, I want root crops, stews, meat, and hearty soups. I love the tougher greens (collards, kale, and turnip greens) as well, fermented foods (sour kraut), and have more good fats as the weather gets colder and the ground freezes. My warmer clothes reflect these body changes and also allow for an extra layer under them when needed.
Ah, spring! As the weather warms, I start craving fresh greens, lighter fare, and also start shedding the winter weight. Summer brings mostly raw veggies and fruits, salads, more salt and much less fat. Off comes the weight, and my summer clothes are a size smaller than the winter ones. This has been my pattern for as long as I can remember – except when I lived in Tucson, AZ. There is no deep chill building to a freezing winter in Tucson, and lo and behold, no weight gain either! After realizing that, I haven’t worried about ‘winter weight’ again.
Another trigger for changes in diet for me is the amount of physical activity I am doing that day. When I am getting up early to work as a landscaper/garden maintenance laborer for 8 hours outside, I have 2 eggs, 2 pieces of sausage or bacon, fruit, yogurt, coffee and even a piece of toast. Without the protein I am starving by 10am! Lunch is big as well however supper is quite small. When I am not doing hard physical labor, my breakfast is yogurt and fruit, and I usually only have two meals a day.
I believe we were all born knowing what we need, how much, and when; I also believe that many of us can re-invigorate this inner sense by being very conscious of what we put in our mouths and what our unique physique requires. We may have gotten the idea that we had to learn what was good for us, and why, so that we would eat the right things at the right time. I believe instead this ‘education’ has confused a normal, organic knowing each of us is born with. Inner dialogue with your body is a helpful tool to cultivate and it will give you a better personal idea of your own requirements for food, rest, and relaxation.
