Our Relationship with the Earth

Recently while watching So You Think You Can Dance on television, I saw an amazing dramatization of a humans relationship with Mother Earth.

In this dance, the choreographer had beautifully shown how many of us, including myself, treat the world badly. When I saw this, it made a lot of sense to look at the issues in our world as the same as those in an intimate relationship.

Think about this. We truly are in the most intimate relationship possible with the planet we live on. We depend on it for everything, food, shelter, holding us, allowing us to flourish, to share with others, to live and die. So if you look at the earth in that context, you have to consider how we treat it.

Would you take, and destroy, and use, and eat up every thing from someone you loved? My hunch is that most of you would say no. Are there ways you could be more loving in return for all that you get from this relationship? My hunch is that most of us could say yes to this, myself included.

I'd like to suggest we all take a few moments to envision our relationship with the earth as if it were the most loving partnership we can have. What would you do differently? How could you show your love even more? What small thing can you commit to today? Now, do that!

Peace and Love,

Marquita

Organophosphate and ADHD

In my last post, I talked about the savings to the planet from buying and eating local organic food. If that didn't convince you that this was a good idea, here is an even more compelling reason. This morning on the Today Show there was a report about the pesticide Organophosphate. Research has found a big link between children having Organophosphate in their bodies, and ADHD.

The recommendation by the Today Show doctor. Eat locally and organic. This is probably one of many issues caused by fertilizers and pesticides when they enter our children's bodies. I know that sometimes the reason people don't choose local organic food is because of the belief that the cost is too high. I'm wondering what the cost of a child with ADHD is. Is it possible that exposing our children to things like Organophosphate costs so much more in medical bills and quality of life than spending a little more at the grocery story?

If you'd like to see more about the findings, go to:

http://today.msnbc.msn.com/id/37156010/ns/healthy_kids_parenting/

Peace and Love,

Marquita

Where Does Your Food Come From?

This is a question I have been pondering a lot in recent months. I have known all along that my ignorance in this matter could be allowing all kinds of things into my body that had no business being there. The cost to myself, the planet, and others, also worried me, when I considered how far my food traveled, who made the income from growing it, and whether a forest had been cut down for the farmland.

When I checked out the audio book Animal, Vegetable, Miracle by Barbara Kingsolver and her husband Steven Hopp and daughter Camille Kingsolver from my local library a few months ago, many of my questions were answered. Barbara and her family had decided to spend a whole year being "locavores." This was her word for people who grow their own food, and/or bought everything they ate from local farmers. The book was not only a wonderful adventure through their year of farming, cheese making, egg harvesting, and turkey sex, (yes, I said turkey sex), it was also extremely informative about the costs and problems of eating whatever we want, when we want it.

I decided before I finished the book, that I was going to do all I could to become a "locavore" as well. One of the first choices I made was to start a small organic garden of my own. This was pretty simple. I ordered green prefab garden beds, bought local organic soil, and found organic and heirloom vegetable seeds on the Internet. My husband joined me in this project and we have had some interesting moments, working together on the project. When I walked outside one morning and saw the first seeds coming up, the beautiful broccoli leaves you see in the photo above, my heart swelled. Our property is small and what we grow will not sustain us this year. We are very lucky to have a wonderful farmers market through the fall, and many local organic farms who are part of Community Supported Agriculture or CSA. The adventure will continue as we buy all our fruits, vegetables, and other items from these places as the year moves on.

For anyone considering becoming a "locavore," here are some wonderful resources:

http://www.animalvegetablemiracle.com/

http://www.slowfood.com/

http://www.localharvest.org/

www.biodynamics.com/csa.html

I will keep you posted as I learn more, grow more, and become more.

Peace and Love,

Marquita