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Slow Food Movement

Thursday, February 25th, 2010

I was eating my breakfast today (a bowl of cereal) and it took me nearly an hour to finish it along with my 2 cups of coffee and it brought back memories of the Slow Food movement. What is the Slow Food movement? It is a way of eating based on the principle that the slower you eat, the more enjoyable your food will be and the less you will eat. The more your savor each and every bite, the more value you will get out of each bite and you will become full faster because it takes 15 minutes for the food, once eaten, to make you feel full.

Ever since I’ve started working the night shift, I find I eat meals much slower than before, unless I’m very, very hungry. I have found I eat much less and feel fuller after eating less. Is this a good thing? I suppose. It is certainly a good thing for those who are overweight. For myself, that is not the case. If anything, I am nearing the precipice of becoming underweight. But I am still in the normal range, which is higher than it ever was before when it comes to BMI. Is 6′0″ and 170 lbs. truly underweight? According to the BMI chart, I register around 22.5, which is actually in the middle range and towards the top of the middle range and yet I look thin as a rail, except in my stomach area, which isn’t completely flat, but is certainly getting there. I probably have muscles in my legs that make myself weigh more because my legs are anything but thin, but they display hardly any fat. My arms are extremely thin and have very little muscle mass, although I am not weak by any standards.

The Slow Food movement results in a reduction of calories consumed by the average person and will lead to weight loss and a sense of better well-being taken the foods you are eating are beneficial to human health and not processed and denatured foods. Your food is easier to digest the more you chew it, so it is much more beneficial when it comes to energy metabolism to chew thoroughly. I remember an episode of the Simpsons where everyone finds out that Ned Flanders is 60 and looks so young and they ask what his secret is and he responds by saying “The 3 C’s. Clean living, chewing thoroughly, and a daily dose of Vitamin Church.” I whole-heartedly agree with the first two of his three statements. And the third can simply apply to your spiritual beliefs, not simply Church.

I find you can learn a lot from researching Slow Food and at least giving it a shot. Sure, there may be some unintended consequences, such as your hot food getting cold too fast, but you can always reheat your food (but not in a microwave). You may be the last person at the table still eating your food, but you are also the person enjoying it the most and getting the most benefit out of it. While everyone else is tired due to the extensive process of digestion, you will be halfway there before you even get up from the table. Remember that digestion begins in the mouth. And it is much easier to chew a little while longer than it is for your stomach to break down a large piece of steak for 4-6 hours. And your jaw will get some much-needed exercise in the process.

The only real investment you might need to make if you adopt this lifestyle is a plate-warmer. I’m sure they have them available somewhere. It’s kind of like a mug warmer, but bigger. That way, no matter how long it takes you to finish your meal, at least it will be hot. Until next time, chew slowly and enjoy your food. At least that way, you may not end up 100 lbs overweight. It’s certainly healthier than gorging yourself until your stomach is about to burst.

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Posted in Food/Health Related, Theories | No Comments »

Eating Animals

Friday, November 20th, 2009

Lately, as we all know, there has been light shed on the horrific factory farming industry. But it doesn’t surprise me one bit. Why should it? It just goes with the typical endless growth culture that will inevitably destroy us. Factory farming contributes to all sorts of environmental, health, and ethical problems that they could fill a thousand books (maybe more). But it is in our nature to eat animals. We simply cannot survive very long without eating the flesh of another creature or we will suffer ill health effects. We cannot all buy locally grown, grass-fed, free range, certified organic meat either because there just isn’t enough of that to go around. And the more food we produce, the more people there are, so the more meat is produced in this concentration-camp like slaughterhouse known as factory farming.

This civilization is a runaway train headed straight for destruction. A system that takes without giving back is doomed to failure on the very principle that it is unsustainable. And when a system that keeps getting bigger keeps stealing from the Earth and not replenishing it, it will inevitably come to a screeching halt. This is no dilemma on whether or not to eat animals. This is a question of whether these factory-farmed animals are even contributing to our health, being that the factory farms that this pathological civilization have created turn animals into such sick creatures that 90% of their nutrition is wiped out due to all of the horrible living conditions and substandard food. Let’s not forget to mention the antibiotics and growth hormones. An animal living an unnatural life confined indoors is not going to produce the same quality meat as an animal that is allowed to live in its natural environment.

But most people just don’t want to know. They want their burgers and fried chicken and just don’t want to think about what horrors these factory-farmed animals have been through. And they don’t want to think about all the toxins and genetically modified foodstuffs they are absorbing as they eat what they perceive to be just another meal. It would be nice if each animal we ate was actually hunted, had lived in the wild for its whole existence, and died quickly, painlessly. It’s just too bad that things have gotten so bad in the meat industry. And we are powerless to stop it. Not enough people care to invoke real change in this field. Sure, the permaculture movement has seen some success, but agribusiness will always be on top. It’s not like the ordinary American can afford to eat a Certified Humane piece of steak or chicken every night. They’ve got too many loans and bills to pay off for seemingly unnecessary things and comforts to spend more than 10% of their salary on food.

Another problem is we have too many people and way too much food. And since we have too much food, there will be more people, and thus we will produce more food. And this will inevitably lead to more people. This is practically a law of nature. And the more food we produce, the worse the conditions for the animals who are unfortunate enough to be stuck in the gears of our agricultural-industrial complex. They spend their whole lives living in hell so we can eat one meal. And it becomes such a meal that it doesn’t even nourish us that much, so we are compelled to eat more to fill the discrepancy in nutrition. And thus obesity is created, even though most obese people are nutritionally deficient due to extreme degradation in nutrients in ALL the food we eat, including vegetables, fruits, nuts, and anything edible. This toxic world has ruined our food supply and will continue to do so until it inevitably collapses and hopefully we can move towards a more natural way of life.

There used to be less than 2 million humans on this planet. Our population wasn’t getting out of balance at that time because if it did, some of us would starve due to lack of food. If we overhunted, we starved. Our population had negative feedback, always pulling us back to the center. Think of it as a bowl. The further away you go from balance, the more pull there is back to the center. When agriculture started, we created a positive feedback loop. We became the creators of our food and domesticated wild plants and animals, making us the deciders of how much food would be available. Thus, we created more food, and thus more people, and thus more land to house those people was needed. And all of this enabled hierarchy and plagues and cities and central authority. When you have billions of people roaming around, there has to be someone to keep order. Back when there were small tribes spread out all across the Earth, there was no need. People did as they pleased and did what they needed to survive and spent the rest of their time playing and slacking off. Now we live in an artificial hell world where every second of the day is structured and commanded. We care more about efficiency than the health of the people as a whole. And we care far less about the animals we eat, because to us they are nothing more than mindless robots that have no feelings and are expendable with no rights to the lives they were intended for.

I have no objection to someone going out and hunting for food and eating it. But there are no wild animals that are as tasty as the ones we’ve domesticated. We domesticated them because they were our favorites and we wanted more of them. We didn’t know what it would lead to at the time because there is no way that people back then had the foresight to predict the cruelty we see today in the factory farming system. But most people are not ready to listen. Most people do not want to know the truth about that piece of meat in their plate. Better not think about it. And this is why it is allowed to continue. But people will only listen when they are ready and not before. I’m just hoping that some people are ready to hear this and are willing to buy meat that was raised in humane conditions, preferably without any chemicals or genetically-modified feed. And that will be a start. But it’s going to take a major change in the way we view the food animals we eat before any real change takes place. I just hope for things to get better in my lifetime and move in a positive direction until we are no longer being so cruel to animals that we should be worshiping because they sustain our lives.

If you found this post helpful, insightful, or useful in any other way, please feel free to donate to me. I take pride in my work and would appreciate any donation you can make.

Posted in Anarcho-primitivism, Anti-establishment, Food/Health Related, Intentions, Nature | 2 Comments »

Milk and Other Issues

Friday, November 6th, 2009

I haven’t drank milk in a long time because I just find it to be counterproductive when it comes to my health. Pasteurized milk from sick cows just allows the factory farming system to raise cows in ever-worsening conditions, pumping them with more antibiotics and growth hormone to the point that milking cows only live a few years, 3-5, and then die well before their usual lifespans. Cows that are fed genetically-modified grains (mostly corn) instead of being able to feed on grass–their natural diet. What exactly is in our milk anyway? It certainly no longer does a body good. It sure used to before all these laws were passed to outlaw raw milk in most of the country and ever since Monsanto was allowed to put rBGH into 95% of our milk supply.

Sure, these laws were passed because of our own incompetence. The pasteurization laws were passed because some dirty farmers were trying to sell milk from sick cows and people got sick, so milk was deemed no longer safe. Much like the raw almonds of today. One outbreak of salmonella and they spray all almonds in California with a toxic pesticide. Milk is so healthy in its natural form and yet it is almost toxic in the form it is in today. A large proportion of our population can’t even digest milk because the enzyme lactase was destroyed in pasteurization and homogenization. Would we expect any less from our government? Could we expect any better from totalitarianism and helpless dependence by an entire nation?

I just want a healthy mixture to put into my fucking coffee. I don’t want some science experiment in my mug. And don’t say soymilk because I’m not too keen on developing breast cancer or breasts for that matter. And let’s not forget about the antinutrients that are found in non-fermented soy. And I’m not really in the mood to drive up to Amish country every time I want some raw cream from a healthy cow.

I’m sure I could find a farmer here in the great state of South Carolina, but it shouldn’t have to be this way. Farming is dead now anyway. Most farming is done by corporations with their genetically modified crops. Corn, soy, wheat, and that’s pretty much it. Those are the staples of our civilization. Of course they factory-farm all our animals and feed them all the corn, soy, and wheat that is unsuitable for human consumption. It is nearly impossible to get healthy meat or dairy from anywhere when even 100 years ago it was easy. Well there were so much less people, too, so there wasn’t half as much competition. And now the medical industrial complex is profiting from the inferior standards imposed on our food supply because we keep getting sick due to eating foods with less than half the nutrients they had 100 years ago. I just want some healthy food and drinks, God damn it! I don’t want toxic waste in my water, antibiotics in my meat, and rBGH in my fucking milk! I want whole, natural foods grown ethically and without poisons.

Of course pesticides go with the given assumption that all the world’s food is for humans and every other creature that tries to eat “our” food should be killed. Vegans say that they are ethical consumers, but their diets contribute to billions or more of animal and insect deaths every year. Sure, it is less than meat eaters, but not by much. Just creating those monoculture farms kills off entire ecosystems. So it is the whole system that is broken. But my readers already know my position on that. But I’m not going to change the whole system, but I sure as hell can raise awareness about it, can’t I?

I’m not going to boycott eating meat or become one of those freegans. Not that I don’t agree with their philosophy. It’s just that it’s not going to make any real difference and I’m not too keen on picking my food out of the garbage. Besides, where am I going to find high-quality, organic foods in the garbage? The only person I’ve heard of that has been successful at that is Ran Prieur. Here is his Dumpser Diving FAQ if you really want to go down that route. Sure, this is more ethical than supporting a corrupt system financially, but this goes way beyond my comfort zone.

You’re still not going to pull high-quality food out of the dumpster anyway. It is the same shit that they sell at the grocery stores. You’re just getting it for free. And it doesn’t attack the problem at its cause. It merely attacks one of the effects of our current civilization. The only way we can go back to getting healthy foods is after we dismantle civilization and central authority. I guess I’ll have to wait until then to get healthy milk unless I really want to go all Amish on you guys. Which means this blog will become dormant for longer and longer periods. Can you have a coffeemaker in Amish country?

I’m at least grateful I can live in a time when my opinions can be voiced. Sure, I can’t go too far or else Big Brother will take me down. But at least expression is freer than it has been in past civilizations, but at the same time it is getting tighter. But as the system keeps getting tighter, it is only because it is getting weaker. It is starting to break at the seams. Like George Carlin said some 15 years ago, “I always ask people in every city if they trust the water. They always say no. That’s a good sign that everything is starting to break down.” Of course I’m paraphrasing, but that was over 15 years ago. Now we don’t trust any of the food or drink we are presented with. What does that say about society in general? That things are getting worse, but that is a good thing. That is the first step in the right direction of us going back to nature, but with the intelligence of having lived through this joke of a civilization we created.

But will we learn from our mistakes after the dust has settled? Who knows? Perhaps we are destined to keep rising and falling for the rest of our ( likely) short history on Earth. If that is the case, I guess we are just all along for the ride. The key for us all is to mentally get outside of the system. That is the most important part of liberating ourselves. We need to live a radically simple life as Dave Pollard puts it in his essay How To Save the World. He has a whole laundry list of what you can do and what you should do. He is one of the best anti-civ thinkers out there, but he is a bit pessimistic. But at least he is honest. With all the information he has about the real state of the world, he can’t help it. But as of late, in the last few years, he has become more joyful and has concentrated on living in the present, which is a big help to us all IMHO.

We need to start a movement of back to nature, but preferably in a warm climate because I hate the fucking cold. That way we can get back to the way it used to be and live our lives the way nature intended with full awareness of how not to live so that we never get sucked into this civilization vortex ever again. But I don’t have much faith in humanity as a whole. But I do have faith in individual people to spread the word and raise awareness. But people will only listen when they are ready. It’s a shame, but it’s the truth. My question to everyone is: When will you be ready?

If you found this post funny, insightful, helpful, or throught-provoking, feel free to donate to my site.

Posted in Anarcho-primitivism, Anti-establishment, Food/Health Related, Nature, Simplicity, Theories | 2 Comments »

The Weston A. Price Foundation

Friday, October 2nd, 2009

I’m currently reading the Weston A. Price Foundation’s website and it has a wealth of information concerning health and what our ancestors ate and how it contributed to their excellent health. Surprisingly, it was a high meat, figh fat, and high saturated fat diet. Surely the meat was unprocessed and did not have nearly as many toxins as the meats today do. When Weston A. Price went to all the uncivilized peoples in the 1930s, he found that they too were eating a very high meat and saturated fats diet and yet had perfect teeth, no tooth decay, and were much taller and stronger than the people of the civilized world. Dr. Mercola (mercola.com) has a similar view about health as the Weston A. Price Foundation does. I’ve been reading Mercola’s site for years and agree with 99% of his findings and recommendations and the same goes for the Weston A. Price foundation. Both foundations do also advocate eating dark green leafy vegetables and to limit the intake of fruits and any processed foods. Processed foods are among the worst offenders for our ill health, along with the fluoridation of our water. Most of the processed foods are made with genetically engineered ingredients, the worst offenders being highly manipulated corn and soy. Unless the label says it used organic soy/corn, you should assume it was genetically altered.

Another aspect of the traditional diet, as they call it on the site, is that these people ate the whole animal and different parts of each animal had a different benefit. It is a fascinating website and I trust that their findings are correct due to their evidence of primitive cultures and the enormous amount of references and the additional evidence of the people who are a part of the organization who follow the Weston A Price diet. This explains why we love meat as a species. I just wish our meat today was raised in a more healthy environment. It is very expensive to get healthy meat and eggs from a trusted source, so the majority of people end up buying highly contaminated and drugged animal meat, which contributed to health problems. Pasture-raised meats and certified humane are the only real labels we can trust. Even cage-free animals are still packed in concrete floor warehouses and organic just means their feed is clean of pesticides and genetic manipulation and that they were not subjected to antibiotics or synthetic hormones. But that doesn’t mean they aren’t locked in cages and treated with such disregard for their individuality that I can almost understand why people are vegan today. It’s just too bad that the vegan diet is full of nutritional deficiencies, such as good Omega-3 fatty acids and most importantly, Vitamin B-12 and animal-based vitamin D.

They are also advocates for raw dairy, as I have for a couple of years. Organic, raw dairy is one of nature’s healthiest foods, as are organic, healthy eggs. It is a variation of the Atkin’s diet in a way, but it doesn’t have any processed foods whatsoever. I would call it more of an ancestral diet, a traditional diet. It takes a look at what nourishes human beings best and if we could ever get back to an environment where we can live that sort of life where that diet is possible, we could flourish as a species again. If we could stop producing industrial pollutants and nuclear weapons and start producing healthier and more nutrient-dense food, we could become beings of joy and well-being instead of beings of depression and malnourishment.

I would advise anyone who is deeply interested in their health to check out The Weston A. Price Foundation and Mercola.com.

If you found this post funny, insightful, helpful, or throught-provoking, feel free to donate to my site.

Posted in Anarcho-primitivism, Food/Health Related, Nature | No Comments »

Back on the Smoothie Bandwagon

Wednesday, August 19th, 2009

I wrote earlier in the year that we purchased a Vitamix. Well, after about 3 weeks without making smoothies, I’m finally back to making them. They are both delicious and nutritious. With a combination of bananas, frozen fruit, and a few greens, this smoothie is a great way to start your day or even good for that middle-afternoon pick-me-up. The smoothie I made today consisted of:

1/2 lb of blueberries
Spectrum Blend frozen fruits (Peaches, white peaches, strawberries, honeydew, and other fruits)

Today was a more basic smoothie because I forgot to get bananas and spinach. The smoothie I made today was so thick I just ate it like sorbet in a big bowl until some of it melted, then I took a straw and sucked it up. It was like eating your favorite icy treat, but without any of the guilt because everything in it is whole and natural. It served as a wonderfully filling and tasty lunch. And since the Vitamix is so powerful, it took all those frozen fruits and pulverized them into a nice creamy mixture. It is much easier to drink your fruits and veggies and it is to eat them and your digestive system thanks you as well. The nutrients are already unlocked by the time they reach your stomach for hassle-free absorption. I should start bringing these smoothies to my work so that I will have a nice nutritious meal in the middle of my shift.

My body always feels good after I drink one of these smoothies. It feels calm and centered. I feel like everything runs a little bit smoother when I have a fruit/veggie smoothie. Also, each smoothie contains many, many grams of fiber. I just think we would all benefit from eating a daily whole foods smoothie. It would probably solve much of the health problems people suffer with. Your body wasn’t meant to eat processed and dead foods. Your body was evolved to eat whole living foods that still have all their nutrition in them. So if you substitute just one meal as a smoothie, imagine how much better your body and mind will work. It is definitely worth it. Give it a shot.

Posted in Food/Health Related | No Comments »