The world according to us

I guess most of you have heard about GMOs, Monsanto and all the fuss surrounding these by now. In case you haven't, here's a bit of info.

Monsanto is a multinational corporation pioneer in agricultural biotechnology. It started out more than a century ago as a chemical company and developed insecticides such as Agent Orange, PCBs and the peptide hormone rBGH -to mention a few. All involved in major controversial global issues because of the outrageous results their use has provoked in the environment and health of millions all around the world. That includes you and me in one way or another. Even though today a lot of people are still paying the price -as you can read under the links above- of the misuse of these, Monsanto is alive and kicking, as strong as ever, hiding behind a "sustainable" agriculture label and creating poison after poison that just keeps spreading further and further. Forget Agent Orange, PCBs and rBGH if you will, but do not think that you are safe from being contaminated. Monsanto developed herbicides to kill weeds that would compromise a crop's full growth. They are on top of the list of herbicide manufacturing in the world, with Roundup being their pride baby and a bestseller.

Genetically Modified Organisms are -as it clearly spells out- organisms that have been genetically altered. Even if genetic engineering and biotechnology are gigantic tools of modern science, the modification of organisms is in itself unnatural as these are not able, nor are they meant to, alter themselves in such a way. Monsanto genetically modifies seeds to be immune to the herbicides they themselves are selling. The crop is now injected with and is producing toxics to protect itself from the herbicides. Today, ALL those seeds are Monsanto patented and ayayay! he who dares grow them without Monsanto's approval. Even if you don't eat this type of crops per-se, a lot and I mean, A LOT of products use these crops as base. So that is -no more, no less- what you buy in the supermarket and feed your family with. In very few words GMOs, you and Monsanto are very much linked.  
That not being enough, the "success" of the cultivation of these types of crops has created a monoculture that has spread to every corner of the world, making it easy for the now -by the way- also mutant insects to spread just as fast. But no worries, Monsanto has now put on the market yet ANOTHER poisoned insect-ready crop. The RR2. Well, well, well, would you take a look at that... Monsanto is everywhere. Corporate vicious circle. And we are in the middle of it. Their marketing skills are so high, that they have convinced so many of us of their "pure" intentions of ending world hunger. Maybe once upon a time, that was one man's dream, but today they couldn't be further away from that. They are controlling the world. Period. The corporatization of agriculture is one of the main characters in all the crises we are facing nowadays; poverty, climate change, desertification of our planet. Someone offering a spiritual -yet as Earthly as the air we breath- solution to end this was Masanobu Fukuoka and his "One-Straw Revolution", labeling all those conditions as unnatural and proposing solutions based on his own generations-old farming experience. Solutions of organic farming to regain the balance between Earth and its inhabitants, specially us humans, who seemed to have forgotten that Earth is the soil we step on, the air we breath, the water we drink, without it we are dust. 

Like medical researcher Jonas Salk once said: “If all the insects were to disappear from the earth, within 50 years all life on earth would end. If all human beings disappeared from the earth, within 50 years all forms of life would flourish.” 

In Europe for example, labeling GMOs is a must and so it is easier to know what we are consuming. But rules and regulations are changing constantly and you need to keep informed about those in your own country as these vary, even within the EU. These are even becoming less and less strict, more and more corporation-faborable.

I could go on forever about this, but I hope I've at least shed a light upon something here, that you'd wanna dig a bit deeper and become more conscious about what you buy to fuel your beautiful body. I am sure your priority is to take care of yourself and your family, so let's all become a part of the green revolution and stand against what's in our way to a healthy, happy life. Start here, by clearing your pantries of GM foods and rejecting to buy them ever again. Taking the risk of sounding like a modern clichè: Go organic, go green!

Here are some related suggestions that will expand your knowledge on the subject:
Documentary "The world according to Monsanto" by Marie-Monique Robin (there are many options on youtube)
An article on Vanity Fair about Agent Orange, here  
Short documentary about soy plantations in Argentina, here  
Very inspirational book by Masanobu Fukuoka "Sowing Seeds in The Desert"
An informative site against Monsanto, here

Some of the brands Monsanto either owns or has business with, here

I'd rather eat it cold

I've been battling with different subjects to dedicate my first official entry to. I have learned so much about certain things, yet so little overall, that I don't feel entirely ready to share everything I have made a part of my daily routines and habits just yet. 

Yesterday night though, at my dear friend Guada's house, I had a little go with her about microwaves, it literally lasted just a few sentences, but that's normally enough to get me boiling up here. Yeah, I'm a tad obsessive, you'll see more of that. 

Microwaves have actually for many years now, been a major concern for me, because since I can remember, at my parents house there has always been one. At first I was so amazed and thankful by the fact that I didn't need to ask any adult for help to warm up my leftovers or pop some corn, but I could actually do it myself with the touch of a button. I mean, what is not great about that? Well, turns out, a lot! Even though, not enough -for some- studies have been made about it, what's out there is more than enough for me. It all started when I got to ask myself the question: If I shouldn't stand near a microwave in use, nor place medicine/foods over or near it, why on Earth should I eat what's emerging from it? Common-sense in my world. But I've been debated on this one, continuously. Like Guada yesterday argued: "if you don't wanna use the microwave, then you might as well get rid of your iPhone" And I certainly give her that, because I believe that line to be so very true. But well, I'm working on changing my life one step at a time and I'm not ready to hear my parents say something about me going backwards, and how I would be breaking the deal I made with my mom to talk to each other every day after our wonderful mom-daughter trip to NZ and OZ, how technology has changed the world and maybe words like "cavewoman" will pop-up. Simply, not ready yet. While I sleep though, I do leave it in another room, on airplane mode and/or switched off, and turn the wi-fi device off as well. Anyway, what I did give up long ago, even while still living under their roof, was the microwave. I sincerely believe it has been an important step for me. Besides the common-sense side of it, there are a few points to be taking into account when deciding to ditch that harmful radiation out of your life for good. I will only throw a couple of what I consider to be basic knowledge about microwaves your way, but I do suggest you to do some research on your own, so that you can decide for yourself which of the other facts are enough for you to stop microwaving your meals. Or not. Always your choice.

-The natural way for heat to work [on our food] is from without, whereas microwave heating happens from within the cells and molecules, primarily those containing water, as it is harder for it to work in sugars and fats. Artificial. So even if some would challenge you by saying "but the sun emits radiation". You can reply with: First of all, it is not the same type of artificial radiation and second, we need the sun to survive, we sure do not need microwaves.

-The change that occurs in the cells and molecules from microwave heating creates new components that our bodies are not able to break down, as they are unknown to our nature. Even if conventional heating methods do change the properties of our food, it does not damage our bodies. It might deprive us of some of the richness of whatever we are about to ingest, but it is certainly not harmful to our system. 

Now, I would like to take this second post to specify that whatever I write on this blog is entirely my opinion, based on my personal experience and knowledge. I do not intend to present any "absolute truths" here and I certainly don't want to plagiarize authorship on any of these subjects. What I have learned on most of these subjects, I mostly did by mouth-to-mouth corroborating from the internet. When I know/remember the sources I will definitely make reference to them. But if it is something I read/heard/lived long ago, I will refrain from making references, as they are now my own truth and I'm just trying to pass it on.

References:

Read further about Hans Hertel study on microwave heating in this article: here

Foreword

The birth of this blog is a combination of many things beautiful: pieces of advise provided by wise souls, the discovery of the fact that my body is the most powerful whole created by Nature, the wonderful daily influence of my "Qi" (pronounced chi, is the nickname I have for my partner) since the moment he's been a part of my life, the understandig that if I want to be an active part of making this world a better place I need to start within myself, the peace-making with my ultimate role in the kitchen resulting in the incredible development in my relationship with cooking and eating, and finally, wanting to walk the following talks: "Love the life you live. Live the life you love" and "Let food be thy medicine and medicine thy food".

I will be posting about one thing beautiful as often as I can, for now, as a motivation to my own loving relationship to myself and maybe after some time, as inspiration to blissful readers out there. The posts I share will be in the shapes of varied topics; from new things I learn about holistic health and whole foods, to recipes that blow my tastebuds, from bits of my personal inspiration, to images of gorgeous things that cross my path, from stories that just want to be told, to dreams waiting to become realities.

May this be the beginning of one of the great rides my life always takes me on.

P.S.: Today I commemorate too, the birth of my niece Gabriela, there, in the other end of my idealized world, Ecuador. Cheers to life.