It seemed appropriate. When I think of that quote, I immediately get the visual of the hustle and bustle of city traffic, the ebb and flow of hoards of city workers attending their jobs and the seeming insanity of it all.

There’s a book out by Carolyn Steel, called “Hungry City: How Food Shapes Our Lives”. I haven’t read the book but I have watched a talk given by Carolyn summarizing it (See TED Talk below).  It seemed a stimulating and thought provoking topic to add my own thoughts to.

So, I ask you to consider for a moment the above quote in the context of how you view the foods you eat and where those foods come from. Consider also, the busy-ness of your personal life and the end result of these choices regarding personal health, relationships, satisfaction, quality of life etc.

My question is, are you happy with it? Do YOU think you might possibly be headed in the “wrong direction?” If you feel that you are, you’re certainly not alone. Must you keep going down the same road, though?

Food is a fundamental ingredient for life. It’s not just physical food for our bodies, either. I define “food” as “anything that nourishes” any aspect of one’s being. It could be physical, mental, emotional or spiritual food.

It’s ALL important. Neglect any of these and your being suffers. The quality, appropriateness and availability of what we call “food”, influences directly the quality of life in any organism.

Keep in mind, that when you blast through life without giving this vital point consideration, you are likely “headed for disaster”.  Put another way, the result usually spells P-A-I-N of one sort or another. 

“What am I suggesting, then, to help remedy this?”

Just like an artist at his easel, from time to time, it just makes sense to step back a little from the “canvas” of your life to gain a fresh perspective. Let the mind take a break for a bit, RELAX and pay more attention to how you feel about things. 

If you’re happy, continue on as you are. If not, then it’s time for some changes.

Check out this 15 minute talk given by Carolyn Steel at the TEDGlobal Conference at Oxford (See embedded video below). I found it helpful to take a step back and look at how food production influenced the growth of cities through the ages and how things have changed to where they are today.

Understanding this made it easier to see my role in the whole scheme of things. Maybe it’ll help you too. After all, my choices, as an individual “cell” within the city or any society, contributes or detracts from the collective choices of the whole. For each of us, it comes down to the fundamental question of what do I want to support.

As is clearly shown in this video, the trend towards more cities has taken us so far away from nature that most people in cities have totally lost touch with where food comes from and what sustains them.

Carolyn suggests an alternative viewpoint to Thomas Moore’s “Utopia” to that of a “Sitopia” (meaning “food-place”). Basically a move back to more “real” food-centered living …… one where the family takes the time to enjoy real food together, a place of markets, a place where fresh, locally grown foods are available; a place of sustainability.

It’s great to see an architect and author promoting and holding a vision such as this. The world needs more like her. As she states in her presentation “If the city will look after the country, then the country will look after the city” Check out her blog and book CLICK HERE.

Support for Healthy (Global) Living begins with each of us remembering the importance of our connection with nature and applying it consistently in our day-to-day choices.

In Support of Sustainable, Wholesome Living.
Cheers, Sven  

Added Dec 4th – Check out a few more opinions on the subject; CLICK HERE to visit an article on the book “Hungry City”, contributed by the blog’s editor for Guardian.co.uk. Interesting comments by the blog readers there.

CLICK HERE for an additional book review done by a writer for The Independent in the UK.

This is an absolutely PROFOUND new understanding!! If you’ve ever felt a victim to the world around you, the 60 seconds it takes you to watch the clip below may transform your life, if you REALLY “get” the implications of what Lipton is saying here.

Bruce Lipton originally held to, and taught, the mainstream tenant that genes were programs that controlled our lives ……. until he made some life-changing, scientific observations.

From this work, a new understanding has emerged that turns the conventional view on its head and potentially puts us back in the “driver’s seat” of our lives.

EPIgenetics essentially shows that it is the environment that controls the GENES OR, perhaps even more significantly, by the organisms PERCEPTION of the environment. It is no longer the case of simply asserting that some disease is caused simply because we inherited certain genes.

What makes this clip even more powerful, in my mind, is the metaphor Lipton draws between that of the single cell in a body to that  of an individual “citizen” of the world community. Sit with THAT a while.

In February 2008 , I wrote a little article on Bruce Lipton’s work entitled “Do Thoughts and Beliefs Influence Health and Disease?”,  CLICK HERE to access.

If you’re wanting to make a quantum leap in your understanding of health and disease, I recommend familiarizing yourself with Lipton’s work. For more information CLICK HERE to go to the home page of Bruce H. Lipton Ph.D.

Having trouble separating fact from fiction? 
Is the media reaction overblown?
How would you know?

It’s certainly grabbed the world’s attention, that’s for sure. And you’ve very likely got an eye out or two, looking for help to make some sense of it all. Who do you believe? What are you going o do?

I’ve put together a few links below that will help to provide some alternative views on the situation. (You won’t see this information get much airplay in mainstream media). 

If you want some information to help put things in perspective and give some really practical advice, check out the following links.

1. Dr. Joseph Mercola just yesterday published his own report on his web site entitled Critical Alert: The Swine Flu Pandemic – Fact or Fiction?. CLICK HERE to view the full report.

2. The Health Ranger (Mike Adams) at NaturalNews.com is also quick off the mark with a scheduled LIVE teleconference entitled “Swine Flu Advanced Preparedness”.

Know that there is a fee for the teleconference, but if it is at least of the same standard as his past teleconferences, there’s a very good chance you’ll be very glad that you participated.

Watch his dramatic 70 second promo video below then click on the “Learn More ….” link below that for further details.

Learn More ……

3. RON PAUL – It’s also interesting to hear the comments of former presidential candidate Congressman Ron Paul. As he is also a medical doctor, his perspective is indeed unique.

I hope that you find the above links useful.

Regardless of how things progress from now on, remember that your best defense at any time, against any flu is through first and foremost, keeping your own immune system healthy and strong. 

If you check out the above resources you’ll get some good guidance as to how to do that.

In Support of Sustainable, Wholesome and Empowered Living.
Cheers, Sven

Native to South and South-East Asian countries its fruit is usually around 10 – 12 inches in diameter or more.

It is the national fruit of Bangladesh, has been cultivated in India for centuries. and is also very common in the Philippines and Brazil in particular.

We live in a more-or-less sub-tropical area of SE Queensland in Australia and Jackfruit is not something that you see much here at all. But when it does show up in the markets or at a store, it is quickly pounced on by those who know about it. Others just stare at these wondering, “What on earth is that!?

The one in the photos below was one of about a dozen or so delivered to our Natural Foods Store by a local grower. Word quickly got around members of the Asian community here and the supply disappeared almost as quickly as it came in.

This particular one weighed in at about 6 or 7 Kgs.
(That translates as about 13 – 15 lbs or so).

We had never purchased one of these fruits before and knew very little about them, so it was a lot of fun discovering the intricacies of this curious fruit. Of course, a quick search of the Internet gave us a crash course in how to proceed.

 The fruit was very firm when it was purchased, but within a day or two it had started to soften up inside and then things started to feel REALLY creepy!!

Why do I say “creepy”?

Well, as the fruit ripened and began to soften inside, the outside remained tough and rough, something like you’d imagine the hide of a crocodile or large lizard to be.

It took on the feel and appearance of some alien, reptilian creature. It even sounded a little hollow as the surface was tapped with the flat of the hand. With a little bit of imagination (or that “funny” weed) you’d swear the thing would sprout legs and run off the table.

With this image in mind, sticking a large knife into it was even more challenging. Would it let out a blood-curdling scream as I did so? 

WARNING!! 
The`sap of the Jackfruit is very sticky and will stick to most anything it touches. It is like a white sticky, latex-type substance. Before attempting to cut into the Jackfruit it is wise to oil your knife, cutting board, hands and anything that might come in contact with the sap. Alternatively you could use rubber gloves for your hands.

 As you can see, the cross-section, resembles something like that of a reptilian brain.

If we hadn’t researched this fruit on the Internet we would have been stuck at this point.

“What is edible? What is not?”

As you can see, the flesh of the Jackfruit looks, and IS very fibrous. Around the central core radiates fibrous “capsules” (called Arils) of sweet flesh. Each aril contains a large light creamy-brown seed.

The seeds are smooth in texture and apparently can be eaten either baked or boiled. It is supposed to taste a bit like chestnuts. CLICK HERE for a great blog post about eating the seeds.

We didn’t find out about eating the seeds till later, so we’ll have to wait till next season (Feb – April here is Oz) to try that.

METHOD:
With each half of the Jackfruit, we’d poke around with a large spoon (or fingers if you really want to get into it) to isolate and scoop out the capsules of seed-containing flesh.

Th process is not clear-cut at all, so you just have to feel your way around the entire perimeter of the core of each half. It’s easy to miss one, so be very methodical in your approach.

 As you can see from the photo. I’ve included a complete flesh “capsule” in with the bowl of seeds.

The bowl on the right is what’s left after extracting the seeds.

In the background is the Jackfruit “carcass” as we called it. It looks like there is plenty still to eat in there, but it is so very fibrous you’d get turned off it rather quick.

A lot of the whole fruit ends up in the compost as it is simply inedible. The whole process took quite a bit of work to complete. If you knew what you were doing it would be no big deal.

TASTE:
The flesh is very sweet and somewhat “slimy” in texture. I’ve heard someone liken the tasty to that of “Juicy Fruit Gum”. Hmmm, I’m not so sure about that,… but close. I tend to think of mango crossed with banana and papaya.

Not to try and put you off at all, but Karen just reminded me that to her, the slimy texture reminded her of oysters.

We found it to be very “rich” also, so we had to eat it sparingly. Most of what remained was frozen and then used up later bit by bit in smoothies or simply as a one-off frozen treat by itself.

Overall, the experience was great value. If you see Jackfruit in the store we’d definitely recommended giving yourself the experience. BE BRAVE.

Hopefully what I’ve described here will give you a bit of a head-start and you can confidently purchase one if they’re available in your area. Take it home, plonk it on the table one fine sunny afternoon, and pretend that you really know what you are doing. You’ll definitely have an experience you won’t forget in a hurry.

HAVE FUN!!

More info on Jackfruit CLICK HERE

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• The latest newsletter (Oct – Dec. 2005) deals with
  Food in cinemas
  Asthma and additives
  Schools peanut ban
  The rise and rise of supermarkets
  Food additives and dementia
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Sue Dengate and her husband Dr Howard Dengate, a food scientist, run the Food Intolerance Network. Biodata on their website states that Sue “is author of the bestselling Fed Up series, published by Random House Australia. In 2001, Sue completed a round the world ’supermarket tour’ to compare the use of food additives in 15 countries. Her groundbreaking study about the behavioural effects of a common bread preservative was published in a medical journal in 2002.” A dedicated researcher, writer and lecturer, Sue donates her time and energy and for the past 11 years all proceeds from the sale of her books and talks have been used to run the Food Intolerance Network.

Check it out and spread the word about their work.