Support Quality Food

I'll keep this brief and simple.

The link I'm sharing is for a group that supports food production that is fair, honest, healthy, and safe. In other words, they stand up for people who don't want all their food to be ruined by chemicals and processing. I'll let the website say the rest: http://fooddemocracynow.org/.

Also, if you haven't already, be sure to check out my posts on healthy eating, including this one on raw food!

Hummus: Slate Magazine Provides a Recipe

Hummus is one of those almost essential foods in any vegan hippie's diet. But you don't have to a vegan hippie (or a part-time vegan hippie like yours truly) to enjoy it. I'll admit, I didn't like it at first, but after my taste buds got accustomed to the texture, I really began to enjoy it.

Apparently, now even Slate magazine has caught on to how healthy it is for you, in a cheekily titled article ("You're Doing It Wrong: Hummus.") The writer even provides a recipe for making your own hummus at home!

Click here to read the article from Slate.

(Note: I disagree with the writer about using nut butters, as it alters the taste far too much for what I like. But maybe I'm a hummus snob.)

Health Food Marches On

I started trying to add raw food to my diet during this past summer, with mixed success. Although I took a few months off making raw food recipes, my habit of eating more veggies and fruits (often together in a salad) and less meat stuck.

But with the new blender and raw food cookbook that I received for Christmas this year, the raw diet has reinserted itself into my life, this time, I believe, to stay. The book (Going Raw by Judita Wignall) features scores of recipes with full-color photos and -- best of all for someone not especially blessed with any appreciable culinary gifts -- plenty of explanation on how to do everything.

In the six days since Christmas, I have made a "Green Energy" soup (cucumbers, tomatoes, greens, avocado, etc.), nut milk from almonds, and a half dozen different fruit-and-greens smoothies, all of which have turned out wonderfully. As we speak, a simple nut cheese made from cashews.

Interestingly (though certainly not surprising), I'm finding that I need less food to feel full. And I'm feeling healthier, more vital. The fact is, this diet is healthier. I'm not eating 100% raw yet -- maybe I never will -- but I am getting well over half of my food in that form. It's delicious and a great way to boost your health.

So if you want a New Year's resolution to stick with this time, go with this one: "I will get at least 50% percent of what I eat from raw, natural sources." You'll be amazed at the results!

[Note: I also recommend finding raw-food nutritionist and author Jaqui Karr on Facebook. She's got tons of great recipes and ideas for making healthy food tasty.]

"Noon" used to mean 3 p.m.

It is a fact that time is relative, invented by humans for the purpose of managing our days. But unfortunately, the world has become too reliant on the clock, too concerned about each minute. As the cliché goes, we are slaves to the clock. (If you don't think time is a big deal to most people, try telling your lawyer that you're going to pay him for only one hour of work because 100 hours in his time equal one hour in yours.)

Fortunately, simply by being aware of our time obsession, we can begin to negate any effects it might have on our psychology. The article I've posted below isn't therapeutic or even very complicated, by any means, but rather an intriguing look at a certain segment of time-creation -- the word "noon" and how it used to mean 3 o'clock p.m. -- as well as some surrounding bits and pieces.

Click here to read the article from dictionary.com

Frickin' Fracking

As you'll read in this article, our dependence on dirty fuels like petroleum has negative effects not just on the environment -- which are serious enough -- but also on our health. The EPA recently found that "fracking," a poorly devised process for extracting oil from deep below the earth's surface, has polluted drinking water. The EPA has advised people to stop drinking the water.

Still think actions don't have consequences?

Click here to read the article from CNN Money.

Church-Sponsored Flu Shots

Vaccinations, especially for the flu, serve no purpose other than to make money for the companies that make them. Now those companies are, with the help of the government, trying to get your churches to push the shots on you by co-sponsoring flu clinics with Walgreens.

The government tried to keep this hidden from the public, but they accidentally posted something online, and Dr. Mercola's people found out about it. Why would they want to keep this hidden if they were doing something good? Hmm.

Click here to read about it.