February 26, 2009 at 5:02 pm (Uncategorized)
Contemplate the significance of the meaning of these two words, separated only by one space:
Recreation
Re-creation
We need recreation as a way to re-create ourselves. Rest, play, socializing, and other enriching activities provide growth. Our bodies are revitalized, our mental energy is restored, and our spirit is renewed.
February 17, 2009 at 3:36 pm (environment, food, health, lifestyles, local)
Yesterday while at the market, my mind suddenly flipped into “Error – Abort Mission” mode when I stumbled upon two options for garlic:
a) non-organic garlic, still grown in the USA, rather giant-sized bulbs, all piled high in a basket without any packaging. Or…
b) organic garlic, smaller cloves bundled together in plastic packaging in groups of three, which costs more by weight than the first option.
So, organic means a lot for one’s health and for the environment, but the garlic producer isn’t doing much help if they’re going to use so much blasted plastic packaging for simple little cloves of garlic!!! What is the better option, then?
a) Buy the non-organic garlic, but risk the effects of who-knows-what kinds of pesticides they used which could be harmful to one’s health and the environment where the garlic is produced. But the garlic is also cheaper by weight than the organic variety, and no excess packaging is used.
b) Buy the organic garlic, which is the safer option for one’s health, but pay about double the cost of the first option (by weight), and in turn support a garlic producer that, while producing organic foods, is mindlessly using non-recyclable unnecessary packaging, which will end up in the landfill and has already taken its toll on the poor Earth by being produced in some factory that has all sorts of by-products and wasteful energy consumption.
Sigh! All this for one innocent item on my grocery list, and now to think what the average conscious-consumer must go through every time she has a shopping list of fifteen items or so!
I ended up buying the organic garlic, but then regretted it later after watching a documentary film about corporations.
Fortunately, there is hope for all of us, but it is currently only available in small quantities and at odd hours of the week during the warmer months of the year: The farmers’ market, where produce is always fresh, always local, one of the best sources for organic food, and where excess packaging is rarely seen.
This is why I need to live in a location that has year-round farmers’ markets and an effective local, fresh foods scene. California? France?
