Why Choose Sustainable Food (and can we afford it?) Part Three - Grains.


This is a huge subject with many different sides to tell. I’ll try and condense it down to a simple-to-understand few paragraphs that will give you an overview of grains. From there, I’d advise to do some more research, there is loads and loads of info on grains out there at the moment – especially with diets like Paleo and Clean Eating etc gaining so much popularity, because at the end of the day - this is just my humble opinion formed from my own research and beliefs.

Grains would have to be one of the most affordable foods, but also the most unsustainable when it comes to production. Sadly, BigFarms are chewing up land at a frightening rate, and farming with sustainable practices is the least of their concerns. The top four crops in the world are wheat, corn (maize), rice and soy. All are GM and sprayed and fertilized with god-knows-what. There are smaller lots of organic produce around, but it is incredibly and increasingly difficult to farm without going GM, and this is because of BigBusiness. There are numerous cases being launched against farmers who are not GM, because of ‘seed drift’. In simple terms, if a seed from a GM crop down the road from your non-GM crop gets blown into your field, and investigators test your crop and find traces – you have to pay up, and keep paying. It also means that you now are the farmer of a GM crop – whether you chose to be or not. This means big money to the businesses that are controlling GM. And, without getting all political here – it’s not great for your health and certainly not sustainable.

The other point I would like to make about grains is that we aren’t really designed to eat them. So lets have a quick look at what’s in grains that supports this theory.

Grains and legumes contain specialized lectins which are a protein. Different varieties of plants contain these proteins to protect them from being over-consumed by animals (Ruminants) because if the animal eats too much of that plant, it causes intestinal distress (sore tummy, gas, bloating etc). Ruminants have a rumen. A rumen helps to process these grains in small doses (eg, browsing). Humans being Omnivores can tolerate some lectins, but over-eating or prolonged consumption contribute to leptin resistance. http://www.naturalnews.com/036750_energy_homeostasis_weight_loss_leptin.html#ixzz23F5aMi55

In The Vegetarian Myth (http://lierrekeith.com/book-ex_the-vegetarian-myth.php) Lierre Keith discusses the digestive system of Carnivores and Ruminants. In this she says:

‘Lions and hyenas and humans don’t have a ruminant’s digestive system. Literally from our teeth to our rectums we are designed for meat. We have no mechanism to digest cellulose.’

I consider humans to be Omnivores rather than Carnivores. Most people that choose not to eat meat, or not to eat much meat actually do quite well on that diet. Being an Omnivore, means that we can cope with whatever we have hunted and gathered. Sometimes hunting would be poor, and we were gathering more, sometimes we would have a very successful hunt – and meat was plentiful. Most of the time our systems can cope with all sorts of different foods, but there is an increasing number of people that are having digestive and other health issues that are linked to the grains in their diets.
You don’t have to be gluten-intolerant to have a problem with grains – it’s the grain that’s the problem and this is because of the specialised lectins mentioned above. This is a problem for us because grains in their true nature provoke an inflammatory response in the gut.  http://whole9life.com/2010/03/the-grain-manifesto/

Remembering that grains aren’t what they used to be when we first started cultivating them around 10,000 years ago (we’ve been here eating meat and veg a lot longer than that) http://wholehealthsource.blogspot.com.au/2008/07/grains-and-human-evolution.html. We’ve changed grains to adapt to weather, yield, land, viability, pests etc.

Lectins from grains travel through our intestines without our stomach acids breaking them down much at all. What this does is make for an unhealthy intestinal membrane causing everything from mild bloating and discomfort to tearing tiny holes in your intestines called microperforations – and these are bad news. They allow proteins, bacteria etc directly into your bloodstream. Not good for your health.

Being a carbohydrate, grains spike your insulin levels. We know that a continued spike in insulin levels create an environment for weight-gain and type 2 diabetes among other conditions. Grains also effect your body by making it more acidic. For good health – we should try to keep our bodies alkaline. For example, cancer cannot flourish in an alkaline environment, it has to be acidic.

So there are a whole bunch of reasons to eliminate grains from your diet – or at least limit them.
Most aren’t sustainably farmed – creating huge dust-bowls and mineral deficient dirt lots that go on for thousands of acres, and that isn’t just for human consumption. Maize is farmed for animal feed as well. Our stomachs aren’t designed to cope with the specialized lectins contained in the grains, and they create an acidic environment in our bodies. So why do we love them so much?

Because they are yummy and because they are cheap.

I’m not going to stand on a podium and lecture you on what you should or should not be eating.
I’m just trying to provide enough information for you to get curious about your food and where it comes from and the impact it has on the earth and your body.

I have chosen to try to eliminate grains from my diet. Most of the time I can do this without any feeling of deprivation, and I feel so much better for it. But sometimes I want to have a piece of cake with my coffee. Sometimes I’m at a friends house for dinner and they have made risotto. Sometimes, you’re out the back of nowhere and all you can buy is a pie. Sometimes it’s just a little unavoidable – no matter how clear you make it known what your feelings are about certain foods. So in true Omnivore fashion – I just eat it and then go back to my usual diet. We are adaptable, and resilient as long as we don’t abuse our bodies.

I hope that I’ve succeeded with providing enough information here to spike your interest in what you are eating and feeding your family with this series on Sustainable Foods.

Why Choose Sustainable Food (and can we afford it?) Part Two - Vegetables.

You might think that you can't really go wrong with buying vegetables - they're all healthy, right ...
Truth is, that there are healthier choices that you can make for yourself and your family when it comes to vegies, and by buying (or growing) your vegetables in a sustainable way, you are ensuring this, and, sustainable vegetables (and fruits) are cheaper!

Every living thing on this earth reacts to the seasons. It's just part of survival. So it would make sense to eat seasonally for our optimum health. You will be familiar with this concept if you grow your own produce. When our supermarkets are filled with the same produce all year round it can become really confusing. It's great for variety, but is it great for our health? There is even some evidence that for the most benefit nutritionally, to eat produce from our immediate localised area - that plants and animals grow with the nutrients that we require whilst we are living where we are living. Indigenous peoples with modern diseases (type 2 diabetes etc) have shown a  reverse in these conditions by going back to traditional diets. This tells us that we develop a symbiotic relationship with our surroundings - therefore it's beneficial to eat within our localised area.

Even more interesting, there is a notion that we can even influence the plants we grow individually by holding the seeds in our mouth for a time before planting, that the plant will then grow with a unique set of nutrients tailored to us personally. "Before planting, put into your mouth one or more little seeds, hold them in your mouth, under the tongue, for at least nine minutes.” — Anastasia - The Ringing Cedars.

Some people may get right into that, and if you are planting your own garden it could be something that interests you, I'd love to try it just to see if there was any noticeable difference. But how can we ensure that the fruit and vegetables we are buying are sustainable? The easy answer is to buy as local as you possibly can. It's hardly sustainable to have produce being freighted all over Australia or even internationally - and by the time you get it, your produce wont be in the best nutritional shape. Some people like farmers markets, and if you have a good one in your area that sells local produce - then you are in luck. We have a large local one here, but most of the produce still comes from the Brisbane markets. Hardly locally grown, or even supporting our own local growers. How are we able to find out if the produce is even Australian for a start? 

The main point is that buying local is buying sustainable. By buying local you are again supporting local growers and you can get to know your product. If you know where something is grown, you can find out more about the growing methods (what sprays are used etc) so you can make informed choices about what you feed yourself and your family. Also, buying local means buying seasonally, and that's a much healthier, more flavorsome (and less expensive) choice as well. Most growers will rotate their crops, and leave some plots to rest for a season or so. This builds up the soil again with all the nutrients that will transfer into your fruit and vegetables. Local produce is not kept for up to a year in cold storage so by the time you buy it, it's left with little or no nutrients. So what you end up paying for is expensive filler. You may as well be eating sawdust for what good it is doing you. Also, over-farmed land requires loads of fertilizer and chemicals just to produce a crop - that's not something I would choose to put in my body and it's certainly not sustainable. 

Local produce is fresh out of the growers garden within the last day or so - and that's about the best you can get, whether it's organic or not. Produce that hasn't been driven all over the country over the last week or so will also last longer - and that's more cost effective for us.

What if your only choice is the local supermarket? The best option here is to buy only Australian produce. By law now, supermarkets have to say where their produce is from, so that makes it a little easier. Some will even advertise 'local beans' etc - which is a great initiative (if only they paid the farmers a fair price!). Also buy what's in season. This website http://seasonalfoodguide.com/ is for Australia, and goes by state and is really informative.

In  nutshell, if you can't grow it yourself, buy from somebody who does. Growing your own produce doesn't have to mean you require a large, labor intensive garden plot. There are many examples of balcony gardens, courtyard gardens and even vertical wall gardens that look amazing! You don't have to grow everything you eat, but growing some, even just a few herbs is rewarding and beneficial. If you haven't got that option, buy local and seasonally and you will be helping local growers and really helping your health and your wallet.

Thanks for stopping by and stay tuned for the third, and last part of this sustainable series - Grains.

Sources: www.ecoliteracy.org/essays/wild-and-slow-nourished-traditionhttp://www.bodyandsoul.com.au/health+healing/news+features/type+2+diabetes+can+be+reversed,16881

Why Choose Sustainable Food (and can we afford it?) Part One - Meat.

Sustainable Food - what in the hell does that mean? Sustainable food in reality is food that has the least amount of impact on the earth by way of cultivation and the way it is processed. It generally yields less than modern day farming practices, and that can be reflected in the price and availability.

Let's start with that old chestnut - meat. So if you are a vegan or vegetarian, you might want to come back at a later post ...

If there is one thing that you buy that is sustainable make it meat. It doesn't need to be organic (although this is a really great idea if you can afford it) but for meat to have value in - a) what you get and b) the goodness you get out of it - it's best to buy as fresh from the farm as you can. Sustainable meat comes from a good butcher or a farmer that you have made friends with. Or it could be animals that you raise yourself and this is an awesome option because you know exactly what type of beast you have, how humanely it has been raised, what it has been fed and what chemicals it has been in contact with. You can also get this information from the farmer and a good butcher will choose beasts based on that criteria. A stressed steer tastes like an old boot - so why would you pay $28 per kilo for that at your supermarket?

Grass fed is always best. It's best for the life of the animal as they are roaming around doing what they do naturally, getting all the benefits of foraging and exercise, and that is reflected in the end product. It will be full of vitamins and minerals, loaded with omega 3's. It's all good. This goes for beef, lamb, pork and chicken.

Now you think that would make that end product a lot more expensive than your local supermarket ... here's the kicker. It's about the same price (if not less) from the butcher, and if you can buy in bulk it's about 1/3 of the price that you will normally expect to pay. For example: this week I am buying a side of lamb from my butcher. This will be about 10-12 kg of meat. There will be a leg, a shoulder, loin, rump, neck and a few other pieces. Loin chops usually retail for about $30-$40 per kilo. A leg of lamb approx $16-$20 per kilo and so on. I'm paying $10 per kilo! Yes, you require a chest freezer - but it is so worth it. Both with cost and quality. And I know I am buying a lamb that a couple of weeks ago was hanging about a field not far from here with his mates. He wasn't fed on cheap maize and pumped with chemicals while standing in his own crap wondering when somebody is going to turn the light on in the shed that he has lived most of his miserable life in. So for me, there is no choice. I've chosen a sustainable meat, full of the vitamins and minerals that it is supposed to, the animal had a pretty good life until D-day. I'm putting money into a local business that takes pride in what it does. It's costing me less than if I was to buy it meal by meal. It's all good here.

So it's the same with pork and chicken. Just this weekend TV news has shown a disgusting piggery in NSW. These poor piggies had a life of hell. They were fed on a horrible diet of cheap grain and chemicals. They were crowded in a massive dark shed and if one got sick and died (which hundreds did) they were just left there until somebody noticed and removed the carcass. There is nothing right about buying mass-produced meat. It has nothing for us nutritionally, that's if you can get past the inhumane conditions the poor wretches were raised in. Do you really want to put that in your body? Mass-production of meat has no benefit for us, the earth or the animals.

That's all I've got to say about that tonight. Look out for Part 2 - Vegetables.

Well, this is my first official post! I've been poncing about the web for months, trying to work out how I was going to put this blog together - and today I thought - just do it and work out the details later (kind of how I've led my life to date!)

So welcome to my blog. What I will endeavor to blog about is holistic health - big surprise - so what does that involve? To me, holistic health encompasses everything. Our immediate health, how we achieve that, why things go right and wrong with our health and body, our mental health, physical health, emotional health and energetic health (some would call this 'spiritual health' but that term just makes me cringe!) I'm a big believer in 'Let thy food be thy medicine and thy medicine be thy food' - Hippocrates has a million great quotes. I love the 'Clean Eating' and 'Paleo' movements and will be posting information and links about those.

I'm going to be road testing health related products and reviewing them in my usual 'warts and all - call it as it is' manner. Some of you will find this refreshing, some of you will find it confronting, but hopefully most of you will find it informative.

I'm hoping that we can build a relationship and learn from each other.

So, for all those of you who have been encouraging me to do this for quite a while - thank you - I've finally done it. And, for those who would just like me to shut up about the stuff I get on my soap-box about - you don't have to read this you know - I'm sure Home and Afar or something is on the TV.

Alrighty now, I better go and write something informative so you come back again. Thanks for stopping by and having a look at my blog - and please recommend this to your friends.

P.S. If there are any health-related products that you would like me to take a look at, please send me a note and I'll get onto it.