A land flowing with milk and honey

"If the bee disappeared off the surface of the globe then man would only have four years to live." the author of this quote is undetermined but the significance of bees to our food diversity is beyond question. Taggart Siegel's movie "Queen of the Bees" was eye opening. I was a vegetarian growing up and we drank buffalo milk and ate honey. Many people think that Indians revere cows but as a Punjabi, I didn't. However, we took good care of all our animals. When our goat or our buffalo gave birth, they were extra nourished and their milk was left for their calf or kid.  When the baby was grown, we had a symbiotic relationship. We fed the animal well, and, in exchange, it provided us with milk.  People tried to nourish the animal in the best possible way because the healthiest animals provided the most milk. I think the same principal applies to bees.  When we feed our bees well by providing lots of forage that is pesticide free, we have strong bees that produce more honey than they need and we can have the bounty.  Therefore, when the Israelites looked forward to a land flowing with milk and honey, to me, it signified that everything was in balance.  

We live in an environment that is extremely unbalanced.  Instead of nourishing cows so we can have an excess of milk, Dairies ensure the cows have calfs so their body produces a lot of milk. They then separate the calf from its mother and sell us the copious amount of milk.  Instead of protecting our plant life so bees can have an abundance of forage, we monocrop millions of acres with plantlife that doesn't sustain the bees. Corn, Soy, Wheat and Canola are not sources of food for bees.  Although almonds provide a few weeks of pollen for bees, the millions of acres of monocropped almonds means bees can't live here in the valley because they have nothing to feed on for the rest of the year.  I discovered that commercial bee keepers transport the hives thousands of miles to pollinate almonds and then feed them high fructose corn syrup. They hope that there is enough honey left in the hives so the bees can derive enough nutrition from it to stay alive.

Dairy cows used to live 20 years, now they live 4 or 5.  Pigs and chickens are bred to be so fat that they can't stand up. Beef cattle are fed corn that will kill them instead of grass that nourishes them. Bees are dissapearing despite efforts by man to increase bee production by breeding Queen bees and impregnating them. All our animals are being mistreated, and for what? So that you and I can eat meat?

When I was a young adult, I ate very little meat, but when I did, I loved veal parmigiana. Someone tried to tell me that cows bred for veal were not allowed to have a life and they were confined.  I didn't really care because I didn't know how they were being treated and I didn't think that my occasional consumption of veal was going to change anything.  My previous attitude towards meat is now personified by most americans. Because we are so far removed from how our animals are being treated, we think that our individual consumption of meat won't change anything. Because we are so far removed from farming and how our plants are being grown, we don't understand how the pesticides are killing our bees and us.

The Bible tells us that knowledge brings accountability. In Genesis, God told us to take care of the animals and to eat fruit and vegetation bearing seed.  Many will protest that Noah was allowed to eat meat and that we aren't under the mosaic law anymore. That is true, but Noah was only allowed to eat meat because there was no fruit and vegetables. Secondly, people were not far removed from the animals and plants like we are now.  In India, we didn't eat the buffalo or goat when it died. Those animals were a part of the family. Every day they had worked to provide milk for us. The oxen weren't eaten after their death, they had plowed our fields. 

Knowledge brings accountability. If humans started to live for 20 years instead of 80 because of an external force or treatment, an outcry would erupt. But our consumption of meat has created an environment where animals are mistreated and live only a quarter of their lifespan in degrading conditions. Many choose not to learn about our food by refusing to watch movies like Food Inc, Food Matters, The Future of Food, Fat, Sick and Nearly Dead, Forks over Knives and Queen of the Bees -- but ignorance is not bliss.  This ignorance is what is killing humans with diseases like diabetes, stroke and cancer in ever growing numbers.

Although Christians could eat meat, the apostle said that if eating meat made his brother stumble then he would never eat meat again. Although, we can eat meat, drink milk and eat pesticide sprayed vegetables, if our actions result in the mass slaughter and mistreatment of animals, should we not feel obligated to stop eating this way? Or, are we like the Israelites who didn't treasure the perfect food, manna, that Jehovah provided and demanded meat instead?

We have the grand privilege of living in California where there is a cornucopia of fruits and veggies that we can eat year round. We also have organic meat options that are pricey but reflect the cost of life. If everyone in Fresno woke up tomorrow and chose only to eat organic,-- overnight the meat industry and conventional farmers would start doing things differently. They are in the business of making money. If they can make money feeding us garbage and treating animals like dirt they will. If they can't because we demand humane treatment of animals and plants, they will change the way they farm.

If we can't care for our bees by being beekeepers, then the least we can do is grow, or purchase organic fruits and vegetables. This protects our bees who need to live in a pesticide free environment to survive. We should purchase only raw, local honey. This supports the beekeepers who carry the torch we can't.

May you take the time to take in knowledge. Then act on that knowledge. Remember if we are faithful in these matters that may appear to be little, then we will be faithful in much.  May the day come when all of us have the courage to faithfully honor and support a sense of community and well being for each other, in as much, as we have done it for those animals in our care from bee to calf.

Yours in health and kind treatment, I remain

Ta-raw Hamilton

 

Joe Cross's cup is half full, how about yours?

We've all heard the cup adage. Is yours half empty or half full? Listening to Joe Cross speak in person confirmed for me the part of his personality that I found most attractive: his optimism. In the movie when he talks about people who try to juice for 10 days and only get to 8 days, he doesn't consider them a failure, he says "good on you for trying". Similarly he spoke eloquently about his journey of health and the critical moment when he put his wealth before his health.  He was a successful entrepreneur and was spending 15, 16 hours a day working. He started to order in Pizza and consume larger amounts of fast food because his priority was work. He gained an average of 10 pounds a year until he was 310 pounds.

His expectation of doctors, like most American's was, your the doctor fix me.  He handed his health over to someone else. When he took ownership of his problem and made the movie, I loved that he didn't want it to be another movie that talked about the problems. He wanted to focus on solutions. How important is this attitude, and can it really make a difference to your health?

We've been entrepreneurs for many years and one of the most motivational speeches I heard was from one man who told about a childish experience that shaped his view for the rest of his life. He was too young to pour his own milk but was trying to do it anyway when he spilled the pitcher of milk all over the kitchen floor. His mother walked in and he looked up, scared, worried about the mess he made. His mom said "it's quite a mess you've made there isn't it?" He stopped being so worried and nodded his head. She said "well we have to clean it up, would you like to use a sponge, a cloth or a mop?" Now he started to get excited about fixing the mess and started to consider how best to do it. After he decided how to clean it up, his mom said "would you like to play in it before we clean it up?" He said that lesson affected his whole outlook on life. Every time a problem came up in his business, he was excited.  He knew he could fix the problem but he viewed it as an opportunity to learn something he wasn't planning for.

Joe Cross didn't think that his disease that affected him so severely that he couldn't touch anyone was a blessing at first. Now though, he says it was probably the best thing that happened to him because it made him think of his life and his choices. He's now in excellent health and has been for the last five years since he made the movie. People in the audience brought up problems like Monsanto genetically modifying our food but Joe said that he viewed the future positively. He believes that he's going to live to be 140 years old or so. He believes that future generations are going to look at the way we are eating and feeding our kids and they won't believe that we actually ate this way. We are headed towards positive change. People are realizing that they need to make health changes. Instead of spending thousands of dollars on health care in the last six months of their lives, children are realizing that they need to eat differently so they don't have the ailments their parents do.

He said he asks people all the time what the most important thing in their life is, my immediate thought was "my health", he said most people say their kids. When I became pregnant with my fifth child, I realized that I would be retired by the time he was grown and I didn't want him growing up worried about whether his mom was going to die. In order to take care of my two young babies, I put my health ahead of our successful printing business so I could be around to take care of them. Although I'm now a broke, organic farmer, I'm in the best health of my life. 

I believe that it's not our problems that who define who we are but how we rise to the challenge of meeting them. Although the health of Fresno residents is below that of the average California resident, my cup is not half empty, it is half full. Fresno came together as a community to listen to and support Joe Cross as he gave his talk yesterday. Today, I had at least four customers who have been inspired by him to start juicing. I have six healthy children, a daughter in law and son in law that love me as much as I love them. I have a grandson on the way. I have customers that make me happy to be at work although I haven't had a day off in 40 days. I was raised by the best parents in the world and I love all my siblings despite the distance between us. I love my God who gave us the perfect food that brings us awesome health. 

Instead of recounting all my challenges, I make it a point to count my blessings. I know my cup is half full, how about yours? Let me correct that, my cup is not half full, my cup runneth over.

May your cup runneth over with health and love, because you can't take wealth with you when you go. Invest the time and money in reaching good health now so you'll live long enough to see later.

Yours in health, love and hope

I remain inspired

Ta-raw Hamilton

Ta-Raw Warms up the Soup, Without killing the nutrition.

With the announcement that Steve Jobs died today at 58 of cancer, I had to ask myself why people are resigning themselves to death when they are so intelligent in other areas. I too believed there was no cure for cancer until I found out that most cancer is preventable and reversable. (see Forks over Knives and Max Gersons book). But, I have to admit, despite all this knowledge, in the rainy chill, my raw food soul craved soups comforting warmth.

When I first started learning about raw food last year, I thought I would never eat anything warm again. I took a raw food class where salad was converted to soup. The broth was hot and when it cooled down enough that you could touch it, we added the veggies. But I am a soup connoisseur and I have to say, I felt I was settling, it was a sacrifice I was willing to make for nutritions sake. A year later and many hundreds of raw recipes under my belt, I awoke at 5:30 a.m. having listened to the rain fall all night whilst dreaming up raw food soup recipes that would satisfy.

Two of my favorite soups are a coconut milk Thai soup and a tomato minestrone. My mission today was to make a raw version just as good as the cooked version. I started off with 9 large fresh young thai coconuts. I carefully scraped the meat from each one and blended it with the coconut water until I had over a gallon of coconut milk. But this milk did not a broth make. We used fresh ginger and garlic and vitamixed it with a bit of the milk until we had a fragrant broth. I then used soaked sesame seeds and sunflower seeds with coconut milk and vitamixed it until it was a thick creamy rue, like the one I used to make with butter and flour.  I folded my rue and seasoned broth into the coconut milk. I grated cauliflower and carrots into short strands and added them to my broth so I had a creamy, hearty soup. I chopped Portabello mushrooms and massaged them with salt and then I diced red bell peppers very finely. I kept these garnishes separate. I added berbere seasoning, grated lemon rind and salt to the soup until it was perfectly seasoned. A slight warm spice with a cool sweet taste from the coconut. Topped with the mushrooms and bell peppers, my Thai soup was beautiful and tasty. Everything my cooked soup used to be, except not warm. 

On to the tomato minestrone. Rachel was in charge of this one.  We used fresh tomatoes from Smith Family Farms and made a tomato sauce. She blended parsley in with a portion of the tomato sauce. She made her rue with almonds, lemon juice, chick pea miso, garlic, salt, black pepper and basil. We folded this into the sauce and it made a hearty broth. We added finely minced leeks and grated cauliflower to the soup. Next, we diced fresh green beans into small pieces and massaged them thoroughly with a touch of salt and folded them in. Lastly, we added some hot water to our tomato soup, making sure we could still touch it with our hands. Our heavenly tomato minestrone was complete.

Dehydrated veggie bread strips were our crackers. We also cooked some potatoes and quinoa for anyone who wanted them added to the soup. Many customers chose not to eat the soup because I think they felt it was commonplace. The connoisseur in me wanted to say "but this is soup, liquid libation to quench your soul." I refrained and secretly delighted in combining the two soups together for a blush soup that peaked at perfection. As each customer ordered, we warmed the soup so we could touch the bowl and the soup reached a cozy 110 to 115 degrees. Warm soup on a cold rainy day. Could there be anything better? No, not if with every bite your food whispers nutrition and keeps cancer and other disease causing free radicals at bay.

I must live well past 58 to see my two babies grow up. How fortunate I am that we run a raw vegan cafe and my lifes work is creating nutritious, delicious food. I think sadly of the visionaries like Steve Jobs whom we've lost to cancer -- but thank God that I left the corporate train behind to care for what matters most in life; my health and the health of those around me.

Encouraging you not to be such a visionary that you lose sight of the basic things in life: health, love and family,

I remain your fellow passenger on the SOL (Simple Organic Living) Train.

Ta-Raw Hamilton

 

Food moods, are you in tune with your body?

Growing up, I only thought of food when I was hungry. I didn't eat three set meals a day, I just ate when I was hungry and filled up so I wouldn't have to eat again too soon thereafter. As I got older I started to realize that even after I ate, I kept thinking of food.  My stomach would be full but my mind kept craving something more... I started eating sweets after my meal to see if that's what my mind was craving, then I'd try a few chips, then something else. Now my mind and my body are in sync. When my stomach is full, my mind says thank you and, like my younger years, I don't think of eating until I'm hungry again.

Would you like to know the secret to this food contentment? It's nutrition. Growing up, I ate organic veggies from our family farm or garden so my tummy was happy from Mom's amazing cooking and my mind said thank you for the nutrition. Corporate America changed that. In San Diego, we didn't have a garden and although my tummy said I'm full, my brain was saying, "nutrition tank on empty here!" Now eating organic, raw food, my body is in harmony. When my tummy is full from the amazing delights from Revive, my mind moves onto something else. That's a wonderful thing.

Face it, if you're thinking of food all the time, you're going to eat more. If you think of food only when you're hungry, you will eat to nourish yourself rather than with gluttony. Mind you, as the chef at Revive, I think of food even when I'm not hungry because I'm constantly planning future delightful meals to nourish your body and delight your taste buds but my food mood is happy and my spirit is one of caring and sharing.

Think of when you eat fast food or cooked food, aren't you tired after? Don't you want to take a nap? We eat breakfast and we're tired, after lunch we're tired and push through the afternoon so we can make it home for dinner time. After dinner we're exhausted and just want to watch TV. Food mood is red. It's on high alert. Our body is working as hard as it can to process the food we're giving it and our mind is stressed trying to muster up the energy to deal with the chores you want it to complete while screaming for you to give it nutrition. There is no better example of this than in the movie Super Size Me.  He certainly wasn't a vegan to start but he seemed like an intelligent, caring, well spoken person. At the end of the movie, he craved McDonalds, sat in front of the tv and his attitude towards his mate wasn't very caring.  

One couple that did the raw food challenge for 30 days said that after incorporating cooked food into their diet again, they were moody and they argued. They reflected on this and realized that they hadn't argued the month they were on the challenge. Feed the body, feed the mind. Depression can be a result of a lack of nutrition. Diabetes, High Blood Pressure, Cancer, Autism, ADHD, Chronic Fatigue Syndrome, Fibromyalgia and Candida are all treatable by diet too.  Do you think that these diseases aren't mood altering?

Bottom line?  Your body is your nearest friend, treat it well. If you took a date to McDonald's you might have a different evening then if you had a candle lit, home made dinner.  You are your bodies advocate, if you abuse it, who will protect it?  You want your body to work for you 7 days a week, 16-18 hours a day? Keep your body clean with pure water or water kefir, nourished with organic food, prepared with care to preserve the nutrition and seasoned with love to cheer your heart. Your body wants to love you and take care of you, do you dare to care and love it back?

I sing the same song for the inside and outside of my body -- Can't  touch this. Fast food, junk food, processed food, gmo food, pesticided food, pasteurized food, slaughtered food... can't touch this doo, da da, doo ... can't touch this.

In exchange, my bodies food mood is pretty much always green. 

Our Cooking Show "Ta-Raw, The uncooking show about healthy vegan food" will air again on Wednesdays at 4:00 p.m. It is a half hour show and airs on the local station KGMC Channel 43 or Comcast Channel 10. Learn how to love your body and mind this week. It will post on our website www.makeloveinthekitchen.tv after that.

Yours in health, body and mind.

I remain,

Ta-raw Hamilton

www.facebook.com/revivecafe
www.makeloveinthekitchen.tv