CAM News March 2008
Just the other day I was asked by our marketing department to sum up my thoughts on organic, sustainable foods and why I seem to be incorporating them more and more in menus I create. Unfortunately, my philosophy on organic/ sustainable/ local food is one that can’t be easily summed up with a couple of key points, to an audience not familiar with some of the underlying principles. I’ll try to make it short and sweet. Please bear with me.
The reasons people promote local, organic/ sustainable foods covers a diverse spectrum of thought, as diverse as the American people themselves. There might be many different reasons, but there is, what seems to be a common thread to tell the story of local/ sustainable/ organic foods. My philosophical convictions to champion local and sustainable/organic foods come from both, practical experience and academic pursuits and I am afraid, I have to add to the diversity of opinions mentioned above. Both my professional and educational pursuits required me to reevaluate my conceived notions about food, diet, and health. The correlation between the SAD (Standard American Diet) and the American public’s health, both, economical and physical can no longer be ignored and action is required. It is agreed by most experts that the so-called SAD plays a huge role in the development of chronic disease. By now you are probably asking, what does that have to do with a philosophy on sustainable and organic foods on a restaurant table?
According to Webster, one assigned definition of philosophy is the following: an analysis of the grounds of and concepts expressing fundamental beliefs (merriam-webster.com). Now we are getting somewhere. In order to accurately describe my philosophy on sustainable/ organic foods we need to travel back in time about 40,000 years.
The biological processes that govern our digestive system were developed around that time. One could say that our digestive system was hardwired and over the next millennia this evolution driven process changed very little, because of its close ties to human genes. Human genes, even though they do change, change very little over time. Having said that, we need to take a closer look at our early ancestors. We survived by hunting and gathering during these, what I imagine must have been very harsh times. We humans were roaming about all over the place following the trail of wild beasts or the seasonal availability of fruits, roots and vegetables. Without preservatives, meat, berries and veggies denatured very rapidly. This meant, that these foods, in order to do any good and be wholesome, had to be eaten in a very short time and feasts were followed by famine, famines that lasted to the next fruitful hunt (Brown, 2008).
About 10,000 years ago we have the first records of the first human medicinal system. This medicinal system is that of ancient India and called Ãyurveda and still very intact. Ãyuh meaning life, veda meaning knowledge. Another description would be “Science of Life.” Ãyurveda tackles knowledge and wisdom that relate to nature, scope and purpose of life, includes the metaphysical and physical aspects-health and disease, happiness and sorrow, pain and pleasure. To enter a discussion about the whole principles of Ãyurveda would not be appropriate here. But what is appropriate is the significance Ãyurveda gives to human nutrition and its role in disease and health. What we need to discuss here are the three doshas: Vãta, Pitta, and Kapha. The three doshas each are a certain combination of the five elements known in Ãyurveda. Our food has life energy, prãna that can only be used by the body through proper digestion. If proper digestion is impaired, or improper prãna is consumed, the three doshas are affected and disease will follow. There are certain foods that have prãna readily available while others need cooking to make the prãna in food available. Further more, and this is the importance of local foods, Ãyurveda advises us to eat foods from our surroundings, as they will balance our doshas. As our doshas change with the season, so should the prãna in food. The whole topic of digestion and nutrition could be explained by the ayurvedic concept of Rasa. Ra, “to relish, praise, or taste”; sa meaning “juice, sap, secretion.” The instant any food, medicine, or herb comes in contact with the tongue we experience its taste: rasa (Lad, 2002). We’ll leave it at that. To sum the concept of rasa and Ãyurveda up in one sentence; Ãyurveda considers eating tomatoes in Michigan, in the wintertime, as a less than optimum solution to maintain proper health.
Let’s move on to a “younger” system of medicine first mentioned in the Yi Jing (Book of Changes) ca. 700 BC. TCM or Traditional Chinese Medicine. You might be familiar with the concept of Qi. Chinese medicine sees the body and mind as the product of the interaction of the vital substances. All together, these substances make up the ancient Chinese view of body-mind. Qi is at the basis of it all. There are different forms of Qi and all originate from the same Qi. I am mainly concerned with Food-Qi and Nutritive-Qi. “Gu Qi” or “Qi of Food” is extracted from food and it is the base for the production of all other Qi, Chinese medicine gives high importance to the quantity and quality of food eaten. Nutritive-Qi is one of the derivatives of Food-Qi. As the name states, it has the function of nourishing the organs and the body. The importance of Nutritive-Qi can be seen from the following excerpt. “Nutritive-Qi is extracted from food and water, it regulates the 5 Yin organs, moistens the 6 Yang organs, it enters the blood vessels, it circulates in the channels above and below, is linked with the 5 Yin organs and connects with the 6 Yang organs (Maciocia, 1989). Needless to say, if quality and quantity of food are out of balance, disease will follow. I believe that this sums up how important Chinese medicine views food.
The similarities of the systems of medicine would be that they both rely on five elements to construct basically everything in the universe, even though the five elements are not the same. Both of these systems allow for foodstuffs to have inert energy. But that is where the similarities end. Ãyurveda allows for each food to have its own prãna, which will be used by the body to build tissue. In TCM, Qi is available in different stages. Some of these stages can be found as Food Qi, from which nutritive Qi becomes available. Other stages of Qi would be True Qi, Gathering Qi, Defensive Qi, and Original Qi. Regardless of the medicinal system, one can see a harmonious relationship between food, body and mind. When this harmony, or balance, is disturbed we have the basis of chronic disease. One can clearly see which “fork in the road” Western culture has taken.
By now I hope it becomes clear of where I am going with this, but bear with me just a little longer.
Fast forward United States, 2008 AC. Remember our human bodies, which were hardwired to consume wild game, fish, fruits, nuts, seeds, veggies, and roots in order to make it through the next famine and keep up with our physical demanding circumstances? Remember the two medicinal systems I described above?
We are now exposed to a quite different set of lifestyles. Because of the SAD diet, the foods we eat have absolutely no resemblance to that of our ancestors. Sugar, salt, alcohol, food additives, oils, dairy, cereal grains, processed foods are rampant. There are no large-scale famines in the US and our strenuous physical activity is reduced to turning the ignition key to the car in order to patronize one fast food drive thru window after another. We stuff our faces with less than optimum foods, totally contrary to what many experts believe we are supposed to consume and totally contrary according to two of the oldest medicinal systems on this planet. Our body has not kept up with the rapid changes in our diet. The survival mechanism we inherited from our ancestors is no longer to an advantage for us “modern” humans, due to the dramatic changes in all aspects of our lives. It looks like our bodies were designed to run on a low sugar, low sodium, lean protein, high fiber, and complex carbohydrate/ fruit/ nut/ vegetable diet. Our SAD diet seems to be one contributing culprit to the leading causes of death for Americans: heart disease, cancer, and diabetes. Industrial farming is implicated with increased rates of cancer due to heavy pesticide use (Brown, 2008).
So-called CAFO’s (Concentrated Animal Feeding Operations) are some of America’s worst polluters and energy consumers. Remember all this “energy” or prãna inherent in food is used by the body to build cells, tissues and organs and provide energy for our daily activities. Scientifically speaking, we literally become what we eat.
Most family farmers in the US have been driven off their farms to make way for so called “high yield” producing industrial farms. The variety of crops has been eradicated because of high demand industrial crops. The local food supply is further threatened by the pursuit of agricultural crops for motor fuels.
Clearly, we have moved away from a happy equilibrium and are heading full speed, without breaks, towards an abyss. But wait, it is not all doom and gloom and there is hope. This is the common thread I mentioned in the beginning that ties all of our efforts together. No matter what the reason for people to champion organic/ sustainable/ local foods the outcome will be the same.
Based on what I described above, of what is known, there are many supporters (for whatever reason) of the philosophical principles of sustainable agriculture, which is a way of raising food that is healthy for consumers and animals, does not harm the environment, is humane for workers, respects animals, provides a fair wage to the farmer, and supports and enhances rural communities (sustainabletable.org). A holistic view as described by Ãyurveda and TCM.
Based on what I described above, of what is known, there are many supporters (for whatever reason) of the philosophical principles of organic farming, which is a form of agriculture that excludes the use of synthetic fertilizers and pesticides, plant growth regulators, livestock feed additives, and genetically modified organisms. As far as possible, organic farmers rely on crop rotation, green manure, compost, biological pest control, and mechanical cultivation to maintain soil productivity and control pests (wikipedia.org). A holistic view as described by Ãyurveda and TCM.
When one looks at the whole picture, there is really only one right course of action, to build a just and sustainable, locally oriented food system not only to nourish the people with wholesome, healthy foods but also to make small family farming once again an economically rewarding profession.
All these efforts and energies to bring back a just and sustainable food system will clearly affect the prãna in food. I finish with a question that clearly beckons to be asked: Which “energy” or prãna inherent in food would you rather have used by the body to build cells, tissues and organs? Remember, scientifically speaking, we literally become what we eat. What do you choose to become?
And that is the philosophy behind the man.
Beste Gesundheit,
Werner
References
Merriam-Webster.com. Philosophy. Retrieved March 12, 2008 from
http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/philosophy
Brown J. (2008). Nutrition now (5th ed.). Belmont, CA: Thomson
Wadsworth.
Lad V. (2002). Fundamental principles of Ayurveda. Albuquerque,NM:
The Ayurvedic Press.
Maciocia G. (1989). The Foundations of Chinese medicine. New York,
NY: Chuchill Livingstone.
Brown J. (2008). Nutrition now (5th ed.). Belmont, CA: Thomson
Wadsworth.
SustainableTable.com. Sustainable Agriculture. Retrieved March 12,
2008, from http://www.sustainabletable.org/intro/whatis/
Wikipedia.org. Organic Farming. Retrieved March 12, 2008 from
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Organic_farming
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