SuperFood Drive: Giving the Gift of Health
In January 2009, I attended Food As Medicine in San Francisco, CA. As I was listening to Dr. Jeffrey Bland talk about the health benefits of super foods, it occurred to me that for the majority of Americans, having a diet full of nutrient dense super foods may never be a reality. Millions of Americans have a diet comprised of the types of food we associate with liquor stores, corner markets and food pantries –fast, packaged, cheap, and processed with high amounts of fat, sugar, sodium and other preservatives.
I reflected on my own experience of food drives when I was growing up: reaching to the back of my pantry to pull expired or unwanted items to donate. There was a big disconnect between an expired soup can and the families it was going to feed.
Sitting there in the super food lecture, I wrote down the words “super food drive – a food drive to collect super foods for people in need”. My idea was to transform existing emergency food systems (food banks, food pantries, soup kitchens) into providers of nutrient dense foods for individuals and families in need.
Aging & Consciousness: A Dramatic Transformation
As a longstanding educator and researcher in the field of aging, I have seen a dramatic transformation from a focus on “what’s wrong” as we grow older to “what’s possible”! I see this not only in my professional life but in connections with amazing elders such as 91 year- old Erica Leon, a Holocaust survivor who emigrated to Los Angeles from Hungary in her 70s and started painting when she re-connected with her long-lost fiancee from before WWII who was an art instructor! Now arthritis inhibits her ability to paint, but not to write poetry or to Skype her family daily in Hungary.
Finding the Light in the Darkness
Yesterday, I had an incredibly powerful yoga class. I spent the entire class practically wtih my eyes closed. It wasn’t intentional at first but then had great meaning for me. We started with a little flow and then stopped with eyes closed to “set an intention” as my teacher says. I closed my eyes and had some tears come out. I decided on this early early morning (I do yoga at 6 AM), I was going to search inward for the light, for the joy. That I could not attach to finding that in the stressful situations before me. That no matter how Zubin does on the steroids or if and when he deteriorates to a wheelchair, that no matter how he does in school or if we feel we get what we need there, that joy is not something I can wait for from these things. I have to search inward and get joy from within. And so I closed my eyes and set my intention, to search for the light and peace within.
Backyard Abundance
4 months ago, I spent $8 to purchase seeds for planting spinach and red leaf lettuce in my garden. I was impressed with how quickly greens grow with fertile soil, water and sunshine! My planter box is bursting with full bodied greenery. I eat at least one large salad every day and haven’t had to buy greens for over 2 months now. I even give away heads of lettuce to friends when they come to visit.
A New Way to Think of Lovingkindness
This post originally appeared in the author’s blog Mindful Mothering on December 7, 2011.
Happy Valentine’s Day!
I still have thoughts swimming from David Whyte‘s workshop and one was on this idea of lovingkindness. That is not how he described it but he speaks of the essence of how we nurture ourselves. He suggests that we are the only part of creation that is allowed to deny itself, ie a tree or flower do not get to deny their essence but we as humans, constantly deny or reject parts of ourselves that we are dissatisfied with. And so this idea of how to nurture ourselves is cast aside by our self-criticism. Continue reading →
Alum Entrepreneur: Whole Foods Feeding Tube Formula
Ask any Food As Medicine graduate what their favorite thing about the program is and for sure their difficulty will be in choosing between the food and the people. It’s a given that the education is superlative– science-based, heart-centered, practical and inspiring. FAM 2011 will make it an even dozen times we’ve presented it, and we have gotten very good at it, indeed. Rebecca Katz is designing the food, so again, prepare to be both nourished and dazzled. The people? Robin Gentry McGee is a perfect example of our amazing attendees.
Our Wonderful Alums: Mary-Beth in the Drip Room
Right after Food As Medicine in June 2010, we received the following email from a participant:
Thank you and the staff for an incredible experience.
It is still very alive for me. I came home and right away started
weekly food demonstrations at the oncology clinic
where I work. Patients are loving it!
Peace & blessings,
Mary-Beth Charno, RN, BSN, HNB-BC, OCN
Linchitz Medical Wellness,Glen Cove, NY
This kind of email goes in my electronic folder labeled Cloud Nine. Seriously– what would you like to hear if you managed a nutrition training program for healthcare professionals? The paycheck is not why we work late. So I contacted Mary-Beth for details, and she was kind enough to share photos and recipes.
