the Bayfront Park Farmer's Market

A gorgeous, delicious, and pleasant way to support local business! Today was a beautiful day in Miami and I finally got to get over to the farmer's market at Bayfront Park. There's beautiful produce, exotic fruits and live music!




I had a delicious raw, vegan lunch from a young woman who seemed to single-handedly run the only raw food booth at the market. She served curry salad with cashews and a meaty walnut pate. She also had some other interesting dishes like ripe plantain salad with cilantro and avocado salad, both jazzed up with dulse flakes.

I got the sampler so that I could try a little of everything. Yum!

I almost ate the whole thing before I could take a picture of it!

Damon had cerviche from one of the stands. I don't eat fish, but he said it was very fresh and tasty.

This market is every Thursday from 11 to 3. Click the picture to find out more info...

Bayfront Park Farmer's Market


We picked up a few fruits from the market, including a mamey and an egg fruit. The egg fruit was new to both of us. It reminds me of bright yellow pound cake. The pit is similar to that of a durian. Damon doesn't like durian all that much, but he liked this fruit.

Here's what they look like...

What Will You Do?

Very good video from the march against the G20 in London on 3/28/09. (see SOVIET films)

[The G-20 (more formally, the Group of Twenty Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors) is a group of finance ministers and central bank governors from 20 economies: 19 of the world's largest national economies, plus the European Union (EU)... Collectively, the G-20 economies comprise 85% of global gross national product, 80% of world trade (including EU intra-trade) and two-thirds of the world population... read more at wikipedia]

Strike fear into the rich...



The demonstrations continued into yesterday, when protesters stormed the Royal Bank of Scotland in London. One protester died. Many more were arrested. You won't see an overwhelming amount of press over this event. The number of protesters was stated to be around 5,000 by the BBC, but there is reason to believe that the number was much greater.

The march was largely the brainchild of Chris Knight, a self-described anarchist and an anthropologist at the University of East London, who has been the galvanizing public voice of a loose umbrella group of radical environmentalists, academics and left-wing activists known as the G20 Meltdown that spearheaded the protests... Read full article at the NYTimes

The top is blowing off the pressure cooker. Are you saying "what the $%#&" yet?

Obscene payouts to AIG, Wall Street and banking officials have resulted in violence in the United States and elsewhere too and this will grow until all of those responsible are stripped of their ill-gotten gains, go to jail or both... (Diane Francis, Huffington Post)

The economic crisis is global (which includes the USA as hard as that is for some to believe), and as tensions rise we will see more and more protests in any and all cities of the world. Is our government preparing for these types of protests in the U.S. by establishing an active unit here (as of Oct. 1st, see video). There's also the promised withdrawl from Iraq by December 2011? What will these troops be called to do when they get home? The estimated number of troops in Iraq is about 142,000 as of February 2009.

We need to do something, and violence is not the only answer. I'm going to speak openly about how it just doesn't make sense to me that wealth can be privately owned, as capitalism suggests it should be. I will speak of local, organic produce that I do not buy from a "rich get richer" enterprise like Walmart or Publix (for all of us in the Southeast USA). I will speak of how to maintain a healthy body with fresh whole, raw, and vegan foods that do not destroy our bodies or the planet. I will not drown out the warnings from my body with pharmaceuticals or drop napalm on my organs in the form of antibiotics while private companies collect profits. The list can go on and on.

What will you do?

Shoes: The World's Most Dangerous Invention?

I've spent the last month and a half down in Miami, FL and I'm having an experience like no other. You see the worst of Capitalist and Consumerist America, as well as the greatest beauty this country has to offer.

I underwent a major surgery last July and began my healing in Atlanta, Ga. I thought I was doing well, but my healing seems to have accelerated dramatically since I came to Miami. I knew it had something to do with walking on the sand and swimming in the ocean. In the past, there was always a hunch that my shoes were doing me more harm than good, so it really has been wonderful to have direct contact with the earth as I do when I'm on the beach.

Today I discovered this video from David Wolfe, who is undoubtedly one of the most cutting-edge health gurus in the world. He blames the common shoe for much of our health woes. After spotting the title of this video I immediately said "uh huh... that's what I thought."

Here it is...

Rawkin' Saturday in Miami :)

My twin sister Vicky and her beautiful life partner Rosita came to visit last Saturday Mar. 21st. We had an amazing day of raw food! We started out the day at the farmer's market in Coconut Grove. You can see our pictures on flickr - the picture below is a link :)



Later that evening I took them to the restaurant where I'm working, Lifefood Gourmet. Here's a little video of the experience...





After this amazing day, they'll be back soon. We'll be making a couple of videos then, so stay tuned :)

Vicky's also got some great information to share. Check out some of her Youtube Videos. Here's her latest, which I really like.

This Is The Best of Times

Yesterday I posted a link at my Facebook page to an interview with David Wolfe about our current economic situation. I really recommend listening to it. I think it's the Best Ever, of course :)

http://tinyurl.com/ao8j67

The interview stirred up some emotions, some of them negative about Mr. Wolfe. Here's my response. It was a private message, but this is an issue we need to be talking about right now, so I'm making it public.



My issue is that there is no value behind our money other than our BELIEF that it has value. The gold standard is out of order. If there was value behind our money, then "interest" would make sense because if someone has loaned this thing of value, they obviously cannot partake of its value until the thing is returned.

What's happening now is that the Federal Reserve (a private bank) creates money which has no backing, be it gold or any other good, and they do this at will. Then they charge interest, but what interest is there really? It's just paper. This system can create nothing but debt. Especially when you consider that the more money you print, the higher inflation goes.

Every dollar printed is immediately attached to debt. Our government borrows money from the Federal Reserve, which they create out of thin air and then charge interest for it. And then after they print the money and inflation goes up, that money is not worth what it apparently was, AND there's interest, too. Our tax money is not paying for roads, it's paying for interest owed to Federal Reserve.

Our money seems to have value within our current system. Perhaps a worker who has helped with basement renovations would take some other kind of compensation besides money, but he probably had to report to a boss and bring back some cash or else he would be fired and "Oh GOD, where would he be then?" The business owner needs the currency, mostly for taxes (which I won't even go into), but a little will go to paying the employee so that he can go buy goods from other folks stuck in this system, as well as pay more taxes. All of this comes as a result of our being told that our labor or the goods we harvest have no value other than how many printed pieces of paper you HAVE to put forth for it. Creating this system gives certain people control, and it's not us.

The stealing most obviously occurs at the highest level - the Cartel between the Federal Reserve and our Government. To us, we think "yeah, of course I need money to buy things!" We're the pawns in this scheme and people generally don't question it. Many people think we're still on the gold standard and that the Federal Reserve is a government agency.

Sure, banks could go back to just banking, but I think the real issue is that our currency needs to be based on something other than private interest.

XOXO...c

Ch-Ch-Ch-Chia Seed Pudding

I've heard so much about chia seeds ever since I got into raw foods. I often saw chia seed pudding as a dessert or breakfast item at my favorite raw food restaurants.

Here is a picture of the chia seed pudding at Quintessense Raw Food Restaurant in NYC...


And the restaurant where I'm currently working in Miami, Lifefood Gourmet, serves up a delicious chia seed pudding as one of their desserts. That's actually where I got the idea to put dried mulberries in it - brilliant!

Chia seeds are an ancient food. They've been with us for so long because they are just that good! (like, hey! this is really not broke and don't need fixin'!) Check out this article, Chia Seed - The Ancient Food of the Future, for some detailed information on this incredible superfood.

Here's my version of chia seed pudding:



Ch-ch-ch-chia Seed Pudding!

Ingredients:
1/2 cup Chia Seeds
1 1/2 cups Nut/Seed Milk
1 cup Dried Fruit (I use golden raisins, black/light mulberries, and goji berries)
2 tbsp Agave Nectar
2 1/2 - 3 tbsp of Coconut Oil
1 tsp Vanilla Extract
1/2 tsp Cinnamon (I say 1 tsp in the video, and there's never anything wrong with a little extra cinnamon, but 1/2 is totally sufficient)
Pinch of Salt (Celtic or Himalayan)

Mix all of the ingredients and refrigerate for at an hour or over night. Serve with fresh berries.

And as always... ENJOY!

Raw Mama

Dr. Ann Wigmore. She is arguably the mother of the raw foods movement. She was one of the first to tell us about the amazing benefits of wheat grass, which basically makes her the "Les Paul" of natural foods in the West. It was her grandmother who first educated her on the powers of whole foods and herbs. Her message is that there are natural remedies for any and all maladies, as she has proven by winning her battle with cancer.

If you haven't heard of her before, here's a little video for a sweet introduction to Dr. Ann Wigmore...




Why raw? (a few thoughts that stand out in my mind)

1. I generally don't turn on a stove or an oven, which makes me feel good because I've been hearing some rumors of a serious energy crisis.

2. The meat industry is a f*ing disgrace to the human race.
(watch Meet Your Meat if you haven't already)

3. The meat industry is destroying the Earth, which happens to be my home! (read this!)

4. People can never believe I'm above the age of 20 :)

5. I don't have to deal with snot, acne, thunder-thighs, asthma, allergies, urinary tract infections, bad breath, body odor, brain fog, depression, etc., which is pretty darn sexy these days.


Don't suffer your life away. You've got a choice.