Regeneración

Is there an Ideal Diet for Humans?, Part I

2010-08-02T13:25:00.000-07:00

In a rather earth-shaking study, the UN reports that "a global shift towards a vegan diet is vital to save the world from hunger, food impacts, and the worst impacts of climate change."

This sounds dandy enough. Most of us have heard at some point how "great plants are" to eat, and how "we don't need" animal foods to be healthy.

But a bit of common sense and unconventional wisdom invert that thinking right on its head. According to the Weston A. Price Foundation, every single traditional population on the planet utilizes animal foods. Even the meat- and egg-shunning Hindu vegetarians of India prize clarified butter, ghee, and eagerly use dairy as a staple.

To my mind, there's good reason traditional cultures prize meat, eggs, and often dairy. Meat and seafood are concentrated sources of zinc, the B vitamins, iron, phosphorus, selenium, anti-microbial saturated and monounsaturated fats, cholesterol, essential fatty acids, choline, betaine, readily accessible protein, and fat-soluble vitamins, and all of which are vital to human biochemistry.

What the plant-crazed folk also won't care to admit is that the body has a high requirement for saturated fats and cholesterol; every single cell in our body requires these solid fats for wall stability and metabolism, *especially* the tissues of vital organs, namely the heart and brain. Let's keep it real here: the brain is mostly fat, folks. Any biochemist or physiologist can tell you that. And yet the vegetarian and vegan crowd holds that low-fat, high-carb, plant-based diets are good for us. (Stay tuned as I dispel this myth in the coming posts.)

That our body needs large daily amounts of the nutrients found in animal foods is a compelling reason for why the thought of dairy, eggs, or meat only makes us drool with anticipation. The human body has developed its 'taste' for food groups over millions of years. For the million plus years until agriculture, meat was the prized fuel source for our species -- not starchy vegetables, fruit, or even nuts. We crave animal foods over most others because our body knows these foods are highly nutrient-dense.

In the next post I'll expound on why vegan diets are nutritionally naive and potentially disastrous for humanity. In the post after that, I'll explain how the UN study is flawed and could be framed more intelligently.

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To read the Guardian article and/or link to the UN study itself, click here.

To learn more about the holes in scientific literature regarding saturated fats, cholesterol, and animal foods, check out some of these videos:

"Nourishing Traditional Diets" by Sally Fallon of the Weston A. Price Foundation.

The Cholesterol Myth: Why cholesterol doesn't actually cause heart disease

US Social Forum Unites Movements

2010-06-26T15:32:00.000-07:00

For some, activism is a pastime. For others, it's a vocation. But for those with the wherewithal to attend, the US Social Forum proves to be a powerful and inspiring conference.

This year's USSF, running from the 22-26 June, was the second in a US series that grew out of the World Social Forum (WSF) process. The WSF, a global network for justice, occurs regularly. It unites the world's underrepresented - women, workers, youth, peasants, and oppressed people - to construct a "counter-vision to the economic and political elites of the World Economic Forum" based on the triple-faceted principle of sustainability: ecological conservation, social justice, and economic equity.

This year, the US forum drew a powerful 10,000. Its goal? "To build a powerful multi-racial, multi-sectoral, inter-generational,  diverse, inclusive, internationalist movement that transforms this country and  changes history." Its slogan? "Another world is possible. Another US is necessary." The Forum calls itself not a conference but a "space" to generate solutions for the "economic and ecological crises" that threaten this world, given the failure of top-down governance that all too often serves the interests of powerful corporations.

In attendance were advocates for immigration, the disabled, and communities of color, feminists, queers, environmental justice organizers, and representatives of Native American nations from all corners of the US.

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Learn more about the USSF at its website.
Also, check out DemocracyNow!'s great coverage of it.

Humanity: In Deep Water

2010-06-18T12:15:00.000-07:00

On 20 April 2010, the Deepwater Horizon oil rig exploded in the Gulf of Mexico. Since then, from 160-380 million liters (42-100 million gallons) or more of oil has eked out onto and below the surface of the Gulf, poisoning flora and fauna. The latest estimate of spillage, 60,000 barrels or 2.5 million gallons of oil per day, means that "an amount equal to the Exxon Valdez oil spill" could be gushing out every four days. (The 1989 Exxon Valdez spill used to be the worst spill in U.S. history, until now.) According to President Obama, Deepwater is the “worst environmental disaster the U.S. has ever faced.”

According to Louisiana Treasurer Kennedy, the spill – which some are calling “Obama’s Katrina” – will cost anywhere from $40-100 billion.

What does this crisis mean, for the many crippled fisheries, communities, and livelihoods across southern coastal states? For the Obama administration? And what does this event portend for the United States and even the world?

It’s Sustainability, Stupid

To answer this question, we must parse how the government and media frame and grasp the magnitude of this disaster. Look at any news outlet, and you’ll see the same language. This is an environmental problem, with environmental consequences. But it isn’t only environmental; its effects have enormous consequences socially and economically by damaging communities, livelihoods, and economies. It is very problematic that the government and media comprehend this issue in narrow, unholistic terms. The year is 2010. We’ve figured out by now that environmental crises are by no means only environmental; the effects are far-ranging, multi-faceted. Indeed, the Deepwater Horizon event is not an environmental crisis; it’s a crisis of sustainability.

Sustainability. Call it environmentalism 2.0, except don’t actually. Sustainability is environmentalism evolved; it entails three necessities: ecological integrity, economic equity, and social justice. For an activity or thing to be sustainable, it must respect each of the three dimensions without sacrificing any one of them. Sustainability is more than “meeting the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their needs,” as the most quoted definition runs. It means securing socioeconomic justice for all through economies that regenerate rather than ravage the Earth. But aren’t modern economic systems just? Doesn’t trickle-down laissez-faire capitalism provide for all?

No. Our economic system, developed by elites, finds itself in the throes of neoliberal policies that mistake undemocratic, abusive, violent markets for “free trade.” Capitalism is unsustainable. Because it relies on fossil fuels that exacerbate global climatic upheaval. Because it legalizes oppression of indigenous peoples worldwide. Because it prioritizes profit over people and planet. Because it reinforces unhealthful materialism and indulgence by catapulting wealth from poor nations to rich ones, effectively pulling the carpet from under the world’s monetarily poor. Because it has overseen the global domination of American culture, destroying cultural diversity – the stuff of humanity (more on this later). Because, under the reign of capitalism, the world is suffering the most severe malnutrition in human history through obesity & hunger; the greatest disparity in wealth ever; and an unprecedented concentration of power and control in the hands of, sorry to say, mostly corporations. Capitalism is, fundamentally, an undemocratic system.

It really helps to put capitalism in perspective historically. The inception of this economic ideology more than 300 years ago was made possible by vast amounts of slave labor, with the more or less singular goal of channeling resources, goods, luxuries to colonial capitals in Europe. The proto-capitalists succeeded, unfortunately, casting legions of Africans, Indians, and Native Americans into disarray, perpetual poverty, disillusionment, depression, and near annihilation in some cases. What continues today is a system with similar goals: exploit the raw materials of resource-rich monetarily poor nations in the Global South, transform them into items that appeal to wealthy North Americans and Europeans, mainly, and send them to said continents post haste. The system? A decentralized, interdependent global economy based on an ever-increasing depletion of raw materials, ecological services, justice, and planetary health generally.

So capitalism not only erodes the very biophysical support systems (the atmosphere, hydrosphere, forests, oceans, and biodiversity) that make it possible for humans to exist, it also unravels, in the words of Michael Pollan, “the very social fabric on which it depends” by destroying communities and human health.

Growing Alternatives

Fortunately for this species, a widespread rebellion is building momentum against unjust economic & social order, and against the unsavory addiction that led to the Deepwater incident. In the Global South – the world’s underprivileged nations that were usually the victims of European colonial atrocities – social movements profligate, as does popular participation in them. Brazil features one of the most successful ones, the Landless Workers’ Movement. Decades ago, when Brazil began industrializing its land use for corporate agriculture, droves of rural small-farmers were forcibly removed from their land, leading to a concentration in land ownership in Brazil. This rural exodus allowed only 3% of the country’s population to take control of two-thirds of all arable land, as is now the case in the country. (Surprisingly, most of the favelas, or slums, in Brazil were created because rural farmers had nowhere else to go after being ousted by corporate agriculture.) In response to land consolidation, rural folk mobilized, creating the MST movement. Now, 1.5 million landless people from 23 states are peacefully occupying unused land throughout the tropical country, creating cooperatives, sustainable agriculture, and schools along the way.

Via Campesina, the global movement of women, landless, rural, and indigenous people, is perhaps the most influential organization in what is known as the “anti-“ or “alter-globalization” movement. The group defends “peasant, family-farm-based production,” the food sovereignty of people, and “decentralized food production and supply chains” (basically, local food systems).

So what about America? Is there hope for our country in all this mess? Do any of us know or care about the global justice movement? Surprisingly, our nation hasn’t really seen a significant social movement since the civil rights struggle of the 60s. This is probably because since then, corporations have virtually brainwashed the U.S. population that working 40 hours of either sedentary or strenuous labor a week with little to no vacation time is a reasonable mandate. Americans have been mired, to say the least, in their ever-worsening health crisis, deteriorating infrastructure, and job losses due to inhumane outsourcing. A number of intersecting challenges of unprecedented scale are coming to boil, in the same pot.

To our great fortune, it may be that Americans are finally waking up. The ‘food movement,’ as Pollan calls it, may just be the social movement America – and by proxy, the world – has been waiting for. This movement demands healthful, organic, whole foods at reasonable prices, accessible to all. It is grounds not only for a transition out of sloppy, destructive industrial agriculture to sustainable systems, but it has the potential to lead the evolution from capitalism to more socially just, environmentally rejuvenating economic systems. Michael Pollan attests: “The food movement is also about community, identity, pleasure, and, most notably, about carving a new social and economic space removed from the influence of big corporations on the one side and government on the other.” I’m still a bit in awe of Pollan’s boldness here. He wrote this in the New York Times Book Review, a publication that sees national attention, especially by the likes of educated elites who run corporations. I didn’t know until I read this how radical the normally level-headed author had become in his thinking here; after all, he is the de facto leader of the U.S. food movement. What he says goes.

So, in light of the great structural challenges we face, most notably entrenched interests and power concentration, our best hope is with radical politics. But I prefer to call it “common sense” politics, because (most) people really desire the same conditions: ample food and water, shelter, security from harm, love, justice, and an opportunity to realize their dreams.

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Watch Obama speak (unctuously?) on the oil spill. Read about sustainability: (1) the original definition; (2) conservative interpretation, and (3) a progressive interpretation. Also, check out Michael Pollan’s essay on the U.S. food movement and capitalism.

Learn more about the Movimento dos Trabalhadores sem Terra, the MST movement. Learn more about La Via Campesina.

They Have a Dream

2010-06-07T18:40:00.000-07:00

The Dream Act 2010 Bill provides an opportunity for undocumented youth to become 100% legal American citizens. In order to qualify for conditional residential status and get on the path to citizenship, undocumented youth must work to meet rigorous standards. First, the undocumented youth must have arrived in the U.S. as a minor. S/he must also have graduated from a U.S. high school, be of "good moral character", and have been in the country continuously for at least five years prior to the bill's enactment. Finally, the undocumented youth must complete a degree in a U.S. institution of higher education (or attend one for two years, in good standing) or serve in the military for 2 years. The text of the legislation can be found here, via the Library of Congress website.

The Washington Post described an inspirational image: a group of young students dressed in graduate regalia, with their lustrous caps and gowns at the protest against SB1070 in Phoenix. Although these students were outraged at the immigration laws passed in Arizona, what they were pressing for was the Dream Act.

A similar group of DREAM act advocates

Many people, including my own mother and many other members of our family, came to the United States as children or teenagers with their parents illegally. Because of their love for this country, my grandparents chose to relinquish their Mexican citizenship and become American citizens. Here, they made a new life for themselves, and on the part of both my grandmother and my grandfather, they far surpassed the quality of life they would have had in Mexico. Here, a free high school education is guaranteed, and if you qualify (like I do), you can go to college for next to no cost at all.

In my lifetime, I've encountered countless Latinos with ambitions and, well, dreams of doing great things with their lives -- and many happen to be undocumented. Some of these people end up graduating high school with honors and going on to college. On the other hand, I've witnessed some real tragedies: watching girls several years younger than I am working awful jobs instead of going to school. They come home tired every night, wishing there was a better opportunity for them in America than mere subsistence living. Their dreams lamentably become the aphoristic dreams deferred.

The most tragic cases may end (and have) in suicide. Undocumented youth have at times resorted to suicide to escape deportation back to their home countries, like this 17 year old who committed suicide in a jail cell, after making an illegal turn in traffic. The Facebook group titled "please don't jump" has a following over 25,000 members -- "please don't jump" refers to the PostSecret art piece submitted by an anonymous undocumented person. "Frank," the submitter, confesses his distraught feelings, expressing his suicidal plans to jump off of the Golden Gate bridge this summer, because he feels "unwanted here" as an illegal.

Because I was lucky, my mother had me in the United States. Because I was lucky, my grandparents chose to come to this Garden of Eden two decades before I was born. By mere chance, I was born in a land of opportunity -- and so were many of you. However, we don't have to leave everyone's fate up to chance. We can advocate in support of the Dream Act, and make their dreams a reality. Let's give these people an opportunity to improve their lives -- they just might end up improving ours one day.

Please visit DreamAct.info for more information.

EDIT: Here are dubbed "DREAM walkers" who met with Arpaio last week.

Taking back a country

2010-06-03T15:02:00.000-07:00

On May 29th, thirty thousand people marched in the blistering Arizona heat from the Steele Indian School Park, through downtown, and to the Phoenix capitol building. The resistant hearts of the Latin@ community gathered after many years of staying quiet to speak out against Arizona's racist immigration laws -- AZ governor Jane Brewer additionally signed a law banning ethnic studies in Arizona. With my mother and my friend, I met these dissenters at the capitol building, where people spoke out against the injustices facing the Latin@ community in Arizona. In a far corner of the protest near a busy street, I saw a couple of confederate flags flying. Unfortunately I didn't get photos, but to be honest, I wasn't even upset that they were there -- I laughed. We showed real solidarity, crossing racial lines of Native American, black, and white. Protesters were not met with any violence by law enforcement.There were police helicopters hovering overhead, and the police force seemed diminutive -- they had the highway patrol come in to "keep the peace" at the peaceful protest.

My views concerning Arizona range -- on one hand, I argue from a moderately left-leaning position. The reason for this is that many people don't perceive radical viewpoints as legitimate or realistic; so I subdue my radical impulses for my opinions to be entertained. Instead of arguing ideas, I find myself using facts and numbers provided by an institution I don't even believe in. I know I am not alone in this. I have acquaintances and several friends who are caught in the same dilemma -- defending softliner Democrats against Conservative schmucks whose heads are so far up their ass, we can't even communicate with them. On the other hand, we find our idealism, and we fight the opposition with it. That is the purpose of this publication -- to discover our own idealism and expel our apathetic tendencies. But I digress.

Supporters of this harsh immigration reform scapegoat illegal immigrants, as they have throughout history (Operation Wetback, Bisbee Deportation), for the economic problems in the country and the high crime rates. Human rights violations are plenty throughout the history of this nation -- a nation that in my opinion, has no right to exist as an Anglo, Christian state that once advocated a Manifest Destiny, a mass genocide successfully wiping out millions of indigenous inhabitants. After succeeding in its extermination of dark people on North American land, nativist Anglo-Americans found many new scapegoats; the Irish, Chinese, and Mexicans. The only reason I did not mention African-Americans was because they were brought here deliberately against their will for no other reason than to be mistreated. Again, I digress.

My concern with these historical infringements upon liberty led me, and many others, to decry these unconstitutional Arizona laws. But the most interesting part is yet to come -- my inspiration to make this post comes from a Los Angeles Times Comments Blog. After the report on the Los Angeles boycott on Arizona by L.A. Times, Tony Pierce blogged on the comments posted on the L.A. boycott report.

The most interesting part was not the quote of an "unapologetic" man ("is sb 1070 racist? maybe. but so is la raza. fight fire with fire."); it was the comment on the blog about comments -- this is getting confusing.

Steal this country- Washington and Obama don't care!

Who are these illegals to turn America into the trash/crap holes they come from?

You will not steal my country Mr. Obama and you will not play golf while Arizona is overrun by foreign invaders. You are not an American by birth and therefor it is not your country to ruin. May November confirm you as the most incompetent president ever.

Posted by: Steal This Country | June 02, 2010 at 11:16 PM

It's interesting to me how an Anglo could say undocumented people are "stealing this country" -- weren't they the ones who came here? I'm all for sharing -- but is this land in any way that of the Anglo race?

I see the supporters of Arizona laws SB 1070 and HB 2281 as xenophobic, largely racist, shortsighted, and slightly sociopathic. In spite of the hateful opposition, Latin@s are not faint of heart -- we'll continue making piñatas and marching until we shut down these laws. We'll take back this country. Racism is ugly.