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Showing posts from November 6, 2019

The Industrial Food System

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In the early 1970’s US president Richard Nixon enacted two changes that would have striking impact on future generations: Removed the US from the gold standard. This would herald the end of sound, long term economic development, and shift the whole world into a debt based system of fiat currency.  Enacted an aggressive program of farm subsidies (Nixon was also able to do this parallel to and because of change #1). This was somewhat part of the Cold War buildup, but it was also a political ploy to garner support from the conservative voting base within farming, which at that time represented a much larger percentage of the US population relative to today. Farmers were paid to produce food. In some instances, farmers were (and are) paid to NOT produce food.  The Result? The US found itself with a glut of corn, soybeans, wheat, and similar commodities. Much of this food was lost to wastage. A simple solution was to create highly processed foods which have jaw-dropping shelf live

The Definitive Guide to Inflammation

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Inflammation gets a bad rap in the alternative health world: “Inflammation causes heart disease, cancer, and autoimmune disease! It’s at the root of depression.” These are all true—to some extent. Name a disease, and inflammation is involved. Crohn’s disease is inflammatory. Major depression is inflammatory. Heart disease is inflammatory. Autoimmune diseases , which involve an inflammatory response directed at your own tissues, are inflammatory. Arthritis is inflammatory. Even obesity is inflammatory, with fat cells literally secreting inflammatory cytokines. Yes, but the story is more complicated than that. Inflammation, after all, is a natural process developed through millions of years of evolution. It can’t be wholly negative. Just like our bodies didn’t evolve to manufacture cholesterol to give us heart disease, inflammation isn’t there to give us degenerative diseases. So, Why Does Inflammation Happen? When pain, injury, or illness hit, the first responder is the acute

Soft Cinnamon Apples

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These soft cinnamon apples have just two ingredients and are ready in 30 minutes in a rice cooker. They turn a plethora of crispy fall apples into bite-size pieces that taste like apple pie filling! I am always on the hunt for: 1) Apple recipes in the fall when I have a plethora of them in my fridge 2) Recipes that baby Birch can eat that don’t require teeth You can’t exactly gum into a fresh, crunchy apple. But these soft cinnamon apples melt in your mouth! The Trick Is Using A Rice Cooker If you don’t have a rice cooker you can make these in the oven or even a crockpot. But the rice cooker is the perfect blend of hands off and quick. I learned this technique from Emily years ago and make these apples every fall! I have a Zojirushi rice cooker and love it. I am sure you could Instant Pot these too – but I am not sure of the exact cooking settings for that.  To Peel Or Not To Peel I don’t peel much when cooking – I actually like the texture of potato and apple skins. But