What ever happened to simply enjoying the pleasure of eating?

February 10th, 2008

Why have we become a nation obsessed with the idea that if we stick it in our mouths it must be either vitamin packed, nutritionally sound, or energy provoking. 

What happened to the sensual act of dining?  All five of our senses are involved in the art of dining.   Taste and scent the most obvious, but sight, touch and hearing are affected, as well.  When I hear popcorn popping in my microwave I can already taste the salty, buttery kernnals and eagerly grab a handful to taste.  The pleasure consuming me while the buttery flavor melts in my mouth. When I hear the sound of a nice juicy hamburger dripping grease on the glowing coals of my grill I prepare a fresh, hot roll with ketchup and anticipate the rich flavor that will soon satisfy my tastbuds. 

Usually dining is an experience we share with others.  Even if it is a quick cup of coffee with our loved ones before we leave the house in the morning. 

Think of what images are induced when you discuss various foods.  For example- popcorn for me, normally reminds me of the movies.  The grilling hamburger conjures up images of picnics, friends, family, volley ball, the fourth of July, and so on.

Champagne makes me think of elegantly dressed people either at a formal event, or at a wedding reception-the image of a celebration, shared. The last thing I would ask the host is “is this organic?” What do I care, it’s champagne and it is a celebration.

I feel like all the propaganda surrounding food has caused us to lose the enthusiasm for dining, reducing it to a scientific event done strickly for medicinal purposes. In the not too distant future we could all be taking little pills that will replace our entire food system as we know it. Salad-the little green pill -with added fiber, protein-the red pill (white if it is fish), desert-well, think of all our colors-you can have five to nine a day.

I am not suggesting that we live on a diet of (no offense to Hostess) Twinkies-I believe that food consumption should be done with some thought to the end result.  However, don’t you think that if we just eat logically we will eat nutritionally balanced diets anyway?

If I am inviting friends and/or family to share an event that includes a meal I would naturally think of offering a salad, a main dish and a dessert.  In additon to water, wine, soda or juice and, most likely, coffee and tea.  

Dinner with my family normally includes salad, meat or fish, and fresh fruit for dessert.  We enjoy the relationships we share, with our meal.  It is at the dinner table that we socialize and teach our children manners and the art of conversation. Our cultural behaviours are handed down generation to generation with this simple ritual.  

The diet industry is big business in America, and growing bigger everyday.  The Health food industry is a burgeoning market.  The vitamin industry is booming.  With Baby boomers getting older everyday and continually seeking the proverbial “fountain of youth” these markets are just beginning to tap into their ultimate potential. 

We are allowing these industries to sell us down the river with their claims of  making us “healthier”.   Look in your medicine cabinet.  Chances are you have either a multi-vitamin, vitamin C, B6, B12,E -a mineral supplument, and or a fiber pill.  Add up the cost of these items.  This is monthly cost. Do you feel any healthier? This week the claim is Vitamin C protects you from a certain type of cancer.  Next week they claim that same vitamin causes a different type of cancer. What next week?

I say eat a sound diet and all your nutritional needs will be met.  Don’t believe all the propaganda the “industry experts” are throwing at us.  They make money from their claims. Eat what your grandmothers put in front of you when you when to her house.  She knew what she was talking about.

For my part I will continue to look at food as a “dining experience”, and leave science to the scientists.

Sustainability-definition: According to Wikipedia….

January 27th, 2008

“Sustainability is a characteristic of a process or state that can be maintained at a certain level indefinitely.”

The dictionary definition: The act of sustaining. The condition of being sustained.The supporting of life or health; maintenance: Something, especially food, that sustains life or health. Means of livelihood.

sus·tained, sus·tain·ing, sus·tains : To keep in existence; maintain. To supply with necessities or nourishment; provide for. To support from below; keep from falling or sinking; prop.

“To keep in existence: Maintain”- To me, this is the best meaning of “Sustainability”.

Sustainability isn’t just about our food source, or our farming methods, it emcompases everything vital to the continuation of the planet earth and the life forms that exist on this glorious planet.

What we decide to do today, and how we decide to do it impacts what happens tomorrow and everyday after that. The ripple effect: Each choice  we make causes a “ripple effect” in our lives.  How we choose to live, or how we choose to act (or react) will impact the sorrows or joys of our future.

Sometimes when I read the headlines I am reminded of a poem I once read written by Robert H. Smith,  called The Clock of Life, it goes like this:

 The clock of life is wound but once,
And no man has the power
To tell just when the hands will stop,
At late or early hour.
To loose one’s wealth is sad indeed
To loose one’s health is more,
To loose one’s soul is such a loss
That no man can restore.

The present only is our own;
Live, love, toil with a will,
Place no faith in tomorrow, for
The hands may then be still. 

Although the poem is lovely, I think the sentiment it conveys is selfish. Even though I believe in living each day to its fullest, I also believe that you should leave something for tomorrow.  When the hands of time stop, for me,  I believe the work I have done, and the world I leave behind should be left a little better for my having been here. The present is, after all, the gift we will be leaving for our childrens future.

  eating-locallogo.jpg

WHOOOOHOOOO!!!

January 26th, 2008

Hi! I didn’t think we would ever get this back up and rolling. It has been a while.  Apparently wordpress got updated and I didn’t.  So I spent all morning trying to make a comeback & Viola! it is working.

Happy New Year to everyone.  We are in our greenhouse, busily planting seedlings, and our pansies are blooming.  I am (personally) already through with winter and ready for spring.

our cornpicker Look at that corn fly!

This year there is a lot being discussed about Organic, Natural, Sustainability, and over-all healthier eating habits. And, we are going to try to focus on different ways we can help each other achieve a better understanding of what these terms really mean.  Because they are not the same for everyone. 

I would like to hear what some of these terms mean to you.

In the meantime take a look at our IPM page over on our website:   http://www.botticellofarms.net/IPM%20Definition1.htm

We do practice what we preach.

HAPPY MOTHERS DAY!!!

May 13th, 2007

“My Mother kept a garden, a garden of the heart, she planted all the good things that gave my life it’s start. She turned me to the sunshine and encouraged me to dream, fostering and nurturing the seeds of self-esteem… And when the winds and rain came, she protected me enough–But not too much because she knew I’d need to stand strong and tough. Her constant good example always taught me right from wrong–Markers for my pathway that will last a lifetime long. I am my Mother’s garden. I am her legacy-And I hope today she feels the love reflected back from me.” Author Unknown  

Don’t forget to tell your mom how much she is loved today. Stop by the farm and enjoy the flowers. http://www.botticellofarms.net/mothersdayagain.htm

Pet Lovers keep an eye on your pets for symtoms of food poisoning…

March 25th, 2007

Unfortunately this is not an urban legend, nor a hoax. I know this article reprint is a little long, but it does give some helpful information regarding the affected pet foods-the scary thing to me is that nobody is mentioning the original source and I am wondering why my pet food company(Friskies)-as well as others, are not posting statements on their websites claiming their food is definately safe from contamination.  I am wondering if they are waiting for the other shoe to drop…I am afraid to feed my pets anything other than the food I regularly dine on-I wonder if they want blue cheese or Italian dressing…

 

March 24, 2007, 12:23AM
Pet owners want answers in rat poison-tainted food
No clues as to how it entered the recalled supply By MARK JOHNSON
Associated Press 


• Recalled foods : A complete list of the recalled products along with product codes, descriptions and production dates was posted online by Menu Foods and is available at menufoods.com/recall 
• Hot lines: The company designated two phone numbers pet owners could call for information: 866-463-6738 and 866-895-2708. 

ALBANY, N.Y. — Aminopterin has been used to induce abortions, treat cancer and kill rats. What it was doing in pet food is what owners of a rising number of sick or dead animals are demanding to know. The drug was identified Friday as the likely culprit in a poisoning scare that prompted the recall of 95 brands of “cuts and gravy” style dog and cat food. Scientists had no theories on how aminopterin got into the products of Menu Foods, which makes pet food for most of North America’s top retailers. 

Some pets that ate the food suffered kidney failure, and the company has confirmed the deaths of 15 cats and one dog. Menu Foods expanded its recall Friday to cover each of the tens of millions of cans and pouches produced under the affected brands. The original recall covered only pet food produced from Dec. 3 to March 6. 

“Before they put this stuff in the bags, there should be some kind of test,” said Jeff Kerner, whose Yorkshire terrier Pebbles died Thursday of kidney failure days after eating some of the food. Scientists at the New York State Animal Health Diagnostic Center at Cornell University and at the New York State Food Laboratory tested three cat food samples provided by the manufacturer and found aminopterin in two of them. 

Aminopterin is a cancer drug that once was used to induce abortions in the United States and is still used to kill rats in some countries, state Agriculture Commissioner Patrick Hooker said. Effects of aminopterin Aminopterin inhibits the growth of malignant cells and suppresses the immune system. In dogs and cats, the amount of aminopterin found — 40 parts per million — can cause kidney failure, according to Bruce Akey, director of Cornell’s diagnostic center. “It’s there in substantial amounts,” Akey said. 

Officials said there is no risk to pet owners from handling the food, but Donald Smith, dean of Cornell’s veterinary school, said he expected the number of pet deaths would increase. The federal government prohibits using aminopterin for killing rodents in the U.S. State officials would not speculate on how the poison got into the pet food, but said no criminal investigations had been launched. 

Stephen Sundlof, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s top veterinarian, said the agency hasn’t ruled out sabotage, but doesn’t have any leads — nor any theories how the drug could have contaminated the pet food. Focus on wheat gluten The FDA thinks the drug was used only in animal feed but has asked the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to watch for any uptick in human cases of poisoning. “This is very, very precautionary. We have no reason whatsoever to believe this chemical has entered the human food supply,” Sundlof told reporters. 

The FDA has said the investigation into the pet deaths was focused on wheat gluten in the food, and Sundlof said it remains the suspected source of the contamination. Paul Henderson, chief executive of Ontario, Canada-based Menu Foods, confirmed Friday that the wheat gluten was purchased from China. 

Menu Foods, already facing lawsuits, said Friday that it is testing all the ingredients that go into the food. “We have a lot of work to do, and we are eager to get back to it,” Henderson said. “This is a highly unusual substance.” 

He said the company does not think the food was tampered with because the recalled food came from two different plants, one in Kansas and one in New Jersey. Menu continues to produce food at the two plants. 

Compensation possible  When asked whether there would be compensation for medical bills for sick pets, Henderson said “to the extent that we identify that the cause of any expenses incurred are related to the food, Menu will take responsibility for that.”  

  

 

Oh Christmas Tree, Oh Christmas tree….

November 25th, 2006

They are here!  Gosh, did we get trees yesterday….Take a look:

http://www.botticellofarms.net/Christmas%20Trees%20are%20here.htm

 

WOW, Mid-November-where did October go?

November 11th, 2006

What a glorious fall this has been.  After such a rainy, cool summer this has been a welcome relief.  Time goes way too fast for me.  It is already time to think about the holidays.  I have been Christmas shopping for a few weeks already and am almost done.  I need to be before we begin making wreaths, garland, swags, logs and other Christmas items we offer at Botticello Farms. Once we get into the season there is no time for us to go shopping, and I wouldnt have it any other way.  We are looking forward to seeing all our friends again very soon.  We Re-open with all our Christmas items Monday November 21st.  In the meantime- my sister has decided to give a few classes on making your own holiday centerpieces- take a look at some of her creations -click the link below & it will take you there. Sign up for a class, or two, to get you in the Holiday Spirit.  

  http://www.botticellofarms.net/Bellas%20Classes.htm

Autumn leaves begin to blow, colored leaves fall fast and slow, twirling whirling all around, till at last they touch the ground…

September 24th, 2006

I do not know who was the author of this poem – but I love it.  It perfectly describes Autumn in the Northeast.

I love the fall.  Well actually, I am always sorry to see the Fall arrive because that means winter is right behind-but who can not simply love the fall in Connecticut.  The late season produce, apples, pears, cider, pumpkin and apple pie….the fall colors, Hardy mums and Mother Natures spectacular display. 

Yes, we need to do Fall chores, and clean up but being outside on a crisp, clear fall day is invigorating and brings back the memories of raking leaves & jumping into them with the wild, carefree abandon that only a child can have! Now as I perform the Fall cleanup chores I am dreaming of those coming winter months, when I will curl up with a good seed catalog and start planning my spring garden…..The cycle goes round, and round, and round 

Harvest home, harvest home!
We’ve plowed, we’ve sowed
We’ve reaped, we’ve mowed
And brought safe home
Every load.

Harvest home song…

see you at the farm: http://www.botticellofarms.net/newsletter%20fall.htm

Nine Eleven, Two Thousand and One….

September 9th, 2006

A photograph will forever remain in my mind of where I was and what I was doing when our great nation was attacked.  I remain forever changed, not by this act of cowardice, but by the heroic acts of our American brothers and sisters reacting to this tragedy.  United We Stand. We Will Never Forget.

Do you remember?

http://www.botticellofarms.net/sept11newsetter.htm

This was emailed to me today ….

September 2nd, 2006

THE WORLD SITUATION – A LETTER TO MY SONS

This was written by a retired attorney, to his sons, May 19, 2004.

Dear Tom, Kevin, Kirby and Ted,

As your father, I believe I owe it to you to share some thoughts on the present world situation. We have over the years discussed a lot of important things, like going to college, jobs and so forth. But this really takes precedence over any of those discussions. I hope this might give you a longer term perspective that fewer and fewer of my generation are left to speak to. To be sure you understand that this is not politically flavored, I will tell you that since Franklin D. Roosevelt, who led us through pre and WWII (1933 – 1945) up to and including our present President, I have without exception, supported our presidents on all matters of international conflict. This would include just naming a few in addition to President Roosevelt – WWII: President Truman – Korean War 1950; President Kennedy – Bay of Pigs (1961); President Kennedy – Vietnam (1961); eight presidents (5 Republican & 4 Democrat) during the cold war (1945 – 1991); President Clinton’s strikes on Bosnia (1995) and on Iraq (1998). So be sure you read this as completely non-political or otherwise you will miss the point.

Our country is now facing the most serious threat to its existence, as we know it, that we have faced in your lifetime and mine (which includes WWII). The deadly seriousness is greatly compounded by the fact that there are very few of us who think we can possibly lose this war and even fewer who realize what losing really means.

First, let’s examine a few basics:
1. When did the threat to us start? Many will say September 11th, 2001. The answer as far as the United States is concerned is 1979, 22 years prior to September 2001, with the following attacks on us: Iran Embassy Hostages, 1979; Beirut, Lebanon Embassy 1983; Beirut, Lebanon Marine Barracks 1983; Lockerbie, Scotland Pan-Am flight to New York 1988; First New York World Trade Center attack 1993; Dhahran, Saudi Arabia Khobar Towers Military complex 1996; Nairobi, Kenya US Embassy 1998; Dar es Salaam, Tanzania US Embassy 1998; Aden, Yemen USS Cole 2000; New York World Trade Center 2001; Pentagon 2001. (Note that during the period from 1981 to 2001 there were 7,581 terrorist attacks worldwide).

2. Why were we attacked? Envy of our position, our success, and our freedoms. The attacks happened during the administrations of Presidents Carter, Reagan, Bush 1, Clinton and Bush 2. We cannot fault either the Republicans or Democrats as there were no provocations by any of the presidents or their immediate predecessors, Presidents Ford or Carter.

4. Who were the attackers? In each case, the attacks on the US were carried out by Muslims.

5. What is the Muslim population of the World? 25%

6. Isn’t the Muslim Religion peaceful? Hopefully, but that is really not material. There is no doubt that the predominately Christian population of Germany was peaceful, but under the dictatorial leadership of Hitler (who was also Christian), that made no difference. You either went along with the administration or you were eliminated. There were 5 to 6 million Christians killed by the Nazis for political reasons (including 7,000 Polish priests). (http://www.nazis.testimony.co.uk/7-a.htm). Thus, almost the same number of Christians were killed by the Nazis, as the 6 million holocaust Jews who were killed by them, and we seldom heard of anything other than the Jewish atrocities. Although Hitler kept the world focused on the Jews, he had no hesitancy about killing anyone who got in his way of exterminating the Jews or of taking over the world – German, Christian or any others. Same with the Muslim terrorists. They focus the world on the US, but kill all in the way – their own people or the Spanish, French or anyone else.. [5] The point here is that just like the peaceful Germans were of no protection to anyone from the Nazis, no matter how many peaceful Muslims there may be, they are no protection for us from the terrorist Muslim leaders and what they are fanatically bent on doing – by their own pronouncements – killing all of us infidels. I don’t blame the peaceful Muslims. What would you do if the choice was shut up or die?

6. So who are we at war with? There is no way we can honestly respond that it is anyone other than the Muslim terrorists. Trying to be politically correct and avoid verbalizing this conclusion can well be fatal. There is no way to win if you don’t clearly recognize and articulate who you are fighting.

So with that background, now to the two major questions:

1. Can we lose this war? 2. What does losing really mean?

If we are to win, we must clearly answer these two pivotal questions.

We can definitely lose this war, and as anomalous as it may sound, the major reason we can lose is that so many of us simply do not fathom the answer to the second question – What does losing mean? It would appear that a great many of us think that losing the war means hanging our heads, bringing the troops home and going on about our business, like post Vietnam. This is as far from the truth as one can get. What losing really means is:

We would no longer be the premier country in the world. The attacks will not subside, but rather will steadily increase. Remember, they want us dead, not just quiet. If they had just wanted us quiet, they would not have produced an increasing series of attacks against us over the past 18 years. The plan was clearly to terrorist attack us until we were neutered and submissive to them.

We would of course have no future support from other nations for fear of reprisals and for the reason that they would see we are impotent and cannot help them.

They will pick off the other non-Muslim nations, one at a time. It will be increasingly easier for them. They already hold Spain hostage. It doesn’t matter whether it was right or wrong for Spain to withdraw its troops from Iraq. Spain did it because the Muslim terrorists bombed their train and told them to withdraw the troops. Anything else they want Spain to do, will be done. Spain is finished.

The next will probably be France. Our one hope on France is that they might see the light and realize that if we don’t win, they are finished too, in that they can’t resist the Muslim terrorists without us. However, it may already be too late for France. France is already 20% Muslim and fading fast. See the attached article on the French condition by Tom Segel.

If we lose the war, our production, income, exports and way of life will all vanish as we know it. After losing, who would trade or deal with us if they were threatened by the Muslims. If we can’t stop the Muslims, how could anyone else? The Muslims fully know what is riding on this war and therefore are completely committed to winning at any cost. We better know it too and be likewise committed to winning at any cost.

Why do I go on at such lengths about the results of losing? Simple. Until we recognize the costs of losing, we cannot unite and really put 100% of our thoughts and efforts into winning. And it is going to take that 100% effort to win.

So, how can we lose the war? Again, the answer is simple. We can lose the war by imploding. That is, defeating ourselves by refusing to recognize the enemy and their purpose and really digging in and lending full support to the war effort. If we are united, there is no way that we can lose. If we continue to be divided, there is no way that we can win.

Let me give you a few examples of how we simply don’t comprehend the life and death seriousness of this situation.

  • President Bush selects Norman Mineta as Secretary of Transportation. Although all of the terrorist attacks were committed by Muslim men between 17 and 40 years of age, Secretary Mineta refuses to allow profiling. Does that sound like we are taking this thing seriously? This is war. For the duration we are going to have to give up some of the civil rights we have become accustomed to. We had better be prepared to lose some of our civil rights temporarily or we will most certainly lose all of them permanently. And don’t worry that it is a slippery slope. We gave up plenty of civil rights during WWII and immediately restored them after the victory and in fact added many more since then. Do I blame President Bush or President Clinton before him? No, I blame us for blithely assuming we can maintain all of our Political Correctness and all of our civil rights during this conflict and have a clean, lawful, honorable war. None of those words apply to war. Get them out of your head.
  • Some have gone so far in their criticism of the war and/or the Administration that it almost seems they would literally like to see us lose. I hasten to add that this isn’t because they are disloyal. It is because they just don’t recognize what losing means. Nevertheless, that conduct gives the impression to the enemy that we are divided and weakening, it concerns our friends, and it does great damage to our cause.
  • Of more recent vintage, the uproar fueled by the politicians and media regarding the treatment of some prisoners of war perhaps exemplifies best what I am saying. We have recently had an issue involving the treatment of a few Muslim prisoners of war by a small group of our military police. These are the type prisoners who just a few months ago were throwing their own people off buildings, cutting off their hands, cutting out their tongues and otherwise murdering their own people just for disagreeing with Saddam Hussein. And just a few years ago these same type prisoners chemically killed 400,000 of their own people for the same reason. They are also the same type enemy fighters who recently were burning Americans and dragging their charred corpses through the streets of Iraq. And still more recently the same type enemy that was and is providing videos to all news sources internationally, of the beheading of an American prisoner they held. Compare this with some of our press and politicians who for several days have thought and talked about nothing else but the “humiliating” of some Muslim prisoners – not burning them, not dragging their charred corpses through the streets, not beheading them, but “humiliating” them. Can this be for real? The politicians and pundits have even talked of impeachment of the Secretary of Defense. If this doesn’t show the complete lack of comprehension and understanding of the seriousness of the enemy we are fighting, the life and death struggle we are in and the disastrous results of losing this war, nothing can. To bring our country to a virtual political standstill over this prisoner issue makes us look like Nero playing his fiddle as Rome burned – totally oblivious to what is going on in the real world. Neither we, nor any other country, can survive this internal strife. Again I say, this does not mean that some of our politicians or media people are disloyal. It simply means that they absolutely oblivious to the magnitude of the situation we are in and into which the Muslim terrorists have been pushing us for many years. Remember, the Muslim terrorists stated goal is to kill all infidels. That translates into all non-Muslims – not just in the United States, but throughout the world. We are the last bastion of defense.
  • We have been criticized for many years as being ‘arrogant’. That charge is valid in at least one respect. We are arrogant in that we believe that we are so good, powerful and smart, that we can win the hearts and minds of all those who attack us, and that with both hands tied behind our back, we can defeat anything bad in the world. We can’t. If we don’t recognize this, our nation as we know it will not survive, and no other free country in the World will survive if we are defeated. And finally, name any Muslim countries throughout the world that allow freedom of speech, freedom of thought, freedom of religion, freedom of the Press, equal rights for anyone – let alone everyone, equal status or any status for women, or that have been productive in one single way that contributes to the good of the World.

This has been a long way of saying that we must be united on this war or we will be equated in the history books to the self-inflicted fall of the Roman Empire. If, that is, the Muslim leaders will allow history books to be written or read.

If we don’t win this war right now, keep a close eye on how the Muslims take over France in the next 5 years or less. They will continue to increase the Muslim population of France and continue to encroach little by little on the established French traditions. The French will be fighting among themselves over what should or should not be done, which will continue to weaken them and keep them from any united resolve. Doesn’t that sound eerily familiar?

Democracies don’t have their freedoms taken away from them by some external military force. Instead, they give their freedoms away, politically correct piece by politically correct piece. And they are giving those freedoms away to those who have shown, worldwide, that they abhor freedom and will not apply it to you or even to themselves, once they are in power. They have universally shown that when they have taken over, they then start brutally killing each other over who will be the few who control the masses. Will we ever stop hearing from the politically correct, about the “peaceful Muslims”?

I close on a hopeful note, by repeating what I said above. If we are united, there is no way that we can lose. I believe that after the election, the factions in our country will begin to focus on the critical situation we are in and will unite to save our country. It is your future we are talking about. Do whatever you can to preserve it.

Love,

Dad

 I dont know what to think about this-except that I do love my freedom, and also that only: United (do)We Stand.

 

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