Confront the Fear

Aversion and avoidance are a big part of human behavior. When something discomfits us we typically go out of our way to steer clear of it. Soon enough such a response turns into habit.

But confronting those things we fear or dislike is the only way to demystify, conquer, and ultimately understand them.

Diet is no different. We are told that such things as saturated fat and cholesterol are to be avoided, lest they kill us. There is some truth to that. Saturated fats from factory-farmed animals are not good for you. Oxidized cholesterol scars the arteries.

On the other hand, saturated fats from pastured animals are essential to good nutrition just as cholesterol is key to proper metabolism.

When we look squarely at those things we'd rather avoid we gain understanding. When understanding is the goal strength is the outcome. We diminish fear and ignorance.

March - Back to Basics - Part Two

Last Friday's earthquake and tsunami in Japan put a lot of things in perspective, most notably the fragility of life and the power of nature.

The latter returned parts of the country, which has the third largest economy in the world, to a state equal to where it was at the end of World War II.

One hallmark of the modern day is our separation from nature, which in certain instances has become extreme. It's like the rift that builds along a fault line until the tension becomes so great that things must shift violently back towards equilibrium.

This is now happening all over the world. In the Mideast its the separation between authority and the basic human yearning for freedom. In the United States and Europe its the yawning gap between crushing debt and the imperative of fiscal sanity.

You see it, too, in our food system, which produces a lot of cheap food and ships it thousands of miles to cavernous supermarkets that stay open round the clock. And what is the outcome? An increasingly unhealthy population and national expenditures on healthcare that now total 17.5% of GDP.

Something has to give here. In fact, it already is. Our sick population and our woeful finances are evidence of the building tension.

A violent yet healthy correction from this sorry state of affairs is inevitable. It will realign us with nature and will take the form of more local farms producing more healthy local foods for larger, and healthier, local populations.

March - Back to Basics

March is one of those edge months, which makes it a challenge. Last night it rained two inches on top of three feet of existing snow.

This morning my wife and I were out in the slop, trying to channel the water away from the house and down the hill. We both got soaked, and we both agreed it was a lot of fun.

As a homeowner of a number of houses over the years, I have come to realize that the bulk of money and effort invested in a house goes into those things you don't always see: drainage, roofs, foundation work, and the like.

It would have been nice to have spent more of our funds on those things you can see - and show off. But this was not to be.

We've had to tend to the basics. Soggy March reminds us of that. It's a grounding process, a refocusing on the fundamentals.

It's not unlike nutrition. Renewing one's focus on the diet, on the whole foods that really shore up and sustain the body, is, like moving water in March, worth the effort.