Editorial
Volume 17 Issue 6 — March/April 2012
by Melva Armstrong

It is nearly four months of living on an acreage now and I am thoroughly enjoying it. I love being so close with the natural world—the birds, the trees, the land, and the big beautiful sky. I get to watch the most amazing sunsets and sunrises, which makes it understandable why the “Land of Living Skies” motto is on our vehicle license plates.

When I’m not busy with WHOLifE, I am outside as much as possible, splitting wood, helping feed beet pulp and hay to the horses, and walking up and down the tree-lined, hilly road beside the property with three dogs excitedly running along with me, finding delight in the many new scents they discover each day.

Our entire province has been blessed with mild winter weather thus far, and I am trusting it will stay that way until spring arrives. I’m keeping my fingers crossed that it holds, for it makes going outdoors much more fun. I’m sure the winter sports enthusiasts are having a fabulous season partaking in their favourite activities. And good on them, too! I love cross-country skiing and snowshoeing, but I haven’t done them for a few years, and hope to get back into doing them next year. It has taken a while to get settled so some things have been put on hold for now. There is always so much in a day to do and it seems like so little time. The world is continuing to speed up and we are all finding it a challenge to get everything done that we want to, so I think it is a matter of accepting that this is how things are and being content with what we can get done.

It has been another delightful issue to put together and I trust you will enjoy the many interesting articles and advertisers that grace these pages. I am a big fan of the slow food movement and over the years I have geared my life to buying healthy, organic, locally-grown (where possible) food, preparing it carefully and with love, and being fully present as I eat it slowly and mindfully. Our world seems to have gotten away from the tradition of eating together and preparing home-made meals from scratch, and the result seems to be that many of us are disconnected from our relationship with food. This is a subject that Sandra Brandt has addressed in her article Transformation Through Food (p. 12). It is not just about eating slowly, it is about the entire approach to how we grow, purchase, prepare, serve, and eat our food. It is about treating food as a precious commodity, which it is. It’s about being in touch with food through our five senses and not just experienced as something we wolf down our throats so we can hurry on to our next event or appointment. Sandra has provided some excellent sources from which to draw information and ideas about how to start or perhaps regain your relationship with food—the most important aspect to human survival, along with clean water and air.

We also have several other articles that address the issue of food. From her new book called The Zero Mile Diet Cookbook, Carolyn Herriot has contributed an excerpt called The Power of Fermentation (p. 16). In it she says, “Modern researchers are just beginning to understand the calculable health benefits that fermented foods convey to human immunity, intestinal health, and general well being. Intestinal flora is thought to impact a wide array of human health issues, and there is speculation that many modern diseases are in part caused by abandoning the ancient practice of fermentation.” From probiotic foods to comfort foods, Treena Wynes’s article asks, Are Your Comfort Foods Meeting Your Needs? (p. 14), in which she says, “Foods are strongly linked to our emotions and moods, therefore our day’s events can drive our eating habits.” She does provide some good news that there are many healthy, emotionally-soothing, and mood-enhancing comfort foods.

I was impressed with the research and information presented in Dr. Kate Rhéaume-Bleue’s new book, Vitamin K2 and the Calcium Paradox, so I decided to provide an excerpt which is called The Lack of Vitamin K2 in Our Diet: What Went Wrong (p. 24). She explains through historical evidence, that we used to get vitamin K2 from our food but due to modern agricultural practices it is now lacking.

Be sure to read all the many other treasures in this issue.

May the return of the light and spring make your heart sing and your soul dance with joy! Happy spring equinox! I love you all!

Namaste
(The Spirit in me honours the Spirit in you)