Artisana’s Raw Food Delights September 30, 2007

I’ve had an amazing year in raw foods and it’s mainly due to my introduction the wonderful world of Artisanas. Artisanas products are so rare and so full of manna, it’s unbelievable they aren’t in every supermarket. My first experience with Artisanas was with the Coconut Butter. This stuff remains my favorite of all their products and for good reason. Artisana’s Coconut Butter is like coconut cream heavan. With this butter you get the full coconut experience since nothing is added or taken out. It is truly a whole food and one that the average vegan/raw food enthusiast should never be with out. And the best part about it all is that it has all of the nutrients in tact thanks to being a raw food product, so you get plenty of protein, healthy fat, and vitamins in every serving.

This is such a versatile product. You can eat it melted which is automatic after 80 degrees or in a congealed state, that kind of reminds me of white chocolate. I love to pour the liquid Artisana’s Coconut Butter on

bananas and papaya,

throw on some chopped walnuts or hemp seeds and

maybe a dab of agave nectar for a simple but stunningly delicious treat.

We also make a delicious hot cocoa with the

Coconut Butter,

putting it in Yerba Mate,

with raw cacao powder and

agave nectar to taste

You can add the Coconut Butter in the end so that it melts in the water and doesn’t lose it’s enzymes in the heating process

Artisana’s has a ton of products outside of the butter. There’s Goji Bliss, Cacao Bliss, Delicious Raw Tahini dressing, among other nut butters and treats.
Check out David Wolfe’s company to get your hands on these products. Sunfood Nutrition�

Cow Dung and It’s Many Wonderful Properties September 27, 2007

So I just saw this stunning movie on Peter Proctor, present day pioneer of Biodynamic Farming Methods and the work he tirelessly performs worldwide but presently with a focus on Mama India. The movie is called How to Save the World:One Man, One Cow, One Planet and is highly recommended. I’d heard of Biodynamic Farming prior to seeing the film but never realized what an integration of metaphysics and spirituality it involved. The most phenomenal aspect of this method of restoration of the earth’s depleted soils is that it is based upon the use of the sacred cow dung, believed to have curative and spiritual powers throughout India and other parts of the planet. With cow dung, a compost is created that when worked into soil in a particular ritualistic way, creates certain energies that serve in healing the soil undergoing the process. It’s interesting to observe New Zealand farmer, Peter Proctor teaching the people of India a process for healing their highly denatured soil that appeals to their cultural practice of revering and respecting the power of the cow. And biodynamic farming isn’t the only practice that purports powerful healing coming from the dung of the cow. Google Videos aren’t embedding but you can check the trailer out on there.For More Info on this.

I initially got turned on to the power of cow dung by some people in Atlanta Georgia that were heavily involved in the practice of Agnihotra. Agnihotra is a Vedic yajna and involves the burning of cow dung and ghee butter in an inverted copper pyramid at dusk and dawn precisely, while chanting Vedic mantras. Properly performed, this ritual according to the Vedic tradition, brings about enormous healing and purification of the environment. The Agnihotra is a powerful yajna that in my experience brings about a deep sense of peace. This 5 minute process feels like coming out of an hour of meditation. It’s a grounding practices and assists in uncovering the real Self, hidden underneath all of the mental chatter. The fact that the dung of the cow is such an important part of this process is really significant given the way this culture brutalizes and tortures these sacred creatures. Yet the manure of this animal can bring about so much good upon the planet. Interesting…

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Becoming Whole with Blue Green Algae-the E3AFA Solution September 26, 2007

I recently got turned on to E3AFA blue green algae in capsule form here on the Big Island where I live. One of the suppliers was successful enough to get the local mainstream grocery store to carry it, a pretty impressive task, and it seems to be flying off the shelves.

I started taking this algae after a former roommate of mind unknowingly left her big bottle of it behind. I was stoked to find it because I have a natural affinity blue green algae of all sorts. Spirulina has been a mainstay for me for many years and I use it to heal all types of conditions of imbalance, usually due too much acidic food in the diet in my case. Algae is just so alkaline and grounding while providing the body with an endless store of energy. All this said, E3AFA has definitely proved itself to be a powerful algae healer.

E3AFA is a raw food that is rich in just about every mineral, protein, and amino acid you can think of. It’s one of the best sources of chlorophyll as well. Due to it’s harvesting in the deep center of Klamath lake, it is untouched by industrial pollutants and great thought is put into conditions during harvesting to ensure the optimum product for consumers. I could go on and on but basically, everyone should try the stuff at least once. Take it and feel it electrify the body, easily assimilating and infusing the cells with much needed nutrition.
You can get it here:

Earthen Buildiing with that good ole Georgia Red Clay September 24, 2007

From 2004-2006 we had the chance to be a part of a group that focused on introducing urban communities to alternative building methods in the Atlanta area. The purpose of the group was to train locals, particularly youth in mud brick building using the abundant red clay in their surrounding environment. The idea was that in many indigenous cultures, communities and villages would come together to help all the members to create living structures for themselves and their families. It was a communal effort based on fun,music and dance,in celebration of their own self-sufficiency and relationships. The hope is as times change, people will find ways to tap back into that communal spirit and create villages for themselves with the materials given to them directly by Mother Nature.

We would bring live musicians out to jam while the children and adults would dance around in the clay softening it up for process of creating red clay bricks or for making parts of a structure by packing the clay and shaping it. The community would be involved in all aspects of the process of prepping for the creation of a structure. Many of the structures we created were put up in privately donated spaces. They consisted of things like community benches in parks, outdoor meeting spaces and community ampitheaters.

The most exciting thing about this method was that the communities we worked with really looked forward to their opportunities to get down and dirty in the red mud, and create something significant for the community in the process. Books on Cobbing

Acai, (Ah sy eee) Brazilian Rainforest Superfood from Ceu September 24, 2007

Yummy Yum….Just finishing up a bowl of one of the most exquisite treats offered to us by nature. Acai, pronounced (A sy eee) is one of the most powerful antioxidants on the planet. You can do so much with these delicious berries hailing from the Rainforest of the mighty country of Brazil. This food is full of omega fats as well, a much needed, and often overlooked part of the human diet. Thanks to companies like Sambazon, we here in North America can access the pulp of this beautiful fruit with guarana and other natural flavorings. Taking this stuff makes you feel like you can climb a mountain, run 3 miles and go to the gym to lift, and then some…. It’s just amazing for stamina and mental clarity.

When I lived in Northeast Brazil we used to eat Acai for breakfast everyday to get it started right. One recipe that makes for a delicious treat and healthy start is:

2 packs of Sambazon Acai or fresh berries that you process ( available here in Hawaii I know)

A large papaya

Some juice base like coconut water, guava or any you prefer

Some bananas

Some berries (any you like)

Hemp Granola

Blend the ingredients together. It should be a little thicker than a smoothie and is actually eaten with a spoon. Then sprinkle some delicious hemp granola and banana slices on top and ENJOY!

Buy organic Acai from Sambazon.

Hawaiian Paradise Eco Community Living September 23, 2007

Peace to all of you from the beautiful Big Island of Hawaii. Bienvinidos, Welcome!!! With this blog we want to focus on issues surrounding sustainability and the building of alternative and ecologically based communities. This is a space to build on ways to increase our passion and knowledge for living more naturally and harmoniously with our beautiful mother Earth. New eco-friendly inventions, methods of organic gardening, alternative building techniques, biodynamic farming, eco village formation in the US and abroad, wwoofing and other interesting topics in sustainability will be dealt with here…

Over the last few years, I’ve been gaining increased interest in ways to live closer to nature and outside of the mainstream urbanized mindset. I find myself dipping in and out of cities, floating between bricks and mortar to occasional respites in pristine locales across the globe. The dream is simple though: Find a way to live in communities that are based on loving, living and healing the planet while still benefiting from all her abundance.

On Kauai my 2 year old and I got the chance to experience staying on different farms and living off grid. We stayed on land with transient hippy types interested in living communally in gorgeous natural environments. We lived on 5 acres of pristine, lush land with almost every tropical fruit tree you could imagine, sacred plant vines, veggie gardens and plenty of space to set up camp. The property was encircled by an astonishing, thick keiki bamboo forest with a cool, fresh water creek perfect for summer after noon dips. It was while living in this community that we became first exposed to what it means to live in an eco-village type of setting.

Everyone lived in their own tents, natural built structures or even under tarps in throughout the land and within the bamboo forest. Unlike a lot of work exchange situations you find on the Hawaiian islands and abroad, we lived without rigid rules for our stay there. Everyone just kind of did what they did to maintain the gardens,trees and the common spaces. There were no laid out ‘hours’ of work that had to be fulfilled. And because of this everyone did what they were inspired to do to insure that the land continued to flourish, without following the route of a lot of eco communities and becoming cultish.We were all able to maintain our autonomy while still coming together harmoniously with other like minds in service of the land of the beautiful Island of Kauai, Mama Earth, and ourselves. It was a model for community living that worked. Though it was just a small slice in time in which we lived this way, before the owner came back from the mainland and cleared the place, it still gave me inspiration for the future of living in community.