Local Food For Your Health And World Peace

Toward the end of my post Yin Yang For Balanced Health, I mentioned the benefits of eating local foods. You are one with your environment. Asians (and perhaps other indigenous people) knew this for centuries, and I am glad some Americans are taking notice, too.  (Photo credit)

The produce that grows well in your climate is good for you. This is beyond the current nutritional science. Part of the reason is the yin yang balance, and I am sure there are more reasons we don’t know yet.

But it gets better. Local food is not only good for your health but good for the health of Mother Earth by reducing carbon footprints. Further, it can even help world peace.

I seldom talk about politics, but in this article, I am going there. But first, let me explain with a story. . .

The story of three villages

In the beginning, all villages were growing their own sustenance. Produce from faraway lands were considered occasional treats. Life was slow and stable.

Then, Village A, which had the largest land expanse, decided to increase its productivity by modernizing its agriculture. They started to use large machinery, rich chemical fertilizer, insecticides, pesticides, herbicides, and they developed more business-efficient seeds with hybrid and genetic engineering.

Before, most villagers were farmers, but now Village A didn’t need so many farmers. So many Village A people became factory workers, engineers, and business people. There were tons of foods and people got fat and . . . greedy.

Even with overeating, Village A couldn’t consume all the foods it was producing. (Now do you see things are getting rather ridiculous? Why do they produce more foods than they need? But read on. . .)

Village A approached other villages and said, “Hey, you don’t need to produce your own foods. You don’t have to do that hard labor. We will sell you all the foods you need and that will cost you less.”

Village B bought this idea. They were good at technical thinking, so they decided to manufacture the parts Village A needed to make their large machinery. This way, Village B could earn the money to buy foods from Village A. Part of Village B was also very scenic, so they made nice resort where Village A people could come and have fun.

Village B thought this was a smart move in the globalized economy.

Village C, on the other hand, refused Village A’s offer. They decided to keep their way of living.

For a while, things looked really good for Village B. They became as rich as Village A. Village A and B were close friends.

How they lost their lives

But one day, Village A and B had an argument. Like, everyone does from time to time.

Village B didn’t like what Village A was doing and said they don’t want to join Village A’s new movement.

Village A said, “Fine. I don’t care. I just stop selling the foods to you.”

“What?” Village B people thought. “Then what do we eat?”

Village B had turned all their farmland to manufacturing sites and resorts. They were not making foods locally any more. To turn the manufacturing sites back to farmland would take years. People would starve in the meantime.

And so Village B had to die. Either physically by starvation or spiritually by selling off their freedom.

What happened to Village C? Village C didn’t like Village A’s new movement, either, so they, too, said no. The difference was Village C could feed itself. It wasn’t the fancy foods, but Village C was independent and had freedom.

Local food as the foundation of world peace

Happiness is the prereq of true peace. Happy people don’t fight. And independence and freedom are the critical components of true happiness. Peace without freedom is not real peace but forced silence.

To actualize world peace, we want to be more self dependent on the local level. We want to reduce our need to rely on others for our basic sustenance and also our need to control and manipulate others.

I think this new local food movement is good for Village A, too. Do you want other people to be honest and truly friendly with you or do you want them to be obedient because they are afraid of your controlling power?

Sometimes, people attack back with desperation when they are too controlled. Some people in Village B may even suicide attack Village A . . So, because peace is good for everyone, this new local food movement can help Village A, too.

Local food is about independence and freedom

So what is Village A? Well. . . it could be the big agribusiness or the country with that kind of business. (The fact that the world’s biggest Village A country’s name actually starts with A is only a coincidence.)

Big agribusiness controls food supply and steals people’s independence and freedom. Because we are dependent on foods and therefore on those who provide foods. It’s the same logic that financially-dependent people are not truly free.

I’ve been living in the Northwest for the last two and a half years, and I think people here intuitively know this. They are super big on local foods. They try not to rely on the supply system on the east of the Rockies.

The ultimate local foods

So, wherever you may be on Mother Earth, choose local foods when you shop. You can find your area’s info at Local Harvest.

And grow your own foods even on a small scale. Homegrown is the ultimate local foods.

You don’t even need a sunny garden to grow your foods. If you are totally out of space, grow some sprouts. Seeds don’t need the sunlight to sprout (in fact, they are best kept in the dark). And despite the thin tiny look, they are big on nutrition. They are full of the energy of the seeds coming to life.

If you have a bit of sunny spots, you can grow microgreens and other greens in containers. Greens are the easiest to grow even in partial sun. You can do this even in winter as long as you get some sun and if you choose cold-tolerant seeds such as kale and endive.

Of course, if you have more space, you can grow various fruits and vegetables. There are many good books, blogs, and your local garden center can educate you, too.

In many urban areas, there are also small gardens you can rent. Some people are even negotiating the cities to let them “green” unused city blocks, which help the area clean and clear of crimes, trash, etc. So gardening has various benefits!

I love growing foods

During the last winter, I did poorly not because of coldness but because of the too many rainy days (and therefore lack of sun) here. This fall to winter, I might buy a grow light. That would help me grow some microgreens indoors.

This summer, I am growing a cherry tomato, vitamin-greens (a speciality green), purslanes, shiso (Japanese herb — like basil), salad burnet, and spearmint. And some garlics in the tomato container — they grow fast and repel some unwanted bugs. I also sprout lentils, broccoli, buckwheat, and sunflower. (The sunflowers will be more like shoots.)

And I can tell you, the few minutes I spend each day caring for these plants are so nurturing to myself. My plants teach me so much about life and love.

Are you growing any foods? What do you think about local foods, food politics, and freedom?

(Here are my sprouts, buckwheat and broccoli, getting the final touch of light to green up.)

Online Gratitude Journal July 2009 Edition #31

Welcome to my monthly review with gratitude. I’m preparing this post in a cafe to avoid the heat of 103 degrees F (39.5 degrees C). Because the climate of this area (Oregon, USA) is usually very mild, few rental properties have air conditioners. I have a portable air in my office room — lucky me! Still, it gets boring to be stuck in one room all day, so now I’m in a very cold cafe with my macbook. By the time this post goes out, it’s supposed to cool down. . . (Photo by Mr. Greenjeans)

When I was a little kid, there were no air conditioners at my home nor at school. Modern appliances have their place in life. I’m so grateful.

July in Review

I enjoyed writing my Declaration of Independence spontaneously on the morning of 4th. Most of my posts are long well-planned ones, so it was a fun change of the pace. I was thrilled to receive a few comments with their own Declarations. (Thank you!) Perhaps I’ll do this again next year as a meme.

My post about vegetarianism got quite a few intriguing comments. (Thank you again!) Eating is an every-day everyone’s business, so the post was easier to relate to for many people, I guess. Maybe I want to write more of these posts. I actually love talking about foods

I’m not very sure how my starseeds series are received . . . it’s a brand-new concept for many. . .

Fun

I made a day trip to Eugene last weekend. Eugene is about 100 miles south of Portland. It’s a small college town at the south end of Willamette Valley.

The background: Well, the housing arrangement is one of the major things I’ve been working on in my personal life. I want to live in a townhouse because that would be more quiet than apartments. But, in this area in and around Portland, there seem to be very few two bedroom townhouses in a good area, away from the railroads and freeways. (It was so easy to find one back in Ohio . . .)

So I thought I might look into other cities around. I work from home, so I can be anywhere as long as I have phone and internet connection.

First I went to the natural foods grocery store, Sundance and Market of Choice. They were great. Sundance is just a small store but they carried some interesting items that I never saw at Whole Foods. (I LOVED the raw blueberry cheesecake!)

I always check the grocery stores and markets when I visit a new town. It’s the fastest way to get the feel of the place and the people. I see that, even though Eugene is a small town, it’s big on natural organic foods and personal care. I like that ^_^ Also people were very friendly. The guys at Sundance took time telling me about the town.

Challenges

The housing situation in Eugene, however, didn’t look any better than Portland area. Plus I think I might miss the city attractions. . . I don’t go to downtown Portland so often, but I do enjoy it occasionally. So my housing arrangement issue remains to be in the air. . .

I received some encouragements about this through Twitter and Facebook. I’m grateful for my friends’ support.

Where in the blogosphere Akemi has bee

I found Location Independent — Live & Work Anywhere You Choose. Oh, that is me, right? Lea and Jonathan Woodward have been blogging since February 2007 and now have many contributing writers, so their archive is huge.

As I read their articles, I see that their style of location independent life is a bit different from mine. They are more nomadic while I’m a migrant. I don’t travel much, but I relocate to new areas to live. I was born in Japan, lived in Sydney, Australia (1 year), Columbus, Ohio (10 years), Nashville, Tennessee (3 years), and Portland, Oregon (almost 2 years now). The last three are all in the US, but there is a Dixon-Mason Line between Ohio and Tennessee, and across the Rockies is quite another world, too.

I guess many of you dream of location independent lifestyle — whether it’s the ongoing world traveler style or my kind of big scale migration style. So check it out — here is a post in which Lea talks why this is a good time to plan and implement the lifestyle of your dream because of the economy, along with the list of her own aspirations.

A year ago at Yes to Me

Blog years are like dog years. As I look at my archive, I’m amazed to find that it was only a year ago when Hunter Nuttall and I did our first collaboration. Since then, he interviewed me (and not just once but twice!) and I’ve learned so much from his blog, which is so eclectic and always funny.

And it was only a year ago when I interviewed James Chartland of Men with Pens? I remember I was nervous asking for the opportunity to interview the Pen Men because, well, they were the big fat successful bloggers and I was just a beginner. He was, and always has been, very courteous. I guess that is one of the traits of successful people, and I’m so grateful. (Since then, they have grown to a quartet of three men and a lady. . . again, change and growth come at accelerated pace on the internet, I think.)

My gratitude goes to my fellow bloggers who have contributed to this blog, and to my readers.

Word of month

From earthmother’s comment for this post:

“For it is in giving that we receive.” — St. Francis

And also about giving, from Kelly’s comment on this post:

“(You) must be free in order to truly give. if you’re giving from any part of yourself that is NOT free, it is not truly giving. you’re giving from the non-free (limited, egoic) part of yourself, and you’ll generate more suffering at worst (even if it appeaers to be a self-less act) and you will certainly be generating karma of some kind at best.”

Thank you for your readership and comments, as always ^_^ Stay cool.

Clarifying The Message Of Yes to Me

Since I started this blog in February 2008, I’ve written over 150 posts about various things in life and work. In 2008, I wrote mainly about my experience as a new entrepreneur and what it means to be a spiritual entrepreneur. (Photo Credit)

After I experienced Ascension soul shift myself in January 2009, I’ve written a lot about Ascension. I also share my expertise as Akashic Record Reading specialist.

For me, it has been one clear path, but I understand it may have been confusing to some readers. Is this blog about spiritual entrepreneurship? Or spirituality in general? Or maybe about Akashic Records and Ascension?

So here is my clarification.

Yes to Me is all about liberating ourselves from the soul level up in all aspects of our lives.

My search for true freedom

Freedom has been the critical theme in my life. In 1995, I left my home country Japan and came to the US by myself. Why? I can give you the reason at various levels. “To attend college and get a degree.” is the practical, physical level answer. “To challenge myself and rebuild my life from scratch.” is my mental level answer.

But there was something more fundamental. I had a good comfortable life back in Japan. Why the heck did I have to leave all that and start over in my thirties? “To explore freedom.” is my spiritual level answer. (And, no, I don’t mean drinking and drugging by the word “freedom”. Nor do I mean simply being able to do something.)

Many of us live in the confines of fear, limiting thoughts, and self-sabotaging “programs”. My life has been about uncovering the lies of each confine that I previously thought had kept me in. And yes, placing myself in a completely new country has helped me do this.

Quitting my corporate job in October 2007 and starting my business was another way to explore freedom. I don’t think we need to be an entrepreneur to be free, but it’s a damn good way to be empowered and liberated.

Akashic Records are great resource for freedom

I share my knowledge of Akashic Records in this blog because they are great resources that can help us be free from the various energetic issues. I’m very happy and proud to offer this service.

Ascension, in my understanding, is a great opportunity to leap in this spiritual freedom. It may even mean a new level of physical freedom if we are to develop lightbodies.

Earlier this year, I had to make yet another decision in my quest for true freedom and authenticity. I decided to part way from my former teacher. I don’t want to go into details about this, but the bottom line is that I choose to explore Akashic Records (and my spirituality) beyond what is already known. I’m grateful for what I have learned, but I can’t let anyone be less than what I can be.

Your freedom matters

Now about YOU. You are a critical part of this world. Your freedom to be yourself, and to express your authentic self, matters. So I’d like you to be free.

Allow yourself to be free. Dare to be free.

When you are free, you are naturally giving the best quality of yourself freely to the world, and this is the best service you can do to the humanity. Charities and volunteer works are great, but there is nothing like YOU bringing in your beautiful true self to the world every day all day.

Ultimately this leads to the creation of the New World. The New World where we are all free to express our authentic selves and at the same time united in Love. It’s a wonderful world. I’ve written over 13,000 words in the series of posts about creating the New World, so I’m not going to repeat it here, but when you have the time, please read them. It’s the most critical posts on this blog. Here is a link to the first of the series, about creating the New World based on Love.

Your personal freedom matters in this creation. It’s not just about you because we are all interconnected.

Saying “Yes to Me”
With this in mind, I just updated my blurb in the sidebar. Again the message I want to convey throughout this Yes to Me blog is this:

Your freedom to be yourself matters.

After all, this is why you came to life. You didn’t come to this world to bend yourself backwards, to fit in to the existing status quo, nor to suppress your inner light. You are a beautiful soul and you came to express yourself.

Do you like it? I will update the About page, too, soon.

I’ll keep writing about Akashic Records, starseeds, various energetic issues that run negative “programs”, and so on. I’ll also keep writing about freedom from paycheck mentality, conditionality in loving relationships, fear of death, and so on.

Further, I’m thinking of putting together an eBook, “Lightworker’s Guide to Self-Employment” which will be a free download. I think many of us will be self-employed in the New World, so better to start sooner than late. Do you like the title?

Oh, in case you are wondering: This blog is NOT about selling my Akashic Record Reading service. I talk about Akashic Records because they are great resources, but you don’t need to buy anything. I want this Yes to Me blog to be a big community where we inspire each other in our journey to true freedom.

What do you think about the new clarification of this blog’s message? Are there any areas of life I haven’t covered that needs to be written about? Please let me know by comments. Thank you.

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