by Roxanne -

The Empire of Tea

Summer is often about warm afternoons on the patio or deck with good book; lazy days of reading. Here’s a book suggestion. My friend J gave me a truly interesting little book entitled, The Empire of Tea: The Remarkable History of the Plant that Took Over the World, by Alan MacFarlane and his mother, Iris MacFarlane.

Both authors are British and have had their lives caught up in the tea gardens (plantations) of Assam. Iris shares a particularly poignant and personal memoir of her experience living on an Assamese tea plantation in the 1950’s and 60’s. She shares her memories through the eyes of privilege — but now wisened to realize how privilege blinded her to the harsh realities around her. Thus the story begins.

From here Alan MacFarlane enlightens us on the history of tea drinking and its impact on both Western and Eastern civilizations. The impact of this one drink has been profound indeed. From allowing a burgeoning population to escape deadly epidemics in the 1700s because tea required boiled or sterilized water, to the elegant and spiritual tea cermonies that were created in Japan, tea helped to shape cultures and dynasties.

While the authors note the slave-like conditions of the workers who harvest and process tea, they fail to note that these conditions continue to exist today, not only in Assam but now elsewhere in the world – all so that we can have the tea we crave and have it at an inhumane cost. Further, international law requires that poor countries sell their unprocessed tea cheaply to industrialized countries. This means they must then repurchase their own tea now processed and packaged and marked up hundreds of times over. They are not allowed the profits from their own product. This is the system of injustice that is designed and enforced for tea, but also for coffee and most commodities. This is how poor countries are made poor and kept poor by rich countries.

Its not clear if the authors are simply not aware of this, or perhaps their own privilege prevents them from plainly stating the slavery that is inherent in our consumption of this beverage.

Nevertheless, the book is well written and engaging. Once you have read it, you will never sip a cup of tea the same way again.

You may also like The Particular Sadness of Lemon Cake and A Fine Balance.

 

 

by Roxanne -

Our Deepest Fear

Photo R. Meshar

This was recited last Sunday to close the homily and it’s a good reminder – especially for women in our culture who are given an opposite message – to always serve, to stay in the background, to be nice and quiet.

It’s “Our Deepest Fear” by Marianne Williamson, from her book A Return To Love: Reflections on the Principles of A Course in Miracles.

“Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate.

Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure.

It is our light, not our darkness that most frightens us.

We ask ourselves, Who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, fabulous?

Actually, who are you not to be?

You are a child of God.

Your playing small does not serve the world.

There is nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won’t feel insecure around you.

We are all meant to shine, as children do.

We were born to make manifest the glory of God that is within us.

It’s not just in some of us; it’s in everyone.

And as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same.

As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others.”

by Roxanne -

Wheat Belly

Part of our responsibilities as adults is to constantly question our assumptions. William Davis, M.D. does exactly this in his new book, Wheat Belly. From the book jacket,

Since the introduction of dietary guidelines in the 1970’s calling for reduced fat intake, a strange phenomenon has ocurred: Americans have steadily, inexorably become heavier, less healthy, and more prone to diabetes than ever before. After putting more than 2,000 of his at-risk patients on a wheat-free regimen and seeing extraordinary results, cardiologist William Davis has come to the disturbing conclusion that it is not fat, not sugar, and not our sedentary lifestyle that is causing our nations’ obesity epidemic – it is wheat.

In his book, Davis takes a look at all of the genetic modifications made to modern wheat within the past fifty years – and there are thousands. The wheat we eat today is not the wheat we had growing up. These modifications were made to increase the profit and efficiency of the wheat industry. Further, no one has been monitoring the impact of these modifications (made for better yield and resilience) on human beings. In fact, modern wheat spikes blood sugar far higher than sugar, causing an addictive cycle. It’s quite possible that we are a nation addicted to wheat.

Davis observes that the reaction of an addict is exactly what happens when he suggests to patients to give up breads, pastas and cereals. But after just four weeks of wheat-free eating he claims results are stunning: blood sugar, cholesterol and weight all significantly lower for most patients.

Davis notes how wheat is present in so many food products we know and love such as cereals, noodles, burritos, bagels and cookies. But wheat is hidden in many products which would seem to not contain wheat – such as salad dressings, beers & vodkas, artificial colors and flavors and nutrition bars.

Could he be correct? Could authority’s (like the USDA, American Heart Association, the American Diabetes Association and the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute) call to eat more whole grains actually be making our entire population sick?

Read it for yourself and then decide. In fact, why not try it for yourself? Removing wheat from our diets for one month will not cause anyone nutritional devastation. In fact, the book provides wonderful wheat alternatives – as I do on “Food or What We Eat” category to the left on this blog . Try eliminating wheat and watch what happens.

You may also like Salad in a Jar and Fresh, the Movie.

 

by Roxanne -

Conventional Marriage Makes Women & Children Vulnerable

What does patriarchy look like in our society? To get an idea we need only examine the institution of marriage as commonly understood in Western – European society.

The institution of marriage, of course, has varied greatly over time. In ancient biblical times, polygamy anchored more than one woman and her children to one patriarchal male (Abraham, David and Solomon are a few well-known examples). Later on, marriage in many places was a transfer of property – the wife – from her father to her husband. In Christianity, marriage doesn’t officially become a sacrament until the 12th century. About this time, the idea of romantic love begins to emerge as well.

For a detailed, interesting and often funny history of marriage read I Don’t by Susan Squire.

Regardless, learning about the history of marriage allows us to appraise it more thoroughly. In our own culture, marriage in a society where women consistently earn less than men, are generally expected to be the primary parent and risk a divorce rate well over 40%, places women and children at high risk for poverty. It’s interesting to note that the majority of those in poverty are women and children.

Further, women are socialized to want this unbalanced economic and emotional relationship. In our culture it is often portrayed or considered ideal for women to stay and work at home (losing seniority, pay, network connections, advancement opportunities) in order to be with their children. When women do work, they frequently work part-time and often still bear most of the responsibility for childcare and household tasks.

This then, is what patriarchy looks like. A system of marriage and family that allows most of the lower paid work, long-term responsibility for child care and household care, and thus loss of wealth, to be shouldered primarily by women. However, most of the high paying work, assets and wealth are handed to men.

The fact that we can note exceptions proves the rule. What’s wrong with this system? Who benefits?

by Roxanne -

Tasting Caviar

Photo WomanReading from BreathingBooks.tumblr.com

If you’re a book lover like I am, this picture pretty much says it all.

Books change us. Books move us forward, inspire us, and allow us to see new possibilities. They ignite our imagination and transport us to new worlds. Much of the best that human society has to offer is held in books. Most of history (in the West) resides in books.

Ideas worth knowing take more than an article, more than a TV show, more than a brief conversation. Ideas worthy of our time usually take a book.

To read is to engage others, engage our own minds and open our hearts.

When I tasted the caviar of authors such as Austen, Dickenson, Browning, Tolstoy or James, everything else suddenly paled in comparison. Once you taste caviar you know the difference.

Check out these beautiful, bibliophilic pictures and quotes over at Breathing Books. Then go taste the caviar.

A “thank you” to my friend L, a librarian of course.

You may also like New Books and Exercise Your Mind.