“Dija Know…”
Joe’s Newsletter #159 (& # 160) SPRING 2022
Sheila (archives available at JoesDining.com)
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Full Moon April 16, 2022
an unusual convergence of Easter, Passover and Ramadan
It’s Spring! We made it through! Again! Intervention or intention, who cares – if you’re reading this, you made it through. I am convinced we are on the other side of a world event that has imprinted itself on our very soul. The human spirit is elastic, resilient, forgiving and pretty damned powerful, some say indominable! Welcome Spring. Welcome renewal. Welcome you!
Dija know? Dirt may be our friend. Decades ago doing research on auto-immune conditions I came upon an interesting report. The study observed that children raised on working farms and ranches had far fewer diagnoses of asthma than city kids. Now why would that be? I’m going to take a wild guess (very scientific) that perhaps being exposed to dirt and soil and manure and cow teats and chicken feathers and horsehair and God-knows-what was not such a bad thing. Our compulsion to create germ-free environments may have backfired. And I’m not the only one thinking that. The famous Dr. Josh Axe in his book EAT DIRT explains how our modern practice of over sanitation has led to under-nourishment and “leaky gut.” The absence of microscopic living organisms that used to make their way into our gut, has set us up for diseases that are all too common now – from autoimmune disorders to heart disease and cancers. So, maybe…don’t scrub all the dirt off those organic carrots. https://youtu.be/9Y9Ju3MYnL0
For the 9th summer, Listening Horse is having a ginormous sale to raise money for their therapeutic riding program. Got stuff you’d like to get rid of that they could sell & make money? The more wonderful treasures they accumulate, the more money they’ll raise. Contact Laurie Seton, Communications Director 505.670.3577 laurie@listeninghorse.org
Look all around you. If you’ve ever had a horse, yearned for a horse or simply admired a horse, you will really love what you see on the walls all around you. The EQUINE DIVAS ART SHOW is a collective showing of four artists: Chris Pennington, Patricia Gallegos, Beth Mitchell and Victoria Mauldin. Purchase one for yourself or a friend. What better symbol of the West than its icon, the mighty and magical horse?
Dija know? Eating 2 cans of sardines a week can lower cholesterol and help prevent diabetes!
DiJa Know? A growing body of research shows artificial sweeteners raise your risk of both obesity and Type 2 diabetes — perhaps to an even greater degree than sugar. These sweeteners damage vascular function and cause cellular damage during the progression of diabetes and obesity. Unlike sugar, artificial sweeteners accumulate in blood, worsening damage to blood vessels. They also trick the body into using alternative sources of glucose, such as muscle, leading to muscle loss. You will not find the worst offenders in Joe’s “sugar” cup.
◆ Dija know? Joe’s now has spirits! You already knew that. But now we have the ones in the bottle! All locally distilled.
DiJa Know? Regenerative Agriculture could be our best hope to save our food supply. I fantasize that we are all one big happy family and everyone is in favor of everything that supports our collective health and well-being!!! However, facing shortages in our food supply is forcing us to look at some unpleasant (aka dangerous and destructive) practices and trends set in motion decades ago, that are now more than just incidental to what actually ends up on our dinner plate.
Sadly our food supply has been deteriorating for some time, but almost more important than the availability of various foods is the quality, the nutrient density of those foods. We may be unconscious of it, but every bite we take must have in it an incredibly complex dance of nutrients in order to build maintain and sustain health – true robust productive healthy bodies.
There has been a convergence of questionable growing practices negatively affecting our food supply.
The dominance of one or the other of these agricultural practices will ensure that either we have good clean sources of a variety of nutrient-rich foods or on the other hand, put us at the mercy of what Big Money, Big Ag, Big Tech, Big Pharma and Big Government (I call them the Bigs) have DETERMINED we shall eat.
Recently, a friend whose ideas I respect noted that the two biggest threats to our food supply are the massive production of ethanol and the popular trend toward plant based diets. Both of these movements appear to represent the moral high ground. Who can argue with eliminating CAFO’s (feed lots) and who can argue with reducing oil dependence?
I had to agree that indeed the production of ethanol combined with increased demand for plant foods, have created a grave imbalance in the diversity of foods available to us and have played into the hands of those (what I call the Bigs) who have constructed a new mosaic in our vast farmlands. Look down from a plane and you see vast tracts of single crops and practically no small (640 acres) mixed crop farms. Millions of acres of formerly rich diversified growing soils have been devasted by these “new and better” farming methods.
Pair this with the broad acceptance of genetically modified plants, and you have laid the ground for a universal diet of super Frankenfoods. A Billy Gates dream come true.
These “farms” are now where most of our plant foods come from and where most of our feed for CAFO lots comes from.
In 2013, our president signed The Monsanto Protection Act protecting Monsanto (now Bayer) and its genetically modified creations from liability in federal courts. Today more than 95% of the corn, soybeans, cotton, sugar beets, canola and alfalfa planted in the U.S. is derived from seeds genetically engineered by global companies to increase yields. GE seeds, however, have resulted in superweeds and superbugs impossible to control even with dangerous chemicals like RoundUp.
Why should we care? In 2018, 93% of Americans tested positive for RoundUp (glyphosate) in our bodies. And it’s no secret now that GE foods, have disease-inducing effects on our biology. (a story for another time). The devastation has a cost we cannot estimate. Ultimately we are forced to eat what’s available. “Food-like substances” like Beyond Meat are painted with an altruistic brush. Mass marketing is mesmerizing and convincing. It’s tempting to believe that processed chemical food is good for the planet, good for starving nations, good for us.
Is it though? Connecting just a few dots – why the unprecedented rise in diseases – metabolic, autoimmune, cardiovascular, cancers …. even…..in…..children???!! This rise charts in perfect synchronicity with the profits of the “Bigs”
Genetically Engineered food is one important factor affecting our food supply, but not the only. Farmers have now become the slaves of Big Ag. Bucking that pressure bankrupts them off their farms. To survive, they become “operators” of gigantic pieces of equipment seeding weeding and harvesting massive tracts of straight-line mono-cropping.
Mother Nature does not understand these straight lines. This style of production farming has utterly destroyed habitats and ecosystems at an inconceivable rate
“But some of these farms are organic, you say, and think of the animals’ lives we are saving by eating only plants.” Mislead by the superficial perspective of animal rights activists, I too desparately wanted (and want!) to spare stock yard animals. This myopic view however, blinded me to the slaughter of those less visible (than cattle, chickens, hogs) and less vocal. The bees, mice, bunnies, insects, deer, elk, snakes, coyotes, racoons, countless insects – their habitats, their homes, their migratory paths, their camouflage, their shade – you name it – heedlessly uprooted and massacred. This forever changes us – yes us! It destroys any chance we have of protecting traditional farming practices that produce real nutritious food – both plant and animal.
It seems unsolvable, a genie-out-of-the-bottle problem. There does not seem to be a way around the pervasive and harmful farming practices of Big Ag. But there are answers.
One is to grow and raise your own food. Many have started to do that. There is a huge movement of back-yard farmers with gardens, chicken coops. goats, etc.
The other and most powerful remediation of our broken food supply is Regenerative Agriculture. It’s kind of like the permaculture of food production. Two leaders of this movement stand out. Allan Savory (a sometimes ABQ resident) coined that phrase. Check out this 2020 interview: https://makingpermaculturestronger.net/permaculture-holistic-management/
And the famous Joel Saladin. These kinds of farms are incredibly productive. They are often a closed circuit, internally supplying all their growing needs. Many visionary farmers are learning these practices now.
Passions run deep in our local farmers and ranchers who intimately know the “rightness” of working with nature in producing our foods – both plant and animal. This ensures a diverse, nutrient-rich and sustainable food supply. Whereas imposing rigid artificial farming methods (GE seeds, mono-cropping, chemical boosters etc.) forces growth and these huge yields are practically devoid of critical nutrients. But it guarantees a funnel of prodigious profit$ to mega corporations and “foundations”.
It has never been more urgent – buy from your local farmers and ranchers, wherever in the world you reside.
Building your muscular strength lowers death risk. A flood of research is now supporting that fact. It’s not necessary to build bulk unless you want to that is! By building your muscular strength, you ward off cardiometabolic risks. A higher level of muscular strength has a protective effect on premature death from any cause. Just 30-60 minutes a week of resistance training can make a world of difference in your strength and health.
Resistance training is superior to cardio exercise because the greater your muscle mass, the higher your survivability against all diseases
You need protein reserves (amino acids, peptides) to survive serious disease, and those reserves are stored in muscle. If you have very little muscle, you could pass away prematurely because you have no amino acid reserves. It’s never too late to start building muscle using diet and exercise even if you’re in your 70s or 80s. High-quality animal protein is essential for muscle growth. Most people need 1 gram of protein per pound of your ideal body weight. Your per-meal quota for older adults should be around 30 to 50 grams per meal.
DiJa Know? What the heck is DancingBones®? Our motto is “living and moving with ageless vitality.” What do we do? Briefly – we build structural strength, we stop bone loss, our programs are your Health Assurance and age reversal is possible. Call Rose for your introductory hands-on session. 505-557-6209
If you have dairy or gluten sensitivities Joe’s Morning Glory Muffin is so delicious and yet substantial. It will tide you over easily ’til lunch time! And have you tried Sharon’s deep chocolate brownies? OMG!
A Tuesday night tradition at Joe’s – it’s Spaghetti and Chianti Night. $47 for two will get you Caesar Salad, Spaghetti with homemade Bolognese and a great ½ liter of Chianti. Wadda deal! The Bolognese sauce is made with our grass-fed-and-finished beef, slow-cooked in the traditional Italian fashion.
Joe’s will give you $10. What’s the catch? Well the way we figure it, if you cut out the middleman by NOT using a credit card, we can give that back to you and then some. Credit cards cost the retail merchant about 3-5%. Now in today’s world one cannot function without cc’s. But there are a few (legal) alternatives that reduce our dependency on the Big Banks and actually save us all money: (1.) Joe’s Check List – If you are a “regular” and wish to pay by check, please ask your waiter to get you on the list. (2.) Joe’s gift card – purchase $100 gift card with cash or check or silver or gold coin, get a $10 free bonus! Your $100 gift card will actually buy you $110 worth at Joe’s.
Some of the farmers & ranchers who supply Joe’s: They ptheir fertilizer from animals and compost and their agronomic advice from tradition: Monte Vista Organics, Mesa Ranch Beef and Liver, Jacona Farms, Green Tractor, Camino de Paz, Synergia Ranch, Romero Farms, Shepherd’s Lamb, La Montanita, Susan’s Sprouts, Maya’s Mushrooms and others.
Joe’s Diningxp
2801 Rodeo Rd (at Zia Rd) Santa Fe, NM 87507 n 505-471-3800 www.JoesDining.com
Mission: to strengthen our health,
to protect our land,
to grow our economy
by serving local sustainable food.