Stolen Corn: Reclaiming health in Native American and Latino communities. Part 1

Obesity.  Diabetes.  Heart disease.  Cancer.  These are some the the most prominent diseases afflicting modern Native American, Mexican and Latino communities in the United States.  Yet indigenous people in the past were much healthier, and did not suffer from the same epidemic of poor health that pervades these communities today.  They subsisted on a macrobiotic diet based around the consumption of the whole grain of the Americas-- Corn.  The solution to these epidemics of degenerative disease and of the tragic and needless suffering of the Native and Latin American communities lies in returning to our traditional ways of living and eating.  In these modern times, however, our ability to reclaim our heritage and health through the consumption of Corn is profoundly threatened by modern agricultural corporations and by the policies of the U.S. government.

Mexican people have a very ancient and intimate relationship with Corn.  For over 10, 000 years, Mexican farmers selectively bred and domesticated Maize from it's ancestor, a wild grass called Teosinte.  Teosinte, from the Nahuatl "teocintli," or "Sacred Corn" is very different from modern Corn.  Over the centuries, ancient Mexicans selectively picked the largest of the Teosinte kernels and bred from it the first ancient forms of Maize.  This domesticated whole grain spread throughout North and South America.  It made civilization possible and was bred with incredible diversity, allowing for it's adaptation to numerous climactic conditions.  As whole grains elsewhere in the world, Corn took it's place as the primary and biologically correct staple food of humanity. 

Corn was considered by all who grew it to be a sacred gift.  The Aztec, or Mexica people told of how Quetzalcoatl gave a kernel of Corn to people to plant, and they celebrated Centeotl, the maize god, as a source of life.  Mayan legends tell of the Creators succeeding in fashioning the first humans out of Corn dough.  The Giant White Corn of the Andes was sacred to the Incas.  For the Hopi, Cherokee, Iroquois and numerous other native peoples, Corn was and is at the center of their spiritual identity.

Corn was often grown together with Beans and Squash, in a system known as the Three Sisters.  Indigenous people who followed a traditional diet composed primarily of corn, beans, squash, vegetables, fruit, wild plants, fish and game enjoyed abundant health and longevity, absent of the current epidemics of degenerative disease which so often plagues their modern-day descendants in the U.S.

When Cortes and the Spanish conquistadors arrived in Mexico, they were amazed to discover that the Aztec lifespan exceeded their own by at least 10 years.  The benefits of a traditional diet and lifestyle can still be seen in traditional people such as the Tarahumara, or Raramuri people of Mexico.  The Raramuri are arguably the best endurance runners on Earth, and it is well documented that those following a traditional diet are almost completely free of many common degenerative diseases.  High blood pressure and obesity were unknown to them, and their cancer rates are extremely low.  In fact, it is only since the introduction of modern processed foods such as top ramen, chips and soda, that the Tarahumara have had to invent names for diseases like "high blood pressure."  

Throughout time, when people would become sick, Native American healers would recommend that the patient " return to the arms of Mother Corn" in order to heal themselves.  Just as Hippocrates prescribed a simple diet of Barley porridge to the sick, so would native people consume a simple porridge, or Atoli of corn to reverse illness.  The traditional Native American diet based on corn and corn products such as tortillas, tamales, pupusas, atole and cornbread remains the basis for much of the modern cuisine of Mexican and Latin American people.  The foundation to heal ourselves and our communities here in the United States lies in returning to our traditional ways of eating diverse, high-quality, whole-grain plant-based meals.

Our ability to "return to Mother Corn," the sacred grain of the Americas, has been profoundly jeopardized by a modern threat which has changed the very structure of Corn on a physical and spiritual level: genetic modification.

Continue on to Part 2…

Everything is Kung fu

Kung fu = any skill that is achieved through hard work and practice.

When many of us hear the term "kung fu," we automatically think of Bruce Lee, nun chucks and the martial arts.  But to know the concept by it's original meaning sheds light on the fact that any discipline  may become a skill that is achieved through hard work and practice.

In western culture, we are all familiar with the saying "practice makes perfect."  To realize this is to understand that "everything is Kung fu."  Through practice and discipline, we can become able to achieve what we set out to do effortlessly.  This applies to the martial arts, but also to music, theatre, cooking, skateboarding, algebra-- to any practice.  Once we have reached the point of effortlessness in our discipline, we have then achieved what Taoists have named "Wu wei" -- non-action or non-doing.

When studying Taoist philosophy in the west, many people believe Taoism to be an esoteric, go-with-the-flow philosophy, and interpret concepts such as Wu wei to mean that a practitioner of Tao does nothing and is lazy.  Non-action may seem to indicate a lack of resolve and determination.  However, when one considers the amount of practice and dedication it takes to perform a difficult task effortlessly, the concept of Wu wei takes on a new meaning entirely!

Musicians may perform a song effortlessly, but the amount of work it took to learn how to finger pick on a guitar illustrates that the guitar playing took much work and practice to perfect.  Once the skill is achieved, the musician may play the melody without thinking.  Once a cook has become familiar enough with the recipe, ingredients may be mixed accurately without measuring.  

Bruce Lee, one of the most capable masters of Kung-fu in history, possessed a deep understanding of Tao, which may also be called the "Order of the Universe."  He said:

“Be like water making its way through cracks.  Do not be assertive, but adjust to the object, and you shall find a way around or through it.  If nothing within you stays rigid, outward things will disclose themselves. 

Empty your mind, be formless.  Shapeless, like water.  If you put water into a cup, it becomes the cup. You put water into a bottle and it becomes the bottle.  You put it in a teapot, it becomes the teapot. Now, water can flow or it can crash.  Be water, my friend.” 


The concept of attaining Wu-wei through practice and hard work is perfectly illustrated in this next quote by Lee.  Effortlessly finding constant balance (Wu-wei) amidst the constantly changing and alternating energies of Yin (expansion) and Yang (contraction) is the essence of a Taoist practice, which may be applied to all aspects of life.

"When the opponent expands, I contract,
When he contracts, I expand,
And when there is an opportunity,
I do not hit--it hits all by itself."

Here in the United States, and elsewhere in the western world, we would do well to treat everything in life as a practice-- as something to be constantly tinkered with and improved.  We would do well to become flexible through practice.  To be formless, and not as rigid.  To perfect the art and science of being human is to reach our full potential.

That is Kung-fu.

Fresno, CA

On the first day of a trip up north to visit relatives, my family and I spent our first night at our cousin Colleen's house in Fresno, CA.

Colleen is actually my granddad's cousin.  Now in her eighties, she is full of amazing stories recalling her work on the Manhattan Project and as a spy in Asia during the 1950's, where she was able to put to use her talent for doing what she's most interested in -- "blowing things up."  She's a scientist and an incredibly gifted artist, with a large house filled with her own paintings and antiques, but it is her garden which most fascinates me every time I visit.

Colleen's yard includes every variety of native California oak, Western Redbud trees, California Redwoods and various other native and exotic plants -- many with very interesting histories to go along with them.  It's a pleasant place to stay, drink fresh well water, and enjoy the salubrious climate of California's Central Valley.

On this trip, I learned that a Blue Oak (pictured above) has longer, skinnier leaves than the Coast Live Oaks I am so familiar with in the Southland (below) 

After having planted a Western Redbud tree in my front yard, I was happy to see an abundance of these native trees throughout Colleen's front yard (below)

Colleen had planted some Matilija Poppies, because she wanted to paint the flowers.  She also had a scrub oak from the Sierra Nevada Foothills which one of her students had dug up and brought to her years ago.

Several of Colleen's paintings hang in my house, in my room and even in my brother's dorm, yet I am always blown away by her work every time I see more of it…

The author with an Engelmann, a.k.a. Pasadena Oak Tree

Although I'm just a kid from the Arroyo, it's trips up north like these which remind me of what it means to be a Californian… There's always something changing along Highway 99, and usually for the worse.  I am so thankful that a place like Colleen's holds true to the sense of place that defines our great state.  

Take a Tour of the Site of Pasadena's New Athletic Field

This video, created by the Arroyo Seco Foundation's watershed coordinator Jonathan Frame, depicts the precious native California habitat which is currently under threat of development by the city of Pasadena's "Multi-benefit/Multi-use" project.

Some of my previous posts on the Arroyo Sage blog have addressed the issues of habitat loss and of the neglect and pollution of the Arroyo Seco in Pasadena.  Unless the Pasadena City Council decides against this project, we can unfortunately expect much more of both to occur at Hahamongna Watershed Park.

Going Native!

For many years, my family home in the San Rafael Hills above the Arroyo has been surrounded by lawn and Ivy and other commercial plants that are not native to California.

Following a major remodeling project, I convinced my mom to re-landscape with native California plants.  She was hesitant at first about removing the lawn and going all-native, but the transformation has enriched our lives daily as we observe the seasonal changes of plants and the renewal of life which the native habitat provides.

Native landscaping repairs the environment which we have disturbed and encourages the return of native species of birds, bees, butterflies and other wildlife.  It drastically reduces the maintenance and water needs of your garden and conserves our natural heritage as Californians.

Every native plant in the wild is exactly where nature intended.  By planting native plants in our gardens and cities, and by protecting their remaining habitat in the wild, we can recognize the balance maintained by nature, and strive to create balance between ourselves, our civilization and the environment.

                                 

Arroyo Pollution and the RBOC

Yesterday, after finding the Central Arroyo to be riddled with plastic following Saturday's Walk for Autism event, I felt upset, frustrated and angry.  The Arroyo is polluted in this way all of the time, especially after events.   That is the reason I first expressed my desire to Tim Brick, Managing Director of the Arroyo Seco Foundation, to volunteer to help clean up the Arroyo.  It has since been my privilege to be able to help organize and lead regular cleanups for the ASF.

Something about finding all of that new pollution in the Rose Bowl yesterday spurred me into action yet again.  Maybe it was because for three days in a row before the Autism Walk, I had run around the 3.3 mile loop with my pup and picked up all of the trash I could find.  Nothing spoils the beauty of the Arroyo more than plastic trash, and I was feeling like maybe soon I would be able to enjoy a run around the Rose Bowl without having to pick up any of it.  After seeing my hours of hard work ruined, my mind was racing and trying to find a way, any way to put an end to this pollution!

I made some calls to the City, and learned that the Rose Bowl Operating Company was responsible for cleaning up after the event.  I got in contact with the RBOC Event Manager, Julie Benavidez, and expressed my concerns.  I asked if there had been a cleanup after the event, and she said that there had been.  I told her how I had just been down in the Arroyo, described the amount of pollution and expressed my frustration with the woefully inadequate cleanup efforts in the Arroyo following every single event.

We discussed possible ways such degradation of the Arroyo might be avoided in the future, and both agreed that it would be a good idea for the RBOC to work together with event organizers to do so.  I suggested utilizing those big water dispensers with spigots, rather than distributing single-use plastic bottles.  That way, people with reusable bottles could fill up, and paper cups could be used by everyone else, thus minimizing the impact on the environment if they should become litter.  Julie promised to talk to their client (the Autism Walk people) and to focus on better ways of preventing such a thing from happening again.  She mentioned that perhaps they could send a crew around the Rose Bowl loop on a weekly basis to clean, and she told me she would send a crew out that day to clean all of the litter left along the Walk for Autism route because "one person shouldn't have to clean it all."

Later on that day, I rode down Washington Blvd through the Arroyo, and found it to be riddled with plastic bottle caps in the same way as other parts of the Autism route.  "Well, I guess they haven't cleaned it up yet,"  I told myself.  Today I drove my car down there, parked and walked around.  I picked up several plastic bottle caps near the sewer drain on Washington Blvd, just east of West Dr.  I picked up several more in the mulch along the side of the road on West Drive, just south of Salvia Canyon.

I called Julie Benavidez again.  I asked if there had been a crew sent out along the route to clean it.  She said they sent out one guy, on some kinda cart they call a Toro cart, to clean the paved inside part of the 3.3 mile loop.  I told her of the bottle caps I had found along that paved area on Washington Blvd, but gave her the benefit of the doubt on those ones and suggested that they must then have been from last night's use.  I then reminded her that the entire road was closed off during the Autism Walk, and that even the trails were being used by the hundreds of participants.  I had noticed that the inner Rose Bowl loop appeared to be cleaner, but there were still bottle caps in the street, and likely throughout the mulch and along the trails.  They still hadn't done a proper job of cleaning up after their mess!  Julie said that she couldn't send anyone else out to clean it today, but that they would send people out yet again to inspect the mulch and other neglected areas.

I expressed my concern that the Arroyo is always neglected in such a way after events.  I told her that it appears as if the cleaning crews after an event throw the big stuff away, but all too often ignore the little stuff that is left all over.  All of these little pieces of trash and plastic may be harder to see from your car window, or may not seem like a big deal, but collectively they pose a major threat to the environment, and seriously degrade the Arroyo.  "How am I to know that going forward, this kind of neglect won't continue?"  I asked.

Ms. Benavidez said that going forward, the RBOC is going to have to employ more people to do a better job of cleaning up all of the trash left over in the Arroyo after events.  She said that they rely on volunteers from the events to do a lot of the cleaning, and that these volunteers may do an inadequate job of it.  That is why, she said, they will need to employ more people to clean, and to focus specifically on picking up all of the "little" trash as well as the more obvious stuff.

This has been an exhausting experience, but I just had to do something.  I made calls.  I wrote to the Pasadena Star News.  And I started this blog.  Only by doing things the right way and by correcting our mistakes are we civilized.  All that we accomplish as human beings is for naught if we live in a world full of plastic pollution.  How can we be proud of that?  All of the greatness and accomplishments, going back to the time of our ancestors, are worth nothing if this is where we end up -- in a once pristine and beautiful world that's become a giant plastic dump.

It is time that we reverse this trend, and stand up for the world which we deserve!  No one has the right to take that away from us.  I will wait for the next Rose Bowl event, and hope to see some changes for the better.  If the RBOC does a better job, then I will be the first to praise them.  And if the Arroyo continues down the path of degradation, I hope we will all be there together to defend it.

The dark side of the Walk for Autism

On Saturday morning, thousands gathered in the Central Arroyo for the "Walk for Autism Speaks" event. Though generally a supporter of such events, I watched with frustration as hundreds of plastic water bottles were distributed to the crowd. On my bike ride home through the Arroyo yesterday, I was disheartened, but not surprised by what I found. Plastic bottle caps, everywhere. A toxic material that the Earth cannot digest, being run over by cars and ignored by passersby. I couldn't fit them all into my pockets! I collected what little I could, took some pictures and moved on. 

It is time that we in Pasadena demand better from our City. Do you think the Rose Bowl Operating Company, who are responsible for cleanup, have done an adequate job? Do you think that the organizers of the Walk for Autism could improve their environmental impact upon the sensitive Arroyo for next year? I think they can. They should. And they must.