FOOD FIRST - November 2015 - Kansas City

Get the Glow

By Bethany Klug

 

I overheard Brooke Salvaggio, the mistress—read owner—of Badseed Farmers Market lamenting that sales had been down lately, actually, for the past two years. The slide began, she said, when Trader Joe’s came to town. She added, “People don’t see the difference between industrial organic and what we sell here.”

 

Hubby and I took a road trip a few weeks ago. It was great fun but it meant we had to buy our produce at the grocery store instead of Badseed and Brookside Farmer’s Markets when we returned. The produce was organic and reasonably fresh considering how far it came to be with us. But something was missing. Our juices and smoothies didn’t enliven us like they usually do. I’m not talking about taste, but how it affects us. I found a solution. I added fresh carrot tops to the juice—thank you Waldo Wednesday Farmer’s Market—and parsley from my garden to the smoothie and woo-hoo! The glow was back.

 

You won’t get that charge from produce from Trader Joe’s or any grocery store. It comes from food that still has life force in it, that has a vitality you can feel and even sometimes see. In my experience, that comes from food that has been picked at most within the last three days. So why then isn’t there a stampede every Friday night at Badseed?

 

I don’t think it has anything to do with convenience. I think most people have lost their natural human tendency to sense what I describe. It’s either tuned out or trained out in favor of more analytical, left-brained ways of seeing the world. From that perspective, there is very little difference between two week old industrial organic produce wrapped in cellophane at Trader Joe’s or glow in the dark organic veggies picked the day before at Badseed.

 

So how can you recover your ability to sense the life giving vitality in food or for that matter, anywhere? First, eat the freshest food possible. Your body will entrain to those energies, and protest, like mine did, when it misses them. Second, spend time in the natural world, some place where the vibration of nature is stronger than the 60-cycle hum of the human-constructed world of the city and industry. My backyard works well between trips to the mountains and the countryside. Finally, meditate. It helps you turn down the equivalent of a 60-cycle hum in your mind that interferes with your ability to sense the enlivening forces that abound around you. Soon enough, you’ll feel the glow that will in time shine through you!

HealthSpan, the holistic medicine practice of Dr. Bethany Klug, is offering some excellent classes this summer to help you reduce your toxic load and add some quick, easy and delicious dishes to you weekly repertoire. Learn more at www.HealthSpanKC.com

 

 

Bethany Klug, DO created HealthSpan out of a deep wish: for everyone to experience vibrant health. We go beyond the conventional pill-for an-ill approach to educate and inspire you so you can successfully make positive steps toward greater health and wellbeing. Learn more at www.healthspankc.com or 913-642-1900.