By Diana Hoogesteger
Food is a fascinating and extremely important subject. It can bring us together or separate us. It delights us or worries us, nourishes us, or makes us sick. Food is the basis that sustains life. Talking about food is like talking about religion because it is a subject ruled by convictions, principles, fanaticism, and idealism. We have the vegans, the organics, the carnivores, the raw food eaters. We went from “fast food” to “slow food” and from white flours and refined sugars to everything whole and pure, without modification.
From May 26 to 29, San Miguel was very busy with the theme of food. Two big events happened at the same time: Rosewood San Miguel was the venue for Millesime—one of the most important gastronomic events, with top local, national, and international chefs; gourmet products; beautiful staging; and live music. It was a joy to savor the alchemy of cooking by different hands, to try wines, and to meet interesting people dedicated to creating the best dishes and recipes for the palate. It was a delight for those who like good food done with finesse and delicacy.
At the same time, at La Casona, there was a conference called “Health from the Inside.” The focus was diet, lifestyle, and environment. The topics covered were human diet, food choices, regenerative farming and ranching, conscious eating, and ancient biohacking. Here, they talked about the undeniable relationship between food production and our health, and that of the environment—two worlds that go hand in hand but have not met, or not yet enough. The gourmet world and the magic of the palate should be married to the world of food products that care for health and the planet!
It is a pleasure to continue learning and through these events to be inspired by what others do. You meet diverse, amazing people, and you also see new possibilities.
Eating well is an undeniable pleasure; the most wonderful celebrations are made around food. But health is the greatest gift we have because to live in health is to live fully, and having a healthy society and environment creates well-being for everyone.
Let us remember:
- The food industry is causing erosion, water scarcity, overexploitation, deforestation, toxicity, and global warming.
- Industrial food is causing serious public health problems due to excess sugars, vegetable fats, a lack of nutrients, and content of toxic additives.
With massive production of food, we have lost the relationship with the land, with plants, with animals, and with the way in which life is sustained. Focusing on getting much of the same, regardless of the means, we have caused enormous problems. Vandana Shiva calls it the agriculture war because it is based on killing—pests, herbs, fungi, everything that is not the final product. On top of this, we have GM products designed to resist poisons that kill everything except the GM plants.
Let us remember that what we do to the world comes back to us; today all those poisons are making us sick. There are traces of glyphosate (one of the most-used pesticides) in the water, air, soil, and even in breast milk. The wonderful thing is that there are other ways to produce abundant and nutritious food, and knowledge about this is growing.
During the conference «Health from Within,» there were multiple examples of producers who regenerate the land and use biodiversity, and with it they return nutrients to food. They have shown that we can live regeneratively instead of destructively! We learned that cows and cattle are our best allies in regenerating soils: they return to grasslands and live in forests, without deforestation. We learned that whole milk, natural meat, and all their derivatives—butter, bone marrow broth, livers, and so on—are excellent health foods.
In the wisdom of ancestral food, there have always been animal products. A holistic production has livestock, agriculture, food forests, insects, and bees. When we reproduce biodiverse environments, nature finds its balance, and we no longer need to use fertilizers, pesticides, fungicides, or other poisons to obtain enough food.
We are in time to reverse the disaster we have caused, but it requires everyone’s understanding and will to do so. Choosing products that come from regenerative farms and ranches comes first, so we support that way that takes care of the environment and our health. That is why I think that the gourmet should marry the regenerative, so, in addition to eating delicious, we will be nourishing ourselves and the planet.
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