How Soft Drinks Impact Your Health

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A tribute to a man

My uncle Elio died this morning from complications stemming from a long battle with diabetes. In recent months he lost his legs from the knee down. As much as I saw this coming, my heart aches today.

Uncle Elio was the youngest of seven brothers:

Eduardo
Jose Angel
Felo
Amaury
Oscar
Mario (my abuelo)
ELIO

Here is a photo I pulled from one of my cousin's FB pages of part of the family, back in the day. My great grandparents are front and center, my grandparents cut off in the back left:

Handsome looking bunch

I never knew the oldest two, who have also passed. I grew up around the youngest five, and didn't fully realize until I was much older how incredibly blessed I was to grow up part of such a warm, loving, rambunctious, fiery, well-fed, vibrant, hilarious, LOUD family. I think if you spent even one hour with this side of my family, you would think to yourself: "FULL OF LIFE!"

Elio was the youngest. He was sweet, kind, generous, and fun to be around. I remember wild parties at his house, one of the rare times the entire extended family would make the effort to get together. Every time I went to his house I would meet a handful of new cousins!

I wish him peace, and a safe passage.

The Future is Now: Introducing Farmigo

Drool

One of the more challenging aspects of a whole foods/organic lifestyle is the constant planning ahead. Am I right? This is pretty much the biggest gripe I hear from people making any sort of dietary/lifestyle change: "I tried the whole gluten-free thing but I was tired after work and it was easier to grab a slice of pizza than get to the market," "I stayed late at work and Bi-Rite closes at 9," "I live way too far away from Whole Foods to schlep all my food for the week across town on my scooter."

I get it. We are busy people in an urban environment, and between all the nitty gritty of everyday life, riding your bike to your local farmer's market in your work clothes with your gym bag and laptop in tow to peruse the produce might not be at the top of your to-do list. Even as I begin to make a living as a health coach - educating people about rest and nutrition and work-life balance - I still need to check in daily and remind myself to slow down, breathe, rest, and take time to actually enjoy the food I so mindfully procured. In my experience, and maybe you can relate, the food I eat is my biggest connection to nature, to the richness of the environment that surrounds me--even if I only see it during my once-per-month jaunt over the Golden Gate Bridge. There is something about slicing up a batch of recently harvested *insert favorite vegetable here*  that reconnects me to something bigger then all the running around, wakes up my senses, and nourishes my body. 

What if you could bridge the gap between convenience and sustainable healthy eating? Farmigo takes all the steps out of your weekly market trip and delivers local food directly from farmers to your community. This new online farmer's market "connect(s) communities of people (workplaces, community centers, schools and other locations), directly to multiple local farms, providing a personalized online marketplace for local, fresh-from-harvest food. Members in each food community shop at their dedicated Farmigo farmers market online (see example here), pick and choose their preferred items, and then have their orders delivered weekly to their food community site within 48 hours of harvest."

Kiva delivery in SF

What's not to like?

From veggies and fruits, to pasture raised beef and poultry, to coffee, yogurt, fresh herbs, bread, and more, Farmigo offers up mindful convenience. Similar to a CSA in maintaining the "farm-to-table experience," Farmigo is unique in that by bringing together larger communities, you are offered more choices, the farmers get paid more, and you can rest easy knowing that in no way are you participating in the industrial food complex. Hooray!

Not only does this service connect you to local farmers, but just think: you'll get the chance to interact with other members of your community outside of the typical workplace interactions. Farmigo unites all that we love about our food: the connection to local environments and people, fresh quality, and the joy of sharing that experience with others.

And that sounds like healthy living to me.