conscious consumption 193
- Commit to taking a political stand to educate yourself, your
senators, and other political representatives to demand the
labeling of GM foods in our food supply.
Tending the Soil
By now, you may be asking yourself how this could be happen-
ing, and, furthermore, how could something this important occur
without most of us hearing about it? The answer is both simple
and complex, and it parallels what we see in our society at large.
Our failure to properly cultivate our soil and respect our seeds,
roots, and plants are refl ective of our leaders ’ (and unconscious
followers ’ ) signifi cant shift from making integrity - based decisions
that prioritized what was healthiest in the long term to engaging
in agribusiness and political maneuverings motivated by greed for
money and power.
When you feed your soil with rich compost and plant seeds
that are naturally cross - bred for nutrient density and fl avor —
rather than artifi cially altered to increase yield and profi t, despite
their reduced nutrient density and the increased pollution — we all
win in many profound ways. My husband and I were fi rst awak-
ened to this realization about fi fteen years ago, when we were
among the fi rst guests to have the pleasure of staying at Locanda
Rosati, an agriturismo , an Italian farm - based bed and breakfast.
Most of the food served there is grown on the property. The own-
ers, Giampiero Rosati and his sister and brother - in - law, were (and
remain) the ultimate hosts and chefs. We felt that we had fi nally
come home.
Although we share the same last name, we are not literally
kin, just family in spirit. Giampiero and his family, including their
angelic administrator Simone, turned us on to a wide range of culi-
nary adventures. These could really be more accurately described
as slow food experiences, where we became enthralled with actu-
ally meeting the farmers, olive oil pressers, and winemakers and
enjoying their bliss of sharing such heartfelt food. We later met