Hola Amigos, please check this great story that came out in the New york times this past Sunday!

Health Care savings could start in the Cafeteria

This was in part my thesis when I came to America to start up GustOrganics! And it is great to see the topic in mainstream media with such great research and coverage!

The other part of my thesis is related of course to sustainability!

Enjoy!

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/11/29/health/policy/29diet.html?_r=3&pagewanted=1&sq=health%20care&st=cse&scp=2

I often try to encourage all the people that I know to be careful about making good consumer’s choices regarding the food we eat. I frequently say that “we are what we eat” and “we shape the world by what we eat”…

Please read this great article in Time Magazine about the food system in America and the relationship to our cheap personal choices.

Enjoy!

http://www.time.com/time/health/article/0,8599,1917458,00.html?artId=1917458?contType=article?chn=sciHealth

America’s food system is unfortunately a Frankenstein that we have created by supporting the $3.99 value meal for many years!

Through our purchasing habits we were also led to believe that we should save money in food and use it to buy things we do not need! Now watch what happened with the cost and the situation of US healthcare!

In 1930 Americas used to spend 24.2% of their income in food. In 2005 only 9.5% of the income was spent in food. There are many things behind this ratio, but in any case it shows about our damaging consumptions habits..

By supporting the $3.99 value meal we were not only ruining our collective health, but also creating a consolidated food system that is damaging our environment in a terrible way!

About 50% of the food is produced by only 2% of the farms in America.

81% of the beef, 73% of sheep, 56% of pork and 50% of chicken is produced by only 4 firms in the USA.

Only 0.5% of the America’s agriculture is organic!

We should take the lead by example and start creating different movements to change our health, our environment and with it, America’s food system for good!

When at first I decided to start up GustOrganics, I did it thinking about well-being as a primary target. In my opinion businesses that focus on maximizing profits without thinking about people, do not make sense, but most important, will slowly face out of the market places.

Coming from Argentina, I thought that America’s general diet was kind of weak in nutrients, full of artificial stuff, too excessive in term of quantity, and it lacks of antioxidants.

In Argentina we normally eat a lot healthier, very near to organic, with a lot less artificial components, our portions are about 60% of what they are in US, and we as Argentineans, tend to drink one glass of wine with the meal.

I always thought that the above represents the formula for a healthier and longer life.

Therefore my idea for GustOrganics was to simply offer that. I mean to combine 100% organic food, portion control and one organic glass of wine on every meal. We finally got it.

I know as a fact that organics are healthier than regular foods. This is stated in many studies around the world.

In regards to the amount of food we eat in America, I thought that was extreme and this by no means could be healthy, but I never saw any scientific proof of that.

About the wine, since Argentina is a big wine producer, I grew up believing that drinking one glass of red wine every day would extend our life. But in this case again, I never found any real proof of that other than the popular myth.

Yesterday I was watching “60 minutes” and I found out with incredible pleasure that a very serious research shows that Resveratrol, a component present in the wine, helps to stop the aging genes.

In the same research, I also discovered that there are some strong indicators that reducing the calories consumption (portion control) helps people to be healthier but also to live better and longer.

So it looks like my intuition that was later transformed in one of the pillars for GustOrganics, it starts to be backed up by some serious scientific studies.

The combination of 100% organic food, portion control and red organic wine, seems to be the healthiest organic synergy towards a better and longer life.

Read more at: 60 Minutes / Fountain of youth in a Wine RX?