My Sustenance

Love & Loving Friendships

This is the Real Food I’ve Been Missing Out On

We measure sustenance by its source of strength and nourishment providing the backbone of existence be it tangibly in the form of food or drink or those harder to measure entities such as love. I gave my blog this name for one very important reason. Although it’s about food, it’s really about something greater- that is, feeding my soul.  The blog has always been designed to showcase food and culture and its very “exciting” and ever changing, evolving role in life.  It acts as an outlet for me to share what’s going on inside of me, as a means of understanding myself and my placement in this world a little better.  Food and its culture have been so deeply rooted in me both personally and professionally since childhood- despite my absent awareness of that fact at the time.  My blog has given me the ability to equate food with life in a greater capacity which, I believe, applies to us all.

Food is ultimately life. This month houses my birthday, April 10^th, and I turned 38 years old.  I’m closer to the present, closer to the future, than ever before. This month’s blog reflects this birthday timing and takes a deeper look at me and my life than ever before. It exposes many parts of my personality and feelings that breach the food blog norm. I find that it’s all relevant, though, in that this is ultimately where my love of food and food culture comes from- how different people experience life in their different ways all, with the same make-up- of hunger, thirst, humor, insecurity, fear, fearlessness, and, above all, the need to love and be loved and have loving relationships in our lives.

I’ve hit a point in life where time bucked heads with some heavy issues, forcing me to make some major life changing decisions. It’s funny because, despite the fact that life has given me a lot of crazy challenges in the last 6 months, I don’t feel too crazed by any of it, at least not anymore.  Certainly there were moments when fear took over me, but in the end I realized it was just life asking me to take a step back, evaluate where I have been and what I have done and what I have learned from all of it thus far.  It then asked me what I have enjoyed so far versus what I have disliked. Mostly it asked me to take a deep look at what I disliked and what was the real truth of it all, which way is really ahead for me.  What I found was a clear direction for my future.  I knew I had to make a decision that wouldn’t make others so happy and, although that weighed heavily on me for some time, I chose to move forward with more precision and energy than before, more clarity, passion, and ultimately with more clarity regarding who I was and who I’d like to be. Plenty of challenges arise from this, one being the people around you. Not everyone you know is always on board with the same ideas that drive you. The choice is one I hadn’t realized is quite simple. Feed yourself the sustenance you need to thrive, move forward to attain a deeper, more fulfilling life, and within it, happiness. That kind of sustenance is not often the kind that others want to feed you.  As a 38 year old woman I realized that I knew how to feed myself. I simply let life bring me down paths that were not geared toward my final direction.  In food terms you could say I ate a bunch of junk for far too long and despite my healthy diet, my body and mind bore the brunt of this.  Now I strongly believe that every moment before this one was valuable, but that does not mean I didn’t make mistakes or poor judgments. I think it simply means that I took the harder route to learn my lessons, which is pretty typical for me.

I think the main point of this month’s blog is that I know one thing; I need to fuel and fulfill my life with real sustenance.  That not only means that I have to make professional choices that are strictly and innately about my heart & soul passions but that my personal life must be at the epicenter of my “food source” or sustenance.  Love & loving friendships have not been rare for me, but they have been complicated. Like everyone else I carry “baggage” from childhood that I am still learning how to sort out and repack and unpack!  What’s important to note is that getting so caught up in work and what you think has meaning is just another way to forget about yourself inside. With that said, in chimes that old adage that you can’t love someone until you love yourself, and there’s a reason it still comes up throughout the history of mankind. It is true for maintaining love and loving friendships, but where I have seen this adage challenged is through children. We will talk more about that in my kids in the kitchen section.  But inevitably for the last 6 to 8 years I have focused so much on my company and what others needed form me in regards to my company that I neglected the work I needed to do within myself for my personal relationships.  The result I believe was a very professional centric way of relating to people that was unbalanced and opposed to a kind, loving way of a more intimate style of relating.  What does that mean?

In a nutshell, I was “behind the crowd” in all of my relationships, having a hard time relating to others on an intimate basis.  My personal relationships were never as important as the customer or the vendor. I justified that by telling myself about how the little farmer so far away needed me to make a subsistence living. The truth of it all was that I was no sustainable solution for the farmer if I neglected myself. Friendships were strained by quite a bit of new “issues” I was facing- everything from friends wanting to borrow money to friends not understanding my level of stress and ultimately friends not truly understanding the world I was involved with work wise.  It made it difficult way to relate with anyone on top of being so absorbed with my own thing with very little time to devote to others. I wasn’t the best friend I could have been to a lot of people.  I may have been a good friend to Ger-Nis but at a cost, for sure.  Many of the relationships that I neglected were ones that required more from me than I could give, and I often thought it was unfair to ask more from me, on some occasions annoying.  I wanted others to be there for me as I was for them, but no one really understood my new world. Most the friends I had were still going out every night having a good time while I was making million dollar deals and having to teach myself EVERYTHING about business on a grand scale for the first time.  I also made the big mistake of hiring many of my friends, thinking this would be a way in which I could connect with them. As it turns out, it made things worse for most of them.  The real and strong friendships I had were indeed able to withstand this pressure, but there were some that were just lost for good, including the loss of a 17 year friendship that was quite devastating along with another that also hurt a great deal.  In retrospect I was going through so many changes both personally and professionally that I couldn’t keep my head on straight long enough nor get it together fast enough to salvage many relationships. I sit today, knowing I could have behaved differently and perhaps then the failed friendships would still exist or perhaps they would not, but I know that had I chosen to feed myself sustenance, nourishing important personal relationships instead of thinking my journey work wise was all important. I probably would have been happier on my journey. Again, no regrets. I see it for the lessons that I’ve learned, and it is never too late to learn lessons!

Not only were regular friendships hard for me to hold on to but keeping an intimate love relationship was also hard, let alone meeting others that could match my mind, speed, and energy, let alone creative spirit needs.  This is perhaps the most troubling part of lost love and loving friendships problems I have had.  I’m a lady of very distinct opposites when it comes to love and work. Work wise I’m strong, aggressive, clear, determined, and confident. When it comes to love (and of course when it comes to scaling hills for love, getting stuck in deadbeat valley doesn’t really help matters but is inevitable) I am insecure, awkward, passive, unclear, confused, and not at all confident.  But I have been told that I am extremely intimidating to men, as I don’t need their help or support.  I have been told that demands I make on intimate relationships with men are quite heavy. I ask for the one thing men find it hard to give, what one of my past loves called “the inside demand”.  It’s the most intimate requests to ask of anyone- what you’re made of, what’s inside, how you came to be the person you are.   Anything less is just too superficial for me.  I tend to be drawn to creative types, especially musicians, and I find it fascinating to discover where inside of them the music comes from.

In general my creative depth is one that I rarely see mirrored in others, but typically musicians and artists reflect this creativity and it fascinates me.  I am slowly discovering others in the food world with this same creative edge, and it is kind of exciting.  I had an Israeli man in my life for a while who was very “superficial” about feelings but a very deep guy. One day he said to me, “I’m scared that I don’t have enough inside of me for your liking”.  I think this exemplifies the pressure I put on men to share their most intimate selves.  I am what they call TOO DEMANDING OF A HUMAN BEING. I get that from my father, and I am learning to find the right balance of expectations in order to have better, longer lasting, deeper relationships, basically relationships that nourish the soul.  I found one man who was perfect for me in this way who understood this need of mine to know his insides and he wanted to know mine- a solid and deep connection that epitomized everything I needed and had to give to another. But like many men in my life the timing was DEAD wrong. He had already made commitments he felt he couldn’t break, but really in retrospect I think he was just too weak of a man for me. Regardless I think he is the one that got away. As a strong lady I have a very hard time finding loves that have a strong character, foundation, spine- loves that can tolerate the depth of life’s truths.

The dwelling is done. Good news is that I know now that it’s time for me to start to place importance on relationships and loving friendships.  It’s time to let sustenance lead the way, through healthy eating and living, as well as mentally.  As Maya Angelou taught me through her book at age 18, “once you know better you do better!”  I want to do better for myself this time around. I want to have love and loving relationships in my life.  Healthy and giving in both ways……..and certainly for me all the sustenance I give to myself through food or love, from this point forward shall be meaningful! Look out world!

A Fresh Start

Finding clarity in a moment that’s ripe for new beginnings, changes, and twists

This is where the excitement begins

I fear death like everyone else but less and less it seems these days.  I fly quite a bit around the world on planes, and I often (I believe others do as well) believe it will crash in which compels thoughts about death.  I don’t think of death much outside those times, but, as I travel at least 25 times a year via plane, it’s actually more frequent than most, I imagine….. The point being that in the moment the turbulence hits, and you are sure you are “hitting the land” you quickly review your life, your family, friends, loved ones, and my dog Sadie appears in my thoughts too.

 We try in just a few simple seconds to sum up our lives and do what I believe we assume “god” does- justify our existence as a good one or a bad one by our actions, our contributions, the way we loved, the kind of friends we were, how we treated ourselves, the entire gambit of derivatives to this basically mathematical equation. Did I live as I intended?  My answer has typically been yes to all of it.  With a new pocket of turbulence added to my thoughts over the past year that I spend all my time working and none of it focusing on real, deep, and intimate relationships which I actually crave the older I get. The older I get, the deeper I crave these relationships to be, yes I’m one of those folks who believes the older we get the deeper our relationships needs to be- to be even more honest, with more substance, and more rewarding. This includes not only to our romantic and familiar relationships with simple ones from our butcher, the beautician, our mechanic, and all of the gambits of people in our lives.  As I have been considering these angles in life more and more lately when confronting death on planes, it has really made an impression on me each time I “survive” my near death experience. (That is how it always feels… yes, I am dramatic- as most who know me are aware.)  I, like the rest of the planet, fear death to some extent, but I have made a remarkable and, I believe, very deep connection to death and life recently that helps me remove fear of death from the equation, and, therefore, it has helped remove an even bigger problem- fear of life.  Up until the exact moment you really believe you are going to die or could die, we fear death and grip onto that fear tight like the handlebar of a fast moving bike.  But the moment when we really believe we are actually and sincerely going to die, the fear is released and there is a peace that arrives. The fear dissipates.  In letting go of the fear of losing everything and the inability to control everything, I finally find peace in the moment before death in the shadow where what will happen will happen, and, thus, I have this perfect moment of clarity that the moment is ripe for a new beginning, change, or twist where the excitement of my life will begin.

The words “a fresh start,” by nature, indicate some sort of trouble. After all, there is no rational explanation for the desire for a fresh start without the feeling that something is off kilter. Perhaps the Aries in me is also drawn to these new beginnings. Perhaps it’s the fact I believe complacency is the devil. Perhaps it’s because of my massive yearning to experience as much as possible on this planet and make clear contributions to the improvement of life experience in existence rather than simply just taking up space and time within it.  Either way I sit at this moment, having returned from some world travels, Holland (Amsterdam and the various countryside of Holland), Germany (Berlin), and Israel (Tel Aviv), my travels were specific to this new and latest dilemma of what to do next.  Berlin and my time there was the catalyst for my personal revolution of sorts.  Its creative energy, clean lines, and orderly environment were the perfect place to capture the essence of my realization that change needed to occur for obvious and not so obvious reasons, some discovered at that time and some still had yet to be discovered.

Often in life when one is a decision maker, whether it be for their family, a company, or a country… something shifts. Changes are made that forcefully move us to the place inside ourselves which enable us to, first, recognize the need for change and, two, to seek out the best possible avenues for the deliverance of that change.  This is the moment that for me, any non movement or stagnation is the same as death.  I have spent very little time stagnating in my own life, and, although I have come to lead my own company, sometimes it is hard to decipher stagnation from stability, causing me to find myself tricked a time or two lately.  I believe this is the first admittance of my mistake, not understanding the difference between the two, which of course seems so obvious, especially as I write it, but life in the trenches can appear to be murkier and shinier than the reality.  My vision has been impaired, my path was not far off course, but my vision was just simply blurred….by what I am not sure, possible lack of deep relationships that allow us the different perspectives regarding our realities, perhaps by my workaholic nature and not stepping back to take care of myself the same way I have taken care of my company and others in my life, or perhaps I simply was somewhat naïve and somewhat ignorant as we all are sometimes.  Nonetheless I found myself at this moment both professionally with Ger-Nis and personally with Nissa J experiencing major heartbreak over my lack of understanding of what to do next.  Of course without stagnation as a viable option, a fresh start was my only real choice.  I could have, I suppose, have ran away, which has been a big contender for me since youth. As long as I ran to somewhere exotic, I typically felt it was justified.  But, I guess, as I have gotten older I have learned, grown, or evolved enough, to know that running forever, too, is stagnating, despite its apparent mobility…………….a bit more exciting but equal to it. 

In order to achieve this fresh start, I had to first examine what that actually means.  A fresh start is not a doing anything over, but, rather, refreshing your angle on life from a different starting point. It meant that I had to acknowledge, not only how I came to be where I stood at that moment in time, but all that I now carry with me because of that journey.  This is the moment where the acknowledgement of our strengths helps provide the perfect platform for a fresh start. Without this part of the process present, confusion and denial can cloud the path a great deal.  But I had done my work certain that my new starting point had given me ample tools by which to gauge which path I chose for my future.  Some may say that fresh starts and second chances beget failures but when one truly examines “the fresh start” as a fresh start, it is actually deeply rooted in wisdom gained through adaptability. Without recognizing the need for a fresh start, blindness reigns, and, by blindness, I mean massive confusion and an overall cluelessness regarding growth and progression.  As I sat in Berlin and pondered the fact that in a relatively short period of time these people were able to create one thriving city full of a distinct culture and progress with one fresh starting point, I knew that my path too was in need.

A fresh start- a true fresh start- is ultimately the acceptance of what actually is and a true openness to what can and will be.  This is where I finally bring it back to my crashing plane phobia which eventually enabled me to understand what this feeling inside of me was actually a new peace. It was me letting go of everything for the first time ever in combination with believing in myself for the first time ever.  We live in a world where the word failure (especially the USA) is synonymous with shame and inability. This failure is shunned and like a live puppy being sent in the mail far, far away from us (this did happen recently L  in our country where we rarely, if ever, acknowledge and share feelings with each other.  Sharing feelings with most Americans is like walking around in public in your undergarments- “exposing simply way too much.”  I have never been a believer that this method of sheltering each other from the incredible complications of life will help any of us.  Failures and challenges need to be discussed openly in society, our governments, families, friends, lovers, enemies, and everyone really in order to achieve real and positive growth.  I had forgotten about this belief in my business life which eventually translated into an overcompensation of it in my personal life or a complete lack of it.  I became “just like everyone else” in business and that was never what I sought out to do.  My fresh start was what eventually came to symbolize this discussion again both in my personal life and with my business and my business associates.

Interestingly enough as I have been moving through this process between realizing the need for a fresh start and the actually beginning of it- so too have many peoples of the world.  Egyptians, Tunisians, Libyans and soon to the Japanese will begin this journey after the devastation on their Island.  Each of us realizing our own “failures” in our past with what made us complacent and accepting of what we knew was not right, all of us pushed to change and move to a fresh start by pivotal events and all of us inspired by fellow inhabitants of society speaking openly, protesting vigorously, and demanding change all with the lack of fear as if we were at that stage that occurs just before dying where you are simply at peace with that fact and have the focus you need for this great task ahead……………..CHANGE.

As Americans we forget that we too have a democracy and a way of life we need to fight for, and, of course, our lives are very much different for those of the Libyans and Egyptians who have been stifled for so long, but it’s important to understand the relevance of it all; democracy & freedom should have no limits over how much we deserve, we keep going, and, as we make many new fresh starts, each time we begin our journey with more tools, more knowledge, more comrades, and more peace.

A fresh start is ultimately like a hot shower and a clean pair of underwear after a dirty leg of a journey, you will eventually need another if you are on a long journey. I know I am on that long journey, what about you??

Food Matters….

A Personally Healthy and Globally Sane Way of Eating & Living

A Documented Food Journey for 2011!

In my 37 years of life on earth, I have consistently made very few resolutions for the New Year.  This is not because I don’t have things to improve upon or reasons to change and grow but mainly because I am not one to believe in the pressure that we end up putting on ourselves when we pretend our lives will change on this one day. The truth is I think who we are is a lifelong process and the major changes that come into our lives that create BIG changes in us just sort of happen.  So this year the irony of it all is that some major shifts have occurred in some aspects of my thinking regarding to my own well-being and lifestyle that sort of just happened this time of year, thus corresponding to the New Year, aligning with the stars perfectly for me to spin into a New Year’s resolution of some sort. In addition, for the sake of making sure I can discipline myself as I need to for these new life changes, I decided my blog would be a perfect way to document it and hold myself responsible for either succeeding or being human- either way I am content with sharing this journey! 

So what is it?  What can be so profound that I need to write about it, chronicle it, and create somewhat of a resolution for the first time ever?  Food…….. It’s about food. Now unlike many folks that I know, my “foodie-ness” is not overly crazed.  I don’t revel and melt when I taste the best something nor do I look at food as just a way of fueling my body. I have a healthy balance of mind when it comes to food; I enjoy it a great deal but tend not to be fanatical about it one way or another.  I am however attracted to the cultural side of food and most certainly the agricultural side which has led to my methods of cooking, recipe writing, and my overall food philosophies.  I have spent so much of the last six years building my business and concentrating on the small growers we support around the world that I certainly have forgotten about taking good care of myself.  After the first three years of building Ger-Nis I had gained a lot of weight.  The stressful times (personally and professionally) kind of took me over and all my healthy and natural tendencies were thrown out the window.  Now I have to admit, I don’t have a big sweet tooth- with the exception of desserts at Applewood!  I’m not a fan whatsoever of processed foods- never have been.  I have loved fruits and vegetables and for many years and have pretty much eaten only naturally raised, hormone/antibiotic/free range meats and certainly sustainably caught fish.  I support restaurants that follow this ideology as well. 

In general, my food life does not appear to be one that needs too much tweaking.  The reality is I had never eaten breakfast for most of my adult life; I starved myself all day long for many years and just ate huge dinners and drank lots of wine (a crutch!).  I traveled a lot over the last six years of my life and indulged, quite a bit everywhere I went.  Two and half years ago, I said enough was enough. I was sick and tired of being fat and had exhausted my blame on Ger-Nis and its stresses.  It was quite simple in the end- my eating habits, starving all day, gorging at night, and not moving my ass was the only problem I had.  Now I had been doing yoga weekly most of the past ten years of my life at this point off and on.  I bit the bullet two and a half years ago and joined a gym close to my house, and, although I had been active my entire life and an athlete through my youth with a naturally decent metabolism, age had certainly caught up with me.  Not interestingly enough, quite a few amazing things happened to me because of that one small move I made in September of 2008.  That gym, Park Slope Food Collective, doesn’t exist these days.  I liked (and still like) the idea that you could pay per session, and I was not going to fool myself in thinking I didn’t need a person to tell me what to do.  I am not, as I have mentioned, an extremely disciplined person so the idea of personal trainers was perfect. As a single lady with no family and, thus, no money pouring out of my bank account, my budget allowed for it.  What happened next really changed my life.  I eventually was paired with a trainer, Jason Quick (http://www.quickboxing.com/ ) and discovered kickboxing and boxing.  It was the first time in a very long time I had enjoyed using my body for sport.  My natural aggressiveness and my body’s natural power and strength were really made for the sport- especially boxing. 

Kickboxing has not come as naturally to me, but when I lived in Israel I trained with Eran Bert at a professional fighting school where he really taught me the basics of kickboxing and showed me that my body was indeed capable of doing it.  I was also introduced to Brazilian Jui Jitsu while with Eran (www.youtube.com/watch?v=mC0nkiEDXPk ), and it became a small part of my regimen also influenced by my friendship with Josh Skyer.   What I realized by just simply moving my body was that not only physically was I beginning to get into amazing shape, but I was learning so many important life lessons and making lifelong friendships.  These three men influenced my life in profound ways that have not only warped my body into better shape but my mind as well.  Thus appears another gentle reminder by the world about how nothing is really separate after all. 

So all this sounds great right?  What the hell am I talking about making life changes now? What happened next is that my pattern of behavior wasn’t altered enough- perhaps I wasn’t ready for the entire change.  I opened the Ger-Nis Culinary & Herb Center in the spring of 2010.  I moved our offices, remodeled, and designed a space and took on a heck of a lot of new work.  I hired an entirely new staff and had to end some seriously important relationships in my life.  Basically stress, depression, and lack of time became my deterrents for a healthy me.  One thing is certain- having a kitchen in our office (the culinary center) certainly helps with my still difficult issue with eating breakfast and starving myself throughout the work day.  In the end, I cut way back on my daily workouts with Jason, boxing and kickboxing, I stopped with Jui Jitsu (that’s another story), and I began to do a lot of late night eating and drinking.  So yes, I gained some weight back and am not happy about it.  The good news is that my eating is still the same, I love fruits and vegetables, I don’t eat any processed foods, and I still don’t eat mass produced meats and chicken!

What happened next involved my IPAD, Mark Bittman and an overnight realization to move to the next level in taking care of myself, and it just happened to have happened a few weeks ago making it all ripe for the pairing of my new simple changes and 2011……thus brings us to Food Matters, A Personally Healthy and Globally Sane Way of Eating and Living, A Documented Food Journey for 2011.

So the first thing that happened is I got sick and tired of being fat again and started to work out regularly (sorry Jason for the time off!).  I decided that nothing at work was more important that my own health and well-being and decided that I had to from this point forward keep this ideology ahead of all else.  It was time for me to let Ger-Nis live as an adult. It doesn’t need me to breathe for it anymore, so like a parent watching her child go off to college I released Ger-Nis into the world. I am still here for it, but Ger-Nis will no longer consume me in 2011! 

Second thing that happened is that as I am in love with my IPAD like Oprah. One night surfing the web in bed, I ran across Mark Bittman’s new book ‘Food Matters.’  Now I don’t know who Mark Bittman is- or at least didn’t until recently. That’s the big joke here, how sheltered I am sometimes.  But I have to admit, not knowing who he is makes the story even better I think.  I paid the $$, downloaded the book to my IPAD, and began to read. Less than 36 hours later I was done with the book which is a record all in itself as most books lose my interest quickly.  His book is, in a very little nutshell, about eating healthier for oneself and the planet; eating less animal products and more whole grains, fruits, and vegetables; and eliminating all processed foods from one’s diet.  He had me from the very beginning as he referenced Micheal Pollan (who is my favorite author and who I would love to have speak at the ), and he simply reiterates what I know, what I feel, and how I genuinely live day to day.

 He speaks about the ill effects that mass production of corn, cattle, and chickens, and again reiterates a lifestyle choice that is healthier for the planet and all of us.  Really, honestly, there is nothing new to all of this for me except my state of mind. Somehow I knew at that particular moment I could do more than I was doing, that I still had further to go, and that I now required a new discipline in life that I was ready for.  Again the connection between working out regularly and letting Ger-Nis go is one in the same as I needed to make a conscious decision to do better for my own eating habits and “practice what I preach” a lot more.  My hindrances are simple. I just needed consistency to be a part of it all. So here we go, 2011…. the year I vow to eat an “almost vegan” diet with zero processed foods and incorporate more whole grains, eat breakfast, and drink more water!  The exciting part is that I know this will create a whole new process for me- learning to cook with new items, being creative in the kitchen again (we all get lazy), and creating not just fueling.  What I liked about Mark’s book and his ideals is that he wasn’t overly strict. He was reasonable with his diet conditions out of self awareness- self aware that he loved white bread, self aware that he wanted to drink red wine, self aware that he would eat butter sometimes, and self aware that he needed cream in his coffee.

 I have been eating and living this way for the past two weeks, and it has been easy.  The fact is that I just needed some attention and focus placed on me and my health.  I hope to lose about 20 pounds in the next four months, and since I am working out vigorously I assume this is accomplishable!  I have created a new section on the blog where I will document the journey, the recipes, the ups, the downs, and, yes, the WEIGH INS!  I have concocted a little method so I don’t reveal my exact weight (I am a lady and we hate to divulge this sort of thing).  So Micheal Pollan and Mark Bittman, thank you, thank you for giving me a simple life lesson at a time when it was needed. The best to all of you in 2011, and don’t be too hard on yourselves. Life is a journey, and it takes forever to get to the end!

A Very Wal-Mart Holiday

Finding Balance in a World Off Kilter………..

First off, one million apologies. I am sure many of my dedicated readers have been feeling a little off kilter themselves considering the tardiness of this month’s blog  !!!  But, seriously, I do apologize. I vowed to myself- however bit slightly- that I would turn in my blogs on time. The problem with being the boss is that you can change the rules any time you feel like it- so yes, I lack bit of discipline but am working on it!

Ok so Wal-Mart and Nissa?  For many of those who know me this is certainly an odd pairing, more than odd. I typically despise everything about Wal-Mart and the Wal-Mart model of business, yet every year around the holiday times, Wal-Mart comes into my life and teaches me a valuable lesson about balance, typically at a time when I could most use it. This is especially since right around the holiday time my life becomes lop-sided, just like the world is at times.   My schedule tends to be a full one, but no matter what I always want to take on more, I guess, in a way this is a type of gluttony really (which makes me cringe).  Wal-Mart, which isn’t exactly a stranger to gluttony, seems to have a way of showing me that I need a new focus and balance in my life, one with a little less gluttony.

My brother Olof and his wife Jenny live in Fair Grove, Missouri,  and Fair Grove is basically in the middle of nowhere, central USA. I have been traveling there for the Thanksgiving holiday each year for the last four years.  It’s been a great treat- not only do I get to see my brother and his family (Jenny, Leif, Svea & Ivin) but I get to go “country” for a weekend and move from the busy hustle and bustle city of New York to a very small town feel.

Fair Grove is certainly small with a population of 1200 people, but it is located about 20 miles outside of Springfield, Missouri- Missouri’s third largest and home of Brad Pitt FYI! Springfield is a city of about 157,630 residents versus Brooklyn which houses approximately 2.5 million (and NYC which houses 8.4 million). With that said, my standards even Springfield is miniscule in comparison.  Each year for Thanksgiving the same ritual occurs- the whole family comes and fetches me from the airport; we drive straight to Wal-Mart to buy all of our groceries for not only our Thanksgiving but our “weekend with Nissa” in general.  Many of the town’s residents, who know me by now, ask, “Why do you go to Wal-Mart? We have a few better grocery stores in Springfield, even a few organic ones…”  But the reality is that the area is somewhat limited, and Wal-Mart carries the majority of the items that are hard to find in the others.  In addition, the foot traffic in Wal-Mart (there are about 5 in Springfield alone) ensures that the produce moves quickly and therefore is much fresher.  It’s an odd feeling to be in the middle of the country where farms used to reign free and not have access to fresh produce…

Thus, we come back to my notion of balance.  I have to be open to the fact that wherever we are in life at any particular time, we must look at all possibilities as options, even some that we wouldn’t imagine we would take (i.e. shopping at Wal-Mart).  This simple, little concept I encounter around the culmination of each year shifts my perspective on life a little bit.  I come home from my Wal-Mart experience with a new understanding of balance, one which enables me to be open to doing things I do not normally do and accepting things that I do not normally accept.  My perspective broadens encompassing a greater understanding of the fact that I do not have all the answers and that the answers vary depending on the day, the location, and the frame of mind I am in (and that this applies to others as well).  So my typical hardcore views about Wal-Mart become more balanced when I understand that the country as a whole does not live as we do in NYC and that they do not have access to all we have here.  I am still a believer in trying to attain fresher produce and more local ingredients for all of our country and its inhabitants, but my more realistic viewpoint emerges allowing me to see reality more clearly and, therefore, be able to accomplish more for myself and others.

Change: Growth: Realization

Sustainable Personal Growth

This month, as most months, there is a lot happening.  Most importantly, I find quite a bit happening inside my head… my psyche and in between my intellect and my emotions, what is exactly happening?  Change, Growth and many realizations are happening to me this month on a very profound and articulate level. We talk a lot about sustainable growth in our company, on our website and throughout our business.  We speak about the need for steady, precise growth that considers the well being of those around us, including our environment and planet.  WE believe that all of this sustainability of growth is what will keep us surviving on more than a subsistence basis for the long run.  I believe this is necessary in our personal life and growth as well and I believe the two are running parallel for me in my life lately, making a different bit of sense as the tow side, business and personal move along the same parallel lines.   Thus sustainable growth in the personal realm is the overall theme here. I have grown as of late, as a cook, a business woman and a person. There are times in life where we go through these spurts of growth, some more profound than other times, there is something about the timing of life when everything simply begins to “click”.  (Like my favorite Hebrew expression..Ha simon nafal, which translates to “the coin click” or the moment you make an understanding of clarity in an situation) Of course as we assume, what is currently happening in our lives during the times of change, growth, and realizations make a big difference as does our own mental state and past changes, growth spurts and realizations.  Not all growth spurts are totally positive and not all growth spurts move us towards a sustainable personal growth, but for me these days of growth, I feel are most definitely moving me to a new realm of sustainable growth.  Perhaps this is part of my age, growing up and recalling feeling comfortable in adulthood, shedding my ties with my youth and coming to grips with all that my past has influenced me to be while being stable in the notion that as an intellectual adult I am in control of most of it.  As I have stated, a lot is happening in my life and for sure many folks who read this blog and are a part of my life or some recent experiences in my life or in my business will surely think this is “all about them” or “influenced by them” or better yet, “because of them”.  But the truth is all of that is true and none of that is true.  Basically we are all just little ants….as I was reminded by a drawing sent to me by my niece Svea, living in a world comprised of millions of other little ants, on our own we are nothing, but yet it is really all we ultimately know.

So how does all of this correlate to food you may ask since this is a food & culture blog?  Well I can answer that in two parts: one, it’s my blog so on some level I can do what I want, which I enjoy (which is why many literary people are not happy with blogs in general, they tend to be more diary than substance but I believe the substance is also in all of it, less defined by standards).  And second, as I grow sustainably in my personal life I see my cooking and my food interest and knowledge really come into its own.  I not only feel I am a better cook, but I feel I am more efficient, healthier, and overall more conscientious while still remaining true to flavor & substance.  I also believe my understanding of food culture is much greater and thus I have a deeper respect for food in general and certainly the people who produce it, that is partly due to my job and partly due to my growth and my better understanding of the connections real and true connections within the entire food system.

My life had become cluttered recently, stressed and many things in my life were over bearing and not balanced enough.  I think my cooking had been similar for a while, too many items, too many things undercooked and over cooked, potent flavors overwhelming the others, vinegar for example and lemon. I love these items but they can be very powerful if over used and I believe now I spent years over using them and have only now learned to use them subtly and gently.  My life like my cooking has needed to concentrate on a simpler plate, more balance, more focus on the purity flavors of the ingredients. Simpler, healthier and focused more on technique but still whopingly creative, this is my cooking style today. The most difficult part I think in cooking and in life is learning when to let go…it is certainly easier for me to do in the kitchen and many can tell you this is my mastery in the kitchen, although I think I have no learned a better balance, it’s no longer such a free style as it is done with conviction and is distinctly me.  Personally I am trying to improve in this same realm.  Less feeling, more conviction.  Much progress has been made lately in this realm with some specific incidents and issues in both my business and my personal life. 

Fear is something I have never felt in the kitchen under any circumstances.  We laugh about this as we are deciding what classes to teach as I will volunteer myself to teach a class on thing I have no clue on, knowing I will be capable and I will learn it, this has been my personality since I was a child and in most everything I did, I did without fear.  My personal life and dealing with people (personally or in business) has been the one place where fear runs deep…I am lucky as for whatever reason it doesn’t control me, but I feel it so profoundly.  But life lately has given me this new sustainable growth in this realm, so as to be able to begin to deal with this fear in a healthier manner, using my mind, my very capable mind in conjunction with a clear(er) understanding of what my feelings are, instead of feelings overwhelming me, fear overwhelming me and I react like a person vomiting.  Now I can see some of my co-workers laughing here as I still do my fair share of vomiting up feelings on any given day, but the truth is, today my feelings and my fear are not only more in check than ever but I can tell that this latest growth spurt will catapult me past the point where I can go backwards.  From here out it will only get better, as I imagine my cooking will as well.

For whatever reason life has given me this recent awakening of sorts and as life so often accomplishes it came at a time when I was not only ready for it but needed it, life has forced me personally and in business to refocus on the next stages of life and the personal skills required to achieve greater things both mentally, physically and financially.   The lessons of these latest days are realizations of a new clarity of what I actually want in my life and for myself.  The lesson is of the ability to create my own dismissal of the fear that ordinarily may hinder me from achieving the exact success I want.  Whether the fear is personal insecurities, external factors causing monetary stresses, business related issues and whether I know what the correct answers are or simply “other people’s mental junk”, I have learned to focus on finding out what is real before I react. 

It’s basically time to take the next stage of life more seriously and like a good student place focus, detailed focus on what it takes to be the person we want to become, the same goes for cooking.  What do I want to achieve as a human being, what are my personal goals and how do I attain them, what do I want to be surrounded by and what do I not want to be surrounded by on a daily basis.  I have to take control of all of this, just as others should, I have to take responsibility for my own junk I give to others and notice when they give me theirs.

Being a healthy individual who makes healthy choices for my community and planet is important to me and I have begun to really define what this means to me, even though it seems simple.  I am lucky I am a woman with few food issues, I don’t battle what I should or should not eat due to the fact that I will get fat or thin, and I do not exercise as a means to get skinny.  Contrary I believe in eating what I want I moderation and in a healthy manner and with ingredients that are real, organic, sustainable and fair-trade.  I exercise as a means to staying fit, enjoying myself and alleviating stress.  I over indulge on occasion and do not beat myself up about it too much.  It’s funny but as I age I feel better and better and with each year that passes me really do believe I am growing more and more sustainable as a human being and it makes me proud.  I am more and more accepting of myself for who I am.  I see my flaws and I see my highlights, with a large amount of clarity, I sometimes fail to make changes I want to make quick enough but trust that they will come and hope that the friends and family I have will continue to support me through those times.

So as I babble my way through another blog, this one inspired by recent growth and an inspiring trip to San Francisco, I remind all of us out there one really important fact:  letting go of fear is a useful tool, both in and out of the kitchen.  Bon Appétit in life & food!

Fair Trade Month-Social & Personal Responsibility

This month, I find myself in a state of anticipation moving ahead in a positive direction. I can feel I’m on the verge of a fresh shot of empowerment, not only for my own personal life and my company, but in my philosophies about the world in general.  Freshly back in Brooklyn after traveling throughout Peru to see organic Fair Trade growers, the timing couldn’t be more appropriate.  To top it all off, October is Fair Trade Month, which gives us a little extra push to continue to educate ourselves and our communities as well as our customers on the Ger-Nis fruit & vegetable side of things.

As I have mentioned, I believe many times in my blog, I consider myself incredibly lucky to get to do the travels that I do.  Meeting the people and engaging in the cultures from all over the world, is both a luxury and a learning experience.  It’s no secret that life at the head of a rapidly growing company can be a lonely one– my work hours are long and my stress level high– the intrinsic perishable nature of fresh produce adds urgency to the job that is truly like no other.  There are definitely times that I feel lonely and wish I had a “bigger” life outside of work, but then I travel and see the lives of others throughout the world and I am reminded of the bigger picture: not only do I have social responsibility but I have a personal one to and for myself, and it is important that I am living my life trying to make a difference in the lives that I touch.

All that being said, since I was a little girl living in Nicaragua, I’ve been amazed to see people living in poverty as some of the happiest and mentally sane people I have ever met.  I am still to this day in awe of the happiness that can exude from the energies of people I meet all over the world, people who have nothing, people who work harder than anything I have ever seen, living real & true happiness.  Now, of course, with poverty comes many intense and real problems.  These are the problems in which I feel a real responsibility to acknowledge in both my company and my personal beliefs.  I am in a position and have been in a position where I can literally participate in the movement to make a difference and it is important to me that I do not forget this responsibility.

The Fair Trade movement seems like it would just be a given in our world, as practices like fair pricing, fair labor conditions, direct trading options, transparent & democratic organizations, community development & give back programs, and environmental sustainability just seem to make sense, it just doesn’t seem to be sane that we would have to fight for these topics to be a real part of our lives both here in the USA and abroad.  We battle everyday at making these relatively simple concepts become a part of our reality and a reality in the produce world. We cannot say that it is an easy process, in fact I joke a lot when people tell me how wonderful my job is as they see my traveling, that most of what I do each day is fighting for money for the growers.

Here is an example; we are in the midst of selling organic blueberries these days from Holland. There is a massive blueberry shortage and some of our growers in Holland just happen to have some, so we began to sell them.  We had a customer– a wholesale broker– buy a few pallets and claim that they were no good, and that they were going to give us PAS (price after sale) which basically means we will sell them and whatever we get back minus what we want to take we will give you, this is a relatively common practice and a nightmare for growers.  We said no. We refuse to let the grower suffer by not having any guidelines. The customer refused to give the shipment back and claimed that they were going to give us a “fair” price. The word fair seems obvious to me, but the sad part is that it is one of those words that in reality is extremely vague and extremely open to interpretation.  Despite the fact that Fair Trade has strict regulations and certifying, the overall execution of Fair Trade still lacks the real Fairness that is truly necessary.  My trip to Peru was another eye opener and reminder of this.  To see and speak and eat with the people gives us a better idea of their true reality.  In the world of mangoes, the market is falling and falling the organic pricing structures are barely above conventional prices and mango growers are struggling more than ever. There are many myths  about why… some preach over-supply, some preach too many organics (is that possible really to have too many organics?) but the reality is that the price to the end user the person at the grocery store has continued to rise, yet the prices to the growers, continues to decrease year after year, to a point where it is almost impossible to compete selling a Fair Trade mango. 

When you get the opportunity to sit and hear the stories of the growers, whether they are organic mango growers in Peru or upstate apple growers in NY, the plight of the farmer is sacred one as far as I am concerned.  We are so disconnected from our food source these days that it is crucial for us to understand our own social responsibility.  For me, my job and my business gives me direct access everyday to the opportunity to contribute to making a difference to the lives of many in the agricultural world and the plant.  I take my own social and personal responsibility on the subject very seriously and am positive that more and more people will continue to jump on this bandwagon and help make a difference.

Learn more about FAIR TRADE and what it means and learn where you can make a difference and a positive social impact on the lives of many more than just you and your immediate surroundings!

http://www.transfairusa.org/content/Downloads/devo-impact-brochure.pdf

Artistry & Creativity & Imagination

Thinking is art. I am a thinker, a creative thinker.  I am an artist.  It took me over 30 years to really believe this with passion and conviction as I do today. What took my so long and why was it such a stretch for me to imagine and believe that I was indeed an artist?  I am currently in Tel Aviv and it has been a long time since I have been here, probably not as long as one would think as I travel here often, but it’s been a while, 6 months to be exact.   I have always reveled in the amazing artistry of the people here. Since the beginning to my travels to Israel, I have witnessed in awe the creativity in life and how it transforms into the culture, the arts, the way people dress, the way they decorate and the music they make.   My awe is targeted in this case to the artistry they show when it comes to food and all things food related.   They seem so naturally imaginative and creative and living with artistry in their daily lives seems like second nature. It’s almost an arrogance of fine living when it comes to food.  I am attracted to this part of Israel, even more than the food itself!  The culture as a whole lives and breathes creativity and I have had this sudden epiphany that in addition to their culture (politics and government as well) really embracing art and artistry as a major importance.  It’s the creative thinking that is embedded in them through their history that allows for this amazing way of living life and embracing art.  Here art is much more loosely defined than in the states.  I admire this trait that is somewhat common in many part of the world but taken for granted by Americans, especially when it comes to food.  We place so much emphasis still on food as a science and as a business that we forget about the artistry of it and how to utilize the details of our creative thinking in order to enhance the food we eat and the experiences around food.

Everywhere one goes here, whether it is to a five star restaurant, a shack on the beach or a Shabbat family meal in a natives home, and no matter what socio-economic class one resides in, artistry in food is prevalent throughout the culture in Israel and specifically in Tel Aviv and Jaffa.  The attention to detail is second to none and the patience that accompanies this attention to detail partners beautifully in what is essentially a creation of a harmonious life style surrounding food.  In Israel food is a not just a way of fueling the body, it is a time for appreciating, and respecting and indulging healthily and in Israel this takes time, unlike the United States where meals outside The French Laundry type of place are quick and impatient.  The Israelis can take up to two hours just sipping espressos on a weekday afternoon, a far distance from the American Starbucks to-go culture.

The experience, without even touching on the food makes for lesson in artistry.  One commonality that is seen throughout Tel Aviv and Jaffa is the location it’s self.  An ancient city combined with a new one, melded perfectly together and history and culture embedded in the architecture and décor.  Most establishments serving food take pride in the look or design, to the point where it is difficult to even focus my attention on my friends or colleagues when I am out and about, due to the fact that my eyes are wondering in lust over the artistry.  The ceilings, the floors, the lights, the tables, everything encompasses the utmost attention to detail.  Almost every place you go is as if an artist designed it.  The energy and the ambiance capture this artistry with such detail as well; it’s really hard to leave.  Even the bathrooms of most places are attended to with this same attention to detail.  Most are unisex with a communal washing area, and most are not only unbelievably clean but artistically designed.  There are several restaurants and coffee shops that I always tell my American travel companions that they must see and I have to admit, I have several pictures of yes, bathrooms at restaurants in Tel Aviv and Jaffa.

The food and the way the food takes center stage in the lives of the folks who live in Tel Aviv and Jaffa are as uniquely artistic as the design.  The open air markets display the fruits and vegetables as I have never seen before and I have traveled extensively throughout the world.  Pomegranates peeled back exposing the bursting seeds and all their glistening glory.  Olives piled up so high in bowls they seem to defy gravity and walls of herbs of green heavens abound the stalls.  Walking through the market it is hard for me to shop as I mainly just sit in awe of the spectacular visions of art, the sellers have made with their foodstuffs.  In the restaurants and food carts it is the same, everything displayed as if it was an exhibition.  Now the irony here is there is not a compromise in flavor of the food or fruits or vegetables.  We here in the USA often see the kind of places that focus so much attention to food as art that they miss the real true mark and that is in flavor. Fresh squeezed pomegranate juice made before your eyes with the freshest of fruit, with the most unique tools and the best precision and form, the nuts are roasted before your eyes and the spices sifted.  The smells the sights and the sounds are everything food and culture, it is remarkable and it is art.   This is the really unique point I make with Israel, they simply do not miss a beat.  Every single element that can be thought of (and more) is recognized and in the end, the creativity of thought has made food and the food scene an art.

My father is a builder, a genius builder, he thinks, he designs and he builds; he is an artist.  My brother is a sculptor, he imagines, he thinks, he sculpts, he is an artist.  My sister in law is a painter, she dreams, she thinks, she paints, she is an artist.  My niece is a writer, she conjures, she thinks, she writes, she is an artist.  My friend is a musician, he feels, he thinks, he composes, he plays, he is an artist.  My entire life I battled with feeling as if I was an artist, my soul resonating with the creativity, the imagination and the freedom that it takes to create “art” yet my world didn’t recognize what I did as art.  Traveling the world and particularly in Israel has lead me to a path where I am solid in my own conviction of my own true artistry.    I am a food & food culture artist.  I see, I smell, I taste, I indulge, I dream, I conjure, I test, I trial, I watch, I listen, I dream,  I think, I create….my medium is simply with food and food culture.

As my few readers have probably been able to absorb form my blogs (I think 5 so far!) I usually have a theme surrounding each entry. Basically, I sit down with the pressure of the blog, trying to determine what in my life is happening now that is both substantial and interesting.  I typically think of a buzz word that sums it up, and although the buzz word is never specifically mentioned, it sets the tone for most of what I have to say.  It certainly keeps me on track, as I have an innate tendency to move around rapidly and without much detail in my path. The buzzword in my head directs these blogs to what I hope is a more specific message, while still letting you see the real me, which is very much indeed a lady who is all over the place!

Some of my past buzz words and themes have been directly connected to my travels or important events that are somewhat easy to write about, but the in-between times are a bit more difficult as life has the tendency to appear mundane.  But when you really look, or better, I should say when you really listen and feel what life is giving you in each moment, it is much more interesting than at first glance.  The initial blog was about keeping my eyes, heart and mind open, an inspiration from a summer spent in Tel Aviv and traveling all around Israel and for the first time in many years. Then there was the blog that focused on new beginnings and dreams, centered on the opening of the culinary center, making and leaving friends, and dealing with many important issues in my life at that time.  I covered themes such as appreciation when my travels through Mexico recently for work and fun allowed me to remember yet again how life shares with me all the uniqueness it has to offer and how I am grateful that I continue to take risks that allow me these experiences.  I covered relaxation and getting away from it all last month, but the truth is I was so successful at it that I never got around to posting the actual blog.  My get-away to Miami to finish the Summer Herb Blurbs and the Blog was a big eye opener, in that sometimes we must let go and move on, and in more ways than one this little getaway trip did just that.

So all that being said, what is this month’s theme?  When I sat down to write (which is right now!),  I started to just feel inspired by all the rest, like there was this little rocky trail or path that I have been following that really lead me to right here.  So where is here?  Here is a place where I feel refreshed and rejuvenated, not so much physically as mentally, and not only in my professional life but my personal life.  Life seems to be leading me to a place I have been trying to get to for a while, one that has been hard to get to while running the grand ole Ger-Nis empire, a place where inspiration meets preparedness.  I think I am finally closer than ever to being prepared to be inspired in the best ways possible.  By people, by events, by simple acts of kindness, by gentle sounds and by all that I get to be a part of in life.

I have had the grand pleasure in life lately of meeting some of the most interesting people doing some of the most interesting things, and I feel truly inspired by all of them and all that they do.  There is a new found gentle recognition in me that leads me to be more of a witness and less of a leader. It is indeed a strange place for an ARIES and lady of my “bossy” character, but it is also a  place I am slowly feeling more comfortable in.  From that place I am beginning to attract people that fit into this new scheme, people who are truly inspiring me to be a better person overall both professionally and personally.

I guess in the end, this is the true point of inspiration. It can come from anywhere but when it is allowed in, it has the power to accomplish major changes for the better.  Who can complain about this?  So enjoy the theme behind this month’s blog—Inspiration.  Hopefully you too will learn to look around a bit deeper and with gentle conviction move to greater places!

Its true there are times when my work in its entirety in the situational occurrences of daily problems, hassles, issues, emotions, and in general simplicity can be quite irritating and certainly at times boring. 

In the world of produce whether it be organic and fair-trade or conventional as I have said a million times we like everyone else in the bulk of our days are “PAPER PUSHERS”.  Not a job I ever saw myself doing but as a lady with a good work ethic I do it diligently and with great detail.  For sure like every job there is a silver lining.  My silver lining is the travel I get to do an not only just the travel, but the people I get to see & meet and the places that I seek out along the way.  I have a philosophy when it comes to travel, when you travel far for work, seek out pleasure and learning in the same area, just for the heck of it.  And thus no matter how busy I get or how much I have to do I always allow myself to not only go off the beaten path of work but to stay a little longer in the place of work, get to know the people I am working with from a far a little longer and enjoy the culture to which I am visiting.

So as all my blogs thus far seem to have a theme for me not only in the experiences I am living but the learning that goes along with it.  This one is quite unique at a quite a unique time for me.  You see I happen to be in the midst of some growing pains, yes still growing at 37 years of age!  Life is not always as simple as we would like it to be, it’s not always laying the exact path we want it to but if we look clearly we can see the direction it wants us to go and I believe our job is to hear this call, and follow it, it leads to more growth and happy times for sure.  This latest journey took me to 3 different state sin Mexico for not only what was some amazing work we do, but the journey took me to parts of myself that apparently I could only discover while in the middle of Mexico, enjoying life and witnessing others doing the same.  Since I was a little girl living in Nicaragua, I have been consumed by watching others in the world happy and content with so little, it is a marvel I have and an ideal I wish was more coveted in my own land.  This latest journey was a reminder of how simple life really is and how happiness is simply a state of mind that yes is sometimes difficult to remember but truly not so difficult to achieve.

So whether it in Barra de la Cruz watching the professional surfers, or in Uruapan with the small blackberry growers, or in Morelia watching people just be, the moral of the trip was contentness and capturing the moment in front of you and in some cases like the surfers, don’t be afraid to go all across the world just because there are good waves.  Follow the direction of moving ahead in life, that is what I learned, don’t fall into the rut of negative energy, we are paper pushers some days and we are world explorers the next!

While the idea of the blog was truly to highlight all the amazing places in the world I find myself traveling to for business and pleasure, this month I have decided to take a little detour and and write about my own transplant backyard of Brooklyn.  While I had originally been excited to write about the food and culture that I recently experienced in Berlin and in Panama, those places will have to wait as I think truly this month, MAY, Brooklyn has indeed called and with that calling I have witnessed some of the most amazing food and culture right here in my own backyard.

While certainly this month in Brooklyn has been inspired by the events that have led up to my new Culinary & Herb Center opening that we had in April,  its been the process of promoting, marketing and spreading the word on the center that has led me to meet incredible people doing incredible things right here in Brooklyn.  The amount of support and inquisitiveness from the local food scene we are experiencing has been incredible. 

I cannot deny either the repetitive theme that pops up in most my blogs and that is family and friends and sharing experiences with them, in this case my entire family coming to Brooklyn and many of my closest friends and colleagues in business traveling from all parts of the country and a few from far off in the world  to basically experience the food and culture of Brooklyn.  The irony for me is realizing that all I seek out in the world and all I want to share with the world about food and culture all around our globe can also be experienced right here in Brooklyn and in our case in our very own center. 

Brooklyn has been one of the greatest experiences of my life.  I moved here eight years ago to take a job managing the supply and sales of Israeli fresh herbs for an Israeli company with an office in Queens, NY.  A southern California native, with extensive travels throughout most of the USA and México and Central America, I had never been to the east coast before I moved here!  Moved here blindly, found a place right on Prospect Park in Park Slope (8 years later I still live in the same place!) and have been in love with the place since. It was the first place I ever felt comfortable really comfortable in my skin.  Despite the millions of issues that arose within me after moving here from California, TRASH FLYING THROUGH THE AIR, PEOPLE AGGRESIVLY DRIVING AND CUSSING, THE SHEER AMOUNT OF PEOPLE EVERYWHERE, PEOPLE PUSHING WALKING DOWN THE STREET, VERY LITTLE EYE CONTACT, I had never felt so at home.  I still cant get used to the trash issue, I love driving aggressively and cussing, I love the amount of people, I can be a little pushy walking down the street and I still make eye contact, but what I love most is that it was the first place I felt like I was living in a part of the world, versus living in a particular state or country for that matter.  The diversity of people, languages, opportunities and sheer location (an epicenter of the world), has made NYC one of the most intriguing places to live food and culture wise.  I will admit I rarely go into Manhattan.   There is little reason to in the end, Brooklyn offers everything I need and it fills my food and culture soul up so completely and I have only just begun to witness it all.  The evolution of change that is occurring in Brooklyn and particularly in the food scene will keep me occupied for a long time.

The basic point being that I learned a valuable lesson this past month in Brooklyn, I can travel the world and go off the beaten path and into people homes and witness the diversity spanning the globe, but I must not forget that I can also experience it wherever I find myself.  Its more than just keeping your eyes open its keeping the limitations to your own judgment open, which is the basic element I try to promote while speaking about food and culture of other parts of the world.  I have to admit I find myself prejudice to my own countries food and culture sometimes and forget what an incredible food and culture scene I live.  I will do my best to no longer take Brooklyn, New York and the USA for granted in this manner!!  Now this doesn’t mean I’m not heading out around the globe again, on the contrary I will travel the globe more than ever and when I am here you will not find me complacent, I will be out and about adventuring the food scene in my own back yard!