As you walk, you cut open and create
 that riverbed into which 
the stream 
of your descendants shall enter
and flow.

-- Nikos Kazantzakis

Photography by Denise Blasor 

MAN VERSUS NATURE

ⓒthecravingscoach.com

The earth is 4.5 billion years old but farming is actually quite
young: between 10,000 and 12,000 million years. Hard as it
may be to fathom such numbers, the essential point is this:
for the many millions of years that farming has been around,
nature has provided for mankind, often generously, other
times less so.

But now man has decided he can do better than nature:
with the help of genetic engineering, a science involving
the manipulation of the genetic makeup of organisms,
biotech companies are remaking nature to their specifications
and in so doing have spawned a leviathan industry whose
ultimate goal, it would seem, is to change all crops under
the sun.

From the start, one of the reasons given for applying this
science to food production was to make plants more impervious
to pests and tolerant to pesticides, thus expanding yields. But even
as scientists have found trickier ways of fighting pests, the promise
of reducing pesticide use has not materialized.

Instead, it has increased for even as man tries to outsmart nature,
nature fights back by developing greater resistance through the
rise of super weeds and hard-to-kill insects.

A report prepared by Professor Charles Benbrook of the Center
for Sustaining Agriculture and Natural Resources at Washington
State University found that between 1996, when genetically
engineered crops were introduced, and 2011, overall pesticide use
grew by 404 million pounds, Reuters reported in late 2012.

 "Resistant weeds have become a major problem for many farmers
reliant on GE (genetically engineered) crops,"Benbrook said. And
while insecticide use dropped 28 percent between 1996 and 2011,
it is now going up, he said.

"The relatively recent emergence and spread of insect populations
 resistant to the Bt toxins expressed in Bt corn and cotton has
 started to increase insecticide use and will continue to do so."

That is not good news.

No matter how often the public is told that pesticides are not
harmful to humans, the issue of safety is hard to dismiss especially
when crops are receiving mega doses of highly toxic chemicals.

Pesticides have been linked to a long list of ills like food allergies,
memory loss, diabetes, cancer, obesidty, developmental diseases,
infertility, Parkinson's disease, birth defects, and Alzheimer's.

Increasingly, we are also seeing the terrible effect that pesticides
are having on our ecosystem. One of the more blatant examples
involves bees.

Bee populations have been declining since 2006 and if it is cause
for concern, it's not without reason. These little creatures pollinate
two thirds of 100 crops comprising 90 percent of the world's food
supply so they play a critical role in food production.

As reported recently in the press, new research has linked the
Colony Collapse Disorder that has been killing off honeybees in
the U.S. and Europe to two pesticides of the neonicotinoid class
that are widely used in farming.

"A world without bees could struggle to sustain the global human
population of 7 billion. Our supermarkets would have half the
amount of fruit and vegetables," bbc.com said recently.

The world is an intricate interplay of all living things and each living
thing is a member of a group that depends on another for its survival.
We are all interconnected in this natural order and yet man seems
driven to disassociate himself from the rest of nature in a vain
attempt at breaking his dependence on the natural world for survival.
Thus, he has irriversibly transformed the course of nature and some,
if not many, would say it is not for the better.

There is a growing support of organic farming as the only viable
alternative to GE farming and excessive use of pesticides; this
trend is also occurring in Puerto Rico where many young people
are turning to the land as a way of living and more consumers
are looking for healthier food options.

Organic produce, though in limited amounts, can now be found
in San Juan at open farm markets like La Ventana al Mar, which
runs on the first Sunday of the month; the Mercado Agricola
Natural on the grounds of the San Juan Museum in Old San Juan,
open every Saturday morning; and La Placita Roosevelt in Hato
Rey, a pop-up market that operates on the first Sunday and the third
Sunday of the month.



☛   A SIMPLE TIP

Out of bouillon or a stock base for your favorite soup? Chop some
garlic and onions and place in a pan with a spoonful of olive oil
and generous sprinkles of your favorite herbs like basil, oregano,
thyme. Cook for about 10 minutes, or until garlic and onions are
soft and fragrant, then add enough water to cover all the additional
ingredients you will be adding to the soup. This works especially
well for a small batch of soup.

The only life worth living
was the private life.

John Updike

ATELIER NOE AMADOR

San Juan --  A small, cosy store recently opened on
Loiza Street, currently in the midst of a lively revival.
You can't miss it: it has a black and white canopy and
emblazoned on it in large white letters is the name of
the lady of the house: up and coming designer Noe Amador.

Go inside and take a peek
at the girly, flirty skirts that
she has created for her clients.
If you wore one, you'd be sure
to dance the night away or
feel like the belle of the day,
or night.

"People are seeking the retro touch
of the 50s," says Amador about the
current vogue for wide skirts.


A little black dress hanging on a rack is sexy
in just the right way, playing peek-a-boo on the
sides and the back with the help of lovely
black lace. A pair of pants receives the same
treatment: plain in front and back, lacy tease
on the sides.

The simplicity of Amador's designs is
juxposed by the fine materials employed, like
silk charmeuse or silk shantung.

"I like to work with high quality materials," she tells a visitor.

Amador's ready to wear clothes retail from $50 upward but
she will create special orders on demand. If you consider that
clothing in general is expensive these days, her prices don't
seem excessive. Besides, you are getting an item of clothing
handsewn by Amador and her team of two seamstresses.
With care, it will last a long time to be enjoyed again and again.

"People have to fall in love with my clothes," says the young
designer, a mother of two children. "Creating is my passion."

Noe Amador 
# 1804 Calle Loiza  tel. 787.428.8140

 ⓒ  2014 Lorraine Blasor    ✰All Rights Reserved☀