HIT YOUR 6 ON ROUTE KINGSTON KICKS!!! Escapade # 11 – JAS Farmers’ Market (Agro 2014) at Hope, JC grounds, May 31

Recent Farmers’ Market New Kingston – Gleaner

GMOing has been going on for millenia …….’Birds Do It, Bees Do It …Even Educated..’.

But there’s GMO…& then there’s GMO… We got ortaniques by GMOing (grafting – some loss of genetic material – seeds don’t grow) we also get all our imported soy from Monsanto’s dark arts  (gene splicing, major loss of genetic material & nutrients & disease causing) such that ‘Monstertanto’ makes us ill with it… there’s a difference.  In  the era of Monstertanto whose GMOed and chemically treated seed make up 90% of the world’s seed trade, Dominica is officially organic and Bayern is officially non-GMO… Mexico, France & Hawaii have followed suit and India is battling to keep Monstertanto out of its rice paddies.  So what can we do to save ourselves?  Politics aside, follow Mr. Tufton’s lead … and let’s all go to Farmers’ Markets – still common all over Europe and something of a persistent ‘rebel movement’ in North America … land of the supermarket.  In the last 100 years soil nutrients have been depleted by over 50% and food nutrient values decreased at even higher percentages.

What’s the good of a farmer’s market?   Well, in Jamaica, not all problems are solved by them, but here’re some really good reasons to patronise them:

1) Great prices & the middle man is cut out so all money to farmer

2) you can get more full nutrient, non-GMOed food

3) you eat local and help cut the import bill

4) you cut the carbon footprint

5) you cut packaging pollution

6) you have greater control over what you eat (talking to farmer can tell you how he farms and whether you want to buy his fare based on his practices)

Here’s what you should look for:

1)  Indigenous and wild crops –  they’re non-GMO, less pesticides – (some farmers spray their yams, etc) no growth retardants (all American potatoes sprayed with it from mass producers unless organic)

2) Leafy vegetables with holes in them (no or less pesticides which even insects don’t eat)

3) Buy Michael Fox’s & anybody else’s organic greens & foods (if there). In Jamaica though, not all organic is organic, the farmer just thinks so…

6) Find someone whose eggs are very little, the yolk is huge and nearly blood red & tastes like butter (lot’s of excellent fat) – these are mostly organic eggs

7) Buy New Zealand whole milk dairy – All American dairy has bovine growth hormone unless stated otherwise or 100% organic, better yet, buy raw whole milk if anyone is selling it and boil it yourself.  By the way, after age 5, all dairy you consume ought to be fermented.

8) Buy grape and ox heart tomatoes, most plummies are GMOed and pesticide sprayed

9) buy coconut oil that ‘sleeps’ –  best for your brains, frying and your gut – very virgin burns easier though, don’t let it, all burnt oil carcinogenic.

10) Buy Heritage/heritage (a brand and also all non-GMO generic) seed and create/grow your own from heritage stock you grow

11) Find non-GMO big, smellie pawpaws and pines, full nutrient complement – all small pawpaws and the new Jamaica Producers pines GMOed

12) Don’t waste your money – Buy your alkaline water from the Roquefort Bath head spring, 300 dollars to go in and fill all the bottles you like – one glass per day

13) Buy fish 2lbs and under in weight – above that heightens mercury exposure

Cautionary Tales:

1) Developing countries, including us are often recipient users of banned ‘gift’ pesticides from the States.

2) All Jamaican corn and soy is GMOed and sprayed by Monstertanto, we are the largest per capita consumer of soy on earth leading to male impotence, gynoecomastia, premature puberty, thyroid problems, calcium uptake interference, immune breakdown, etc. etc.  Fermented organic soy is good for you & eat organic soy beans only as often as you would eat any other bean.

3) Know that all commercial gourd fruits suck up pesticides, eat them as a calculated risk or find organic ones

4) GMO does not grow (the seeds are ‘mules’ & that’s the catch, Monstertanto enslaves the contracting farmers of other countries into repeatedly buying ‘demon seed’ and suicide is becoming well known among poor farmers in Asia.  Safe GMO – like grafting & hybridisation – can be reverted by nature, unsafe gene-spliced GMO cannot, what’s lost or added is so forever)

5) Pesticides are designed NOT to wash off so wash and rinse all fruits and veggies in pure liquid castile soap and rinse well…water alone removes NOTHING

Join THE OCCUPY MONSANTO & THE FOOD REVOLUTION MOVEMENTS  ON THE WEB- MONSTERTANTO, DOW ETC ARE DEATH TO THE ENTIRE WORLD BEE POPULATION WHICH IS BEING DECIMATED, NOT TO MENTION…US

HIT YOUR SIX ON ROUTE KINGSTON KICKS – ESCAPADE No. 8 – HASHING IN JAMAICA – Get your fresh air, Make friends & Explore (nearly free :))

Have you ever ‘Hashed’?  Plenty of camaraderie, easy going exploration and fresh air quite cheaply…ballpark JA$600.  Exertion levels are graded so check with the ‘lead hares’ or website to see if the month’s tour is for you.  Depending on how far afield you go, costs rise or fall.  You wouldn’t believe the kind of people you buck up on these outings …and even the few profilers can’t bother with profiling on these tours :).  It’s been around since at least 1998 and this is RUN 411!

I’m dealing with those tours around Kingston, usually least expensive and as with all ‘Hashing’ – must go and come in a day.  It is also known that you shouldn’t really be dug out of bed at an ungodly hour on a Sunday.  The ones in Kingston might (click green) start out of Stony Hill, ( like this month’s one to Struan Castle), Jack’s Hill, Long Mountain, Hellshire…that kind of thing – can start as a trail out of somebody’s backyard if it’s one of the older rural St. Andrew homes, for example – an extension of where Kingstonians might go any given Sunday for a day outing…my favourite Kingston one was the ruinate around Strawberry Hill and then we ate back all the calories at Cafe Blue roadside :)….at our own expense.  So go mini walkabout around Kingston, get your exercise with friends and breathe fresh air on ‘Hash’.

Truth is, 1/2 of us don’t know what’s in Kingston, much less Jamaica….or the value of what we have…

Struan Castle Grounds, St. Andrew
Struan Castle Grounds, St. Andrew

KINGSTON KICKS – ESCAPADE NO. 2 – JAMAICA DEFENCE FORCE SILVER

Part of Jamaica's heritage in silver, one of two commonwealth countries granted it's own guild of silversmiths, JDF collection is from across the empire only the UK and India outdo us
Part of Jamaica’s heritage in silver, one of two commonwealth countries granted it’s own guild of silversmiths, JDF collection is from across the empire only the UK and India outdo us

ESCAPADE NO 2 – JDF SILVER
We have one of the world’s historical collections of silver here so… Some of you will be familiar with this collection and some of you know Christie’s and Southeby’s realm of antiquaria…well we have a sterling silver collection worthy of it…items are individually deemed to be worth hundreds of thousands of pounds and collectively are priceless because they are national heritage…
There is a serious significance to this collection on 3 levels
1) Our military history marks us as one of 2 nations of the Empire, whole or as in our case, part, which forced Britain to the negotiation table ….India and Jamaica via the Maroons.
2) This silver is exquisitely wrought stuff dating back to the 18oo’s at least – last and only time I saw it was when it was displayed as a special exhibit of the BBC Road Show at Devon House
3) I can’t remember for sure but I think there were a few pieces of extra special significance…i.e the items wrought by the worshipful guild of Jamaican silversmiths…again we were one of maybe 3 nations in the realm granted our own guild of smiths…. complete with the crocodile head as its stamp

Anyway the JDF military museum is open Wed to Sun 10 – 4 price 150 adults and 50 for kids
Capt Anglin in charge 920 0186

JDF website

Well the JDF silver was ‘fanastic’ as expected but they’ve not got it all under one roof yet…some in Chief of Staff’s yard, some at the regiments, etc. so we saw ‘the some’ that’s in the museum. They have their first curator now though and she’s working on it, Capt Dehaney and her ops man is Capt Anglin…run off his feet, he is…

BUT the real eye opener for me was more proof we are in the very slow process of really becoming a nation albeit we have a reputation already centuries long the half of which we don’t even know:

Eg

1) Our First Military Family, The Beeks, goes back 5 generations!!!! The old man married a nice African lady when he served with the Brits there. They still serve today…one was my Pop’s boss in the air wing

2) There was a WW II flying squadron nicknamed the ‘Jamaica Squad’ because it was nearly all Yardies!

3) One Mrs. Alexander, a most interesting woman, who met me at Camp proceeded to instruct me and the Capt assigned as our guide in what we never knew…we still have a ‘Knight of (the awful) Battle of Arnhem’ WWII living among us, got stabbed in his neck to make sure he was dead ….and lived….

4) We’ve won nough Victoria Crosses …2 … very rarely awarded for ‘valour beyond belief’ (my version of the citation :)) Grandpa told me it is the custom to salute such awardees when you pass them in the street.

5) Much as UWI has always known it and named the women’s hall after Seacole, I was thrilled to see the JDF acknowledge her as one of the earliest female battle nurses (before Florence and Florence adopted her methods and wouldn’t hire her). There’s now a cute little museum park and herbal garden in her honour…really cute…they need farming advice to get it really into gear.

6) The Montego Bay Kerr Jarretts get their status and are descended from the David Kerr who was a top dude in the British Forces here, there’s a funny looking statue of him.

7) There is a library and internet cafe for the public!!!!

GO JDF.!!!!!..How comes it has to be attached to war before all ranks of society get taught and accept teaching on self reliance, making do, discipline, pride, skills training, efficient and practical esthetics..etc etc…?