Weekday Vegetarian

A great way to start detoxing is to become vegan. If becoming vegan sounds like it will be really difficult, you could always become a weekday vegan or vegetarian. With an abundance of restaurant choices that are specifically vegetarian or offer vegetarian options on Guam, this is a great way to make a difference in your life:

• lower your cholesterol
• get more energy
• get rid of food addictions
• save the planet, reduce your carbon footprint
• lose some weight
• be trendy and cool
• save a little, vegetarian dishes cost less at restaurants
• love animals, treat them with respect

The first few days may be difficult as you detox off of addictive foods (sugar, starch) until you get used to eating healthy, but consider it a good challenge and stock up on healthy snacks such as whole fruits and raw nuts. Stay away from white starches and switch to brown starches in moderation. Most of your meal should consist of vegetables, followed by a bit of fruit, brown starch, and/or legumes, and finally a bit of healthy oils and raw nuts.

Don't wait until you are famished to eat, as this may cause you to cheat. Please feel free to write me if you have any questions or need help and encouragement. 

Stay healthy! 

  

Margarita's: Supporting Local Agriculture

Photo Credit: Project HotGuam.com on Flickr
Used by Creative Commons License

Margarita's Burritos and Barbeque on Pale San Vitores (Hotel Road) in Tumon, has always been vegan friendly, but they came out with a new menu a few months back and actually included a vegan section. They have a few different options, all of which include plenty of fresh veggies and their homemade black beans. When many restaurants are uncertain what vegan even means, it's refreshing to see one that not only understands the needs of the vegan diet, but goes out of their way to accommodate it.

Photo Credit: Author's Own

In addition to their tasty vegan fare, Margarita's serves mojitos made with organically grown mint, and uses a locally and organically grown herb called culantro rather than imported cilantro as a major staple. The restaurant's tomatoes, too, are grown on a small farm in Yigo. It's great to see more local businesses supporting sustainable agriculture on Guam! 

I was happy to see the following note on their new menu as well: "In our effort to reduce waste, Margarita's does not offer bottled water.We also compost our organic waste and recycle aluminum cans!" Just another reason to check them out!

Local Lettuce

As of December 10, select Payless stores, including Micronesia Mall, started selling a variety of locally-grown lettuce: Red butter, Lollo bionda, Red oak leaf, Green oak leaf, Lollo rossa, Green butter, Green butter incised leaf, and Red butter incised leaf, each for $3.99/lb. "Tri-head" (Green Oak, Lollo rossa, Lollo bionda) lettuce sells for $4.79. The lettuce is grown hydroponically, or without soil, and comes with the root system intact to supply the lettuce with nutrients after harvest. It is pesticide-free and insecticide-free. I sampled each variety and they were deliciously flavorful and fresh. A representative from the distributor told me all Payless stores would eventually start carrying the lettuce.

Try dressing the lettuce up with Thyme-Mustard Vinaigrette. Whisk the following ingredients until smooth and emulsified:
1 tbls. olive oil
2 tbls. cider vinegar
1 tsp. whole-grain mustard
1 small clove of garlic, minced
1/2 tsp. fresh thyme, finely chopped
pinch of sea salt
fresh ground pepper, as desired

Organic Farming on Guam?

The organic fruits and vegetables on Guam are flown in from the US mainland and they can be quite costly. Up until a few years ago, organic produce was not even available to us. Now they are available to us through Payless at Micronesian Mall. Though the availability can be unpredictable at times, we can find fresh organic lettuce, carrots, apples, lemons, and sometimes other items. Thanks to them, we can buy fresh organic produce on Guam.

The best organic produce would be ones that have less of a carbon footprint and grown on island.  So why don't we have any organic farms on Guam?

There are many small farms on Guam, and fresh produce can be bought at various farmers markets and road side stands around the island. According to the USDA on Guam, most local farmers use less pesticides and herbicides than produce grown in the US mailand, because local farmers are not as heavily marketed to by the large corporations selling them chemical poisons. And farmers on Guam also own their own seed stocks.

Large corporations like Monsanto and DuPont force mainland farmers to buy their genetically modified or high yielding seeds from them every planting season. They are not allowed to keep their seeds for next year, in addition to needing to purchase large amounts of pesticides and herbicides. Not only is this bad for farmers but bad for the environment. The chemicals leach into the ground water supply and poison our drinking water, land, rivers and lakes, the ocean, and ourselves; not to mention increasing erosion and decreasing biodiversity. Luckily, we are not subjected to these large corporations and their poor ethics. 

I have heard a rumor on Guam that some of the newer Asian immigrant farmers are using illegal chemicals like DDT which were brought from China. However, these accusations have never been confirmed. To combat such poisons, we should move more towards organic farming.

The USDA on Guam offers grants for organic farms that will reimburse 80-100% of the costs of running an organic farm. They also offer assistance on how to farm organically, water saving technologies, and how to prevent of soil erosion. The start-up cost and land is what you will need to begin, then save all the receipts for running the organic farm, and at the end of the year, USDA will reimburse you the money. Sounds like a win-win situation!

Please contact Ms. Jocelyn Bamba from the USDA on Guam at 735-4108 for more information.

If you have the desire to do organic farming but don't have land, please write to me and I will introduce you to someone who is interested in an organic farm partnership.  Also, if you know of an organic farm, please write to me so I can post their information.

(photo taken by Kenneth Lee)