I often write about the many advantages of living in the beautiful Dordogne -- and in particular about the pleasure of being able to buy locally, fresh and seasonal. Anyone living here can be green -- it is easy to find a multitude of products to create the most delicious and nutritional meals of five star gastronomic standards. -- When I heard recently for the first time about the Slow Food movement -- first in Austria when visiting friends, then from as far as Australia where other friends had become involved with the movement, I commented that we, here in the Dordogne, have been practising the Slow Food principles -- well -- forever! It was only at that time that I discovered that the movement had in fact started in Italy, some 21 years ago and now in more than fifty countries.
The philosophy of Slow Food is:
"We all have the fundamental right to pleasure, and we are responsable for protecting a gastronomical, traditional and cultural heritage, part of this pleasure". As its name indicates, Slow Food tries to counter the concept, sadly universal, of junk food, safeguarding gasronomical traditions and becoming an international movement. Thus, when this, one of the many little e-mail titbits that comes across ones screen -- and which, normally, I do not pay these much attention, it grabbed my attention immediately -- it is clever and useful and very much in line with my chosen lifestyle -- close to- and in the cycles of nature, aspiring to a healthier and more natural way of eating and living. Read and enjoy -- and learn -- and when next you go to the little farmers' market to buy your natural, seasonal, organically - and locally grown - and - unpackaged! food, put this little list into your basket and make sure you take as many as possible of these products home with you!
Nature left us a great clue as to what foods help what part of our body! Creation's Pharmacy! Amazing!
A sliced Carrot looks like the human eye. The pupil, iris and radiating lines look just like the human eye... and YES, science now shows carrots greatly enhance blood flow to and function of the eyes.
A Tomato has four chambers and is red. The heart has four chambers and is red. All of the research shows tomatoes are loaded with lycopine and are indeed pure heart and blood food.
Grapes hang in a cluster that has the shape of the heart. Each grape looks like a blood cell and all of the research today shows grapes are also profound heart and blood vitalizing food.
A Walnut looks like a little brain, a left and right hemisphere, upper cerebrums and lower cerebellums. Even the wrinkles or folds on the nut are just like the neo-cortex. We now know walnuts help develop more than three (3) dozen neuron-transmitters for brain function.
Kidney Beans actually heal and help maintain kidney function and yes, they look exactly like the human kidneys.
Celery, Bok Choy, Rhubarb and many more look just like bones. These foods specifically target bone strength. Bones are 23% sodium and these foods are 23% sodium. If you don't have enough sodium in your diet, the body pulls it from the bones, thus making them weak. These foods replenish the skeletal needs of the body.
Avocadoes, Eggplant and Pears target the health and function of the womb and cervix of the female - they look just like these organs. Today's research shows that when a woman eats one avocado a week, it balances hormones, sheds unwanted birth weight, and prevents cervical cancers. And how profound is this? It takes exactly nine (9) months to grow an avocado from blossom to ripened fruit. There are over 14,000 photolytic chemical constituents of nutrition in each one of these foods (mo dern science has only studied and named about 141 of them).
Figs are full of seeds and hang in twos when they grow. Figs increase the mobility of male sperm and increase the numbers of Sperm as well to overcome male sterility.
Sweet Potatoes look like the pancreas and actually balance the glycemic index of diabetics.
Olives assist the health and function of the ovaries
Oranges, Grapefruits, and other Citrus fruits look just l ike the mammary glands of the female and actually assist the health of the breasts and the movement of lymph in and out of the breasts.
Onions look like the body's cells. Today's research shows onions help clear waste materials from all of the body cells. They even produce tears which wash the epithelial layers of the eyes. A working companion, Garlic, also helps eliminate waste materials and dangerous free radicals from the body.Where to get your fresh products in the DordogneThe French country market is an event not to be missed. You can rub shoulders with the locals who come to meet their friends while doing their weekly shopping and indulge in a feast of fine food. You will discover everything from fresh oysters or mussels or fish brought that morning from Arcachon, to home made cheeses, delicious foie gras, a hundred different kinds of dry sausages, truffles, giant mushrooms freshly picked in the surrounding forests, and an array of nut oil and olives. The market abounds in dew covered vegetables and fruit, every kind of meat, cut flowers and interesting plants, books, textiles, pottery, handicrafts. The list goes on, and you can be sure to discover something that will either take your breath away or make you laugh, but most certainly will give you pleasure.
Make it a full day’s outing, or combine it with sightseeing in the area, taking a closer look at the market town or village, enjoy a picnic lunch on the banks of the river, an afternoon of wine tasting, or simply a leisurely few hours sitting at a little café, sipping the house wine, soaking in the local way of life and watching the world go by.
Here are some of the markets in the area -- each town and village has interesting places to visit as well:Monday Beynac, St Alvere (main truffle market), Les Eyzies
Tuesday Beaumont, Bergerac (organic market), Brantome (July and August), Le Bugue, Riberac, Tremolat
Wednesday Biron, Cadouin, Bergerac, Cahors, Sarlat, Perigeux
Thursday Lalinde (main market day), Domme, Monpazier, Mouleydier, Brive
Friday Brantome, Bergerac, Brantome (all day), Sigoules, Le buisson, Souillac, Riberac
Saturday Sarlat, Lalinde (smaller market), Beaumont, Belves, Bergerac, Le Bugue, Bergerac, Perigeux
Sunday Issigeac, Bergerac, Brantome, Couze, Creysse
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Relocation Orientation in France
lunch, Michael kindly invited me to join him at the potters' lunch table under the trees where we shared our food and wine and had fascinating conversations with the rest of the potters. 
