Re: While I was washing off my cilantro, it got me thinking...

[Guest guest]

Yeah... dirt is good! Lots of bacillus species live in dirt... then there's

the minerals that make up dirt - depending on area the soil could be rich in

limestone (calcium sometimes magnesium) or clay (iron, zinc, etc).

I agree about the crunchiness though - I typically brush off what I can with

my hands under gentle running water. If I recall correctly, the natives

soaked their roots or left them in a stream bed prior to eating. Certainly

wouldn't get them as clean as good water pressure, but there's a chance it

eliminated the crunchiness.

-Lana

" There is nothing more useful than sun and salt. " - Latin proverb

On Fri, Sep 19, 2008 at 1:03 PM, Cray Fish <crayfishfeed@...> wrote:

> ....how in the world did people get their greens clean before salad

> spinners and faucets with good water pressure? I must have been

> rinsing and spinning for ten minutes to get all the dirt off. It just

> made me wonder how people, who Weston Price for example came across

> back in the day, got their food clean. There's nothing worse than the

> crunch of dirt/sand particles when you are eating. Dirt must have been

> practically a condiment to their food. Does anyone have any thoughts

> on this?

>

>

> ------------------------------------

>

>

[Guest guest]

A stream bed! That makes perfect sense. I had a feeling they did

something creative making use of their surroundings.

Wouldn't there be bad bacteria too though in this day and age? If a

farm watered their crops with municipal water, doesn't that have

bacteria in it?

>

> > ....how in the world did people get their greens clean before salad

> > spinners and faucets with good water pressure? I must have been

> > rinsing and spinning for ten minutes to get all the dirt off. It just

> > made me wonder how people, who Weston Price for example came across

> > back in the day, got their food clean. There's nothing worse than the

> > crunch of dirt/sand particles when you are eating. Dirt must have been

> > practically a condiment to their food. Does anyone have any thoughts

> > on this?

> >

> >

> > ------------------------------------

> >

> >

[Guest guest]

Personally, I'd be a lot more worried about the fluoride and chlorine from

the municipal tap than the bacteria (seeing as the aforementioned are fairly

toxic). But from what I understand, conventional farming does kill off a

lot of the soil bacteria, so you're right about there possibly being bad

bacteria in the soil nowadays. Yet another good reason to grow your own

produce...

-Lana

" There is nothing more useful than sun and salt. " - Latin proverb

On Fri, Sep 19, 2008 at 1:51 PM, Cray Fish <crayfishfeed@...> wrote:

> A stream bed! That makes perfect sense. I had a feeling they did

> something creative making use of their surroundings.

>

> Wouldn't there be bad bacteria too though in this day and age? If a

> farm watered their crops with municipal water, doesn't that have

> bacteria in it?

>

[Guest guest]

--- Lana Gibbons <lana.m.gibbons@...> wrote:

> Yeah... dirt is good! Lots of bacillus species live in dirt... then

> there's the minerals that make up dirt - depending on area the soil

> could be rich inlimestone (calcium sometimes magnesium) or clay

> (iron, zinc, etc).

Reminds me of Bourdain eating an ostrich egg with Kalihari

bushmen. They cooked the egg by pouring it into the ashes of a

smoldering fire and covering it with dirt and ashes. reported

that he didn't much care for all the dirt and ashes in the egg, but

the bushmen seemed to like it just fine

That dirt would likely have been sterilized in the fire, however.

[Guest guest]

Just last evening I was watching All Creatures Great and Small. Seigfried

washed his lettuce greens then laid then out on a dry towel. He joined the

corners of the towel together, grabbing them in his fist, then swung the towel

around in the air in small circles. :-)

Laree

.....how in the world did people get their greens clean before salad spinners and

faucets with good water pressure? I must have been rinsing and spinning for ten

minutes to get all the dirt off. It just made me wonder how people, who Weston

Price for example came across back in the day, got their food clean. There's

nothing worse than the crunch of dirt/sand particles when you are eating. Dirt

must have been practically a condiment to their food. Does anyone have any

thoughts on this?

[Guest guest]

Somebody had said they thought eating the dust may have been

beneficial. I've been wondering lately if inhaling dust may be good

too. We live in such a sterile world now, we don't get a lot of dust

blowing into our faces anymore when we're indoors. I've been having

some hayfever stuff going on and when I started sanding the walls to

paint them, of course I inhaled some of the dust. And my breathing was

better. I was wondering if it somehow gets the respiratory system " on

track " to have something it needs to cleanse out. I've noticed the

same effect after sitting by a campfire where I got some of the smoke

in my face. I felt more energetic for a few days afterward.