63 Preview

yes! Powerful Ideas,

PractIcal actIons

fall 2012

HOW TO TAKE CHARGE OF THE THING THAT MATTERS MOST

The Good Food Cure

9 Simple Steps to Better Health

(Without Joining a Gym)

Helping Doctors Slow Down and Listen

Hazards of Manhood

iT’S YOUR BODY

Novelist Alice Walker: “Go To the Places That Scare You”

Vagina Monologues’ Eve Ensler: Why Freedom Starts With a “V”

“The ChurCh says: The body is a sin.

sCienCe says: The body is a maChine.

adverTising says: The body is a business.

The body says: i am a fiesTa.”

Eduardo Galeano from Walking Words

photo by MohaMMad MoniruzzaMan

yesmagazine.org : : yes! fall 2012yes! fall 2012 : : yesmagazine.org 2 3

18Why Your Health Is Bigger Than Your BodyThe new science that explains how politics, economics, and ecology can help or hurt our bodies, and how we can fix an unhealthy world. By Claudia Rowe

23 : : Just the Facts: Poverty, obesity, and diabetes 32

THe MIssIon of Yes!is to support you in building a just and sustainable world. In each issue we focus on a different theme through these lenses:

NEW VISIONSSolving today’s big problems will take

more than a quick fix. These authors

offer clarity about the roots of our

problems and visions of a better way.

WORLD & COMMUNITYNew models that foster justice and

real prosperity, and sustain the Earth’s

living systems. How can we bring these

models to life and put them to work?

THE POWER OF ONEStories of people who find their courage,

open their hearts, and discover what it

means to be human in today’s world.

BREAKING OPENHumor, storytelling, and the arts—

taking you into unexpected spaces

where business-as-usual breaks open

into new possibilities.

THE ISSUE 63 THEME

31Tribe Revives Traditional DietIn a handful of berries, a reminder of our cultural roots. By Kim Eckart

24

17 GUIDE TO THE THEME SECTION

IT’S YOUR BODY

photo by RichaRd tibbitts

326 Ways Communities Put Health firstFrom play space for kids to AIDS activism: the fight against disease goes grassroots. By Stuart Glascock

21sins of the fleshTheater troupe Sins Invalid celebrates the sensuality of all bodies—not just the “perfect” ones. By Sven Eberlein

27The Good food CureWhat happens when the Motor City transforms itself into the capital of grow-your-own food. By Larry Gabriel

24Your Body, of Water A storyteller asks what you’d do if you knew your body was part of the water web. By Jourdan Keith

35Graceful exit Breaking the silence about what happens when we’re dying. By Claudia Rowe


ISSUE 63

Valerie Schloredt: Over the past few days I’ve been immersed in your work, and I’ve been wondering how you do it. Being able to move someone to tears with a few words on a page is extraordinary to me.

Alice Walker: I want very much for you to feel for whoever I’m talking about, or whatever I’m talking about. Because it is only by empathy being aroused that we change. That is the power of writing. I’ve experienced exactly what you’re saying, reading other writers. I remember the book I first had that experience with was Jane Eyre, being right there with Jane, and understanding, yes, we have to change these horrible institutions where they abuse chil-dren. Today, I’m the supporter of an orphanage in Kenya. And one of the reasons comes from having been so moved by reading about Jane at Lowood.

Schloredt: It’s interesting to hear about what you read as a child, because some of your best-known work, like The Color Purple, draws on the stories of your ancestors and your family and aspects of the world you knew as a child.

Walker: I think the foundation of everything in my life is wonder. We were way out in the country, and why wouldn’t you just absolutely wonder at the splendor of nature? It’s true I had various sufferings, but nothing really compares to understanding that you live in a place that, moment by moment, is incredible. That your mother could say, “I think we’ll have tea tonight,” pull up a sassafras root, take it home, boil it, and you have sassafras tea. I mean, it’s such a miraculous universe. For a child, this magic is something that supports us, even through the hard times.

Schloredt: Do you go back to your childhood home?

Walker: It doesn’t exist.

Schloredt: No?

Walker: No. And there were many of them. We lived in shacks. Each year the people who owned the land (that they had stolen from the Indians), after they had taken the labor for the year, forced us to another shack. How could people do that, to people that they recognized as people? They did this to babies, they did this to small children, they could look at the people they were exploiting and actually see that they were working them into ill health and early death. It didn’t stop them.

The most beautiful parts of the area that I lived in are now an enclave of upper-class white housing tracts with a huge golf course. They built a road that went right through the front yard of our church. Most of the people moved to cities, they moved to projects. So, it doesn’t exist.

Interviewed by Valerie Schloredt

Alice Walker is a poet, essayist, and commentator, but she’s best known for her prodigious accomplishments as a writer of liter-ary fiction. Her novel The Color Purple won the Pulitzer Prize and National Book Award in 1983 and quickly became a classic of world litera-ture. Set in an African-American community in the rural South during the decades before World War II, the novel is told in letters writ-ten by Celie, a woman who survives oppression and abuse with her spirit not only intact, but transcendent.

Walker’s writing is characterized by an ever-present awareness of injustice and inequality. But whether describing political struggle—as in Meridian, which deals with the civil rights move-ment—or meditating on the human relation-ship to nature and animals, as in her latest book, The Chicken Chronicles, her work conveys the possibility of change. In Walker’s vision, grace is available through love and a deep connection to the beauty of the world.

Walker was born in the segregated South, the eighth child in a family who made their living as sharecroppers in Georgia. She came of age during the civil rights movement, and emerged early in her career as a defining voice in femi-nism and an advocate for African-American women writers. She is a prominent activist who has worked, marched, traveled, and spoken out to support the causes of justice, peace, and the welfare of the earth.

Alice Walker spoke to YES! about the chal-lenges of working for change, and the possibility of living with awareness—and joy. »

photo by harlEy SoltES for yES! magazInE


“The foundation of everything in my life is wonder.”

Alice WalkerYES! Interviews


ISSUE 63 It’s Your Body

World BodyOne heretical doctor dares to connect the dots:

the human body, the natural world, industrial environment, and socioeconomic class

photo by jUlIE Urban


Talking with Dr. Ted Schettler is probably unlike

any conversation you have had with your physician. Raise the

topic of breast cancer or diabetes or dementia, and Schettler starts talking about

income disparities, industrial farming, and campaign finance reform.

The Harvard-educated physician, frustrated by the limitations of science in combat-

ing disease, believes that finding answers to the most persistent medical challenges

of our time—conditions that now threaten to overwhelm our health care system—

depends on understanding the human body as a system nested within a series of

other, larger systems: one’s family and community, environment, culture, and socio-

economic class, all of which affect each other.

It is a complex, even daunting view—where does one begin when trying to solve

problems this way?

»

Claudia Rowe

photo by jUlIE Urban

Schettler is an exceedingly logi-cal thinker, and his vision for a more evolved kind of health care came from the down-to-earth experience of helping to clean clam flats along the St. George River in Maine during the 1980s. “I was living and practicing on the coast there, and working with a local organization to clean up the river because we had these rich clam flats that had been closed for years because of periodic spikes of E. coli. If anyone ate the clams they would get very sick.”

Meanwhile, paper mills were dump-ing dioxins into other rivers nearby, and Schettler learned that fish from those rivers sometimes had even higher chemical levels than fish caught in urban harbors. But factory bosses claimed that regulating waste from the pulp mills would cost community jobs, which prompted dozens of young fac-tory workers to protest. Schettler, despite being steeped in traditional medicine, was unable to ignore these interrelation-ships: a degraded natural environment, a precarious local economy, and peren-nially sick people. “These things—the effect of the environment on peoples’ health—were never discussed at the medical conferences,” he said. “So it

caused in me a major re-examination.”Schettler went back to school, earned

a master’s degree in public health, and began applying a scientist’s rigor to his wide-ranging pool of interests. Since then, he has researched connections between poverty, iron deficiency, and lead poisoning; insecticide use, Parkin-son’s, and Alzheimer’s disease; income disparities and asthma.

He calls this new approach to medicine “the ecological paradigm of health.”

“It sounds like tree-huggers or some-thing,” Schettler said in an interview. “But I mean ‘ecological’ in the sense that there are these multiple systems, one within the other—a family within a community, within a society, within a culture—and that’s the way ecolo-gists tend to talk about ecosystems. It’s accepting up front that humans do not stand apart from the environment. We’re a major species, along with the mosquitoes and fish and trees and bac-teria. And there are all of these wonder-ful interrelationships.”

Our Health and Ecosystem HealthCurrently getting over a case of

Lyme disease, Schettler notes that the



Poet and Performance Artist

Jourdan Keith

You are a body of water. If you knew this, would you protect yourself? The water in your body is part of the water cycle and connected to every other body of water. If you knew this, would you want to protect all the bodies of water on the planet?

Human Estuaries

photo by RIchaRd tIbbIttS

Imagine Your Body as the Environment


I would ask my father this, if he were still alive, if his internal environment had not been polluted by the tributaries of toxins that flowed into his six-foot frame.

Standing in his hospital room, he handed me a note the doctor gave him, a small piece of white paper with the risk factors for his cancer. It was a checklist: saccharin in the products he used because he was a diabetic, asbes-tos in his childhood home and work-place, the cigarettes he’d quit smoking decades earlier, and the chlorinated tap water he drank for over 40 years. Look-ing up at him I said, “Well, you didn’t miss a beat.”

My father was a body of water. Like the rest of us, he was an estuary. We are 77 percent water at birth, and just as the land delineates the boundaries of the sea, our skin delineates the bound-aries of our internal waters. Our bodies are like the planet’s estuaries—the bays, fjords, and sounds where fresh water surrounded by land meets the sea. We can protect what flows into us from the surrounding environment the way we protect the streams that flow into the planet’s estauries.

Just as contaminants pass through the soil and enter the water, so the con-taminants we put on our skin enter our bloodstream. We know that we should not ingest estrogen-mimicking chemi-cals like BPA, but are less aware that our body’s largest organ, with its ample blood supply, is remarkably efficient at absorption. Ingesting or inhaling

toxins may produce an acute response, but absorbing the parabens in lotions, hairspray, make-up, shampoo, and clean-ing solvents through the skin is often overlooked—until an illness develops.

The paper my father handed me was carefully phrased. Risk factors, not causes, were listed for his bladder can-cer. No single entity could be pointed to or held liable for his illness. As with the pollution that flows off roadways into our nation’s estuaries from our cars, lawns, and farms, everyone is responsi-ble but no one is culpable. His first risk was when, as a boy with skinned knees and elbows, my father beat the pipes in the basement of his West Philadelphia home to let the powdery asbestos fall on his skin like snow.

As a young man he began to smoke long slim cigarettes packaged in a golden wrapper. In the late 1960s the surgeon general’s announcement about the hazards of smoking filled the screen of our black and white TV, the warning repeated as men rocketed to the moon. Lung cancer could kill you. I was five years old, and used my voice to tug at him. “Daddy, if you love us, you’ll quit.” He did, eliminating one location at a time where he allowed himself to smoke, first our house, then the car. The last refuge was his office.

My father worked a white-collar job, as a real estate assessor for the city of Philadelphia. In 1986 his office tempo-rarily moved from City Hall’s annex so that asbestos abatement could be done. He had worked for there for decades. By the time my father died from bladder cancer in 1993 he had been a non-smoker for almost 27 years, but the cigarette smoke and asbestos particles he inhaled had flowed into his blood and urine streams, converging with two toxins he ingested, chlorine and saccharin. »

You are a body of water. If you knew this, would you protect yourself? The water in your body is part of the water cycle and connected to every other body of water. If you knew this, would you want to protect all the bodies of water on the planet?

photo by RIchaRd tIbbIttS

an iron sculpture by British artist antony Gormley stands in the Water of Leith, edinburgh. Commissioned by the national Galleries of Scotland, “6 times” consists of six life-sized figures situated to draw attention to the river: “For me, it’s about using the Water of Leith as a living bloodstream,” Gormley has said.

yesmagazine.org : : yes! fall 2012yes! fall 2012 : : yesmagazine.org PB 27

The Good Food CureA host of ailments can be avoided simply

with nutritious food, exercise, and fresh air. Detroit’s urban farms offer all that.

Photo by Mark MacInnIs

Wayne and Myrtle Curtis of Feedom Freedom Growers community garden

Photos by shanna Merola


ISSUE 63

Why Freedom StartS With a “V”p

ho

to

S b

y l

an

E h

ar

tw

El

l f

or

yE

S! m

ag

az

InE



»

“Nothing prepared me for vaginas,” writes eve ensler in her memoir, Insecure At Last. it was curiosity about this single word, rarely uttered in polite conversation, that led ensler to write The Vagina Monologues, the play that has over the past 15 years become a cultural phenomenon.

it began in idle conversation, when a friend disparaged her own vagina, calling it “ugly.” ensler’s initial shock over the remark turned to fascination as she began to consider how taboo the subject was. Why does the word “vagina” cause more controversy than words like “scud missile” or “plutonium”? What is hidden in our culture’s silence around women’s bodies? She interviewed hundreds of women about their vaginas and drew inspiration from their sto-ries to create a searing and honest portrayal of women’s physical and sexual experiences.

Why Freedom StartS With a “V”eve ensler

YES! Interviews

Playwright Eve Ensler talks about what happens when we distance

ourselves from our bodies, and the power of rediscovering pleasure



Ask a centenarian the secret

ingredients to a long and healthy life

and you aren’t likely to hear “doctors,

drugs, and fad diets.” We all know

that there’s more to our overall

well-being than treating symptoms

or the occasional replacement of a

part. The good news is that scientists

in various fields are discovering

ever more ways we can keep

ourselves healthy without expensive

medication and complicated

workout regimens. Here are nine

simple, scientifically proven—and

sometimes surprising—ways to

empower yourself to make the right

choices for your body and health.

—Sven Eberlein

LAUGH TO YOUR HEART’S DELIGHT

“Laughter might be one of

the only things in life that

can be done outside of mod-

eration and still reap the

benefits,” muses Dr. Michael

Miller, director of the Center

for Preventive Cardiology at

the University of Maryland

Medical Center. If you ever

LOL you don’t need proof

of the healing powers of a

good belly laugh. Dr. Miller’s

studies show that laughter

expands blood vessels,

and endorphins released

in response to laughter

activate the chemical nitric

oxide in the inner lining

of our blood vessels to

promote vascular health.

Seriously.

STUDY: “Inverse association between sense of humor and coronary heart disease”

AGE ARTFULLY

Digging the old paint brush

or the dusty guitar out of

the closet is always a good

idea. However, for aging

baby boomers, getting back

into the creative swing of

the rockin’ ’60s is a matter of

health insurance. Research

shows that seniors engaged

in activities like singing, cre-

ative writing, or painting are

healthier and happier than

those who aren’t. Whether

this boost in the immune

system is from a heightened

sense of personal growth or

from feeling more socially

engaged, it’s clear that the

body likes it when the imagi-

nation roams freely.

STUDY: “The Creativity and Aging Study”

9 Simple Steps HOW TO IMPROVE YOUR HEALTH

(WITHOUT JOINING A GYM)

yes! fall 2012 : : yesmagazine.org 40


CHAT WITH THE NEIGHBORS

People are healthier when

they have a strong, localized

community. A 50-year study

centered around Roseto,

Penn., a close-knit community

of Italian-Americans, showed

the lowest rates of heart

disease in the nation—until

the town became more

“suburbanized” in the 1960s.

Many people living in housing

cooperatives report improved

emotional and physical

health. As social animals, hav-

ing playmates is part of our

survival strategy.

STUDY: “The Roseto effect”

SCRUB WITHOUT TOXICS

There are alternatives to

toxic household products like

bleach. A University of Florida

study found that a mixture

of vinegar, lemon juice, and

baking soda significantly

reduces bacteria. Good

Housekeeping microbiologist

Gina Marino put it to the test

and was impressed with how

well vinegar worked in fight-

ing germs and mold. Adding

a little elbow grease on the

tough spots helps keep your

gym dues low. STUDY: “Bacterial Reduction Test on Food Surfaces”

EAT YOUR CAROTENOIDS

It’s no secret that people feel

good when they look good.

New evidence suggests

that fruits and vegetables,

in addition to their many

other benefits, give our skin

a healthful glow. Scottish

researchers found that eat-

ing lots of carotenoid-rich

fruits and veggies like kale,

cabbage, broccoli, tomatoes,

peppers, or peaches gives

our skin a slightly yellower

tone, making us look—and

feel—healthier and more

attractive. If it works for pal-

lid Scots, you know it’ll work

for the rest of us.

STUDY: “You Are What You Eat”

GET A MASSAGE

You can never go wrong with

a massage, but research

shows significant benefits for

overall health. Tiffany Field of

the Touch Research Institute

says massage therapy slows

the heart rate and lowers

blood pressure and stress hor-

mones. The decrease in stress

hormones increases your

body’s natural killer cells,

which ward off viruses, bac-

teria, and cancer cells. “We’re

finding biological changes

associated with a single

massage session,” says Mark

Rapaport, Chief of Psychiatry

at Emory University School

of Medicine. Added bonus for

massages from loved ones:

good for body, mind, relation-

ship, and wallet.

STUDY: “A Preliminary Study of the Effects of a Single Session of Swedish Massage…”

WORK WITH FRIENDS

When you’re shopping

around for a job with

great health benefits, pay

attention to the office vibe.

Israeli researchers found

that people who get along

with their co-workers in a

friendly and supportive work

environment live longer.

Note: Similar support from

the boss had no effect on

mortality, so get acquainted

with your peers before

accepting the job.

STUDY: “Work-Based Predictors of Mortality”

SLEEp MORE

Become a dream catcher and

stop being a weight watcher.

According to researcher Wil-

liam Killgore, when people

get less sleep they tend to

feel more hungry and to

crave carbohydrates, par-

ticularly sweets. “If a person

feels excessively sleepy,”

says Killgore, “it’s likely that

they haven’t been getting

adequate sleep and may be

prone toward eating more

than they want to.” If you’re

plagued by frequent snack

attacks, cure them with a

good night’s sleep.

STUDY: Preliminary findings, Killgore, et al., Harvard Medical School

HOpE LIKE YOUR LIFE DEpENDS ON IT

We know enough about

anxiety and depression to

drag us down for several

lifetimes, but a truly uplift-

ing new study by Harvard’s

School of Public Health

gives reasons to rejoice.

“Happy and optimistic

people with a purpose in life

tend to have a reduced risk

of cardiovascular disease,”

says researcher Julia K.

Boehm. So keep hope alive,

but remember that in the

words of the late, great

Vaclav Havel, “Hope is not

the conviction that some-

thing will turn out well, but

the certainty that some-

thing makes sense regard-

less of how it turns out.”

STUDY: “The Heart’s Content”

Full citations at: yesmagazine.org/63eberlein

To order a reprint of this poster: yesmagazine.org/posters

yesmagazine.org : : yes! fall 2012 41PHoTo BY MozES zIMAnYI , FlICKR: MonoMoSE

“Reading YES! ignites my

inner activist.”

“You are a World Power.

I am a World Power.

The evidence is on the pages

of YES!”— Makana

Music-maker, paradigm-shakerMakana

Subscribe at 800/937-4451 or YesMagazine.org

YES! Magazine paper:

100% POST-CONSUMER WASTE

processed

ChlORiNE fREE

NONPROFIT. INDEPENDENT. SUBSCRIBER-SUPPORTED.

photo bY paul dunn for YES! MagazinE

63 Preview

Documents

todays world

larry gabriel24your

better health

unhealthy world

sustainable world

world communitynew models

bodythe new science

days ive