October 17, 2008, Honey and prickly pear cactus, By Holly Yasui, A burning world issue, By Ignacio Velasco

Honey and prickly pear cactus
By Holly Yasui
October 17, 2008 San Miguel de Allende

Taste of Honey & Nopal party
Sat, Oct 25, 9am–1pm
CEDESA farm
Dolores Hidalgo
150/100 pesos

Honey not only sweetens our lives in a healthier way than refined white sugar, it also provides a livelihood for a collective of over 100 campesino families in northern Guanajuato. Beekeeping is one of the most important economic activities in this arid, sunny region, thanks to the decades-long efforts of the Centro de Desarrollo Agropecuario (CEDESA) and the regional organizations it helped found, the Beekeepers Association of Northern Guanajuato (ASANG) and Tierra Generosa.

Natural honey comes not only in the clear amber syrup most commonly sold in commercial outlets, but also in white crystals (from the nectar of mesquite flowers) and dark red (from cactus blooms). The various types of honey have subtly different tastes, as do pollen and propolis, depending upon the plants from which they are extracted. Pollen is highly nutritious, containing proteins, amino acids, carbohydrates, vitamins and minerals, which help to regenerate the cells of the body. Propolis is a resin that bees collect from tree bark and use to seal cracks in their hives. A natural antibiotic, it helps fight infections in humans.

Nopal, as the prickly pear cactus is known here, is quintessentially Mexican, emblazoned on the flag (an eagle with a serpent in its mouth perches on a nopal cactus) and ubiquitous throughout the country. The cactus pads have been used as food since pre-Hispanic times.

Nopal is beneficial in the treatment of diabetes and has anti-inflammatory effects on joints and the digestive and urinary tracts. Under the trademark Tierra Generosa, campesino families of northern Guanajuato make and market a wide variety of nopal products, including flour, pickles, jams, liquors and sweets.

These treats, which might be new to North American palates, will be available for tasting, along with different types of bee products and organic homemade bread, at the Taste of Honey & Nopal party, at which CEDESA and ASANG will share their fall harvest of honey and nopal. (There are two honey-harvesting seasons, one after the summer rains and the other before the hot drought of spring; nopal is cultivated and harvested all year round in protected “tunnels,” but warm-weather crops are more tender and less acidic than cold-weather crops). The CEDESA farm south of Dolores Hidalgo hosts the tasting.

For the past several years, CEDESA and ASANG, under the auspices of the Tierra Generosa project, have hosted tasting fairs in Dolores Hidalgo to talk with consumers about healthy natural foods and the need to take care of the environment.

The Taste of Honey & Nopal is their first effort to reach out to the English-speaking community in San Miguel. The 150-peso tickets include transportation; bilingual interpreters; a brief history of CEDESA, ASANG and Tierra Generosa; explanations of how the bee products and nopales are processed; and a discussion of water contamination, deforestation and environmentally conscious, small-scale organic agricultural practices. If you provide your own transportation the cost is 100 pesos.

Advance reservations are required for transportation, leaving San Miguel at 9am and returning at 1pm from the Mujeres Productoras store on Calzada de la Luz 42. Stop by that store or Natura (Calle Nueva 7), 11am–6pm, or Genesis (Reloj 34), 9am–7pm, Monday–Saturday to prepay your ticket. For more information, email cedesa.english@hotmail.com or call Holly Yasui at 152-8166.

Millions of people around the globe rely on wood as a source of cooking fuel. Although the use of wood is not restricted to impoverished rural communities, within these areas and in industrializing countries such as Mexico it is most prevalent.

Burning wood in open fires indoors causes a number of health problems and pollutes the local and global environment. Women and young children are the main groups exposed to indoor smoke from cooking fire, and illnesses resulting from this exposure take millions of lives every year. According to the World Health Organization, acute lower respiratory infections (ALRI) continue to be the main killer of young children, causing more than two million deaths per year.

In addition, the cost of fuel for cooking represents a significant part of the rural household income. Emissions from cooking fires and the resulting deforestation together contribute to the threat of global warming. In Mexico, 27 million people use wood as a primary energy source. Although cattle ranching and clearing for agriculture are the main causes of deforestation, the extensive use of wood fuel adds to the depletion, leading to scarcity of fuel in some communities, where wood can cost between US$5 and $10 weekly. For some families these expenses represent up to 20 percent or more of their total monthly income, and they are faced with the choice of buying wood or food. Five percent of Mexicans in this country are undernourished; this number could increase if the food budget goes toward fuel.

Mexico receives an average daily insolation of five kilowatt-hours per square meter per day during the year. With appropriate technologies, this source of renewable energy could be used for cooking. A solar cooking device call the “HotPot” is gaining popularity in several states in Mexico.

The result of international cooperation and research, it is manufactured by a company called Solar Household Energy (see www.she-inc.org/hotpot.php). It combines two traditional approaches to solar cooking, the solar oven and the focus cooker, into a strong, portable and highly efficient solar oven.

The HotPot consists of a reflector and a glass container that houses a black steel receptacle with a cooking capacity of four liters. The steel container absorbs heat and acts as an oven, reaching temperatures of up to 266ºF. Almost any kind of food can be cooked.

The goal of the HotPot’s producer is to use the proceeds of worldwide sales to subsidize the cost of HotPots for rural communities through several non-governmental organizations (NGOs).

The Mexican Fund for the Conservation of Nature (FMCN) is a high-level national environmental fund that is the main client of Integrated Logistics Solutions in Mexico. As a philanthropic organization, FMCN donates HotPots throughout Mexico through a diverse network of local NGOs. These organizations promote and distribute HotPots and train cooks to use them. They also implement the monitoring strategy designed by FMCN that will lead to this cooking technology’s becoming certified as a tool for the mitigation of carbon emissions.

HotPots can be ordered locally at the Save the Children store, Hidalgo 13.

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