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Science progress affects our daily life and "to know" means you are going to chose right, because it allows you to form your own opinion on scientific everyday issues. On the other hand, having an elegant and harmonious vision of the world where we live in leads to a feeling of intellectual satisfaction.
We believe this kind of scientific day to day knowledge should be encouraged from an early age, and that's why this project was born: science, culture, knowledge, crafts for your restless mind.

Wednesday, March 20, 2013

Why eat seasonal fruit

Eating strawberries or cherries in December is a small but expensive luxury brought to us by development. Nothing is better for the soul then smell the summer through the out of season fruit, it's like a beach walk in a hot day.
But nature is always right, and we don't have cherries in December for a reason. 
We can eat cherries all year but there is a reason that cherries grow on spring/summer and not in December. Past generation lived in tune with season, knew all the natural cycles and ate what the land gave them, was unthinkable eating persimmons in August or figs in March. Many things were conserved in several ways, primarily by cold, to be available all year, but these were limited resources.

Today we have at our disposal all we want, when we want, like we want. I even think that satisfying pregnant women wishes with never ending trips is now a myth, all we need to do is going to the market.


But eating season fruit and vegetables bring advantages to the health, the planet and to economy.
Some of the products we eat are brought from the other side of the world, some of them are season products there but they are out of season here. As a result they are picked green so they can ripe during the trip. This fact makes the fruit and vegetables poor in nutrients, the formation of sugar is linked to the sun exposure, and the vitamins are very degradable in this conditions.  

Scientists from Consumers Association of Austria confirmed that vegetables picked and frozen at the right season are richer in nutrients than the ones that were transported off-season! in http://bodyecology.com/articles/benefits_in_season.php

Of course we can not be extremists, not everyone has the opportunity to eat fruit "directly from the tree" or pick carrots "directly from the soil," it is clear that without the greenhouses we could not produce food for all inhabitants of the planet (even with them is hard)
Another important concept is food manipulation, this is just one more tool we can use to feed people, perhaps without it we would never be able to feed half of the people we are feeding now, in most of the cases most of us confuse manipulation with selection, both are valid, both are important, and both bring food to your table.
Some parts of the process we can't control, but we can try to assume control on the last bit of the process: What to buy, when to buy, and how to buy. 

Eat only 2 to 3 fruit pieces a day, fruit is rich in fructose, fructose is sugar, more then 3 pieces will mean you are ingesting to many sugar. Eating seasonal fruit is more satisfying, the fruit is sweeter, fresh and the body asks for it. It's no accident that nature produces cherries on spring and persimmons on fall, there's always a reason, for example a evolutionary reason related with the nutritional necessities of the all animals during the different seasons.


The fruits/vegetables season table is different for each globe zone, the one here is for the US territory, other tables can be found all over the internet:


Making children eat fruit and not cake as a snack, even if the fruit is out of season looks like a good habit and strategy, with more benefits then losses.

Et voilá!
Eat your vegetables... on season! its cheaper and tasteful!

Enjoy!

Origami tsuru DIY

The art of folding paper is called Origami.
Origami (etymological meaning: fold(ori) and paper(Kami)), is the art of folding paper without using instruments like scissors or glue. It´s possible to fold paper to form figures, some more complex then others, some using a single sheet some using more.

Origami was born in Japan, in middle age. This art was very formal, and was related with religious ceremonies.

The true is everyone knows how to do origami, the simple paper hat or the famous paper boat, are simple origami folding. Origami is a wonderful art that captivates everyone from 8 to 80.
 
In Japan every folded paper figure has a different and symbolic meaning. As an example:
  • Frog: symbolizes love and fertility;  
  • Turtle: symbolizes longevity; 
  • Tsuru (the bird that often symbolizes origami art), also known as grou or stork, symbolizes good luck, happiness and health.
About tsuru
Tsurus are big and beautiful birds, they are full of color and it's a sacred bird in Japan.
An hermit is a person who lives alone without any luxury. The story says that nn Japan some of this hermits lived in mountains with this birds as companions. It's said this hermits had extra human powers- they here capable to stop aging. For this reason the Tsuru is known as the "longevity bird".

Some believe that if you fold 1000 tsurus and at the same time wish something that wish will become true, other believe if you are ill you will get better as fast as the number of tsurus you fold.

Use the schema to fold your first tsuru, it's not hard just requires some skill.


Or try the movie:


Origami is recognized as an educational resource for over 100 years. The first square 15cm papers begun to appear in the third decade of the century XX (paper used nowadays to make origami).

Today, origami has been shown to be an important aid in teaching basic geometry and develop motor skills and individual creativity.

Resources: Núcleo de tecnologia educacional de Jaraguá do Sul; Mundo Nipo; Baú do Professor

Et voilá!
Keep going, 999 to go!

Enjoy!
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