God Did For Me What I Could Not Do For Myself

I don’t remember exactly what day I started smoking cigarettes, but I do remember the day that I quit smoking as if it were yesterday. At about ten years of age, started acting cool like grown ups with a couple friends by acting as though we smoked by rolling up dried lawn grass from backyards and the Merrill Park in the Jeffery Manor at Chicago, Illinois. We also tried smoking dried tree leaves rolled up inside notebook paper, typing paper, old Chicago Transit Authority transfer fare paper, torn pages from a phone book or whatever was available. Trying to imitate my father, cousins, other adults, movies stars, soldiers, cowboys, musicians, tough guys, bad guys, good guys and any other heroes who smoked cigarettes. I guess it was cool and glamorous when they inhaled/exhaled smoke in their lungs. It made them look smarter and in control. I did not know how to smoke at all. I just puffed and coughed from the burning sensation that I felt in my chest and lungs. It was awfully painful! One day a friend stole an open pack from his mother and we tried to smoke a real cigarette. I think it was either Benson & Hedges or Virginia Slims cigarettes. By the way, we learned that a cigarette is also called a “square”. We almost got busted because my friend’s mother found out her cigarettes were missing and it seemed like trouble was coming fast. Somehow I dodged that bullet. If you ask me today, then I wish I had been busted so I could be punished. And back then we used to get beatings for disobedience and doing wrong. Today it is called child abuse. I think that is what’s wrong with this world today. Spare the rod; spoil the child. I needed a beat down just on GP alone.

Time passed and I learned to smoke the real McCoy, cigarettes fresh out the pack or crush-proof box! Newport brand cigarettes, an attractive green square shaped pack or box with the upside Nike swoosh on the front label and the surgeon general’s warning on the side, to be exact. Twenty, filtered menthol cigarettes, jam packed with nicotine, tar, embalming fluid and couple hundred more flavorful low-dosed toxic deadly poisons. I learned to hold the cigarette like a real man should. I held the square between my index finger and middle finger with a slight curve on the pull, like a cool way of holding a pool stick at a speak-easy pool hall, tavern, bar or a club. I was cool at 12 years old. Stunting my growth and development already. It took me a couple days to learn exactly how to inhale smoke without choking. And of course, I did choke. I got light-headed and dizzy in the beginning of my 24-year life sentence as a smoker of cigarettes. That light-headedness made me feel relaxed after enjoying a refreshing cigarette. Oh, I did not discriminate in the beginning. I smoked many different brands without prejudice. For example, Kools, Marlboroughs, Salems, Players, Camels, and Viceroys (the brand that helped to give my dad emphysema and cancer), oh well, whatever, never mind. Put it this way, if you had a cigarette, I would probably smoke it without hesitation. I was cool, calm and collected, an in control smoker. I mean I was bad, the best of the best, top cat, cool, can you dig it man. (So I thought)

Always coughing up cold. Spitting hockers ranging from off-white to yellow, to tawny, to brown and green, orange and red and the occasional black hocker. Sometimes getting a solid chuck that resembles a broken sunflower seed that stank worse than Rex the dog’s breath on a hot and humid day in Maywood, Illinois in the month of July. Cigarettes were cheap to buy back in the day. I mean the early 1980’s when I started smoking. They were more or less about 75cents a pack. I heard in the military, they were about $7 for a carton of 20 packs of squares back then, in the early 80’s. It just didn’t cost that much to kill yourself back then. Now the cost of living is high and the cost of dying is higher. My oldest brother and I used to hang out at a friends house. There we were enabled to smoke, drink and listen to loud music in his basement. At home, we hid our bad smoking habit by sticking our heads out of the bathroom window while smoking cigarettes. We used air fresher and aerosol hairspray to kill the smell of cigarette smoke. Who were we fooling? One snowy evening, in the winter of 1982-83, my brother and took a walk down the avenue where we lived, to smoke cigarettes. My mother, for some reason, open the door, looked down the street, just as my brother was taking a few hearty drags, on a freshly lit Newport 100 cigarette. She came out the house and saw him smoking. I almost got busted that day because I was just about to pull my cigarettes out my pocket. Well, just say that eventually I confessed to my habit of smoking around that time also. My mother told us not to smoke around her or in her house, period. She was very disappointed in us but she knew that it was basically nothing she could do because we were big young boys and officially addicted to inhaling nicotine, tar and about 400 other low dose poisons.

Shortness of breath, bad colds and flu symptoms, yellowish (coffin) fingernails, eyes looking lowly and dimly lit up were signs of the unhealthy aspect of smoking cigarettes. What a drag after taking so many drags. Clothes and hair stinking like smoke. Holes burned in clothing. I apparently loved cigarettes and it was a marriage of convenience that kept us together as one. And for 24 years it took its toll on my life and me. Nicotine controlled me and I was not the wiser. A friend once told me that with every pull of smoke I took, 5 seconds was taken from my lifetime. My rational answer was, we are all gonna die from something, you’ll never know what or how. Enough said for the glory of smoking cigarettes.

While visiting an elder near Green Bay, Wisconsin in about the spring of 1984, I remember eating an authentic home-cooked Polish dinner for the very first time. We ate Polish sausage and sauerkraut and some kick ass horseradish. It was the bomb! I was about 14 years old at the time. I had a girlfriend. She didn’t smoke. I use to always brush my teeth, use mouthwash, chew gum, and use a breath mint or spray or something before I kissed her, if I smoked. It really wasn’t right, to be honest. I mean, my smoking. But I denied the truth about it. Back to Green Bay, the people I was visiting found out that I was a young boy smoking cigarettes, after trying to hide it and cover it up from them. I remember, Joseph a man I love and respect like a father, telling me don’t be a hypocrite and admit that I smoke. It felt like a weight was lifted off my chest after telling the truth. Yet, I still smoked. So, I asked Joseph’s father, Gramps, did he smoke? He said “yes, but he quit about 15 years before our conversation.” I asked him “how did he quit?” He said, “he just stopped.” And that, “when it is time for you to quit, then you will know it and just quit for good.” I had a fresh addiction to nicotine flowing through my veins and I craved for a cigarette after that delicious meal. I thought to myself, “easier said than done old man”. That meeting with him has stayed with me ever since.

As time went by, year progressed. The same thing, I smoked after eating food, drinking alcoholic beverages, drinking coffee, drinking soft drinks and especially drinking highly caffeinated colas. I smoke when I felt happy, sad, upset, or just to be smoking a cigarette to have something to do like people who play baseball, a past time. Even when someone ticked me off, when problems and trouble came up, before and after relieving myself, I had to smoke another cigarette. That is the plain truth. And it’s somethen rong with that pickture!

I remember trying to quit off and on with no success whatsoever. I would quit a day or two, a week or so and “bam!” I was back at it again, “Smokin’!” It was off to the races again, baby. Addicted to nicotine. You see, as the years went on, I became allergic to dogs, cats, dust, pollen and grasses. I later developed bronchitis. I wonder did smoking have something to do with my developing these health problems. Hmm. I wonder… Well, anyway, I’m in my mid-30’s. I am now a little older and I believe a tad bit wiser. I no longer need to look cool, act cool and think that I’m cool, in order to be cool. Sometimes in order to be cool, you have to be uncool. You will surprise your friends and confuse your enemies. I felt like Pavlov’s dog when it came to smoking cigarettes. I also began to remember when my mother use to say that “I do not want to use anything that has that much power over me.” Yes, she was right and basically said ” I am powerless over cigarettes.” Until I realized the truth in that statement, I would probably have smoked for the rest of my natural life. It is not so much as the physical dependence of nicotine or cigarettes but the mental dependence caused by my thinking and the force of habitual thinking and acting upon the thought of physically craving nicotine. And the best way I could get my nicotine fix was to fire up a cigarette and inhale the smoke. If I do not pick up the cigarette, then I will not smoke.

A few months ago, one night I had awakened very early, like 3am. Immediately, I got the thought to write down all the pros and cons of smoking cigarettes. Besides looking cool, which is a lie, I could not find one good reason to smoke cigarettes. I have some pretty good reasons why I should not smoke, though. I came up with over 35 reasons. Here are some reasons why I should stop smoking cigarettes from the top of the list.

1. Stopping smoking now reduces your chances of getting throat cancer, lung cancer, emphysema, asthma, allergies, bronchitis, colon or stomach cancer and other serious health problems.

2. Pregnant women reduce the chances of having miscarriage, or a child born with birth defects.

3. Cough less and have fewer colds and flu symptoms.

4. Breathe better, more freely and easily.

5. Outlook on life will improve.

6. Run, walk and climb stairs with less effort.

7. Smile wider with brighter eyes.

8. Mental keenness and alertness improves dramatically.

9. Hair, skin, teeth and fingernails smell and look better.

10. You will save a lot of money.

Just read the side of a pack of cigarettes. It comes with a grave warning. Those are the consequences you get for smoking. I know because my biological father died of throat cancer and emphysema. Yes, he smoked cigarettes, suffered the consequences and died prematurely. God rest his soul. One day, while I was talking with a good friend about his recently stopping smoking cigarettes. He made it sound easy and in fact it is. First, let’s look at the score. The price of cigarettes have recently gone up due to city/state excise taxes in Illinois for health cost/benefits, the military budget, and lot of other things. It costs $7 for a fresh pack of cigarettes at many stores in Chicago. But the true cost is of smoking is one human life at a time. Many cities have now imposed ordinances that ban smoking in public facilities even outdoors. People are aware that second hand smoke causes cancer and emphysema just as well as inhaling/exhaling the smoking gun, firsthand. So it is becoming more and more socially unacceptable to smoke. Ahhh, the pressure…

Well, Charles, the good friend of mine that I mentioned told me that he stopped smoking with the help based upon his realizing that he too is powerless over cigarettes and that his life was unmanageable as far as the time and effort put into smoking cigarettes. And only a Power Greater than himself or I call God, could remove the mental obsession of a nicotine fix or shall I say smoking cigarettes. Also, he did not mention that he feigned or had nicotine fits or a bad attitude associated with many smokers because there were basically none. In fact, when I finally quit. I had only two big cigarette cravings that I could really remember. The rest was just my choice and desire not to smoke at all, which God gave me to remove it, Himself. “God did for me what I could not do for myself!” Also, my good friend Charles told me that he just picked a date to quit smoking “cold turkey”. No nicotine patches or nicotine gum because the problem is not the patch or the gum, the problem is the person smoking. You don’t need a crutch. Besides, you are only taking the thing that you are trying to remove, “nicotine”. He said that after two days, the cravings went away. It was just that his desire not to smoke cigarettes had outweighed his desire to smoke cigarettes. Also, believe that a Power Greater than yourself or God can restore your thinking to sanity. Insanity is doing the same thing and expecting different results. Sanity is knowing and believing and acting upon the truth that you cannot successfully smoke cigarettes without grave consequences. When you realize that you are powerless over tobacco or smoking cigarettes that means that you surrender the belief that you can beat a cigarette’s power to causes death to yourself and others. You have no power over cigarettes whatsoever. So stop fighting the cravings and let them go right past you. Stop anticipating how you will act upon stopping smoking. Try exercises such as jogging, cycling, or swimming. Read a book; write a short story or poem or two. For example, enter a poetry and writing contest such as Dream Quest One Poetry & Writing Contest http://www.dreamquestone.com. It is a great avenue to share your thoughts, feelings and dreams with the world. It helps to take you outside yourself. Just don’t think about smoking and don’t try to figure out how God works. God works in mysterious ways. So make a decision to turn your will and life over to your Higher Power, as you understand Him. That means that every morning you wake up, during the day when you feel like smoking a cigarette and before going to bed turn your will and life over to the complete care and abandon of God as you understand Him. Give yourself completely to God. You will see a change. You better believe it. He will direct your paths to quitting smoking cigarettes one day at a time. Take a deep breath whenever your feel an urge to smoke. And if you really want to stop smoking, you will understand that when a craving comes to you, you are powerless over it. And to just let it go by you instead of being strong and trying to resist something you cannot resist by yourself. Let it go and let God have it. Let God handle it. If He brings you to it, He will walk you through it. You will see the results, one day at a time. In the long run, you will be smoke free and healthier. For more info on stopping smoking please visit the following websites:(God Bless!)

Do you want to learn how to stop smoking cigarettes? How frequently have you declared to yourself or somebody else, “I really need to give up cigarettes,” only to do a flip-flop and smoke yet another cigarette? In the event that you are similar to many cigarette smokers, your answer will be: “A great deal more times than I am comfortable with.”

You are certainly not alone. Research shows that about 90% of current smokers have a desire to kick their smoking addiction. The lucky reality is: By putting forth a little bit of effort and a lot of devotion, anyone could ultimately figure out how to stop smoking cigarettes and lead a more healthy life as a recovering smoker. If you are dead set on quitting, here is a complete quit smoking plan to help you kick your nicotine addiction to the curb and stop smoking cigarettes forever.

How to Stop Smoking Step 1: Resolve to Quit

Like any huge plan of action, little can take place until a solid decision is made to get going and achieve your plans. The same is true when discovering how to quit smoking cigarettes. It is usually at this junction, however, that quite a few nicotine users come to be anxious, suffering from fear of making it through each day with no the drug nicotine.

Rather than being scared by committing to stopping altogether, decide to make a commitment to engage in the tasks that can help you quit cigarette smoking more successfully. Simply say to yourself, “I’m going to get going with my recovery plan with an open mind and work on the strategies described in this guide to how to quit smoking.”

Doesn’t that sound a lot easier than making up your mind right now at this very minute never to have another cigarette? Definitely! A lifetime commitment of refraining from smoking cigarettes is extreme for many active smokers, but a daily determination to work on quitting is extremely plausible!

Considering that you have decided to take the actions for living life as a recovering smoker, why don’t we proceed.

How to Quit Smoking Step 2: List Your Personal Reasons to Stop Smoking

Yup! You got it! This guide demands some content writing, so get a few sheets of paper and something to write with and carry on!

You should list any and every motive for why you want to stop smoking, given that they are the truth. It does no good to come up with motives that don’t mean much in your specific case. In the event you can easily pay for cigarettes, by way of example, the price of smoking cigarettes might not be a motivating enough reason to stop. In the event you are focused on your health, however, and you are afraid of being one of the 400,000 annual statistics of smoking-caused COPD ending in death; health is going to be a good reason for you to give up smoking cigarettes.

Other motives to stop smoking may include: The well being of your children or animal companions, the desire to have higher production at your job, not wanting to smell unpleasant to people who don’t smoke, seeking to be a role model for your teenagers, etc.

Make certain to create your checklist of reasons to give up smoking on a sheet of paper or in a miniature scratch pad you are able to keep with you throughout the process. You are going to refer to this as motivation to stick to your plan to quit so you can finally stop cigarette smoking.

How to Give Up Smoking Step 3: Determine Your Quit Date

As you have almost certainly discovered in earlier efforts to stop smoking, it is not easy to go from actively smoking 1 pack of cigarettes or more a day to being a non smoker the next. Even though some ex smokers could stop like this, the majority simply can’t. As an alternative to attempting to wake up the following morning as a non smoker, resolve to wake up tomorrow with the objective of smoking minimally one less cigarette than you did today.

Eventually, you really want to be smoking just about 10-15 cigarettes a day before you quit smoking for good – either without medication or with the assistance of aids to stop smoking. Based upon on how much you smoke each day and the amount of cigarettes you decide to reduce each day, your specific quitting date will arrive around about a couple of weeks to 45 days or so from today.

A simple yet effective approach to decreasing your daily cigarette intake involves decreasing the quantity of cigarettes you smoke by only one every day or every other day – the final decision is yours. In the event that you carry numerous reservations about giving up smoking, you might be smart to try decreasing by a cigarette every other day so you’re able to comfortably work toward your quitting goal.

If you want to stay focused, you would be wise to create a cigarette smoking tracking chart – again in a miniature notebook you will have the ability to keep with you as the days pass. An ideal tracking chart will include 4 basic columns: Time craving hit, time you actually smoked, the trigger of your craving, and something you could have done differently.

It is going to be crucial that you record each craving you bypass completely. After you have gotten rid of one particular cig in a day, keep that cigarette out of your daily smokes. For example, if you resolve on your first day to do away with your after lunch cigarette and go for a stroll instead, engage in the same contrary action on an ongoing basis after lunch rather than smoking. In one more day or two, you could cut out your cigarette for one of your breaks at your job or your first cigarette, or on a routine car ride.

Sticking to a program of this structure will offer you fantastic practice not smoking at random times during a day until your substitute action to smoking has grown to be automatic.

How to Give Up Cigarettes Step 4: Discuss Your Intention to Stop Cigarettes With EVERY PERSON IN YOUR LIFE

For several of us cigarette smokers, failed attempts to quit cigarettes can be accredited to a single significant issue: We kept our intention to give up cigarette smoking a secret. If nobody is aware of the fact that you are attempting to stop cigarettes, nobody on earth is expecting to see you stop smoking cigarettes. As such, you have nothing to lose by giving up on your goals. If each person in your life knows you’re trying to quit, however, you are more inclined to stick with your plan of recovery to avoid the shame of failure.

Apart from the element of ‘saving face,’ chances are high that you will enhance your degree of support by bordering on an ex nicotine user who comprehends the great importance of your recovery. Having non-smoking buddies, kin, and colleagues with whom to hang out without the presence of cigarettes will prove to be an invaluable tool in your plan of recovery.

How to Stop Smoking Cigarettes Step 5: Plan Your Alternative Actions

Beginning recovery from smoking addiction is significantly about coming up with something else in which to engage besides cigarette smoking. Identifying the difference between self-promoting contrary actions and health damaging alternative actions will save you from ‘replacing addictive habits’ while applying improvements in your life that will bring about your overall contentment living life as an ex nicotine user.

Understanding how to quit cigarette smoking is a highly personal program. While there are a number of tips and nicotine replacement therapy action plans which have worked wonders for tens of thousands of smokers, the particulars in every plan are incidental to each recovering smoker’s requirements. For instance, although some recovering smokers may prefer to replace their morning cigarette with a substantial breakfast, a tall glass of cold water, a shower, or morning tooth brushing; others may wish to replace the A.M. cigarette with a morning jog, quiet meditation, yoga, or any other healthy activity.

For each section of the day, strive to come up with alternate actions to smoking cigarettes that you can enjoy; and as your quit date draws near, practice applying them into your daily recovery plan as a way to replace nicotine. In due time you will certainly feel like a whole new person, and you will be more poised to finally quit smoking forever.

How to Quit Cigarette Smoking Step 6: Join a Support Group

There are a lot of nicotine groups both online and in the rooms of Nicotine Anonymous jam-packed with ex smokers who will be able to lend you support and guidance every day on keeping up with your quit. The more help you find from similar people with the same goal of quitting cigarette smoking, the higher your chances become of quitting cigarette smoking for ever.

It’s easy to discover how to quit smoking. Quitting can very well be a struggle, but the actions in the direction of a clean break from cigarette smoking addiction are very simple in nature. Step outside of your worries, and start paying attention to your inner most desires. Use this plan of how to quit smoking and run with it for a healthier, tobacco free life.

Buying cheap discount cigarettes is no more a taboo following recent hikes in taxes hitting all that who smokes. Regardless of brand of cigarettes, it sure must have burnt a hole in your pocket, making everyone wish those tax free days were back.

Online sale of cheap cigarettes at discount price has come to rescue smokers so much that despite selling at cheap prices the websites are still making profits in millions. The usual reservations about the freshness of cigarettes, privacy of your personal details have long been overwhelmed by the genuineness of crisp packs that are delivered to you. Adherence to privacy, tax and age related legalities by online cheap cigarette sellers in addition to secure transaction are what made them popular for buying cigarettes cheap.

How Cheap Are Cheap Discount Cigarettes

It may surprise you but buying cheap Marlboro cigarettes online can save you almost 1/3rd in most states. It isn’t just Marlboro that has become cheap online, buy any of your favorite brands, for that matter, such as Marlboro, Camel, Winston, Virginia slims, Salem, Kent, Barclay, Carlton etc you will save a huge sum if you are buying in bulk. If you were paying $40-45 per carton of Marlboro earlier, cheap discount cigarettes can be availed at $25 or less. Buying cheap cigarettes in bulk also has another benefit that you don’t run out of stock frequently which, otherwise, always occurs at unfortunate times.

Cheap Cigarettes and the Price/Quality Ratio

Let me begin by asking where do you get menthol tobacco cigarettes fresh and cheap; online or offline? Of course you may be satisfied with your neighboring store but think for a minute, all consumables stale over time on shelf. But what with low or no taxes (in certain Indian settlements) being levied on online cheap cigarettes shops, smokers tend to buy more in bulk than otherwise which saves them a mini fortune both ways. The constant movement of this kind of bulk stock emphasizes three critical points about quality:

1. that buying discount cigarettes is really cheap

2. stocks are more frequently replenished than in an offline shop

3. higher the sales stronger is the smokers’ acceptance of quality

So How to Contrast the Cheap Cigarettes against Those Bought From a Corner Shop As Regards to Price/Quality Ratio

To begin with, let’s assume the qualities of cheap cigarettes purchased online are on par with cigarettes from a neighborhood retail store. But in the bargain, you will have paid less money per carton/stick bought online. The ‘cheap cigarettes and the price/quality ratio’ comes under suspicion only if your consignment isn’t delivered in good shape or within the specified time. So, first thing you need to check is whether the packing is intact and whether moisture had entered inside. You can also check individual packs for manufacturing dates.

Buying cheap discount cigarettes is no more a taboo following recent hikes in taxes hitting all that who smokes. Regardless of brand of cigarettes, it sure must have burnt a hole in your pocket, making everyone wish those tax free days were back.

Online sale of cheap cigarettes at discount price has come to rescue smokers so much that despite selling at cheap prices the websites are still making profits in millions. The usual reservations about the freshness of cigarettes, privacy of your personal details have long been overwhelmed by the genuineness of crisp packs that are delivered to you. Adherence to privacy, tax and age related legalities by online cheap cigarette sellers in addition to secure transaction are what made them popular for buying cigarettes cheap.

How Cheap Are Cheap Discount Cigarettes

It may surprise you but buying cheap Marlboro cigarettes online can save you almost 1/3rd in most states. It isn’t just Marlboro that has become cheap online, buy any of your favorite brands, for that matter, such as Marlboro, Camel, Winston, Virginia slims, Salem, Kent, Barclay, Carlton etc you will save a huge sum if you are buying in bulk. If you were paying $40-45 per carton of Marlboro earlier, cheap discount cigarettes can be availed at $25 or less. Buying cheap cigarettes in bulk also has another benefit that you don’t run out of stock frequently which, otherwise, always occurs at unfortunate times.

Cheap Cigarettes and the Price/Quality Ratio

Let me begin by asking where do you get menthol tobacco cigarettes fresh and cheap; online or offline? Of course you may be satisfied with your neighboring store but think for a minute, all consumables stale over time on shelf. But what with low or no taxes (in certain Indian settlements) being levied on online cheap cigarettes shops, smokers tend to buy more in bulk than otherwise which saves them a mini fortune both ways. The constant movement of this kind of bulk stock emphasizes three critical points about quality:

1. That buying discount cigarettes is really cheap

2. Stocks are more frequently replenished than in an offline shop

3. Higher the sales stronger is the smokers’ acceptance of quality

So How to Contrast the Cheap Cigarettes against Those Bought From a Corner Shop As Regards to Price/Quality Ratio

To begin with, let’s assume the qualities of cheap cigarettes purchased online are on par with cigarettes from a neighborhood retail store. But in the bargain, you will have paid less money per carton/stick bought online. The ‘cheap cigarettes and the price/quality ratio’ comes under suspicion only if your consignment isn’t delivered in good shape or within the specified time. So, first thing you need to check is whether the packing is intact and whether moisture had entered inside. You can also check individual packs for manufacturing dates.

Now that selling cheap cigarettes like Marlboro, Virginia slims, LM or Kent online is commonplace, the apprehension about its legality isn’t a deterring factor anymore. Given the issue of quality being settled down, the increased taxes are the things that matter most to a regular smoker, especially if he/she were living in states like New Jersey, Rhode Island, Washington, Michigan and Arizona where increase is over 200¢ per pack. The issue of quality is by far a foregone conclusion when online retailers are also buying from the very same tobacco manufacturers as do their offline counterparts.

Once you are assured about quality, buying cheap cigarettes online wins over and what matters is the money you can save over long time.

Amateur article writer on different topics. Like surfing on internet.

In the 1960s the food pyramid was developed because of rising problem in the health of our nation. Heart attacks were becoming more common and people were dying from diseases related to malnutrition. I’m not talking about starvation and malnutrition here, I’m talking about people eating the wrong types of foods and not getting enough nutrition, or people eating the wrong types of foods and causing themselves all types of problems. The food pyramid has gone through several revisions since it was first released and it has become the cornerstone of many diets and indeed has become good practice with nutritionists and doctors alike.The problem with the food pyramid is about when you are trying to decide whether its authorship is genuine. It’s like anything else in life, if it comes from the government we are supposed to believe in it. Now the authors of the food pyramid are the United States Department of agriculture. Agriculture equals food and a basic necessity food at that. But when you start to think about it, the main job of the United States Department of agriculture is to promote agriculture. It is not to promote healthy nutrition.So the question that we must all ask ourselves… is the United States Department of agriculture impartial? Is the United States Department of Agriculture thinking about the nutritional needs of the citizens of the United States, or are they thinking about the promotion of agriculture? These two things do not necessarily work in unison with each other. There is an obvious conflict of interest here.There is a revised edition of the food pyramid that is due for release in 2010. I think that the new authors should be completely impartial, they should have no ties to any major foods department whatsoever.

In the wake of the worst recession since the Great Depression, Americans seem to be seeking a return to a simpler way of life. They desire to reconnection with food and nature. Reducing waste and expenses has become a priority. Living a little “smaller” than previously is essential. Unfortunately they are being told the only way to live responsibly is to move back into a dense urban setting.Land planners, environmentalists and governments are pushing for a more centralized, urban life. Their fundamental belief is that by increasing our density in urban settings we can reduce our dependence on automobiles, use fewer resources and lessen our impact on the environment. While this may satisfy a segment of our society, some people desire a quieter, rural lifestyle. The question is can we balance the need for space with relatively high density. One answer is New Ruralism.
 
New Ruralism is loosely defined as development that balances the need of minimizing overall land usage for shelter and maximizing land usage for greenspace or sustainable agriculture. Other elements of New Ruralism are regaining connections with our neighbors, learning to respect our food by understanding how we raise it and reconnecting with the outdoors. A large part of what it once meant to be an American was a sense of independence based on self-sufficiency counterbalanced by the ability to count on a neighbor for assistance. In modern America we have lost much that defined us forefathers.
 
A central element of the New Ruralism concept is high density housing. At first that seems to contradict the rural idea of New Ruralism, but it results in more greenspace. There are various examples to draw upon for the framework of New Ruralism. An excellent example that has stood the test of time is the Israeli moshav.  Unlike the Israeli kibbutz where the land is owned collectively, the moshav has private land for farming as well as land for a private home. The homes are arranged on relatively small lots while the majority of the land is left for agriculture. The close proximity of the houses lends itself to closer community leading neighbors to interact with each other. Unlike urban settings the overall feeling is pastoral and relaxing. Interestingly there have been some attempts in the US to draw city dwellers to the country to farm. Unfortunately they take huge tracts of land and leave many feeling just as isolated as they were in the city.
 
High density housing lends itself to larger open spaces that can be used in agriculture or left as greenspace or a combination of both. The agriculture piece can come in many forms. A communal garden can be planted and worked collectively. Alternately individual owners could lease parcels for their own gardens. With large enough spaces commercial operations can be used to supply an on-site restaurant. In Georgia, the development Serenby has a 25 acre farm that supplies vegetables to an on-site restaurant and bed and breakfast. Other developments like Montaluce use vineyards farmed on-site to supply grapes for wine. Some attempts to include agriculture have simply been tailored to the rich and not really an attempt to bring people closer to their food.
 
In New Ruralism, homeowners become more connect to their food. With a global market we are able to purchase fruits and vegetables outside of the local seasons. Processed foods further disconnect us from the plants and animals that we eat. Our children have no idea from where the foods they eat come or how they are raised. By enticing homeowners to participate in growing fruits and vegetable or raising livestock, New Ruralism gives them a new respect for the food they eat. 
 
Along with regained respect for food, homeowners are drawn out into nature. We have become so lost in television, internet and other forms of indoor entertainment that we have forgotten the beauty of our surroundings. The same open space used for agriculture can also be used for green spaces. Systems of trails and parks can help relax homeowners as well as result in better health.
 
Certainly there are limitations to New Ruralism, but it is a valid concept that gives people an alternative to urban living. We are constantly told that suburban sprawl is fundamentally wrong and that we need to move back to the cities. Infill is a development priority. There is something American about being contrarian. New Ruralism is a great expression of our fundamental pursuit of freedom.