Grains and Beans, Nuts and Seeds?

Thanks to a wonderful co-worker Diana, I was enlightened to food combination, an article of which explained a lot about this. This article tells a LOT about different ways to combine foods for the best nutrients in our body. It even mentions one of the best grains to be quinoa, which I hear 2013 is the year of quinoa?

I still reflect a lot on the situation of the poor in these thoughts. What do they do to not eat meat? Do they look for healthy alternatives, or know about food combining? Nuts and seeds seem to be a great idea for a snack -- but are those types of foods accessible to people?

I remember learning from a co-worker at CRS, when I interned in the Radnor office in 2008, that food access is a really big issue for the poor abroad. Here, sometimes people cannot afford to buy food, but in many areas, the poor do have access to food -- there is enough to feed them. The story my co-worker shared was from Ethiopia, where she said the people worried about whether or not they would even find food that day. If the crops are bad, or the animals hide/die, the scarcity of food is a real issue.

In Burkina Faso, the agriculture trade means that weather is a huge factor in whether or not someone eats that day. What would we do if the rain didn't come, or the precipitation ruined crops?

Food for thought. Hope you are enjoying my meatless endeavors!