Chicaoji

I want to take a bit of space here on my cool new web site to introduce myself and explain what I am trying to do here with this new opportunity that has presented itself to us in general and me in particular.

I grew up in Texas surrounded with plenty of good food and generous portions of love. I found my way to Lopez Island,WA about 25 years ago and give thanks all the time that my Path brought me here. I have played with hot sauces over the years and on several occasions was encouraged to trot out one concoction or another into the public domain but I was busy. I had to spend a bunch of years operating really loud equipment that changed the shape of wood and assembled it into configurations desired by people with enough money to hire labor. About the time my hearing (and body) was really getting worn out I stumbled onto Chicaoji right here on Lopez Island. Chicaoji accomplishes many things I consider valuable.

First to list, then to detail: organic, sustainable, local, nutritious, fun, delicious, supports organic/sustainable food production, integrating school education with food production, processing, and marketing, gives me hope, the Gathering of the Healing Tribes.

Organic: I believe that organic production of food is important to us as individuals and as a society. Many of us choose not to grow our own food and so rely on others for nourishment. Supporting organic food production is the single most important long term choice we can make for our health and in the market place.

Sustainable: Relying on the sun for energy to grow food makes a lot more sense to me. Utilizing the natural processes of life to maintain and improve food production makes sense to me (composting, crop rotation, natural pest control, and so on). I want to focus the energy I have on what will benefit life for generations to come.

Local: I like to obtain my what I need for my life as locally as I can. I buy local food and support local businesses when possible. One of my goals is to promote local production of my ingredients. At this time I support organic production as close as I can. I hope that if Chicaoji succeeds I will be able to support local production of goji berries, apple cider vinegar, chilies, and sea salt
Clearly, cacao and agave will not be locally sourced but the other ingredients in Chicaoji can be in the fullness of time.
For example,

• Organic goji berries will grow in the Pacific Northwest but not enough are available at this time. I have donated some starts to local gardeners and hope to continue supporting production. Right now I am supporting organic goji production in China.
• Apple trees grow in abundance around here, many have been unattended for decades. These ought to be certifiably organic. However, we lack the infrastructure at this time to properly process these  into certified organic vinegar (in addition to many other products). I hope Chicaoji’s need for organic apple cider vinegar will overflow to benefit all sorts of local fruit production and processing. I hope that value-added products from these fruits will feed and support our community. This region was once a major supplier of fruit and can be again.
• Jalapeño chilies will grow here and we have wood for smoking them.
• Sea salt surrounds the island. We can create the infrastructure to obtain this as well. That my salt comes from the coast of France is a bit silly but the nice folks at Celtic Sea Salt have established a reputation for quality that I am willing to support until something local gets going.

(A brief petro-rant: Petrochemical fertilizers, pesticides, herbicides, and the industry that concentrates and depends on them offer a limited and dubious achievement of more food for less money only in the short term. The illnesses and environmental degradation foisted upon us and our world by their use have negative value in the long term. On a practical level, petrochemicals are a limited commodity that will only spread their toxicity and become increasingly expensive as time goes on.)

Education: Lopez Island and some of the other islands in San Juan County have begun to integrate food production and processing into their school curricula. Several programs exist to teach students how to grow food and some even supply the school cafeteria with fresh food.
I want to support these programs and help extend them. In addition to growing fresh food, I hope to support programs that teach students how to properly process food to feed the community and to create value added products that can support their families by nourishing people elsewhere.
Math, science, biology, chemistry, materials fabrication/shop, physical education, business management, and other academic pursuits can be incorporated. Imagine a fruit or vegetable. Imagine the ways these studies can be integrated from seed to plate and labeled jar.

I also would like Chicaoji to facilitate student exchanges with the communities/areas that produce the various ingredients. Students visiting agave or cacao producing regions (for example) would have occasion to learn another language and much about another culture. I think it would be interesting to connect the communities with something beneficial and enjoyable such as Chicaoji. Ok, maybe this is a little out there considering I am just getting started but I just want to share ideas about what I would like to see happen…… even though I can barely just imagine it now.

This subject deserves its own web site !

Hope: I want to do something with what remains of my life that will be beneficial. I like that we came up with a condiment that people enjoy eating and that all the ingredients can contribute to physical well being. Many people who know about nutrition and the value of eating raw organic foods read Chicaoji’s list of ingredients with eyes widening in recognition. It is actually fun to watch these folks read the list. A simple reality is that if you only have a bowl of grains, greens, or water Chicaoji can add enjoyment and nourishment.

Gathering: I perceive Chicaoji to be a part of my spiritual Path as well. I have assembled a Gathering. I did not do this alone as several friends and loved ones contributed to the contents of my Rucksack. It nonetheless fell to me to saddle up and take this Gift over the Mountain to feed the People and bring them enjoyment. I have been carrying Chicaoji as She has been carrying me. I will try to explain.
Goji berries originated in southwestern Asia. They are in the same plant tribe as the tomato, potato, eggplant, chile, and other nightshades: what we call the Solanacea Family of Plants. They have been incorporated into the Chinese pharmacopeia for thousands of years for what purposes I leave you to determine. Suffice it to say that I gleaned from my raw food enthusiast friends that they are beneficial. Just a few years ago you would have to go to a Chinese pharmacy to obtain goji berries. These berries found their way into my hands.

Cacao originated in Amazonia. These little beans have been used for medicine, religious ceremonies, enjoyment, and even as a currency. We call this tribe “Theobroma” or “Food of the Gods”. They grow in the deep green forests and are part of the community there. Cacao brings to us profound Gifts that words struggle to describe. These beans found their way into my hands.

One day these two ventured into my hand at the same time. Read the story of Chicaoji. Some deep spark lit inside me as I joined these inside myself. I heard another one calling and I knew the voice right away because it was chilies beckoning. (Having been raised in Texas, the voice was familiar and instantly recognizable).

Chilies also originated in Amazonia. They are in the same tribe as the goji: Solanacea. The flying tribe we call birds scattered them with wild abandon. Chilies enhance the flavor of food and carry characteristics beneficial to our health.

Apples originated in Central Asia and have been scattered across the earth especially by humans who enjoy and benefit from the fruit. Apple trees take energy from the sun and make sugar like many other plants They wisely chose to wrap their seeds in little bags of sweetness that many animals enjoy thus ensuring their dispersal. Now apples by themselves bring us nourishment and health benefits. Others enjoy the sweetness of the apple, namely the ascomycetes tribe.
You likely call the Ascomycetes tribe yeasts. They consume this sweetness and manage to turn the collected sunlight into alcohol and carbon dioxide. Many stories might from this point diverge but to stay on the trail I introduce you to yet another Tribe we call the Acetobacters. This Clan of bacteria transforms alcohol into vinegar. Thus transformed, the sunlight becomes vinegar which brings us nourishment, flavor, and health benefits.

Perhaps you are by now detecting a theme.

Agave originated in the Central Highlands of Mexico. It is in the Tribe we call Cactus. Agave concentrates sunlight into sweetness found in its sap. Agave brings  us nourishment, flavor, and health benefits.

Salt is concentrated in the ocean. It is a Gift that also provides flavor, nourishment, and health benefits. We need salt to live. We can obtain salt in our food yet humans have found it convenient and beneficial to use the salt concentrated by the oceans, whether we use salt from recently dehydrated ocean water or from ancient sea beds buried in the earth.

Water is required for life. All living things must have it. I thank it for the many Blessings I enjoy in this life. Actually, I see no need to rattle on about water. If you are reading this you know what I am talking about.

I have now described in brief the Tribes Chicaoji has gathered. As time passes and I contemplate this Gathering I have begun to realize the wonderful and beautiful complexity of what has occured. As I share Chicaoji a network of relations grows in ways that escape my full realization. From all the little and big critters (including minerals and elements) that comprise the Homeland of each member of the tribes to all the relationships that have developed from their dispersal the complexity of relationships grows.
This network is what I call the Gathering of the Healing Tribes. It came to me as something we named Chicaoji for lack of a better term. I have seen people make friends and share a kind of joy with their loved ones by incorporating into their lives these little bottles of Chicaoji. It has only begun.

I have been guided on my Path by sometimes peculiar means. Sometimes I get to thinking I know what needs to happen next and make plans accordingly only to have my intended goal blocked by some odd little twist that nonetheless presented an insurmountable obstacle. In these times I have learned just to stop and look around for another Way that I have not imagined. My experience has been that a more appropriate Path appears as clearly as my intended Path was obscure.

This translates into some fairly un-businesslike decisions on my part. For example, I really want Chicaoji to be delivered by hand by those who like it and want to share it more than using USPS, UPS, FedEx, or any other such professional means. I realize this is not always practical. I have been told so by many people. Nonetheless, I am determined to persist in this policy as much as I can in the off chance that someone carrying Chicaoji off somewhere might there meet a friend for life. This is a way the Gathering of the Healing Tribes gathers and spreads Love at the same time.

This is a rough draft. I hope to improve upon it. Getting this far has been quite a journey.

Randall
moc.liamgnull@ijoacihc