“As our eyes are opened to the world of wonders we live in, our relation to food, creative cuisine, diet, health, well-being and nature change beyond words.”
A sense of wonder for seeds, food, our digestive system and a marvellous world that connects it all – it’s what so many educators wish to convey to children and youth and many fail. Ceci and Luis have a set of wands for you to achieve. And they are available to spark or accompany the process.
Ceci and Luis are also doctors with mind-expanding knowledge on bacteria, guts, seeds, sprouts, nutritional qualities and tricks. They even design nutritional supplements!
Plus, they are avid travellers, have visited the indigenous Mapuche people of Argentina, truly care for quick practical applications by communities need – therefore fit for children, youth, teachers and families – and are super cuty and funny fellows. How often do you find this combination? They are our favorite biology teachers!
Ceci & Luis' story
Prof. Dr. Cecilia Eyssartier has a PhD in Biological Sciences. She specializes in ethnobotany and medicinal plants cultivated and gathered by native communities across generations (Northwestern Patagonia, Argentina). Waldorf educator (Waldorf Teacher Training Program in Buenos Aires, Arg.). She is devoted to the educational field with a special interest in experiential learning processes and the embodied cognition approach.
Prof. Luis Daniel Monterubianesi is a researcher specialized in Nutrition and Health. Extensive studies in Anthroposophy, homeopathic medicine, naturism, hygienism, bioenergy, macrobiotics, permaculture and phytomedicine. He obtained a certificate in Education for Welfare and Live Food from Wigmore Natural Health Institute of Puerto Rico. Founder of the Holistic Nutrition and Regenerative Health Program of Qumara Nutrition and Regeneration.
Cecilia and Luis are both scientific researchers and professors from Argentina, sevengardens dialoguers and partners of RCE-Ruhr, United Nations University.
In 2005 they founded QUMARA Nutrition and Regeneration. Q’UMARA means health awareness in Aymara, a language of a South American native community. Since then, they have developed the Holistic Nutrition and Regenerative Health Program in Argentina, integrating the three essential aspects of human biology, vitalizing nutrition and detoxifying habits; through courses and workshops intended for children, youth and adults.
They have also offered several pedagogical training sessions and courses in various educational institutions and for professionals in the health field.
Pocket Garden
It’s an ace multi-recognized educational program in Education for Sustainable Development ESD and SDGs to boost food awareness, health, food security, local sovereignity and regional organic economic cycles that sprouts from a seed in your hand.
First of all, discover the magic of sourcing color from plants, an incomparable classic to get everybody on fire, focussed, smiling and curious to explore what’s happening in the microcosmos in and around us. Take the role of planter, professor, artist and consumer as you observe how your pocket garden in a glass grows seeds under different light conditions into yummy sprouts on your plate, to be enjoyed as a delicious dish.
The Pocket Garden opens your view and skills to an enormous lot of micro- and macro-gardening activities and is super popular with educators and parents, excellent for use at home and school for
- age 3 to 8 with focus on plant, nature and food
- age 9 to 12 with add-on on planting and gardening
- age 13 to 18 with add-on on SDGs, permaculture, agroforestry
and a fabulous education program for TEENS to educate children at elementary schools, community centres and green family events.
Holistic Diet & Vitality
Vitalizing Nutrition is fundamentally based on experiential and hands-on approach. Through this program we develop different methods to produce our own food, increasing nutritional and vitalizing properties and benefits. We could conceive the vitality in food as a regenerative biological nutrition, which contributes to develop organic vital forces that enable cell regeneration. In this sense, we consider essential to understand biological processes and transformations in the practice of food elaboration. As an example: Which are the biological processes involved in the activation and germination of seeds? how these processes affect the nutritional quality and nutrients quantity of what we eat? How is this vital and life food assimilated in our bodies? Which are the biological processes involved in fermentation? Which is the relationship between fermented food and the microbial composition of our body?
Moreover, besides knowing the nutritional composition of foods or the molecules essential for life, it is also important to involve other aspects beyond nutrition or biology itself. We should be aware of how we can produce our own food, where it comes from, which are the different processes that food goes through, soil conditions for cultivation… Nutrition involves agricultural, economical, anthropological, biological, ecological, political, cultural aspects and many others. By gaining awareness of the magnitude and impact of our daily decisions, nutrition becomes an effective tool for our health, recognizing the existence of a true pharmacy available in nature.
Body-Detoxification
Detoxifying Habits have been belittled over the years. Body detoxification and removal of accumulation of toxemia from our internal fluids constitute fundamental and, paradoxically, forgotten practices, which favor metabolic processes of the organism and physiological development of vital functions. Within our pedagogical goals, we encourage the use of different practices and resources, such as the traditional use of herbs, to promote these cleansing processes linked to liver, intestines, kidneys, skin, and lungs, and the body as a whole.
In the words of Dr. Emmet Densmore from his book “How Nature Heals“: “Illness is a healing effort, a struggle of the vital forces to purify the system and regain normal status. This effort should be aided, directed and regulated, if necessary, but never suppressed … The disease is a process of purification. It is a curative action. It is a vital struggle to overcome obstructions and keep the channels of circulation free“.
Doctor Bernard Jensen, who devoted his life to natural therapeutics, affirmed that many of the “diseases” that distress human beings originate in an internal organic context lacking in hygiene. Similarly, doctor Seignalet warned us that when toxins in the body are accumulated faster than eliminated, and even more, when the excretion systems do not work properly, sooner or later, we can expect the disease to turn up. Hence, the importance of daily cleansing resources and deep cleaning practices. It is worth remembering the old axiom that health is forged in the stomach and in the sayings of Hippocrates: “There is no healthy person with a sick stomach, nor vice versa“. Accurate bowel function is crucial for health, and depends, to a large extent, on the daily food ingested. The broad benefits of this plethora of detoxifying resources, together with the vastness of the nutritional approach, have encouraged us to systematize and organize the diversity of knowledge and practices in an integrated way. The design of herbal and deworming cleansing protocols, as well as the individual proposals for daily nutritional and body cleansing planning, made it possible to effectively apply these practices in our everyday lives.
This holistic approach to health invites us to reflect upon the complex network of relationships and interactions that sustain life, understanding the importance of being respectful of biological laws and the balance of vital forces. This, inevitably, leads us to review our daily habits, including our diet, physical activity, resting, bowel movements, and other organic signs that support our food and health sovereignty.
You definitely want to
- let all kids and students make the life enriching experience to discover the Living Planet on their window sill and plates
- as educators gain this view on seeds, sprouts, germination, fermentation experiments, Living Food Labs at schools and community centres
for
- a truly alive worldview
- essential, memorable knowledge + know-how on food and diet, health and vitality
- germinating sprouts with x% higher nutritional value
- ferment kombucha, sauerkraut, kimchi
- create a small or large garden
- set up a Living Food Lab
… equipped with beautiful posters and (self-)teaching tools.
the wonder of life
nutrition & health
diet & bacteria
germination
fermentation
vegan
children experiments
learning experiments
sevengardens
research
A Holistic Model for Nutrition in the Community
Starting from the wonder about the seed and life germinating from it, tasty on one’s plate and so easy to make, the gaze wanders to creating a micro garden, then an ever more “relevant” one to feed the family, the school canteen, a community, multi-cropping year-round in permaculture design for maximum output, use of terrain and – fun – and – income – on a lovely abundant, thriving Family Farm. Plus, protecting and restoring wildlife, water table and more. Youth to-date do not get off on it when they hear of farming etc. But when it starts with the small seed, and feeling the wonder of life, being part of the macro- and microcosmos inside oneself … then the springboard to bringing the Paradise Landscape To Life is created! That is NEW and that approach truly is GENIUS! Now use it and observe and enjoy the results!
PREPARATION
Study their above-mentioned projects, website and article.
There’s a lot of fascinating anecdotes that will give you ideas on … what to ask, dream and do.
ACTIONS
Well … Ceci and Luis are used to give speechess and guide workshops for newbies. What matters is that you’re interested to learn more and meet our favorite Pocket Gardeners … but if (some of) your group is inspired to do some experiments before you meet – go for it! It gives you something to say and share!
FOLLOW-UP
You are well equipped to do Pocket Garden experiments and record your scientific observations, play with colors, explore seeds, start gardens … we look forward to follow your adventures!
Connects great with
ZEYNEP KARABACZAK
Natural colors + cosmetics, dyeing garden builder, sevengardens, Germany
MARY REYNOLDS
We Are The Ark, The Garden Awakening, Top 10 Landscaper Of All Time, Ireland
PETER REICHENBACH
Master artist, sevengardens UNESCO, ESD, RCE-Ruhr UNU, Germany, Global