the pursuit of peace

there are many ways you can show how strongly you feel about peace.

you can march down the street and demonstrate for peace.
or you can write to politicians and lobby for peace.
you can sign up and register to run, walk, or bike for peace.
if the spirit moves you, you can pray for peace.
and if the music moves you, you can chant for peace.

and now i just found out that you can even eat for peace.

huh??

last night, i dropped by yoga west to attend guru singh's kundalini class, with special guests snatam kaur, guruganesha singh, and krishan. snatam and her peace band were traveling the country as part of their "celebrate peace" tour, which was sponsored by peace cereal.

according to the the peace cereal website:

At Peace Cereal our mission is to serve you by making deliciously natural and healthy cereal, as well as to serve the world community by utilizing responsible business practices and donating 10% of our profits to peace.

during the post-concert reception, samples of the organic hearty raisin bran cereal were handed out. naturally, i took a bag, partly because it was free, and partly because i wanted to compare it to the non-organic (inorganic?) version found in most grocery stores. not only that, but i also have a weakness for anything with raisins in it. ok, i have a weakness for food, period.

while the kellogg's version contains the following ingredients:
Whole wheat, raisins, wheat bran, sugar, high fructose corn syrup, salt, malt flavoring, niacinamide, reduced iron, zinc oxide, pyridoxine hydrochloride (vitamin B6), riboflavin (vitamin B2), thiamin hydrochloride (vitamin B1), vitamin A palmitate, folic acid, vitamin B12 and vitamin D.

the peace cereal version contains these:
organic wheat bran, organic whole wheat flour, organic evaporated cane juice, organic rolled oats, organic milled rice, organic soy oil, organic clover honey, organic raisins, vegetable glycerin, organic barley malt syrup, epazote leaf, organic cardamom seed, organic fennel seed, organic fenugreek seed, organic nutmeg, rosemary extract, sea salt.

and while it seems at first glance that, except for the wheat bran and the raisins, they have nothing in common, the peace cereal version was actually as good as, if not better than, the version i've been eating up until now. plus with all the additional seeds and grains in it, i felt like i was getting more fiber out of the deal. and at my age, that might be a good thing :)

i think i'll pay my local whole foods market a visit and pick up a box. not only will i be doing something good for myself, but also something good for the community.

through the peace cereal website, the proceeds from the sale of other non-cereal items will also go towards fostering peace in the world. for example, you can purchase the celebrate peace CD, featuring the music of snatam kaur and the peace band. after listening to the music clips online, i realized that many of the songs that were performed at yoga west were from this album (and maybe if i had paid just a little more attention last night, i probably would have heard it mentioned by snatam or guru singh). the album is a compilation of music from snatam's previous albums, as well as some new songs written specifically for this release. it's great music; buy it and support the cause!

so it looks like i can now add another item to my earlier list:

you can shop for peace.

now that i like!