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Is the Andean Diet the Key to Longevity?
Carmelo Flores Laura claims the Andean diet and a life of outdoor activity has helped keep him alive for 123 years. These days he spends most of his time lying on a blanket as life in his tiny village flies by. He has outlived his wife and friends in the village he barely left. (EPA/La Paz Government/Keystone) Flores resides in Frasquia, Bolivia, a hamlet 4,000 meters up, two hours from the nearest road, isolated from civilization. His son says he spent a short time living in La Paz, but felt caged in and wanted to return to his land. The cattle and sheep herder says his long walks with the animals, along with his diet have…
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Bolivians Expel McDonalds
In 2002, McDonald’s closed their last restaurant in Bolivia. The franchise spent millions of dollars in the Latin American country but could not break out of its deficit. Bolivia has a long tradition of using food as reciprocity. Many relationships are beyond money and companies like McDonald’s go against what the nation believes. Indigenous president Evo Morales called the chain and other American chains a “great harm to humanity,” when addressing the United Nations General Assembly. (Credit) Bolivians are not interested in food for profit and natives would rather buy food from local street merchants, the indigenous women called cholitas. Tanya Kerssen, research coordinator for the Food First Network, calls this Bolivia’s…