On December 30, 1968, three days after the return of Apollo 8 to Earth, NASA released an image of our planet taken from Space on Christmas Eve that year. The legendary image, that is now known as the Earthrise, filled many hearts with awe and admiration for the beauty of Earth suspended in the darkness of the vast, endless Space.
In the period of fifty five years since humans first saw the picture of Earth, population of our planet more than doubled and is now exceeding eight billion people. With this growth came various problems for our planet: overcrowded, poverty- and crime-ridden megalopolises; extreme consumerism and extreme poverty often in one and same place (consider Rio de Janeiro, Shanghai, Mumbai or Los Angeles); mountains of garbage; water and air pollution; degradation of fresh water; scarcity of potable water; soil depletion; deforestation; and extinction of many species, to name only a few. The hypocrites arriving at climate change conferences in their private jets are not providing real solutions to the problems the Earth and the Earth's population is facing.
Humanity might be a lost cause, unless each of us starts making changes in our own "backyard." Not everyone has the means to do this on his or her own, so people might need to create communities where financial burden may be met collectively in projects like organic food gardens, composting, conscious garbage disposal, tree planting, planting of flowers for butterflies and bees, and recycling.
Those who can afford it should always support organic food growers and fair trade. Instead of buying another pair of shoes or a handbag, buy fair trade avocados, fair trade raw cacao, fair trade cotton bags. They are much more expensive but this is money well spent since those who get paid fairly will be able to improve their living conditions and send their children to school. Educated people can provide for themselves. Just think about it.
To celebrate the International Earth Day 2023, I created raw, vegan Pale Blue Dots. I used organic, sustainable, and fair trade products where this was possible. This recipe is very simple and easy to make but you will need a food processor.
Ingredients:
- 7-8 medjool dates, soaked in water overnight
- 1/4 cup gently melted raw cacao butter
- 1 cup powdered raw cacao
- 1 Tbsp maca powder
- 1 Tbsp chaga medicinal mushroom powder
- 2 Tbsp vanilla extract
- 1/2 tsp sea salt (I used the amazingly pure, mineral-rich, organic Arctic sea salt from Iceland)
- green superfood powder or ceremonial matcha for rolling
- blue spirulina powder for rolling
Method:
- Toss dates, melted cocoa butter and raw cacao into a food processor and pulse blend until well combined. Add maca powder, chaga powder, vanilla extract and salt, and blend again. You should obtain a thick but soft chocolate mass. Add more melted cacao butter if the mass is too crumbly. Add more raw cacao if the mass is too soft and flowing.
- With clean hands roll small balls using about 1 Tbsp of the chocolate mass per ball. You should be able to make 10-12 balls. Work quickly because the raw cacao butter sets pretty fast at room temperature.
- Prepare two small bowls with green superfoods powder and blue spirulina, respectively. Roll each ball in the green, then in the blue powder, and set aside. You may want to wear food-safe one way gloves to prevent your hands from staining.
- Serve the ready confections as a dessert at an Earth Day party or anytime you want to surprise your guests. Enjoy in good company!
Tip: I made these chocolates without any tree nuts but instead, added Peruvian maca and chaga medicinal mushroom powder for additional health benefits and the "earthy" taste. You may want to add cat's claw, he shou wu, or any other adaptogenic herb of your choice. You do not need to refrigerate these chocolates. Simply store them in an air tight container. Consume fresh. However, if you make a bigger batch, store them in the fridge for up to five days in an air tight container. The taste improves overnight but you may want to roll them again in green powder and blue spirulina.
I want to finish this post with one of my favorite quotes from Carl Sagan who coined the term Pale Blue Dot:
"The Earth is the only world known so far to harbor life. There is nowhere else, at least in the near future, to which our species could migrate. Visit, yes. Settle, not yet. Like it or not, for the moment the Earth is where we make our stand."
And last but not least, remember that every day is an Earth Day!
In radiant health, passionately raw - Dominique
Dominique Allmon©2023