Our Reply to "Pulling It Together" (Vegan Blog) Review of Casa de Luz

Only a few are disposed to eat the simple non-processed, organic fare at Casa de Luz. Even fewer are ready to eat it regularly. As for me, it is the only way I want to eat for the rest of my life.  What I've learned after 24 years of dedication to this path is that it rewards me with a great life, with optimum health which includes freedom from disease.   This approach to integrated nutrition can be compared to physical workouts: the more you do it, the better it feels, and the more you like it.  As a way of life, this approach falls squarely in the category of "delayed gratification."  Processed food gives everyone immediate gratification. Most children will choose a peanut butter and jelly sandwich over a Casa de Luz meal.  Personally, there is nothing more delicious to me than a melted cheese sandwich.  So there are many processed foods that are much tastier than Casa de Luz fare.  What I have come to realize is how quickly the taste-thrill is gone.  Most of the time, the thrill is gone before I finish the plate.  And then what's next?   Appreciation for the significant value of non-processed food is an acquired taste that develops over time. We belong to a species that learns to like tobacco smoke, oysters, bleu cheese, escargot, and whiskey.   We can learn to like anything. The BIG question is, does it like you back!

Here's the good news: if you wish to walk this path but feel that it is too steep, it takes 40 to 60 days of eating this way to arrive at the point where it will become your preference and eventually the only way you want to eat.

Although Casa de Luz has some similarities to restaurants it is far from being one. We are dedicated to making a significant and important difference for humanity and our environment. How we eat has a tidal effect on everything.   Notice that Casa de Luz does not advertise. It is more a place of sacred worship of the well being for all sentient life than a restaurant. It took Dale Rice, former food writer of the  Austin-American Statesman four years to get the point.  Dale came to understand that Casa de Luz does not not use the same ruler that food critics use to measure restaurants.  After repeated visits he realized that the larger purpose of Casa de Luz is beyond mere tickling the palate.

So, to call the taste of unprocessed food "bland" is to miss the taste of health. To call it "delicious," by those that have come to love it, is imposing a point of view that will mislead others.   These terms occur in a context established over time.  If you've been eating chips, salsa, and drinking margaritas it will initially taste bland.  But people who adopt this way of nourishment do come to love its taste due to how it makes them feel afterward, so it's "deliciousness" is indeed acquired.  Doing what is "right" has a tidal effect on our lives--and that of others.  "Right" is not right because someone says so, but because of a beneficial effect on all aspects of our lives and others.

The flavor of Casa de Luz meals is only the beginning of the story, for it unravels so many other inexplicable delights to our lives. Religion means "to bind" in Latin, to bring things together. The sacred is the story of wholeness, and our lives come together the closer we get to nature and close to the earth.  It's clear that [I'll get her name] of VeganMofo instinctually understands what is happening at Casa de Luz, for she wrote of the village aspect. It will only be a matter of time before Alin of the "Pulling It Together" blog realizes the full significance of this educational community center.  Like patron Whitley Smith says, "I get a lot of nutrition at Casa de Luz--and the food ain't bad either!"

With appreciation,

Eduardo Longoria
Casa de Luz