{"id":15272,"date":"2016-02-09T13:21:36","date_gmt":"2016-02-09T21:21:36","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.happycow.net\/blog\/?p=15272"},"modified":"2022-08-02T20:07:14","modified_gmt":"2022-08-03T03:07:14","slug":"4-cos4s-four-things-part-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.happycow.net\/blog\/4-cos4s-four-things-part-2\/","title":{"rendered":"4 COS4S (Four Things) Part 2"},"content":{"rendered":"
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\"cosas<\/a>International Integrators<\/b> Facilitator Caty Genestra Villalonga has started a movement in Spain around the common expression \u201c4 COS4S\u201d or \u201cfour things\u201d to increase awareness about the benefits of eating whole, plant-based foods. \u00a0<\/span>As discussed in the January 25th blog<\/span>, the 4 COS4S Project<\/i> <\/span>started by inviting restaurants on the Mediterranean island of Mallorca to add \u201c4 things\u201d (\u201c4 cosas\u201d) to their menus whose ingredients are whole food, plant-based and do not include any animal products and at most a small amount of refined products such as oil, sugar and salt.\u00a0 <\/span>4COS4S now <\/span>includes a Restaurant Project<\/i>, an Education Project<\/i> and a Medical Project<\/i>. <\/span><\/p>\n

Caty was born in Mallorca in 1952, during a time of economic crisis. When she was five years old, her parents emigrated to Venezuela, where she spent her childhood. Caty always had aspirations to become a doctor, but ended up working in the world of finance. During her 35 years in that profession, she led initiatives in a financial institution founded by an educator, which, she says, \u201cwas the first in Spain to introduce ethics into the world of money.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Caty believes that \u201cwe come to this world to learn, and our unique legacy is the love that we leave in things that we do and people that we touch.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

This philosophy seems in line with that of the visionaries who created and continue to develop HappyCow<\/a>. <\/b><\/span><\/p>\n

\"cosas<\/a>The 4 COS4S Mission<\/b><\/span><\/p>\n

The expression \u201cfour things\u201d (\u201ccuatro cosas\u201d) is used frequently in Spain. For instance, on your way to the grocery store, you might say, \u201cI\u2019m picking up four things.\u201d Or you might ask a friend to meet you in a caf\u00e9, saying, \u201cI want to tell you about four things that happened at work last week.\u201d The number of things usually is not four, but the literal translation of the expression is four things.<\/span><\/p>\n

Eating a diet primarily comprised of whole, plant-based foods is good for: <\/span><\/p>\n

    \n
  1. Our Bodies <\/span><\/li>\n
  2. The Earth <\/span><\/li>\n
  3. Animal Welfare<\/span><\/li>\n
  4. World Hunger <\/span><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    \"cosas<\/a>This week\u2019s blog will focus on the first of the four areas of interest (Our Bodies<\/i>), and upcoming blog posts will explore the others (The Earth, Animal Welfare <\/i>and World Hunger<\/i>). Contributing as an author to this series of posts is Elle Stetson-Dibble, who co-founded Veg Heads<\/i><\/b>, a student-led initiative in her Massachusetts high school. She recently became aware of 4 COS4S and has added her strong writing and strategic-thinking skills to the project. Elle\u2019s involvement in 4 COS4S has expanded its reach beyond Mallorca and the borders of Spain.<\/span><\/p>\n

    Our Bodies<\/b><\/span><\/p>\n

    The top three contenders in the competition among things that sicken and kill humans in developed countries are cancer, cardiovascular disease<\/span><\/a> and medical errors<\/span><\/a>. In 1930, heart disease replaced infectious disease as the biggest threat, and by 1940, cancer, which until then had occupied the eighth cause of death spot, crept up to number two and has stayed there. An interactive graph<\/span><\/a> from a 2012 article in the New England Journal of Medicine<\/i> illustrates these points. <\/span><\/p>\n

    The 20<\/span>th<\/sup><\/span> century\u2019s advances in conventional medicine, which improved health and lifespan through the development of antibiotics, vaccines and antimicrobial procedures, knocked infections out of first place. During the same century, changes in lifestyle, mostly related to diet and sedentary habits, brought heart disease and cancer to the top killer slots. People now also increasingly suffer from other lifestyle-related conditions including respiratory diseases, obesity, diabetes, allergies, arthritis, autoimmune conditions, chronic pain, sleep disorders, anxiety and depression. <\/span><\/p>\n

    The medical system increasingly is becoming a part of the lifestyle of many people. A 2013 Mayo Clinic report<\/span><\/a> found that nearly 70% of Americans take at least one prescription drug. In 2014, Americans spent $31 billion <\/span><\/a>on non-prescription drugs. <\/span><\/p>\n

    With its offers of a vast array of medications, tests, procedures and hospital experiences, the medical system, while meant to help us, can contribute to illness and death, and statistically is the third cause of death of Americans<\/span><\/a>. Medication errors cause one death per day and injure 1.3 million people in the US annually, according to the FDA<\/span>. Unnecessary surgery and testing, other preventable errors in hospitals, hospital-borne infections and adverse drug effects contribute to injuries and deaths. These themes have been explored in many venues, including in a September 2013 NPR report<\/span><\/a> and in a May 2015 New Yorker Magazine<\/i> article called Overkill<\/span><\/a>, by Dr. Atul Gawande.<\/span><\/p>\n

    \"Photo<\/a>Peace of Mind Comes With Consciously Overcoming Delusions<\/b><\/span><\/p>\n

    \u201cA human being is a part of the whole called by us \u2018universe,\u2019 a part limited in time and space. He experiences himself, his thoughts and feelings as something separated from the rest, a kind of optical delusion of his consciousness. The striving to free oneself from this delusion is the one issue of true religion. Not to nourish the delusion but to try to overcome it is the way to reach the attainable measure of peace of mind.\u201d <\/i>Letter Feb 12, 1950, Albert Einstein<\/i><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

    Einstein wrote these words in a letter to<\/span> Robert S. Marcus, a father distraught over the death of his young son from polio.<\/span> In comforting the grieving father, Einstein encouraged him to free himself from the delusion that any human being is separate from the rest of the universe.<\/span><\/p>\n

    Einstein\u2019s antidote to this \u201cdelusion\u201d is consciousness. A delusion lives in the dark shadows of our lives. Consciousness shines light on delusions, inviting us to see what is really there and make change. <\/span><\/p>\n

    \"Photo<\/a>Delusion: \u201cI am aware of the consequences of my food choices\u201d<\/i><\/b><\/span><\/p>\n

    As this relates to how we care for our bodies, we start with an admission: much of what we do with and to our bodies is unconscious<\/i>. For instance, we think that we \u201cchoose\u201d what we eat, but many of our decisions are guided by these \u201cdelusions\u201d:<\/span><\/p>\n