After completing my education in Albuquerque, New Mexico, I returned home to central NY faced with the decision of where to set up my acupuncture practice. My husband, who had been quite busy running our family orchard business and waiting patiently for my return, suggested that I use some space behind the apple grading room and run my practice on the farm. I definitely knew that that was not the serene and professional image that I was going for! “Aw, c’mon”, he said. “You can call it your apple-puncture clinic, and we can have a new slogan – “come in for a prick and a peck!”
My husband has a weird sense of humor. But, “a prick and a peck” does prompt me to think about the differences between the philosophies of western and eastern medicine.
As a member of the NY Apple Association, they provided us with a display poster for our farm stand. It proclaims the nutritional value of the apple. Did you know that the apple contains 85 calories, has no fat or cholesterol, is low in sodium and fat and is a good source of fiber, potassium, and other vitamins and minerals? Western culture analyzes our food at the molecular level, just like we analyze our bodies to diagnose disease. There is the old saying “an apple a day keeps the doctor away”, but as a society we are slow in taking the role of diet seriously in preventative health care.
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