A home in the Amazon Rainforest

The colorful story of one couple’s journey across the world to build their dream home in the heart of the Amazon

In 1989, as their mid-life crises approached, concert pianist Binka Le Breton and her husband Robin, an agricultural economist, decided to uproot themselves from their home in Washington, D.C. and start a new life in Brazil.

Where the Road Ends is their story of building a house, a rainforest research center, and a new dream.

Since then, they’ve learned how to work with the trees, the animals, the weather, the local community, and each other.

Their technology now ranges from the oxcart to the Internet, and in 2000 they opened a rainforest conservation and research center that is visited by foreign researchers and Brazilian school children.

From meeting their resident cowboy, Albertinho, to beheading snakes, to chauffeuring a local wedding—the adventures described here are unparalleled.

This delightful memoir takes the armchair traveler deep into another world where matters of providing food and shelter can never be taken for granted.

Binka and Robin have embarked on an adventure that many readers only dream about—transplanting themselves in a different country and learning (often the hard way) what it takes to survive and flourish.

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Acai Roots Introduces Pure Acai Juice

New Product Brings Consumers The Authentic Brazilian Açaí Juice Experience.

Açai Roots™, a leading supplier of natural Brazilian açaí berry products, announces the launch of its newest ready-to-drink beverage, Açai Roots™ Pure Açaí Juice.

The company’s all-natural açaí beverage is a delicious, refreshing and healthy option for consumers looking to enjoy an authentic, tasty and nutritional açaí super-fruit beverage.

‘“Açai Roots™ carries the tradition of making authentic Brazilian açaí products, and this new beverage follows the same line. Our main objective while developing the Pure Açaí Juice was to offer consumers the real açaí juice experience, something they cannot find elsewhere”, said Açai Roots CEO, Igor Pereira.

The product is the fifth shelf-stable and ready-to-drink beverage the company produces, adding to the company’s already successful line which includes: açaí juice smoothies, açaí energy shots and the açaí liquid concentrate.

On top of its delicious and refreshing taste, the beverage is also full of antioxidants (3,000 ORAC per serving), omegas and other nutrients, making it a very healthy beverage - perfect for healthy-conscious consumers to drink between or with meals.

“We wanted to offer consumers the authentic acai juice; made with the best pulp available in Brazil and without adding other fruit juices or artificial flavors to it. In other words, this is the real deal - the authentic açaí juice experience”, said Açai Roots Marketing Manager, Rodrigo Correa.

The Pure Açaí Juice will be available in grocery and natural food stores nationwide, as well as through the company’s website beginning May 2010, in two different sizes, 10oz and 32oz bottles.

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Superfruits Product Benefits

Acai

Nutrients: Antioxidants, Anthocyanins, Protein, Omega-6 and Omega-9 Fatty Acids

For many centuries, the healing power of the acai berry was unknown outside of the Amazon rainforest. The acai berry grows as a wild plant on top of many native palm trees in the Amazon rainforest, with the fruits of the plant being harvested by local farmers and used to make a healthy and nutritious fruit pulp. When quickly frozen, this fruit pulp can retain its vast nutritional value even when being shipped around the world. The acai berry is known for its deep purple color, as well as for being a rich source of many important antioxidant vitamins and has been used by the indigenous peoples of the region for thousands of years to enhance health and vitality.

The major benefits of the acai berry are thought to include its strong heart health benefits. The acai berry is known to be a rich source of compounds called anthocyanins. These anthocyanins are the same compounds thought to give red wine its health benefits, but acai berries may contain even higher concentrations of these healthy chemicals than wine, with none of the health risks associated with alcohol.

The acai berry is also a rich source of protein and dietary fiber, in addition to high levels of both omega-6 and omega-9 fatty acids, thought to have a protective effect on the heart and cardiovascular system. The omega-6 and omega-9 fatty acids contained in the acai berry may also play a role in lowering levels of cholesterol in the blood.

In addition to these important benefits, the acai berry is thought to play a vital role in slowing down the aging process. In health food circles, the acai berry is known as one of the most powerful of the anti-aging super foods. It is thought that this anti-aging effect is a combination of the high levels of anthocyanins and the strong antioxidant vitamin content the fruit contains. In fact, the acai berry is known to contain ten times as many antioxidant vitamins as grapes and twice as many as blueberries.

The acai berry is truly one of nature’s most healing foods, and a worthy addition to any healthy diet.

Historical Benefits:

Acai has been recommended for heart and cardiovascular health, may play a role in lowering cholesterol, thought to play a vital role in slowing down the aging process.

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Brazil: Power and the Xingu

A huge Amazon hydropower project shows how hard it is to balance the demands of the environment and of a growing and prospering country

Protesters in paint and headdresses in Brasília, warring tribes of lawyers and a mountain of pig dung: yet another giant Brazilian public-works contract was up for grabs, and the lobbies were restless. After the courts struck down an avalanche of eleventh-hour injunctions, late on April 20th a consortium of contractors won the right to build Belo Monte, a huge hydroelectric power station to be raised on the Xingu river in the eastern Amazon basin.
Amazon: Power and the Xingu

A huge Amazon hydropower project shows how hard it is to balance the demands of the environment and of a growing and prospering country

The victors—led by Chesf, a state-owned hydropower generator, and several construction firms—celebrated quietly and quickly. Their discretion was understandable. Waiting outside the auction room at Brazil’s power regulator was an angry mob, kitted out in overalls and warpaint, and three tonnes of fresh manure, courtesy of a local pig farm. “Belo Monte de Merda” read the banner in the ripening heap.

But Brazil’s rapidly growing economy needs more energy, preferably renewable. The scale of the dam—it will be the world’s third-largest hydroelectric station after China’s Three Gorges and Brazil’s own Itaipu—is epic. So is the investment, of at least 19 billion reais (nearly $11 billion). But ever since the engineers in Brasília rolled out the blueprints for damming the Xingu two decades ago, the project has attracted powerful opposition.

Environmental groups and river dwellers say Belo Monte will flood vast patches of rainforest while desiccating others. “The forest is our butcher shop, the river is our market,” Indian leaders wrote in a newspaper. They were aided by greens from Europe and the United States, including the tribes of Hollywood. James Cameron, a film director, flew in to daub his face in red paint, hug an Indian and join the protest.

In his past as a labour leader, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, Brazil’s president since 2003, might have joined them. Now he has a legacy to mind. Belo Monte is the centrepiece of the government’s ambitious public-investment programme—the flagship initiative of Dilma Rousseff, his former chief of staff and would-be successor, who faces a tough fight in October’s presidential election against José Serra, the main opposition candidate. As president, Lula has shown little patience for tree-huggers (see article), never mind grandstanding gringos. “They don’t need to come here and give us advice,” he snapped.

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The Acai Berry's proven antioxidants

Beta carotene -- Beta carotene is a proven free-radical scavenger associated with lowered risks for several types of cancer, including breast, lung, skin and stomach cancers. Research also supports its use in promoting eye health, lowering cholesterol levels and preventing heart disease.

Vitamin C -- This vitamin is a powerful antioxidant with anti-inflammatory properties found to improve symptoms of asthma and arthritis. Studies have also found vitamin C supplementation useful in protecting against atherosclerosis, stroke, cancer and reducing complications in macular degeneration in diabetics and promoting healthy immune function. When used in combination with vitamin E, a 2004 study from the Archives of Neurology found vitamin C reduced the risk of Alzheimer's disease.

Vitamin E -- Several studies have linked this vitamin to reduced risk of heart attacks and found it beneficial in lowering LDL (bad) cholesterol levels. The National Eye Institute also found vitamin E to be one of several antioxidants (including vitamin C, beta carotene and zinc)that may help reduce the risk of macular degeneration-related vision loss. New clinical research is also recommending vitamin E for diabetes prevention and treatment. Other benefits linked to vitamin E include use for inflammation, blood cell and cell-division regulation and connective tissue health.

Magnesium -- Magnesium deficiency has been linked to several chronic conditions. As an antioxidant magnesium improves the cardiovascular system's antioxidant threshold and increases the body's resistance to free radicals. It also protects agains free radical damage to mitochondria (cellular energy producers) and has been used to regulate heart rhythm and blood pressure.

Polyphenolic flavonoids -- Sixteen types of bioactive polypheolic compounds have been identified in acai berry. Polyphenols are antioxidant compounds found in produce, grains, tea and soybeans. Research shows that polyphenolic compounds have anti-tumor properties and may be useful in the treatment and prevention of cancers of the breast, colon, skin, lung and liver. Other benefits include antiinflammatory antiallergenic, immunostimulatory and cardioprotective properties.

Anthocyanins -- Two major types of anhocyanins have been found in acai, including cyanidin-3-glucoside and cyaninidin-3-rutinoside. Anthocyanins are exceptional antioxidant compounds believed to reduce heart disease risk by neutralizing free radicals that could damage blood vessel walls, leading to cholesterol and plaque buildup. Acai is believed to have up to 30 times the anthocyanins found in red wine.

Keep in mind that this does not require you to take a pill, these antioxidants are contained in this superfood from the Amazon Rainforest in Brazil, the Ancient Acai Berry.

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Farmer fined over rainforest destruction

A famer operating in the Amazon rainforest has been fined 6.15 million dollars (£4 million) for illegally clearing large parts of the tropical forest, it has been reported.
Amazon farmer hit with fine over illegal deforestation

According to a G1 report cited on Times Live, the unnamed farmer in the Brazilian region of Mato Grosso was fined after they were found to have cleared more than 2,230 hectares of land. The news source noted that the area of the Amazon is well known for clearing by fire.

The area the farmer is said to have illegally cleared is near to the Xingu National Park nature reserve, some 500 kilometres from the Mato Gross capital Cuiaba.

As well as this, another five farmers were given heavy fines over illegal tree felling, the source reported.

Illegal clearing is one of the biggest threats facing the world's tropical forests and despite strict guidelines restricting it in many rainforest nations, illegal deforestation continues.

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The One Country That Might Avoid Recession Is...

Brazil is no stranger to economic crises. In the 1970s and '80s, Latin America's economic giant turned financial mismanagement into an art form. The current global turmoil has not left Brazil unscathed: stock prices, exports and growth are all down. But something interesting is at work this time around, and the best place to see it is in one of Brazil's favelas, the vast urban slums that are desperate even in the best of times. Walk through São Paulo's sprawling Brasilândia, though, and you don't sense the relentless doom and gloom gripping other cities in the world. Take Efigênia Francisca da Silva, who exudes middle-class expectations and remains positive despite the tsunami of bad news. Thanks to a government scheme to encourage entrepreneurs, the once dirt-poor housewife has received some $8,000 in low-interest bank credits in recent years and now owns three shops that sell everything from shampoo to public-transit tickets. "I didn't have a bank account before," says Da Silva, 37, standing beneath graffiti-covered walls and pirated power lines. "I never had a car. I bought a Fiat Palio." Does she fear the global recession will quash her dreams? "I trust Lula. I don't think we'll be hit that hard."

"Lula" is President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva (no relation to Efigênia), and most Brazilians believe he's the reason their country is surviving the current downturn better than other places. In past crises, Brazil was usually the nation in need of the largest life preserver. If it wasn't drowning under fiscal recklessness, it was being held under by draconian austerity plans. Brazil, the old joke goes, is the country of the future — and always will be. Now, in the middle of the worst global downturn for decades, Brazil could finally be the country of the moment. According to a recent study by the Paris-based Organization for Economic Cooperation & Development (OECD), Brazil may be the only one of 34 major economies that avoids recession in 2009. While the U.S. debates whether to nationalize its crippled banks, Brazil's remain comparatively sound. Oil companies worldwide are slashing investment, but Brazil's state-run Petrobras is going ahead with a four-year, $174 billion expansion plan. "Brazil," Lula boasted to TIME, "is riding the current crisis better than many developed countries."

To be sure, the boom — years of 5% growth and soaring exports — is over. Industrial production has plunged. Even Embraer, the aircraft maker whose jets sell to scores of airlines, and which has become a symbol of Brazil's newfound confidence, recently announced plans to lay off 4,000 employees, almost one-fifth of its workforce. Commodity exports — soybeans, steel — are weak. The main stock market is down 25% since September. But Lula, a former shoe-shine boy who heads the leftist Workers Party (PT), has so far kept the good times from becoming a hellish bust. In Brazil, that's nothing short of miraculous.

There may be another miracle in the making. Because unfettered capitalism is widely blamed for the global meltdown, economists and laborers alike say Brazil has become an example of what Lula likes to call "the financial strategy of the future." By that he means a postideological approach that is equal parts wealth creation for corporations such as Embraer and wealth redistribution for underdogs like Da Silva. All this under the kind of prudent financial regulation that seems to have gone missing in the developed world of late.

Brazil still faces huge challenges; its education system is dysfunctional, its political system squalid, corruption endemic. But consider: 53% of Brazil's 190 million people now occupy the middle class, up from 42% in 2002. This increased social mobility happened at the same time the country's main stock index soared some 480% before last fall's downturn. Lula seems to have cracked Latin America's chronic conundrum: how to expand underachieving economies while reducing epic inequality. In so doing, he's created a model that's "an insurance ticket, not a lottery ticket," says Marcelo Neri, head of the Center for Social Policies in Rio de Janeiro.

All Change

In an interview last fall at the Planalto presidential palace in Brasilia, Lula, 63, told TIME that he wants to "change the world's political and economic geography" before he leaves office in December 2010. It may be futile to stump for a permanent Brazilian seat on the United Nations Security Council, but the developed world's financial shambles has made Lula's campaign to challenge U.S. and European hegemony in global trade talks less quixotic — and enhanced Brazil's leadership role among developing nations. "Capitalism will be a different animal once the turbulence is over," Lula told TIME. "Developing countries will be responsible for a major percentage of world economic growth."

Twenty years ago, when Lula was a firebrand unionist, that sentiment might have been dismissed as dreamy rhetoric. Not today. However the crisis ends, there is widespread agreement that developing economies such as Brazil, China and India will be crucial to ensuring that demand remains buoyant. Lula, too, has changed. These days he's a pragmatist who is as popular inside corporate boardrooms as he is in the favelas. On March 17, he will meet new U.S. President Barack Obama — a fellow moderate liberal who shares Lula's passion for green-energy ventures — in the White House. He will be the first Latin American leader to meet Obama since he took office, a sign, perhaps, that the new U.S. Administration sees Brazil as a key partner in forging a new policy for the Americas.

That too would mark a change. Brazilian officials have long wanted to make a mark outside their neighborhood, but until recently, the world rarely noticed what went on there — unless it involved beaches, soccer or Carnaval. "Brazil always suffered externally because of its internal poverty," says Lula's foreign-policy adviser, Marco Aurelio Garcia. The nation's founding monarchy, which lasted until 1889, insulated the country from the region's 19th century upheavals but also spawned a quasi-feudal class system that led to the inequalities that persist today. In 2000, fewer than 3% of Brazilians still owned more than two-thirds of the arable land, and the divide between the rich southeast and destitute northeast, where Lula was born, was as stark as ever.

Lula's predecessor, Fernando Henrique Cardoso, was the first President to recognize that change was needed. He restored fiscal sanity by slaying hyperinflation, but his attempts at social reform were timid. Lula's victory in 2002 panicked Wall Street and the Brazilian élite. But instead of defaulting on Brazil's foreign debt or busting the budget, as they feared he would, Lula embraced one of the few positive legacies of Brazil's royalist roots: deliberate, negotiated consensus-building. It's a hallmark of Brazil's widely respected diplomatic corps — and it tempered Lula even when he was a metal-workers union boss in the 1970s. Unlike more radical Latin leftists, such as Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez, Lula "was always a negotiator," says union pal and former congressional Deputy Djalma Bom, who recalls Lula telling him to stop reading Lenin 30 years ago. Even rivals like Rubens Ricupero, a former finance minister and Cardoso ally, agree. "The danger with Lula is that he can be rather messianic," says Ricupero. "But he's one of the world's most intelligent politicians."

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