Friday, August 7, 2009

Hungry For Change

Food, Inc.

When I say that I don't eat red meat or pork and that I eat organically, most people tilt their heads and peer hard at me.

I guess they are looking for the hidden, dirty dreadlocks, bare feet, unwashed and unshaven body of a "God -Damn Dirty Hippie".

Then again, they may be wondering how someone can not eat steak and bacon and still be so fat.

Either way, I am not your stereotypical tree- hugging, green fiend. Don't get me wrong, I am both a hugger and a fiend, but I have justifiable reasons for my choices. I don't know if many folks take the time to explain to others why they choose this manner of living, so I will attempt to do so for myself now.


There is the standard 'tread lightly' response, which is part of why I choose sustainability. I think that we, short-lived, tiny little creatures are unbelievably arrogant to think that this ENTIRE planet was put here for our sole, gluttonous consumption. We are so small in comparison to the universe and our lives ore really short in the cosmic scheme of time; yet we achieve such massive destruction of our only resources.

We have so utterly lost touch with nature and our food that we cannot even conceive the amount of space, effort and resources it takes to feed this country alone, much less the rest of the civilized world. We somehow think that we can just go to some planetary superstore and buy a newer model planet when this one wears out. Since we have no relationship with our food as it grows, we have no concept of how it got to our table, other than the store.

Did you know that Japan and the U.S. are the two largest consumers of commercial tuna in the world? Did you also know that each country consumes, by itself, more tuna than every other country on Earth (minus the other glutton)?
Did you also know that tuna are voracious carnivores and that they take years to mature to a reasonably harvest able size?


During their lives, tuna consume tons of smaller feed fish that are harvested from open ocean and ferried to the enclosed sea pens of commercial tuna farms. While the farms are a better option in some cases (controlled harvest in an enclosed pen= dolphin safe), the sad fact is that most commercial farms are located in southeast Asia (although several offshore tuna farms are being built by a Japanese tuna company near the California coast), near communities that rely on daily fishing to feed their families.

In the Philippines and Cambodia there are 'pole cities' of floating huts where fishermen and their families' only means of sustenance is the food they catch from the sea. They are so poor that they cannot even afford to live on land, thus they construct their floating homes in shallow water, attached to long bamboo poles that they sink into the sand. They have no electricity or plumbing and they distill sea water for fresh drinking water and they cook their fish in metal pans in the sun with no other fuel.


Commercial fishing fleets that sell feed to tuna farms are literally fishing these communities into starvation. People are dying so that wealthy Japanese and American consumers can have their Charlie the tuna treat. We throw an average of 20-30% of our food away and people are starving because of our gluttony.

This lengthy diatribe brings me to the real point of this blog: There is a new movie out called"Food, Inc.". This documentary exposes the real enemies of our society and it's not the Taliban or Muslims or Peaceniks. It's not those 'damn lazy Mexican stealing all our jobs' (if they are so lazy, then why are they employed instead of you?), or those dangerous Canadians with their radical health care...

They enemy of America is America. This great land was built on the spirit of commerce and our desire to make a better life for ourselves, but there are many Americans who will sacrifice your health, and the health and safety of your children for the sake of a buck.

The most important reason I choose to eat organically is me. I am an American and I decide what goes into my body. It's not freedom if you don't get to choose...



I choose not to put harmful chemicals into my body if I can help it. They world around us is filled with toxins that leach the health and wellness from our bodies every day. I didn't actually believe all of the hocus pocus until I tried it for myself. I gave it six weeks, just to see if I noticed anything different.

Results:
  • I lost fifteen pounds
  • My skin cleared up
  • My hair and skin feel super soft (I can't stop touching myself, people are getting a little nervous around me)
  • I feel terrific. I mean really terrific.
  • I went jogging. Jogging! ME! Did I mention that I went jogging? I twas only four blocks, but still!!!
I also notice that when I don't eat healthy now, I feel like crap. I can still get away with conventional food but I pay for it.

Besides, I don't want to put bio toxins and endocrine disruptors and rampant carcinogens into my body. I want clean living and clean mind and I don't think you can have those things if you are filled with nuclear sludge.

I want my life to be long and healthy and I want a beautiful place to live out the remainder of my days. I want to breathe clean air and sunshine, I want to run through wildflower meadows and I want to eat pure food from my own garden.

I want the next generation to blow dandelions and drink lemonade on a hot summer day. I want them to wade in clean rivers filled with one-headed fish that are safe to catch. I want to see children grow up and change the world in a meaningful, beneficial way. I want a brighter tomorrow for the only place I will ever call home.




1 comment:

Anonymous said...

This is food for though, litterally!!! I watched this and thought, "What am I doing to my children!" It's baby steps for Shayla, starting at the fast food industry. Needless to say, they see a lot less of the Tu'akoi's income. Now I need courage to build a garden... I kill everything!
-shayla