Food, Inc.

Many of you may have heard about "Food, Inc.," an Academy Award nominated documentary about the food business in the United States. I haven't seen it yet, but lots of people I know have and say it's very powerful. I'm mentioning it because on Wednesday night, 4/21, PBS Channel 13 (NY-metro area) is airing it at 9:00 p.m. and I will definitely tune in to watch. And I hope all of you in my area will do so as well! The description of the film: "A revealing look at the U.S. food industry and corporations that put profit before consumer health. This sweeping, shockingly informative documentary recounts how sick animals; environmental degradation; tainted and unhealthy food; and obesity, diabetes and other health issues are only the more obvious problems with a highly mechanized and centralized system, like America's, that touts efficiency as the supreme value in food production."

Sounds like China!

In fact, a news report I heard recently says the fish offered for sale in supermarkets comes largely now from Asia where regulations are loose and is contaminated. Charming, non? Why do we allow this food to enter our country?

I am grateful to have a winter farmer's market here in Norwalk that offers local, fresh food. (See above photo). The produce is grown about 20 miles away in green houses during the colder months by a farming family. The eggs are from a local farm and are a bit smaller and more delicious than what I get at a regular grocery store. The fish was caught the day before and brought to the market by a Maine fisherman. I'm eating in a way that is sustaining both for me (local food which is macro-biotic) and for local business people, not some big corporation here or in Asia. I KNOW where the food comes from. I KNOW it is not tainted. I am eating mostly plant foods, grains, and a bit of fish now and then. I feel healthy and strong.

How does this relate to peace? By not exploiting animals by treating them like they are commodities instead of living beings, nor polluting or clearing land and thus degrading the environment to raise cattle and other animals for food on a mass-production scale. By encouraging everyone to eat local and environmentally-friendly foods to support good health and businesses in their own area. Human health and animal health, both physical and mental, is tremendously important as we all try to live together in ways that bring harmony with each other and with our world. It's hard for people to live up to their personal potentials if they are sick.

As the author Michael Pollan says in his new book, "Food Rules," if it's a plant, eat it. If it was made in a plant (factory), don't eat it. Processed food is sort of like plastic. It is food stripped of its nutrients to one degree or another. It's sitting on a shelf for a long time and I gotta wonder what keeps it from going bad. We are not automatons conditioned to think that food comes from a grocery store. We have to remember it is grown in the ground. We can become empowered about our food. What we can't do is sustain all the billions on this planet the way things are going right now. Just because it comes from Trader Joe's or Whole Foods, nothing is the same as eating fresh foods and cooking it yourself. When you eat in a restaurant, Lord knows what's on that plate.

Check out my friend Erin's blog: http://letsbeselfsufficient.blogspot.com/
She and her husband built a small chicken coop, grow herbs indoors, and find ways to economize on natural ways to keep healthy.

Human beings come up with unbelievable ways to go bigger, faster, cheaper. Since we don't grow our own food any longer, we sacrifice our self-sufficiency and knowledge of what is right for us to eat unless we wake up and research ways to get food that really nourishes us. However, we can tend our own small gardens during warmer months and try to support farmer's markets and KNOW that the food we are fueling our bodies with is local and fresh, full of nutrients. We each deserve the very best for ourselves. We are each worth the time and energy. I enjoy how I feel eating this way!