Backward Day in the US is EVERY SINGLE DAY

Just got back from Good Health, a beloved store south of Boston. Chances are great that if you are someone who tries to eat clean, you’re a member of their rewards program. As with so much else, I have stepped back and realized just how backward the US truly is, and the only light I can see now is the growth of farmers’ markets across the US. People really do care. Now, we just need the government to care.

Here’s what I mean. In order for me to seek out the freshest, most local, and/or healthiest ingredients, it requires me to seek out a “health” food store or Whole Foods (which is kind of disappointing these days on several levels). Why is the food that won’t make us sick, does not contain poison, and can actually keep us out of the hospital sold in a specialty shop called a health food store? And are there stores that are supersized and more plentiful that provide “food” that contributes to cancer, heart disease, obesity, diabetes, and negative health outcomes? Somewhere along the line, what is sold in a large chain store became the benchmark for what we eat. The reality is that most of the items in our supermarkets aren’t food at all. Seriously, it’s NOT. They are ANTI-food stores.

I work at farmers’ markets and listen to young and old talk about their autoimmune diseases, their cancers, and everything that’s wrong, and they all have something in common. Most feel like it’s their fault. And I tell them all the same thing: it’s not their fault; it’s our SOCIETY’S collective fault for allowing this to happen, and it all comes down to money. We figured out how to make inexpensive food and more of it to feed more people at a lower cost so a few corporations could collect their large earnings at the expense of us all. Convenience. Fast. Affordable. Disgusting. Lethal. And the things we ate as children affect our microbiome RIGHT NOW. Today. So imagine what the next generation will look and feel like if we don’t get it all under control YESTERDAY.

My brother died of a heart attack, my dad died of a heart attack, and my grandmother died of a heart attack. Guess what? That does not mean that I have to have that same fate. People think everything is genetic, but at least 85% or more of all diseases are preventable. Having the markers for something is not your fate; in fact, it can act as an early warning system for you to adjust course. But first, we all have to turn this ship around. “Health food” should not be a term. The food we eat and see in stores should be simply that: ACTUAL FOOD. And then if people insist on eating “crap” (excuse my English), they can go to the specialty store where everything has a cancer warning label on it. We can call them Sickermarkets—yep, I kinda like that. They should all have posters that say, “Warning. Everything on these shelves contains ingredients that cause cancer.” Same for the vegetables, fruit, and meat on the perimeter of the market which I’ve often heard referred to as where you should shop. That perimeter is only healthy if the vegetables aren’t sprayed with pesticides and the meat is not from a factory farm.

Let’s slowly wean ourselves off a few key ideas:

• Bigger is better? Nope, it’s not. Eat higher quality food and less of it. We need fewer calories than we consume, not more.
• Soda should be banned completely. Pepsi and Coca-Cola should figure out another business to be in.
• Sugar. Don’t get me started. I’m all for a sweet treat now and again, and chocolate. But everything has sugar in it, and that’s unnecessary. Apart from the fact that it makes the food you eat addictive, so you’ll keep eating it. Here in New England, I watch the amount of sugar the local coffee place puts into a drink, and it makes my skin crawl. And since I love this place, I’m not mentioning them by name. But try your coffee black or with nut milk in it, and soon you’ll get used to it and love it.
• Limit the amount of sugar you give to your kids. Diabetes and obesity are on the rise in young people. And it’s not THEIR fault. YOU as a parent have control over what you put in the house. Make a sweet treat, just that, a once in a while thing, not a daily thing. Not in their cereal, the. bread they eat or the drinks they consume.
• No one NEEDS eggs, bacon, and white bread. So if the news talks about the price of any of these things, it should NOT matter at all. If they suddenly tell you that the price of lettuce, kiwis, or beans is through the roof, then pay attention.

People should not have to shop at a farmers market to avoid unhealthy “food” sold literally EVERYWHERE in the US. Those of us who eat whole grains and veggies and limit our animal protein and fried food should not be looked at sideways. The people eating the processed food are seen as “normal” eaters. People who question where the food is from, how it’s raised, or even the quality of the soil it’s grown in are not the weirdos. They simply haven’t drank the Kool-AID (also, not food). And this is what I mean; it’s all backward.

It seems there is more government regulation on organic farmers than there is on farmers raising pigs, cows, and chickens on “factory” farms. The people doing the RIGHT thing are having to pay more to do just that. Organic farmers growing a carrot that you can pull out of the ground and eat without washing, that’s how every farmer should farm. We should put a tax on those selling things with chemicals, dyes, and cancer-causing agents, not those who are trying to make a living feeding their animals with greens and treating them humanely. The small family, often multi-generational farms should be celebrated and given incentives to continue and THRIVE.

I’ll stop for now. But the basic idea is that I shouldn’t have to seek out a small family-run store to shop for food that is actually going to nourish me. It should be readily available, celebrated, and FUNDED by our government.It should be EASY to find!!

If you are wondering what you can do about it, find a farmers market this weekend and shop local. Ask questions. Crowd out the junk and the fake food with REAL. It doesn’t have to be expensive. Less is more. Simple can be delicious when it’s grown with love and care. Baby steps. And thanks for listening.