Feeding The Future
I feel a tremendous moral obligation to write this after meeting yesterday with my Assembly person Matt Dababneh in a working group formed to create more plant based food options in our LAUSD schools.
As a nutritionist and a mom, I love the idea of more plant based foods in our school, but the heart of our food issue in our schools is Quality. And I wish this was just a local issue, but this is a problem that reaches far beyond our schools and lands in the laps of corporations that are lobbying and/or being subsidized in ways that undermine our wellness. Thankfully we have an assembly person who sees the systemic challenges we face and is willing to start small with the hope that it can build to higher impacting legislation.
I follow closely the studies that are published linking our wellness to the quality of the foods we consume. Everything from the damaging effects Confined Animal Feedlot Operations on our environment and the health of the animals (and those consuming these animals), to the masterful effects our gut flora has on our health and prevention of chronic disease. And while I place tremendous value on these scientific findings, as a human I know we often need to experience something first-hand to understand the magnitude of something’s effect. And I feel our food system is one of these topics that flies under the radar because as a society we aren’t recognizing the direct relationship with the “health” of our foods to the “health” of our bodies, ecology, economy, and communities.
It also is difficult to explain that the effects of our nutrition may take decades for it to manifest as a chronic condition to a society conditioned for instant gratification.
But there are warning signs: behavioral problems, learning disabilities, attention deficits, digestive issues, sleep difficulties, skin conditions, frequent colds or infections. All of this can be linked to the health of our food (and other toxins that put in,on and around our bodies). But these symptoms often fly under the radar too because of another challenge, which is our culture’s most valued profession, medical doctors. To no fault of their own, a typical medical doctor receives less than 20 hours of nutritional training, if he/she is lucky. You’re more likely to get an outdated recommendation to reduce your saturated fat intake if you have high cholesterol than you are to receive advice to reduce your sugar intake. For over a decade research is has shown that the culprit of our modern, chronic diseases all stem from the highly processed, pro-inflammatory foods that Americans consume in overabundance. Refined foods have no nutritional benefit. Even when they’re “fortified” they’re pumped full of synthetic chemicals that are bad for our bodies.
Speaking of chemicals, the Monsanto GMO seeds, crops, and pesticides are also degradating the quality of our foods, environment, and health. I recently spoke with Victor, a multi- generational potato farmer that I buy my produce from every week about how he manages pests at his farm. He explained how he infuses garlic into water and sprays this home-made concoction onto his crops. When this doesn’t work he uses vinegar. He expressed his frustrations with other farmers who use Monsanto chemical sprays jeopardizing the health of our environment and all who consume the produce and inhale the toxic fumes. It doesn’t take an organic chemistry degree to know the damaging effects these chemicals have on our bodies, and yet Monsanto maintains a stronghold in our food industry, harming our environment and our bodies.
I am pleased to learn that Matt Dababneh recognizes that the children are our future. But if they’re doped up medications for ADHD and fighting chronic diseases because of the quality of food they had access to, we could lose out on their potential brilliance because we used chemical substances to subdue their minds and bodies. He shared a story that John Kerry imparted while he worked for him, which is that we are all interconnected by a cord, when something happens to someone on this cord, we all feel the effects. What a beautiful allegory, especially as we “feel” the effects of the interconnectedness after the tragedy in Las Vegas, the tragedies from the hurricane aftermaths, not that this is even a reasonable comparison after mentioning these tragedies, but there is a terrible epidemic of disease and chronic problems that can be prevented if we improve our food system, and if we can finally see the interconnectedness that our food and our food system has on the wellness of our ecology, economy, community, and our bodies we might be able to begin healing all of it.
Studies indicate that our future wellness precedes conception, and while certain genes can be turned “on” or “off” depending on the environmental and health choices we make post conception, many of our children are already at a disadvantage to no fault of their own. Parents who don’t have access to organic, nonGMO foods; women who have cesareans and do not inoculate their babies with the flora responsible for immune and neural development; misleading “health” campaigns foods from highly subsidized and/or influential corporations’ lobbying powers (if you follow the FDA Food Pyramid, or MyPlate, you will find yourself overweight and unhealthy)…
But we can all work to improve the situation by starting in our homes and schools. Choose any one of these recommendations and we can begin improving our wellness.
1. The most impactful way to support our health and the health of our ecology, economy, and communities is to eat Real, Whole foods and the best place to source them are at your local farmer’s markets – or find a local CSA (Community Supported Agriculture) that will deliver to you. I have found that shopping at the Farmer’s Market actually saves us on our grocery bill.
2. Buy local, organic, seasonal produce at your grocery stores (if the Farmer’s market isn’t an option). Shop the perimeter of the store for the real foods. If it comes in a box or a bag and has a long list of ingredients that you can’t pronounce, it’s likely to have no nutritional value, even if it’s labeled “organic.” Just because it says “organic” does not make it real food.
3. Buy non-GMO produce and meat. Avoid anything that contains: soy, corn, sugar, canola and vegetable oils, yellow squash, tomatoes, papaya, beef, pork and chicken (because of their GMO feed). You can read more extensive lists at the Non GMO Project. To find healthy meat sources check out Eat Wild and for healthy fish options the Monterey Bay Aquarium is an amazing resource.
4. Buy “Clean” produce. The Environmental Working Group publishes a list every year with the cleanest and dirtiest produce, eat from the Clean list and you’ll find yourself healthier. This tends to be fruits and vegetables with a thick outer skin.
5. Disrupt the norms. If that means making Mondays Meatless or serving fruit instead of cupcakes at your kid’s birthday party. Do something that shows you are willing to break from convention. It may be difficult at first, the kids may protest, but eventually you find a new normal. (And I have lots of tricks up my sleeve to make this all manageable.)
We are literally and figuratively nourishing the minds and bodies of our future, let’s make the kind of impact that I know we are capable of by being aware and flexing our power against the corporate superpowers who flex their will for their profits and not the well-being of our families, economy, ecology, or communities.
With all the tragedies and absurdities we read about and experience on a daily basis, I have to feel a glimmer of hope that we can affect our most basic need – Food. Please Comment on this post, find me on Facebook, and let me know today and every day what you did to break from convention to support your family’s wellness!
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