This past week I had a dear friend from college just be diagnosed with breast cancer. She is only 33. I know to you reading this it is “someone else” and not yourself or even someone you personally know, but one day it will effect your personally in one way or the other. The latest cancer statistics at this moment going by our current environment, food supply and inheritance that we have passed on is 1 in 2 men and 1 in 3 women will contract cancer in their lifetime.
I see this personal experience as a real eye-opener on several levels. For one, I know we can think it is not going to happen to me or that it will not happen until I am older. Well, friend, I hate to tell you but being diagnosed with cancer even at the age of 65, 70 or 80 does not come any easier than if it was at 33. Secondly, whatever you are aspiring to do or become, go for it! You never know what the next day is going to bring. Do you ever think about that sometimes? Each day is a total mystery. Something wonderful could happen just as equally as something negative. Lastly, it is our responsibility to do all we can to avoid being one of these statistics!
I tell my children all the time, “Everything we do today effects our tomorrow”. When I say this to them, I am speaking of all aspects such as academics, food consumption, sports, moral choices, friendships and so on. Then it hit me one day. The same goes for me! All those times I had told myself, this really is not good for me and blow it off and think I will fix it tomorrow – well – what if tomorrow is the day I will reap what I have sown?
Cancer is hitting younger and younger. Why is that? Definitely life choices play a factor but I believe environmental factors play a huge role as those effect our food consumption. I know over the years research has exposed more and more “shady”, unethical and dangerous aspects of our food and water supply that we are so dependent on leaving us very little choice. If there was no grocery store tomorrow, what would you do? Do you realize that each grocery store has about three days worth of food to supply the "regulars" that frequent that store? I think food and water has become such a luxury item for us here that we almost forget that it is a true need to live and we think it is a never ending commodity.
Just yesterday I watched a documentary on our honey bees. I am not sure if you know, but they are dying off. Bee keepers are showing an approximate drop of about 30% of their bees and this has been increasing the past several years. Do you realize what this would mean for the food supply? This little bee is one of the MAJOR keys to our survival. No bee, no pollination, no plant life. So what was found to be one of the culprits? An insecticide called neonicotinoid. This is used to coat the corn seeds before being planted into the ground. This insecticide basically paralizes the bees and kills them. So, while we already question what insecticides, pesticides and fungicides are doing to us on a personal level, what are we doing to our entire environment? What it showing in JUST the bee colony is what is known as colony collapse disorder. Industrial agriculture can only survive with the honey bee. The problem is, honey bees cannot survive in the way we have now developed industrial agriculture. Whether we like it or not, we are still dependent on our environment and agriculture does not grow just because we plant a seed!
Those of you who are at all familiar with this blog know my husband and I have been involved with Beyond Organic, a company whose main goals are offering a safe food option for your beef and dairy products as well as maintaining a sustainable environment. We have just made our first expansion of products and many others to come as we continue to grow. Beyond Organic is not only of benefit for you from a health standpoint, but I think even bigger, as a way to ensure the ecosystem survives! I just don’t think we understand the BIG picture and how we are all connected. It is up to us to demand a change in how are foods are grown and processed. I believe this is the ultimate goal of Beyond Organic, developed by founder, Jordan Rubin, a health advocate for the past 18 years. Making these, I believe, imparative changes to our diets and agriculture production will help us all in so many ways such as less healthcare costs, healthier, more productive lives and a sustainable environment for future generations to come. We, one voice at a time, have to be the ones to do it and demand it!
Beyond Organic and its methods are done in such a way to ensure the environment is thriving and becoming stronger. The way the dairy cattle and bulls graze naturally fertilizes the ground for optimum mineral production and forage growth. This not only helps the environment, but also creates the most nourishing nutrient dense dairy and beef, often what is missing in conventional cattle farms. The land is often lacking if not desaturated all together of the vitamins and minerals needed in the soils causing either forage not to grow at all or forage that has no nutrient content. It is like us eating white bread- basically fluffy air.
I hope you will just think for a moment of what I have written here. My eyes were already open to how important what we consume is but this has reminded me once again. The only way we can help to make a difference is to actually take the steps to make the changes and be supportive of farms such as Beyond Organic as well as other local farms to you. Things will change as consumer demand does. Help be a part of it! We are the only ones to blame for the direction we are headed.
No comments:
Post a Comment