“. . . .how and what we eat determines to a great extent the use we make of the world–and what is to become of it. To eat with a fuller consciousness of all that is at stake might sound like a burden, but in practice few things in life afford quite as much satisfaction.”
― Michael Pollan (The Omnivore’s Dilemma)
It’s rather amusing to observe both online and offline how heated, personal and controversial such a simple topic like food is. What starts out as a conversation about whether you like your eggs scrambled, fried or poached can quickly escalate to the heated debate over the state of the industry and factory farming, grain-fed versus pasture-raised and the unequivocal right of the chicken to a free life. As I’m sure you’ve experienced, food has the ability to cause entire rifts throughout communities, friendship circles and other organised bodies of people. For something so seemingly innocent, food is possibly one of THE hottest topics you can exchange opinions about in conversation with someone, maybe only trailing behind politics, religion, Miley Cyrus’ tongue and what Miranda Kerr eats for breakfast.
Labels like vegan, paleo, vegetarian, primal, fruitarian, omnivore, etc etc are thrown around as a way for us to make sense of the world in the strange way that humans do. We like things neatly boxed and arranges in such a manner that allows us to make a list of comparisons as to what one does and doesn’t eat. What this does is compartmentalize us. Somehow it makes it easy for us to then extract an understanding of who they are as a person. Totally cuckoo in my opinion. Do I want to be judged by someone based on what I ate for breakfast. Hell no!
Let’s take a moment to make something clear. The fact we are even having these conversations is a privilege. In our developed states, we are sooooo privileged to be able to make educated food choices based on our ideals. Sadly, many billions in this world do not have this freedom. For them, food is just that; food. It’s a means for injecting valuable calories into the body regardless of what form it comes. Either that or facing starvation. They don’t have the choice to tie an idealistic value to what they eat. So let’s not forget to humble ourselves and give thanks before we scold another for picking up that steak or piece of celery.
Like a dripping tap, a lot of the ‘arguments’ from both sides of the panel get pretty tiresome and outright annoying after a while. Truth is, it’s not just a two sided table we’re sitting at. It’s more like an octagon, decagon or icosagon (yeah, go look that one up). There are countless dietary lifestyles on this planet that no one person has the ‘all hail the Virgin Mary’ approach to eating. This is the way it should be too – based on what is sustainable, seasonal, accessible, genetically logical and outright rational for where you live will differ to that person who lives on the other side of the planet under completely different circumstances.
So I get it. There’s some pretty heavy personal belief systems that just so happen to align with what someone eats; religious or not. This is hardly a coincidence though. Just like how we dress, what kind of music we listen too and the hobbies we dabble in, what we choose to eat is often a form of self-expression in itself. But to what point do you allow that to affect your personal relationships, how you interact with the world and to what degree you pass judgment on other people? If any of these lifestyle choices affects you in such a way, then it’s time to turn that mirror the other way round and have a deep hard look at yourself. Guilty as charged here and I’ll be the first to admit. Waiting in the checkout line at a supermarket, I can’t help but peep in other people’s shopping baskets and yes, sometimes even catch myself cringing at what I see. The lens of which I see the world through at times can become quite foggy. That’s when I know it’s time to slap my own wrist.
You hypocrite, first take the plank out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove “the speck from your brother’s eye.” – Matthew 7:5
Please remember, what we eat does not define who we are. You are not what you eat in this sense. Too many people associate their self worth with what food they choose to shove in their gob. This creates some pretty screwed up views of the world and towards yourself as a human being. I know this is coming from someone who has obviously been jaded by such thoughts in the past and not all of you have suffered a similar dark fate. So I speak this mainly to those of you who I know are out there and struggling with these same thoughts. The others who do not, well, I can only envy you for walking through life without having to deal with such loaded questions. But then again, I wouldn’t be the person I am today without such moments.
Education goes a long way. Over the last couple years, I’ve taken it upon myself to get educated which has led me to where I am right now; writing this blog post. Ironic really. I think we all go through these ebbs and flows though. We get passionate about a new cause, the effect wears thin after a while, and we find ourselves floating on a placid lake with a more balanced view of the horizon. It’s like some right of passage for a 20-something year old. Just like exploring one’s faith, sexuality, life ambitions and all that jazz, diet fits somewhere smack bang in the middle. It’s a process of self-discovery whether by choice, forced upon us due to a mini-health crisis or solely through a self-inflicted shift in priorities (maybe thanks to too many nights guzzling toxic liquids followed by copious amounts of greasy fast food).
I have spent many hours sifting through literature unraveling these deep seeded questions about nutrition and food. The lies, the misconstrued studies, wrestling with the logical and illogical explanations for why things are the way they are and trying to make sense of it all in my own confused little mind. Trying to trace back where money in the food industry is being funneled to, in whose interests do such declarations about what constitutes a ‘healthy diet’ serve, the unethical practices behind the production of certain foods and whether I can live with that floating over my head as I stare at my plate. Not to mention the physical, emotional and spiritual connection between man, plant and animal and how that impacts my choices. So many questions and what I’m finding in my ripe old age of 25 (*wink wink*), I have so little brain capacity for it all! It’s enough to send anyone crazy. Sadly, it literally does. Disordered eating, health maladies, food politics, you name it. We have created quite the murky puddle of problems for us to mull over as a society.
And yet, amongst all this, there are so many important questions that remain unanswered. How do we help spread this freedom of information to other people around the world so they can make logical decisions for themselves about nutrition? How can we help others gain access to these same food priviledges that we experience in the developed world? Choices that go beyond being simply based on calories to keep them alive, to that which will nourish them nutritionally and give them every chance at a better life? How do we strip off the dietary dogma that is making people sick and causing a whole generation to face lifestyle diseases unheard of in history? How can we feed the global population in a sustainable manner and ensuring we have enough for those who follow us in generations to come?
Image Credit: toolmantim
So I eat the way I eat today having tossed up these big questions in life. Will this change in time, maybe. I can’t say. For now, I feel like I’ve found myself a balance. Something that doesn’t restrict me from enjoying treats with friends. Something that nourishes me. Something that provides for my daily nutritional needs. Something that I can ethically deal with. Something that I can wrap my head around. I am bloody lucky and forever grateful too that I can even say these things. Like who I am as a person, it’s continuously evolving and I know I will always be seeking to improve myself but what’s important for me is at the end of the day, I feel like I’m doing the best I can given my circumstances.
Am I speaking another language here or do you get what I’m saying?
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