Unit II

Eating Ourselves to Death

Food is a fascinating subject, and certainly very relevant to my lifestyle and employment. Organic food became part of my life when I met my wife close to 8 years ago. Her older sister has been a part of the organic food movement for nearly 35 years, running an organic produce distribution company in San Francisco. The beginnings of that movement make for a fascinating story. Suffice it to say, we are very much convinced that organic and whole foods are the best way to eat. That’s not to say we don’t consume our share of garbage. But it’s mostly organic garbage, for whatever that’s worth. We were proud to boast that our now 2 ½ year-old daughter hadn’t had any ‘power sugar’ – what my wife calls anything that is sweetened by processed sugar versus the sweet of fruit – until very recently. She still rejects certain overly sweet or artificially sweet candy versus a piece of chocolate or even better, strawberries, grapes, or melon. Unfortunately my wife and I are both significantly attached to our various sources of processed sugar and eat them in large amounts at times, as evidenced by our waist and hip sizes. That addiction is perhaps one of the largest driving factors in keeping our baby away from that form of indulgence for as long as we possibly can.

The current (commercial or non-organic) food culture in this country is shocking and clearly unhealthful. Unfortunately, even the organic food industry is becoming more and more mainstream. The grocery isles of the large organic markets have their fair share of processed foods. Just because the unidentifiable ingredients are perhaps less numerous or objectionable from a chemical-input perspective, they are nonetheless processed and very far away from the whole food they propose to substitute in our diets. I enjoyed Michael Pollan’s article in the Times and felt like he hit the culture we live in right on the head. I am frequently appalled at our health system and our over-dependence on pharmaceuticals and surgical procedures to mask what ails us. I firmly subscribe to Pollan’s perspective that the food and medical industries are partners in allowing us to continue our unhealthy relationship with food and eating.

Culturally, one of our favorite pastimes is sharing a meal and good wine with friends. We find it very enjoyable and conducive to good conversation and relaxation. Unfortunately, the harried lifestyle that most of us participate in finds too few opportunities to enjoy that simple pleasure. We went to France for our honeymoon and we both agree that those were two of the best weeks of our lives. Not only was the art, history and architecture outstanding, but the food and wine, not to mention the 3 hour evening meal we enjoyed every night, were simply unparalleled in our experiences up to that point. The French have it right as far as we’re concerned. It is no wonder their overall health is better than ours.

One of the questions you posed in your request for this essay was whether we might have a defense for big agriculture or fast packaged food. I find that there is really no defense. Interestingly enough, in the first essay, that I haven’t written and am still chewing on, I have been reading about genetically modified food. I find myself being swayed by both sides of the debate as I read them, particularly when a scientist speaks up on the subject. However, reading Pollan’s article brought me full circle back to my initial perspective on the subject, which is that our food supply needs to be more diverse, not less, and that mono-cropping and big agribusiness won’t ultimately provide the real solutions to world hunger or environmental degradation. Whether or not there is existing scientific proof that GMO’s are safe for human consumption today, I just don’t believe we have enough scientific understanding of the incredibly complex nature of plants and animals to justify modifying them to this extent and not expecting long-term repercussions that we can’t begin to predict.

I don’t know the answers to some of the questions you posed about creating more culturally and spiritually healthful eating for society at large. I think the solution to that issue, and the corresponding improved health and reduction of lifestyle diseases, would require a very long, hard look at our overall cultural mores and lifestyle choices in this country, and increasingly in other western nations. I believe that everything is interconnected and that you can’t solve one issue without addressing another. If our consumer culture weren’t driving us to earn more, consume more, get more, would we be as stressed out and busy? Would we find more time to cook real food and spend less time eating convenience foods behind the wheels of our cars or at our desks at work as we rush from one thing to the next? If we had more spiritual foundations for what we do and how it effects our planet and every living being on it, would we make different choices about consuming products from half way around the world? When I start to think about these things I can get overwhelmed with the enormity of what needs to change to get us going in another direction. Then I pick up my ice cream sandwich and my book about dragons and sorcerers and escape.