Taking responsibility for Our World

The start of another year upon me, I had this really good feeling that big things, big changes were headed my way. So, I decided to start things off differently. Rather than choose a new year’s resolution before 2012 even started, I decided to see what the year had to offer me and what I was called to change in my life based on that. Ask and you shall receive, in abundance! One random day, I decided to read a book called Skinny Bitch that served as the beginning of my education on how the food industry worked. Though I didn’t take the book very seriously (it is written by two former models trying to give weight loss advice), I did suddenly become very interested in finding out where the food I ate every day was actually coming from. It’s such an important part of our existence, our culture, and yet I didn’t know how each part of my meal got to my plate. So began my own personal revolution, a life changing journey of self-awareness and discovery.

 

I began my reeducation with Food Inc. It is must for anyone who eats (so basically everyone) because it discusses just how the food we eat is produced and how the meat and dairy industries are run. Simply put, it is horrifying. It is easy to hear vegetarians and vegans talk about the treatment of animals and write them off as eccentric hippies because “there is no way I could ever give up meat”. It is completely different seeing the evidence right in front of your eyes. The film was not gruesome, but the facts were still hard to swallow. The cruelty the animals experience, the disgusting way the meat is manufactured, the unnatural way animals are fed (like teaching fish to eat corn), the government subsidies on corn, meat, and the way the major soy producing company treats farmers; everything about the food industry seems corrupt and meant to serve only the corporations that created it. Then, I watched Forks over Knives, a documentary that stresses the same information as Food Inc. but mostly highlights the enormous health risks that are associated with eating processed foods. From cancer to diabetes to coronary heart disease; this film showed many examples of how the public’s health is completely forsaken and people are being lied to through advertising, all for the sake of making a profit. The film also showed people whose lives were transformed by changing to a plant-based, whole foods, fruits, and vegetable diet. There that was King Corn, which is about the how far reaching and enormous the corn industry has become; Fat, Sick, and Nearly Dead, which discussed one man’s journey to back to health using juice fasts and a plant based diet; and Food Matters and Hungry for Change, which discuss the medical world’s refusal to acknowledge the positive uses of nutrition to fight disease and public’s near obsessive consumption of processed foods. After watching these documentaries, only radical thoughts and drastic changes could follow.

 

It is crazy to me that the grain that is being used to feed the 10 billion livestock a year could instead end world hunger in our lifetime and could increase American export revenue by $80 billion a year (Food Inc.). The money the government sends on healthcare due to such poor diets is so many times higher than the even defense budget. That money could be used to improve education, create jobs, rebuild this country but instead is being used to care for people’s health problems brought on by the poor eating habits that have been encouraged by the companies the government chooses to make rich (Forks over Knives). I was one of those people who often said I could never, ever become a vegetarian, yet I have embarked on this journey to dramatically change the way I eat. This reeducation has shown me just how much our choices affect the world around us. We are taught at an early age to put blind faith in our government, in the institutions that provide our everyday needs, and in our parents to make the right decisions for us. This experience has brought me a lot of self-awareness and taught me to be more conscious of the decisions that I make and how the world is affected as a result. Part of growing up is figuring what mark you want to leave on this earth and what impact you want to have in this world. As adults, we cannot use our past ignorance as excuses for not knowing how the world is the way it is because we all have the power to learn and grow and change things, even in the smallest ways. This experience has taught me to take responsibility for my actions and how I affect my environment.

 

So, I made a huge change. Several attempts at a juice fast before becoming vegan for Lent. It was the healthiest I have ever felt. I felt good about what I was eating. Since then, I have been very conscience about how I eat and how it affects me . While it is a huge endeavor to radically change the way I eat, I am committed to doing my small part to end the injustice. However, this experience isn’t about vegetarianism or veganism or the food industry. It’s about awareness, about opening our eyes to the world around us and seeing what needs to be done to change it. I am not trying to convince anyone to give up animal products (I still haven’t) or change their lifestyle. This is a simply reminder to become more of aware of the realities of the world, of the injustices that occur every day, and the part that each and every one of us can have in making a difference. It is mind-blowing to me how many problems this country has and I know that somehow I am meant to be part of the change. Watching the different documentaries, including Waiting for Superman which is about the education system, is opening my eyes to what the world is really like. However, it is also showing me so many areas that I can lend my talents, skills, and interests. I am hoping that somewhere along the journey of my reeducation, I will find the work I am meant to do to change the world.

 

Below are trailers for some of the docs I’ve watched. See what peaks your interests.They can all be found on Netflix!

 

 

Let me know what you think!