Monday, April 8, 2013

Are you hungry?

One of the things I haven't discussed on this blog is food and, by extension, hunger.

Today is Blog Against Hunger day... so here's my 3 cents:

There's hungry -- those with nothing of any substance to eat.  And today is mostly dedicated to them.  We like to think these people live far far away, but they're here in our community also.

But then there's hungry -- those with an insufficient amount to eat.  And sometimes they're our neighbors.  You pass them in the street, in the supermarkets.  The mothers who go hungry to make sure they feed their children.  The families who can barely buy anything, and must make do with as little as possible.

And there's the invisible hungry -- those with much more than enough to eat, but it's is sub-standard or lacking in vital nutrients.  Unfortunately, that's most of us.  We may think we're eating well, but what we're eating isn't really food  at all.  Reconstituted foods, over-processed foods, foods that had to be "enriched" because the nutrients were stripped out and then added back in through "nutrients" made in factories.  Foods rendered unrecognizable to our metabolism through science.  Free-radicals that are costing our health.  We eat more and more because underneath all that massive food we're eating there's very little of actual substance or sustenance.

Those of us in the invisible hungry could improve our food intake, and fight for food freedom & responsibility -- then we won't be hungry anymore, and the food industry will respond to our demands and become more responsible.  That improves the food available to those who don't have a sufficient amount to eat who live next door, too.  Then together, we can help people find ways to grow good food locally, improve their soil, improve their water use, so that they can eat where they live, and live where they eat.  That's been the answer for the vast majority of human history: technology cannot change the fundamental fact that this is the healthiest way to eat, that it's how our bodies evolved to eat.

For more information on Food Freedom, I'm always posting on my Facebook timeline on this topic, but check out my Fairy Goddaughter, Linda Borghi of Abundant Life Farm.  She's got it all down and helps people learn about growing their own food.  She's been helping people in Africa grow their own food and become self-sufficient.

Namaste,
Criss