I am ever interested in anything to do with food and nutrition. Since I started studying heavily on nutrition as part of natural medicine and specifically with “food as medicine,” I have wondered about the nutrient density of our food. Today is a soapbox day.
This all starts back when we changed how we viewed health. 100 years ago, health practitioners learned from other practitioners. They studied not only the problem, but the family dynamic, the cleanliness of the patient’s surroundings, the herbs in the local area, and how healthy the person was before the ailment. They went from home to home, eating meals with different families, checking in on how they were faring, talking to the community at large. They studied how different plants and food helped or hindered people. I wish we could get back there.
Today, allopathic doctors have about a week of nutrition education, no herbal education, and are taught by the pharmaceutical companies. Most all of the large teaching hospitals are owned by big Pharma.
Now, let’s talk about gardening. 100 years ago, communities managed their crops together. Gardens were typically individual by family. There were no herbicides or pesticides. They learned what to grow near what to minimize pests and disease. They learned how to rotate crops to ensure the health of the soil. Herbs – which many are today called “weeds” – were not typically grown in a garden but found wild where they grew best.
Today, our farmers are paid NOT to grow crops. The bigger the crop – the less time that can be afforded to get rid of pests and disease, so herbicides and pesticides are used. Those chemicals get into the ground and harm our water and the soil itself. They also affect the food we eat.
Why all this background? So you will be able to come to your own conclusions, as I have. I don’t want to tell you how to think, or what to think, that is on your shoulders. My role is to educate you so that you start asking the questions – Why? How? And start saying NO to things that are damaging our earth and our bodies.
Back to where we started. nutrient deficiencies. With all the damage we are doing to our food sources and the earth, the quality of our food is degrading, causing nutrient deficiencies in the foods themselves. Studies have shown that some foods nutrient value has dropped as much as 38% in 50 years. That is a staggering amount.
Recommended reading: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5998735/
More recommended reading: https://www.bbc.com/future/bespoke/follow-the-food/why-modern-food-lost-its-nutrients/
What can you do? Stop using pesticides and herbicides. Start your own garden – even in pots – anyone can do this. Buy organic from farmer’s markets, co-ops, and CSAs. Buy from small businesses, not large ones. Begin bartering within your community – if you have a surplus and need something – trade. Create school and community gardens to teach kids and the community the value of good food. Many kids don’t know where things come from.
The choice is yours.
Blessings – E