Food Rant
Important takeaway from Michael Pollens Netflix movie ‘Cooked’: as a society we have lost the art and joy and time for cooking. Processed food is inherently worse for you than anything “natural” or “whole-food”. The closer to nature you can get it the better for you. Making your own ice cream and eating it fresh isn’t that bad, buying it from a store is different. We are all so spoiled that we can have anything we want with a quick trip to the store that we’ve become detached from the actual food. Who grew the food that went into the processed foodstuff you got off the shelf? Where did the soy grow that turned into the soybean oil that was used in the product? Who was the farmer? We’ve let other people and large corporations separate us from the process, brain-wash us all into not caring. We’ve made it normal to be ignorant about the most important thing we do on a daily basis, the most important purchase, the stuff we let pass between our lips and enter our system, the thing that gives us life, that fuels our every move. Our sustenance, the thing that all animals must obtain to survive and we’ve become ignorant and apathetic. Why is it that making ethical and intelligent and cautious moves when it comes to our food are we looked down on? People get defensive, immediately assume “vegans” think they’re better than non-vegans. Probably because in their subconscious they’re guilty and they know that one is superior to another in terms of morality but they don’t want to feel like they’re being accused, they’ve only been doing what everyone else is, after all. They’re not a bad person, and society still sees it as normal, so why should they have to change? And why should they have to defend themselves? The main reasons people stick to their habits are selfish, and that is not meant to be rude or to point the finger but it’s true. Their main arguments are the 4 N’s: Natural, Normal, Necessary, & Nice. Once they realize that science has proved it’s not necessary and in some ways a bit unnatural all they have left are Normal & Nice. Or: everyone else does it, it’s part of my culture, change is too hard, and I enjoy the taste of flesh. These are selfish reasons. When people talk about doing something personally to help with issues, others say they cannot because it’s "too hard”. The quote I love is “Those that say being vegan is too hard are thinking about themselves. The people who say being vegan is easy are thinking about the animals.”
Along w/ being vegan I am attempting to avoid palm oil & slave trade chocolate. I am attempting to buy exclusively organic & will be visiting the farmers market for the first time since living here & doing a bit of research on that. I’m also trying to buy more in bulk and zero waste if i can. Sure, it would be easier to just buy w/e I want and not think about each purchasing decision and who or what it will affect but I can’t do that anymore. That’s what most people do, and I don’t blame them because I understand. But we have a duty to each other, the earth, and the animals to take the extra time it takes and make the right decisions. Unfortunately voting with our dollar means quite a bit more than voting sometimes does. We should continue to do both. Support business that support others, the earth, and animals. That pay their employees well, that find the most sustainable way of doing business, and that harm “zero" animals in the process. It’s hard but not impossible. And obviously I long for a world in which I don’t have to put in so much effort when buying everything. A world where everything you buy is sustainable and from an ethical business because we lived in some kind of large Solarpunk city, maybe within a resource based economy. One could imagine a place like that being much easier to make good choices. Maybe slave chocolate and palm oil products wouldn’t even be allowed within it’s walls. Protecting it’s citizens from making unethical choices. Maybe that sounds a bit apocalyptic. Your first reaction is: that’s taking away my freedom of choice! And I get it, I’m not sure how I feel about it. But I wish it was easier to be ethical in this world.
For now, try your hardest, if you make a mistake forgive yourself, move on, and promise to do better. Be an activist for stopping these products from even being made. Obviously the corporations that commit these crimes are atrocious but that doesn’t excuse the consumer anymore when the information is widely available.
Get educated. Do your best. Educate others.