Be Natural-Buy Natural
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"We buy natural products in every
aspect of |
By Carmela Damico
In college I took a part-time job at a nearby natural foods store. This seemingly insignificant event would change the way I perceived my personal health in relation to that of the earth and environment in profound and permanent ways. I was nineteen at the time and still adhering to the dietary habits of my parents who, for their generation, were nutritional middle-of-the-roaders. They frowned upon things like fast food and TV dinners but were not entirely convinced a meal was a meal unless it contained a hefty portion of meat and ended with dessert. The fact that this "grocery" store in which I was working, was comprised predominantly of a produce department, bulk bin area, supplement aisle and fresh juice section was curious to me. What did these "health food people" eat anyway?
To better understand my new work environment, I began to spend
my breaks browsing the book and magazine section. Soon, I was
buying these books and magazines and taking them home. Impressed
by the respectful, life-affirming perspectives of the natural
foods movement and alarmed by the questionable methods of mainstream
farming and production, I was soon inspired-for personal, political
and environmental reasons-to change the eating habits I had grown
up knowing. I came to believe that upon learning the differences
between these separate philosophies, any person dedicated to their
own health and the health of the planet would change their habits,
too, that a preliminary education in the benefits of natural living
is all it would take.
Ten years later, this article is an outcome of that belief, a
basic rundown on how switching to natural foods and products can
begin a ripple effect that will benefit not only you, but your
family, the community you live in and the environment, too.
Making the Switch
Upon making the change to natural and organic food, and supplementing
my diet with the appropriate vitamins and herbs, I instantly felt
like a more responsible and healthy consumer. The truly fortunate
results of my change, however, were yet to come. The hypoglycemia
I'd suffered from faded away in a couple of years and the hay
fever I'd had all my life dissipated, too. My eyes grew brighter,
my skin clearer, my hair healthier and shinier. But the most notable
effect was the emotional and mental clarity that ensued. A tendency
toward severe depression became less pronounced and my overall
energy level continually increased. As I consumed more whole foods,
my entire being began to feel more whole. My threshold for stress
continued to rise, I slept more deeply and got sick less. In short,
I became a happier, healthier person better equipped to handle
life.
What about consuming a diet chiefly comprised of whole, natural,
organic foods brought about such a dramatic improvement in my
health? Ironically, for the most part it's what these foods don't
contain that make them more healthful.
Pesticides Kill
When we consume conventionally farmed foods, we also consume the
chemicals, pesticides, preservatives, hormones and antibiotics
that go into their production. These superfluous and insidious
ingredients cannot be "washed off." They infiltrate
foods on a cellular level and, when consumed on a regular basis,
they upset the body's natural balance, deplete the immune system
and render vitamins and minerals difficult to assimilate.
Virtually all foods sold at mainstream super-markets, be they
processed and packaged items, produce or bread, or dairy and meat,
had their beginnings in chemical-laden soil. Non-organic, conventional
farming methods employ a heavy usage of pesticides, applied not
only to the soil but to the vegetable, fruit or grain, as well.
In the case of meat and dairy, the food the animals are given
to eat becomes entrenched in that animal's tissue and flesh, milk
and eggs. Though most chemical manufacturers claim their products
don't permeate the human blood stream, countless scientific studies
have suggested otherwise.
In 1987, a National Academy of Sciences report estimated that
pesticides cause 1.4 million cases of cancer among Americans per
generation, while the EPA considers 30% percent of all insecticides,
60% of all herbicides and 90% of all fungicides to be carcinogenic.
This isn't surprising when you consider that each of these chemicals
is designed specifically to kill living organisms. How then are
these chemicals being lawfully used?
The EPA approved most of the harmful pesticides in use today,
and established the guidelines for creating new ones, before the
research linking them to cancer and other degenerative diseases
had been established. Getting them "disapproved" has
been a difficult struggle for the grass roots organizations attempting
to do so, since so much financial interest is invested in their
propagation. According to the EPA, conventional farmers use 845
million pounds of pesticides yearly. Whenever a resistance
is built up against the strain of pesticide by the pest it seeks
to kill, a common occurrence, chemical companies invent new, many
times more lethal substances to do the job-a profitable endeavor.
While designed to kill, most pesticides themselves don't ever
die. Rather, they are carried by the wind through the air, spreading
their poison through cities and towns, fields, rivers and reservoirs,
wherever they land. According to the EPA, traces of carcinogenic
pesticides contaminate the primary sources of drinking water in
38 of our states.
When we buy natural products, we choose not to support the corporations
who would, for profit alone, choose to compromise our health.
Though most organic foods are a bit more expensive than non-organic
ones, conventional food prices fail to reflect the hidden costs
they generate. From taxpayers' pockets comes the funding for hazardous
waste disposal, pesticide regulation and testing and reparation
of environmental damagelest we mention the damage to the
environment that cannot be undone. As science continues to link
numerous disorders and disease to dietary and environmental factors,
it's a likely assumption that the billions of dollars spent annually
on health care could be socked away for healthful retirement if
the majority of Americans changed their eating habits.
Hormones in Meat are Harmful
Conventional livestock producers inject their animals with hormones
in order to increase their growth, reproductive and milk production
rates. Though fervently contested by the spin of the meat and
dairy empires, numerous studies in the US, Japan, Canada, Australia
and Europe have implicated growth hormones as carcinogenic. At
least four of the hormones commonly found in processed milk and
meat have been found to contribute to breast, lymphatic, reproductive
and thyroid cancers as well as certain tumors of the central nervous
system.1
Organic Food is Good for You, the Community and the Environment
One effect the technological age has had in our culture has been
the severing of our collective and individual psyches from Mother
Earth. Unlike our forefathers had for generations, most of us
will never witness our food being grown, harvested or slaughtered.
Instead, we expect to pick up what we'll eat, neatly packaged
from the store.
The mythic farmer-tanned, over-all clad, dedicated to his land
and his way of life-is, sadly, by many accounts, becoming a dying
breed. Entire books have been written on this subject-the tragedy
of family farms being sucked into the vortex of corporate production
conglomerates with whom they can't compete: It's estimated that
the US lost more than 650,000 family farms in the nineties. Some
corporate farms have converted to organic practices, but the majority
of organic farms are still family owned and less than 100 acres.
Organic farming is one of the few survival tactics left for family
farms. To avoid what the FDA predicts-that soon, no more than
1% of US farms will be family owned and operated-support must
be given to these small, organic farms.
You're not just supporting the small farmer when you buy organic,
and ensuring that the food you bring to your table is chemical
and pesticide free. You're supporting the environment as well
as the community you live in.
Three billion tons of topsoil are eroded each year in the US,
according to the Soil Conservation Service, an erosion rate that
is seven times faster than soil is built up naturally. In organic
farming, not only are pesticides and chemical fertilizers eschewed,
so are methods of farming that are perilous to the soil. While
nurturing the soil with natural compost and manure fertilization
and practicing crop rotation, organic farmers build the strength
and longevity of the soil, rather than deplete it.
Because of soil depletion, many foods, even if organically grown,
may no longer contain enough nutrients for optimum health. Most
of us has seen the vast varieties of herbal and vitamin supplements
available for enhancing your overall health. Combining a toxin-free,
organic diet with enriching vitamins and herbs is the most reliable
method of obtaining peak health.
When shopping for organic produce many times you'll find that
many items are labeled "local." Purchasing locally grown
organic fruits and vegetables helps to support the farmers in
your community who needn't employ expensive, energy draining methods
of storage and long-distance transportation to get these foods
to you. Because of this, local organic produce tastes better and
fresher.
What About Non-Food Items?
It's important to remember that any product you rub into your
skin, such as lotion or deodorant, is absorbed into your blood
stream and must be filtered through the liver. Most Americans
have accumulated dangerous levels of toxins in their livers due
to the amount of chemicals present in our food and the environment.
Many Oriental medicinal traditions consider a toxic liver to be
the primary breeding ground for degenerative disease.2 Natural
body care products such as soap, deodorant, toothpaste, cosmetics
and shampoo are usually cruelty-free and free of synthetic chemicals,
usually relying on pure botanical ingredients for their products.
Also many of the companies that manufacture paper products such
as paper towels, tissue paper etc. utilize bleaches and other
chemicals (whose components don't break down) that during processing
are in part released directly into our environment. Whereas recycled,
and/or non-toxic products help to reduce our need for natural
resources and are safer for all of us.
In fact, if every household in the United States replaced just
ONE roll of 1,000 sheet virgin fiber bathroom tissue with a100%
recycled one, we could save 373,000,000 trees, 1.48 million cubic
feet of landfill space (equal to 1,682 garbage trucks) and 155
million gallons of water. Imagine how much we could save if all
households used paper towels, napkins, and other materials from
recycled paper all the time? (As quoted by Seventh Generation
Co. product information)
Can I Really Make a Difference?
There is a gaping hole in the information being poured out by
the mainstream media. This hole is drawn with the ink of "independent
studies" funded by special interest groups who would like
to convince you that consuming hormones, chemicals, pesticides,
additives and preservatives in your food isn't going to harm you,
your children or the environment. Clearly, statistics and common
sense would tell us otherwise.
Thankfully, we in the Northwest have the freedom to shop at stores
that carry natural products, and stores that carry primarily natural
products, called "natural food stores." In so doing,
we up the chances of our longevity and health. But there are many
towns and small cities throughout the US that do not provide their
citizens with this option. Pesticide, chemical and hormone free
foods and products should be every American's right. For this
to happen, power must be shifted from conventional to "green"
farmers and institutions. The best way we can possibly hope to
bring this change about is to change our buying patterns by refusing
to support those companies that produce food and products that
prove to be harmful to us and the world we live in.
1 "Moans, Groans & Hormones: the Bad Stuff in Processed
Milk", Robert Cohen, (1-201-871-5871), http://www.notmilk.com
2 "Healing with Whole Foods: Oriental Traditions and Modern
Nutrition", Paul Pitchford, North Atlantic Books, Berkely,
CA; 1993
