The Revolution Needs Healthy Food
The world as we know it is changing more rapidly than any of us could imagine 6-months ago. During a worldwide pandemic, African American oppression has fueled a global demand for respect. I was recently asked how I maintain focus with all the turmoil that is surrounding us today. Part of my answer is not to be attached and worry about the what-ifs. Rather, to act with integrity and pursue clear objectives. Our time is better spent engaging in a mindful and intentional process of becoming the best humans possible and putting those values into action. Strive for excellence, and anticipate miraculous adventure. The rest is in God’s hands.
Conversations about equity, justice, and diversity are imperative. Equally as important is to remember that he who controls your food controls you. In the move toward nation-building, we must maintain focus on food security and food self-sufficiency. To be truly free, a nation has to be able to feed its people. And it is imperative to feed the nation food that builds strong minds and bodies.
Many Americans (including Black leadership) remain confused about what to eat. Until the past hundred years or so, eating was a very simple process of obtaining and consuming healthful, life-sustaining food. We have been trained to believe foods are essentially the sum of their nutrient parts. Nutrients, as compared with food, are invisible and, therefore, slightly mysterious.
To a large extent, most Americans have stopped eating real food. Instead, most of us consume chemical soup. Food scientists believe they can create higher quality food than nature. They take individual nutrients and combine them into a compound and call it food when it truly is only a combination of chemical elements. Soon we will be able to purchase an organic Twinkie proclaimed for its antioxidant properties and health benefits to those who eat one because of the nutrient additives the scientists provide.
Case studies ad infinitum have proven that societies adhering to the so-called Western Diet (McDonald’s, microwave dinners, canned and processed food) face an inevitable increase in heart disease, obesity, cancer, diabetes, and many other ailments. One of the key features of the modern diet is a shift toward increasingly refined foods, especially carbohydrates and sugar. We have come to accept disease as one of life’s givens. We expect modern allopathic medicine to intervene and minimize the inconvenience of disease and thus prolong our lives. Meanwhile, Americans no longer top the list of the world’s healthiest peoples; most industrial nations have better health statistics than Americans.
The same concept that has defiled food also defiles the soil. The quality of the soil determines the quality of the plants. The quality of food determines the quality of an individual’s health. There is a direct correlation between health decline and the quality of food production. It stands to reason that chemically simplified soil would produce chemically simplified plants and poor health.
The revolution needs political and cultural leadership. But equally important, it requires a healthy and vibrant community that is fueled by real, locally grown food. Black Lives Matter. Black health matters more.