The Grocery Store Dilemma

As I continue to educate myself about our food industry, I am disturbed by what I am learning.  Teary eyed, I recently broke down with a friend at a local organic restaurant, when I conveyed how I had just finished watching the film, Food, Inc. She listened as I
shared some of the stories from the movie and it became quite clear to her just how passionate I am regarding our food supply.   In the end, she informed me how every time she is in the grocery store, trying to decide if she should buy the organic or the non-organic version of something in order to save a bit of money, she hears my voice, “Well, it’s up to you, do you prefer the poisonous frozen berries that are damaging to your body or would you rather enrich your body and treat it as a temple?  The choice, as always, is yours.”  She has heard this mantra of mine so many times and more and more she is moving steadily toward purchasing real foods.  Here is a big WOO HOO for her!

She did ask me why I thought an organic lifestyle was so important to me and I told her that even though I normally shop at Natural Grocers where all the produce is organic, sometimes, I will need to run into one of the big supermarket chains early in the morning to get something, which is long before NG opens.  At this type of market, I have only one small section in the produce department to choose from as very little else in the store is organic.  So I generally steer clear of most of the aisles that are there.  Since being on my organic journey, I had always minded my own p’s and q’s while I am in this store, picking up what I need and not thinking about too much of anything else—except that I was happy that I was doing the right thing by buying nutrient-filled items.

However, only a few days earlier, something in me had changed.  After filling my basket with the produce that I wanted, I looked up and saw all the colorful packages throughout the store that the suppliers manufacture in order to capture our attention.  That is when I saw the supermarket from a much bigger perspective.  It no longer was just about me, it was about my community and frankly the world at large.  I could see in my mind’s eye, people buying these products, mostly unknowingly feeding themselves with harmful foods and I became overwhelmed with emotion.  I was no longer just "me", I was “us” and I want only the best for everyone. 

I reflected how on average a grocery store has thousands of items, packaged differently, in order to peek our individual interests.  Yet, in reality there are only a few suppliers who slap on different names on the boxes, to make us think there are a variety of foodstuffs.  These so-called “choices” often have either addicting sugars or other addicting items that immediately turn to sugar in the body.  The manufacturer wants them to be addicting so the consumer will buy more—and we do.  One of the unfortunate outcomes of this addiction, however, is type 2 diabetes.  

Diabetes is no longer a disease for the aged.  According to the American Diabetes Association, 18.8% of the population is currently diagnosed with it.  Furthermore, approximately 7 million people go undiagnosed while 79% of the population has pre-diabetes.  The rates of diabetes in impoverished communities are staggering.  Why do we have such a high rate of this debilitating disease?  The answer is quite simple.  People are drawn to buy cheap food that they can afford.  That is understandable.  What isn’t understandable is that the big companies wish to deepen their pockets while hurting their consumers.

Worse yet, people do not realize how harmful the foods are that they are eating.  I know someone who on many occasions after telling him about some organic food that I have purchased, he not only squawks at my words, he practically runs away from me.  He truly feels that organic means fake food and the processed, genetically modified food that is filled with toxic chemicals and bacteria is the real food.  Unfortunately, he is not the only person who feels this way. I have repeatedly heard from various people how the organic market is a sham and we should stick to so-called conventional foods.  I respond by sharing how I, for over forty years, coughed every minute or so due to asthma and yet after shifting to a primarily organic diet I am nearly cough-free and I breathe much more easily, not by prescription medication, but simply by changing my diet. 

And I am not alone.  Many of the food advocates out there were overweight and/or ill and not only became fit after switching to organic, they became healthy as well.  One such woman in the documentary cured herself of cancer.  Hoorah!

So, why are so many of us in the dark?  It began decades ago when advertisers told us that preparing TV dinners and the like make it easier on mom.  Moms everywhere certainly wanted life to be easier and rushed to buy these processed food items.  Talk about the power of the press—in this case, advertisers.  I will say this—it astounds me at what a wonderful marketing scheme the corporations have on us to make us think that what we are eating is good for us.  Yet, I wonder if my organically-feared friend questions why he had to have heart surgery a few years back.  Could it have been because of the food he was consuming?

In one story from the documentary Food, Inc. the viewer observes the owner of the largest meat distributor in the country proudly displaying his proverbial feathers, while he admitted on camera how his company cleans e-Coli from their meat products by using ammonia.  Yes, I wrote ammonia!  While the ammonia may kill the virus, what is it doing to us? According to this film, 70% of our meat has ammonia in it—that’s not just in the fast food meat folks, some of that is in the meat we buy at the supermarket.  You be the judge.  Do you think consuming any bit of ammonia could be good for you?

Also, in the film, it was uncovered that the average chicken farmer has upgraded to the scientific standard, meaning there are thousands upon thousands of chickens stuffed in a dark room, being fed antibiotics, so that they can be ready to be packed in one-third of their normal growth process.  They are fat and they are not healthy.  There is barely any room for mobility and even when the chickens do move, they fall over after a few steps because their organs can’t keep up with unnatural growth patterns companies are demanding.  The farmers are forced to comply with these rules or they will lose their contracts.  Because of these demands, the farmer goes into debt by an average of $500,000, all while only earning $18,000 a year.  So, the corporations are getting rich, while the farmer nears bankruptcy.

The film also shows how Monsanto, the company who owns the patent on genetically modified seed, is displaying a firm hand (or rather fist) in its control of the market. Monsanto has various rather large militant looking men who raid people’s homes at 3:00 in the morning to harass those who try to harvest their own seed to plant future crops. Monsanto will also sue the small farmer and seed provider in order to get their way.  Let's face it, they have the big bucks to make the small farmer comply or lose their business in the process.  I wonder how this can possibly be legal.  With Monsanto's tactics it's no wonder that people are too afraid to stand up to them.  

Furthermore, the FDA doesn’t receive unbiased reports from outside sources to inform them about what is available for consumers.  They only receive biased documentation from the company that sells the item.  To add fuel to the fire, many FDA officials are those who formally worked for Monsanto and other firms that have a financial stake in the market. How can we say that the FDA regulates what is on the store shelves?  We can’t. Again, how can this be legal? Between Monsanto’s and the FDA’s actions, this whole process seems no better than organized crime. 

It is obvious that financial challenges are a big reason for purchasing the cheap stuff, but I ask everyone to consider, if we all gave up consuming chips and candy bars as well as all the soft drinks, the money that would be saved could be used towards buying organic vegetables.  Not only that, when we take a stand by not allowing the agricultural corporatocracy to dictate what our eating habits are and eat only the good stuff, they will have to come around and start growing and feeding organically. 

The good news is that things are beginning to change.  Even Walmart has begun selling some organic items.  The Chipotle restaurant chain will be labeling on their menus which foods are GMO as they move towards having only organic foods.  In Sedona a new restaurant just opened up called The Field and it along with Chocola Tree have only organic foods.  The customer spoke and the all powerful dollar has helped to shift these food distributers way of thinking—and that is a good thing!  And the more of us that know the truth, the more we will effect change.

I encourage each of us to really look at the foods in the aisles in the store the next time you are there and ask yourself if your body is deserving of better.  The answer, of course, is a resounding YES!  You are definitely worth it.

Thank you for reading about my Organic Bliss.

**Please note that the film Food, Inc. has powerful information in it.  You may want to bring a a box of Kleenex with you too, because there are parts that will likely bring a tear to your eye.  Below is a clip:

Sources:

The documentary Food, Inc.

Diabetes statistics: American Diabetes Association

To see a list of the Seven Nastiest Things in your Supermarket, read the article of the same name at Hungry for Change