FertilehealthyAiming for success, not perfection…

I just found this very cute, yet disturbing, animated series called The Meatrix.  Check it out!

I’m often pleasantly surprised by Hollywood. In movies like Wall-E, Idiocracy, The Day After Tomorrow, The Day The Earth Stood Still, The Matrix, etc., they comment on our current lifestyles and where it may lead us. The outcomes are often frightening, but we just have another fistful of popcorn, swig our Cokes and say, “Wow! Great movie! Loved the special effects!“  Only in the movies, right?

Wrong.

We are headed towards a disaster far more serious and dramatic than even Hollywood can foresee.  And it will probably take place in our children’s lifetime.  Every area of our existence is accelerating us towards an unimaginable tragedy – our energy consumption, our blatant disregard for the very earth that sustains us, our insatiable greed, our reliance on medical technology instead of sound living, our laziness, our cruelty, our treatment of the poor, our treatment of one another, our incredible arrogance, our poisons, our food culture and our quest for more, more, more.  But most of all, our willingness to turn a blind eye towards what is happening.

The signs that we are getting closer to the abyss are many – the melting ice-caps, severe weather phenomena, species going extinct every day, world hunger, disease and infertility. There are two types of disease – diseases of poverty and diseases of affluence.  Diseases of poverty happen to poor people, generally in the Third World.  They are caused by malnutrition, infection and lack of sanitation.  Diseases of affluence are also caused by malnutrition.  They are obesity, heart disease, cancer, diabetes, depression, auto-immune diseases and conditions like Alzheimer’s.

We can no longer look at our leaders to protect us and our children.  They are not governing us anymore.  The people with the money are and they are the faceless corporations that will tell you anything, no matter how blatantly untrue or how bad it is for you, to make you buy their products.  To them we have only economic value.

But we are worth more than that!  We are human beings!  We are fearfully and wonderfully made.

We can no longer fiddle while Rome is burning…  There is no point in trying to become fertile if there is nothing but pain and misery for our children to inherit.  Change begins with us.

The first step is to start seeking the truth and exposing the lies.

There are many excellent documentaries out there and today I want to share the trailer of Food, Inc with you.  Visit the website, see where it’s being shown and go and see it!

The movie features interviews with experts such as Eric Schlosser (Fast Food Nation), Michael Pollan (The Omnivore’s Dilemma, In Defense of Food: An Eater’s Manifesto) along with forward thinking social entrepeneurs like Stonyfield’s Gary Hirschberg and Polyface Farm’s Joel Salatin.   Food, Inc reveals surprising – and often shocking – truths about what we eat, how it’s produced, who we  have become as a society and where we’re going from here.

(Trailer of the video here – does not show up in Reader)

Your choices in every area of your life, even your food choices, can make the difference… Inform yourself!

PS.  I just came across a very interesting television interview with Michael Pollan, where he talks about swine flu, Michelle Obama’s organic garden, Secretary Vilsack, GMO foods and the latest ploys by the food industry.   He says that his previous tenet of not eating foods with more than five ingredients has now been circumvented by some food manufacturers.  His latest advice is to never buy food that you’ve seen advertised.  The interview is well worth the time.

PPS.  An interesting article from La Vida Locavore that relates – ConAgra to You:  Drop Dead (But Don’t Blame Us).

This movie is a must-see!  We have to start taking action… Vote with your wallet!

Remember that I mentioned in last week’s Fertile Friday post that doctors used to advertise cigarettes?

Here’s one such commercial, dating back to 1949.

Makes you wonder about all the stuff they’re pushing these days!

The days where we all could just sit by and trust that our governments will act in our best interests have long gone. It is nowhere more true than in America, where the real power has been transferred to the big corporations and the Pursuit of Happiness has been exchanged for the Pursuit of Profit.

I can write at length, and with great bitterness about this, because the best interests and wellbeing of the people have been sacrificed for money. And most Americans have no idea that government is no longer either by the people or for the people.

But instead I’m going to give you the tools to start getting the balance of power back into the hands of the people, instead of Big Business.

You CAN be a voice of reason in a world gone mad. You now have a president who says he’s committed to change, so it’s up to you to give him the information and the backing to effect change. (Insert your name), your president and your country need you!

These are all areas where you can make your voice heard:

1. Lobby for Functional and Integrative Medicine in order to reform the American Healthcare System

Today (Thursday 26 February 2009) a group of eminent doctors who have been practising functional and integrative medicine, will be testifying in front of the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions. Included in the group are Drs Mehmet Oz, Dean Ornish, Andrew Weil and Mark Hyman. The aim of this hearing is to determine to what extent functional and integrative medicine can transform the misguided and over-burdened American healthcare system. Dr. Mark Hyman outlines the items to be discussed and the motivation behind them in his newsletter and urges YOU to contact your Senators, Congressmen or the White House and lobby for change.

2.  Join the Organic Consumers Association

The Organic Consumers Association publish some of the best, and most alarming, articles I’ve ever read about the state of affairs in the USA and the world today.  They’re active on Twitter (with lots of links) and send out regular newsletters.  But best of all they have a Take Action section on their website, detailing exactly what you can do to help bring about change.

Check them out!

3.  Ensure that your community’s drinking water is safe.

One would assume that tap water in America would be safe, but one would be wrong.  There are many reasons for that, but the main reason is that American tap water has for decades been deliberately contaminated with one of the worst poisons you can ingest – fluoride!

Visit the website of the Fluoride Action Network and find out why water fluoridation is dangerous, inequitable and unethical.  Did you know that fluoride was added to the water in Nazi concentration camps to keep the inmates docile and prevent escape?  Did you know that there is no difference in the incidence of dental caries between countries where water is fluoridated and countries where it’s not?  Did you know that even the ineffectual and corrupt FDA have recommended that baby formula not be prepared with fluoridated tap water?

Some cities in America have, through the actions of their citizens, managed to ban water fluoridation.  Europe is now 97% fluoride free because of public pressure.  Add your voice and take action!

4.  Vote with your Wallet

What you spend your money on is as much a political statement as writing to your representatives (although ideally you should do both).   By buying articles that have been manufactured in a healthy way and without cruelty or exploitation, you are increasing the demand for such items and at the same time reducing a demand for unfairly and cruelly made, unhealthy and often unnecessary, products.

5.  Buy Local

As our environment is reeling under the impact of human activity, transporting goods and produce over long distances is becoming a folly we can no longer afford.  Check out the following websites for more information (and google “buy local” for State options):

• Sustainable Table
• Local Harvest

6.  Read More

So many books have been written about what is happening in the world, especially with regards to the environment, our health, what we eat and the politics behind it all.  It really is all connencted and the following authors have written widely acclaimed books about the issues.

John Robbins - The Food Revolution, Diet for a New America, Reclaiming our Health, etc

Michael Pollan - In Defence of Food: An Eater’s Manifesto & The Omnivore’s Dilemma: A Natural History of Four Meals

7.  Watch Documentaries

• Processed People
• Food Matters
• Who Killed the Electric Car?
• Earthlings
• The World According to Monsanto
• The 11th Hour
• King Corn
• Our Daily Bread
• Big Bucks, Big Pharma

8.  Spread the Word

The biggest atrocities in history have occured when good people stood by and did nothing.  We have too much to lose to remain silent any longer.  Speak out, create awareness and help secure a sustainable future for our children. 

You may wonder why I care, since I’m not even American.  The truth is that the rest of America is not like Las Vegas – what happens in America most certainly does not stay there.  We, the rest of the world, didn’t mind so much when we all we got from you were Dallas, Elvis Presley and Disney.  But with globalization we now have to contend with McDonalds, designer coffee, Monsanto, economic meltdown, excessive vaccination and reality TV.  And we “doan laaik it“!

But seriously, the escalation of the current trends in American agriculture, food culture, economics, energy policies and healthcare can only lead to decreased sustainability and ultimately decreased stability, not only in America, but all over the world. 

The time to act is now!  You can make a difference.