These are interesting times. We are living in the consequences of our previous generations decisions. It is the most evident it has been since information travels much faster and it seems our actions have larger consequences than ever before as well.
I hope this is an opportunity for our generation to evolve and act in a way that shows true understanding of the consequences of our actions. To know the true cost of a thing. What is the true cost of wanting products ever cheaper?
Cheaper product means a company needs to manufacture at a cheaper rate. It means finding cheaper labor rates. It means taking the jobs to the “third world countries”. It means having it completely made in another country where materials are cheaper. It means “Made in China”. It means buying a product made with less oversight. It means poisonous kids toys, toxic dog food, or factories with high worker suicide rates due to inhumane working conditions. It means factories collapsing and taking the lives of workers due to lack of oversight. Is it really worth these consequences? What about our food? What is the true cost of factory farming our food? What does it mean for “conventional farming” to be cheaper than organically grown?
Factory farming our food means using machines designed for specific crops. Practices that work for specific crops only. It means trading efficiencies for thousands of years of farming practices and wisdom. It means farming the same crop over and over again. Breaking away from the current format I would like to dive deeper into the food topic. This is a topic that rings loudly with me since, I like to eat good and healthy food every day and I hope you do as well.
With factory farming we are depleting the nutrients in the soil by growing the same crop over and over again. Just think about it. How can any nutrient be available when the same crop is grown repeatedly on the same plot of land? Modern day fertilization uses nitrate to improve growth it provides no nutrients and it is simply used to make the plant grow bigger and faster. The human body is more complex than the crops we grow, but as an analogy, it would be similar to humans sustaining on carbs only. If it were possible, this person would be no more than a shell. The nutrients we get from our produce comes from the ground. Modern day farming is all about mass production. It depletes the soil of nutrients and is heavily poisoned with pesticides. Which we have to use more and more of because the pests are adapting to the poisons we use. Weeds, insects, bacteria, and viruses have a much faster evolution cycle than we do. Consistently speaking these pesticides are having to become more and more toxic because the pests are adapting. Now we have to genetically modify the plants just so they can handle the poisons. We would be naïve if we didn’t think the pesticides aren’t being absorbed by the crops. It’s only a matter of time before we must genetically modify ourselves, so that we can handle the poisons we are pumping into our food. Eating any animal is possibly even worse than eating vegetables. We can at least wash some of the toxins from the produce but not the meat. They have been consuming mostly GMO corn which is heavily toxified by every synthetic spray we have made. This doesn’t even include all the drugs that are pumped into factory raised livestock. While these toxins do get processed by the livestock but how much of it is processed? What are we putting in our bodies? What are you feeding your family? Your children? What are the consequences to your health?
It seems we have grown accustomed to cheaper, more convenient, faster, etc. for something that is only doing us more harm rather being truly beneficial. In wanting cheaper food, we are getting less nutrients and possibly more toxins. However, I feel that we are at a turning point. People are becoming aware that something is wrong with our food supply. The increase in obesity, diabetes, food allergies is increasing dramatically. In wanting cheaper products, we are losing jobs and getting products that could poison our loved ones. This isn’t simply due to more efficient information gathering. This is a malignant tumor formed from our choices.
Next time you go grocery shopping try an organic celery compared to a “conventionally grown” celery or tomato or even a factory raised piece of chicken compared to a pasture raised chicken. You’ll taste the difference without a doubt. Next time you buy a shirt from Abercrombie & Fitch think about how quickly that shirt falls apart. Think about the people who have died working in a factory that collapsed. Is saving a few dollars’ worth having to buy the shirt again in less than a year or the factory worker that died in a factory?
What is the true cost of your purchase?
