As a father, a husband and a citizen of the world, I am compelled to do everything within my power to leave the world a better place than I found it. In my life I have witnessed many remarkable changes, the collapse of one of the world’s great superpowers, the invention of new modes of communication that make instantaneous communication possible worldwide and many more marvelous events and inventions, yet one of the most dramatic shifts I’ve seen over the last nearly four decades is found in the food we eat.
In my early childhood fast food was a rare treat, sugar and other sweeteners weren’t found in nearly everything and home-cooked meals were the rule rather than the exception. As I approached my 20s, however, the tide had clearly turned. The generations following in the footsteps of my fellow Gen-Xers found themselves nourished in a dramatically different landscape I once heard as described as “the land of over-consumptive malnutrition.”
In just one generation the world has turned on its head. America topped the health charts just forty years ago and each year since Americans have grown more and more unhealthy relative to their industrialized peers. The sad thing is that the majority of chronic diseases that in turn require the overwhelming majority of medical expenditures to address are preventable. The WHO says so, the CDC says so, the FDA says so and if you don’t care about them, logic says so.
When it comes to diet, the old saying “garbage in, garbage out” applies. We cannot expect to have healthy people if we don’t have healthy diet. The human body is a remarkable instrument, yet it, like all other things natural and man-made, has its adaptive and functional limits. Push things too far and the body starts to break down. Overtax its processing and purification systems and it becomes toxic.
Jamie Oliver, chef and passionate motivator, came to America seven years ago to start a food revolution. He moved to Huntington, West Virginia from the United Kingdom to raise awareness about the dangers of the modern diet. Take a few minutes to enjoy Oliver’s TED Prize acceptance speech, filmed in February 2010:
This is obviously a touchy area as people tend to be emotionally tied to their food choices. What they eat, how often they eat, how much they eat at each sitting (or standing or driving or lying down for that matter) is often conditioned by their mental and emotional state. Add to that the fact that most people feel too busy nowadays to be able to spend any more time than they already are thinking about food, and you have a recipe for disaster.
I applaud Jamie Oliver’s courageous approach to this systemic issue and am thrilled to have the opportunity to magnify his efforts in my living. If ever there was an area of human function that could benefit from a “back to the basics” campaign, it is this. Our health, the health of our children and the health of our nation depends on it.
Gregory Hake 
I have watched Jamie’s shows and he is doing amazing work. Each day we make choices in what we put in our bodies, it is amazing how we know in our heads what is best for us and yet we make choices that are so wrong for our bodies.
I appreciated your comment on taking time to eat, taking the time to understand what we eat, it is critical for us to survive.
If we do not refuel our cars or we put the wrong fuel in we aren’t going any where in that car. Our bodies are the same way but it just takes so much longer to see the results.
Have a great weekend!
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What if cake at random just makes me REALLY happy? LOL Seriously – I can’t question my cake habit … my world would implode. (I’m healthy in most other aspects of food though!!!! and that of my children – luckily they don’t particularily care for sweets. whewwww!) Happy Memorial Weekend Gregg!!!
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In my defense I made no specific mention of cake (or chocolate)! That said, some are better for you than others.
Thanks for the holiday wishes and have a great weekend.
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So glad to hear TED recognized his efforts. I’ve been watching his show and am behind him 100%!
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It’s great, isn’t it? He has an important message that, properly understood and handled, could save our country billions if not trillions of dollars in the years to come. More importantly, it could prevent tons of needless human suffering!
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When I listened to this man speak so passionately about the crisis we are facing, I realized as a mother, that I am not doing enough. It is amazing how fast things are mobilized regarding our saftey and our childrens saftey when lives are at stake. If someone breaks into our home and puts a gun to our heads, then a call to 911 comes, maybe the media covers it, the bad gys are surrounded and hopefully captured. It is aparent that considering all the statistics and facts, that we are in no less danger than if a gun were placed to our heads relative to our health. We are in “Clear and Present Danger”, but without the immediate “risk” being so obvious, there seems to be no real concern for our lives and the lives of our children. I admire the stand that you and that jamie Oliver are taking, and I can only hope that we as human beings wake up to the “bad guy” and stand with you. Are “Foot Loops”really nutritious? They are marketed to kids as being fun! Do we fall for that? Thanks so much for this cold glass of water in the face, now to stay awake, that’s the true challenge.
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The recent mainstream coverage of this issue and Jamie Oliver’s ‘revolution’ is really backing up my work as a health practitioner, where the issue of diet comes into play with most every patient. Thank you for helping to spread the message!
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I also have been inspired by watching Jamie Oliver’s food revolution. I appreciate your mention of the “Back to the basics” approach, as so much power is contained in simplicity, along with the very essences of success. The power of One is powerfully magnified through what Jamie has done, and puts the responsibility right where it belongs, with me!
“Garbage in Garbage out” is so true, and most certainly about a half-an-hour after a “So-called” meal at McDonalds or something of that nature. De-energized, sluggish, and functioning at our lowest possible… this for me relates to yesterdays post and the AHA, moment. How many of us have said “I’ll never eat that again” yet in a pinch under pressure there we are at the drive-thru again.
FIRM acceptance of a new direction, without doubt or a shadow of turning starting with me. Thanks for this wonderful start to a beautiful day. No more seemingly short cuts! Arise, properly fuel up, and K.I.S.S.
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