Food, Health & Money Connection

Wendell Berry is spot on in the book Sex, Economy, Freedom & Community when he writes about "The Food System."  This is a system I try to avoid when I can by making foods from scratch as well as buying locally (or growing my own food!)  Each point below builds on the previous one and I especially like points six and seven.  He observes:

The Food System is firmly grounded on the following principles:

1.  Food is important mainly as an article of international trade.

2.  It doesn't matter what happens to farmers.

3.  It doesn't matter what happens to the land.

4.  Agriculture has nothing to do with "the environment."

5.  There will always be plenty of food, for if farmers don't grow it from the soil, then scientists will invent it.

6.  There is no connection between food and health.  People are fed by the food industry, which pays no attention to health, and are healed by the health industry, which pays no attention to food.

7.  It follows that there is no connection between healing and health.  Hospitals customarily feed their patients poor-quality, awful-tasting, factory-made expensive food and keep them awake all night with various expensive attentions.  There is a connection between money and health.

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It is my hope that by eating real food one baby step at a time, you will experience a positive connection between health and food (see #6).

Anyone who has stepped foot in a hospital can give a hearty Amen to #7, but even if you haven't, surely you can agree that there is a connection between money and health.

It does matter what happens to our land and our farmers.  Buy locally grown when you can.  Make plans to visit a farmers market soon.  And it is not too late to plant fall veggies!

-Julie