Whatever our state of health, food is the means by which we fuel our progress through each day. Here again there has been a shift in emphasis, as this commodity has become a source of profit rather than a source of life sustaining nutrition.
As we find more and more ways to extend the life of food, to reduce wastage and increase profitability, we take increasing levels of chemicals into our bodies that now appear to be having serious repercussions upon our health and longevity.
Obesity is now common place and rising dramatically in the young. In Japan the change to a more western diet has seen an equally dramatic escalation in heart disease that was virtually non existent before.
Only 20 years ago a fishmonger could tell us not only when the fish he was selling was caught, but where, and the particular attributes that area of the sea or river had in complementing the flavour. Today price is the “unique selling proposition” upon which we base our food buying decisions. Given the integral part price plays in the profit equation how can this financial factor tell us anything about what we are putting in our bodies?
We have turned nutrition into a commodity that is traded, instead of nurtured. In this subtle change we are negatively affecting our wellbeing in ways that are only now beginning to manifest. If wider criteria for the provision of our nutritional needs are adopted then we may also see a greater respect for ourselves and that which feeds us
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Education of the young during their formative years is probably the single most important human endeavour we undertake. Its application shapes each generation, something religious organizations grasped centuries ago as the means by which to maintain and expand their sphere of influence. Whilst there is an emphasis upon “religious instruction”, there is also a desire to assist in the overall growth and development of each child.
With waning religious influence we have seen greater emphasis upon academic achievement over development of the child. This personal development is narrowing even further because of an increasing emphasis upon greater preparation for the workplace.
In the UK, MacDonald’s have been granted the ability to provide an accredited subject within the school curriculum, (following the strategy adopted by religion and alluded to earlier). Whilst the grounding this subject might provide in business skills could well prove beneficial, like a single religion, it operates within a narrow base which creates bias and inability to see the broader picture.
Surely the purpose of educating the young is to imbue them with the ability to reach informed decisions about life. An understanding about the place of food, politics, business and inter-personal relationships in the grand scheme of things is essential to their wellbeing and future confidence, as they embark upon their individual journeys.
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