You cannot build character and courage by taking away man’s initiative and independence. You cannot help men permanently by doing for them what they could and should do for themselves.
These words have been attributed to Abraham Lincoln. I call it his you-cannot-improve-something-by-destroying-its-opposite speech. (The quote starts with the words, “You cannot bring about prosperity by discouraging thrift. You cannot strengthen the weak by weakening the strong.”)
Lincoln was clearly a believer in the power of individual responsibility. How could that translate to the subject of the food industry? Perhaps we will discover that it is not so hard to take back initiative and independence even in the face of the overwhelming power wielded by governments and large corporations.
We always think we have to change the world. But do we? What if you and I can do something, right now, that can be just as successful? That would mean that if you’re not a crusader, you don’t have to crusade. You don’t need to close down multi-national companies that are pushing GM food or selling dangerous pesticides. You don’t have to rail against supermarkets that buy substandard food then hawk it to you as quality fare. Simply put, you take control of what food you are putting in your mouth and where you source it. You can work quietly and calmly, in an ordered manner, to give yourself the better food choices you need for optimum health.
It might take prodigious thought and a change in perspective which will gently translate into a change in day-to-day life. You may need to spend considerable time gathering the knowledge required so you are able to garden for yourself or at least to source better quality food.
But it can be done without fanfare; without creating a stir of any kind. What this will create, if enough people take responsibility for their food choices, is a groundswell. Small vibrations at first, then an unstoppable wave that can truly change the earth.
For me, these are aspirational thoughts. I’m definitely not there yet, although at least I’m thinking about it. And I’m taking the concept of personal responsibility seriously by doing my own cooking instead of grabbing takeaway, by preparing meals from fresh fruit and vegetables, by researching meat and grains, eggs and dairy, legumes, nuts and seeds. How good are they for our health? Should we eat meat? Is dairy good? What is the hallmark of good quality? Where can I find the best food?
We can source our fruit and vegetables from growers who don’t use dangerous pesticides. We can grow our own, if only for some of our requirements. If we lack the knowledge and the skills, we can find them in many different places and we can make it our life’s mission – at least in our spare time – to learn those things and put into place a lifestyle that will give us health.
Yes, these things take time and effort. They require a sense of responsibility, of looking after the self rather than expecting someone else ‘out there’ to do it for us.
I don’t think we need to worry about the corporations and governments and others who are making less than great choices with the food industry. As long as we have enough of a democracy that gives us the right to make our personal food choices, our individual actions can be incredibly powerful.
We don’t need a revolution. Remember the typewriter? There was no revolution to oust it from our offices. We didn’t have burn-the-typewriter marches. It’s just that something different came along and from individual to individual, office to office, country to country, we embraced it. The company which was most famous for the typewriter had to either change or wither, because people weren’t buying typewriters any more. (It changed. IBM is still in the marketplace today.) Other enterprises started. The world went on. We needed different knowledge to use the typewriter’s successor. But gradually we skilled up. And the world, for better or worse, is definitely a different place because of it. So it can be with the food we eat.