Our health is determined by the existing and prevailing consumerist culture that controls every aspect of our lives. Some of us simply accept an illness or a disease as a normal part of life. "We will all get sick anyway," most of us would say. With this consumerist, sedentary mainstream lifestyle, of course all of us will get sick! But not in old age, as most of us would think, we are getting sick NOW. Abnormally...now, at the prime of our lives. What's frustrating is that these illnesses are preventable. It's not supposed to happen.
It's not JUST because we CHOOSE or PREFER a lifestyle that's unhealthy, but it's because our society actually supports this kind of lifestyle with fast food, junk food, instant food, and other exploitative ways to satisfy our greed for material things and convenience and comfort. It's normal, this lifestyle is normal.
When we talk about health, the issue of environment always follows. Has it actually dawned upon us that the industries that support our consumerist lifestyles are actually the ones polluting the earth? We crave more, we want more, and so they give us more! This is what they call demand.
So why don't we stand up and rally together to demand, this time, for our health?
Let's create healthy communities by educating people about sustainable practices. People nowadays, especially the youth, consume about 3000 calories a day. Those 3000 calories came from food imported all over the world, with so so much energy invested in producing a plateful of food for three meals. Imagine the magnitude of production: the farmers, the fuel, the machinery, the transportation, the packaging, the marketing, and so on. With 3000 calories loaded into your body, you sit down or lie down all day doing unproductive things. What a waste of energy! That waste of energy has a physical manifestation in fat, in obesity. I mean, how many people view the situation this way? It pains me to see all those energy invested go to waste. It also pains me when people don't finish their food and throw it away in the trashcan. Let's change this.
Let's teach people to start businesses that will be beneficial to the community. Don't start a business just for profit, start a business with a conscience! Think about the health of the people who will be consuming or using your products and services.
Learn to get back to the earth and plant food for yourself and others. In this country, farming has always been equated with a lowly social status. This explains why people from the rural areas have come to the city. They want to experience city life, they are ashamed of their farming backgrounds. Let's change this. Let's give farmers respect. Let's give them credit for what they are doing, for providing us with food. Better yet, let's learn to take care of the land available to us no matter how small or big it is. If we devote our energy in making the land productive then we can live in a more sustainable and healthy environment. Plus we get to exercise and workout!
So what does farming, business, and education have to do with health? Well, everything!
Achieving a healthy lifestyle is a community effort. We create a supportive and vibrant community that is conscious of the choices that we make. We make these choices to make a difference and make a stand. That we are not dependent on what society wants us to eat or how society wants us to live. We know what is best, we are just too afraid to resist and act.
It is an eternal perspective that keeps me going and keeps me hopeful for a better future. I am a Christian, a follower of Jesus Christ and I believe that He wants us to be good stewards of the environment and our own bodies, our health and the health of others. All of creation will come to pass, this is our belief, but we also believe that we are being prepared for a new Heaven and a new Earth. To fellow believers, I challenge you to take a stand and be a Christian who acts out faith. Don't be complacent, don't be passive. Be a good steward of everything He created. Practice what you preach, walk the talk.
As for those who have a different ideology, perspective or motivation, I'm sure you have solid reasons as well for fighting for our health and the environment.
A culture revolves around food production.
Health begins with the production of safe and healthy food.
The production of safe and healthy food produces good values.
And good values helps us differentiate "greed" from our "needs."
You want to change the system? Change the system of food production and you'll be amazed how things will follow. Los Banos is a university town, we should be more dynamic, we should present alternatives to our country. Let's prove that we can be a healthy and sustainable community and show our countrymen that we can aim for a sustainable PRESENT, not just the future, but the PRESENT.
I know two people who passed away today. And I have a growing list of students posted on my table who died of different types of cancer. They all studied in Los Banos.
I will fight for them.
I will fight for my family who has a history of cancer.
I will fight for my health.
I will fight for the health of my community with a trowel in my hand.
Please, for whatever personal reason you have, please fight with me.
Educate. Encourage. Inspire. Influence. Have a conscience. Be compassionate.
Start a new revolution.
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