Do you know what you are eating?

I am going to be talking about our health and wellness starting with the food we put in our mouths. What is at stake here, is our futures! The future of food is at risk. You might think I am kidding, I could hardly believe it myself when I first learned of the news I am about to share with you, and maybe you already know.

As fitness enthusiasts we are deeply concerned with the ingredients we put into our bodies. Admittedly often times it is for appearance's sake rather than for the sake of our health. But the fact remains, being healthy is a wonderful byproduct of our obsessive focus on looking good.

Do you remember the moment that you realized there was no such thing as Santa Clause? (don't let your kids read this) Your hopes and dreams of the man watching your every move and showering you with gifts based on your naughty or niceness shattered. You know the feeling you get when you think the world is one way and you find out the truth of the way that it actually is?

Recently I have been hit with such a blow. Now I am not a political activist, or a tree hugging granola type. But recently I have been informed of a truth that is so big I can hardly believe that being a fitness professional and a food nutritionist that I was not aware of it. This hard truth is that of genetically modified foods. When I first heard someone yammering on about it, I brushed them off. I thought, ok, here is one more complainer who just can't seem to be happy in life looking for something to cry about. But two movies changed my mind completely and they are Food Inc. and The Future of Food. Both movies speak about genetically modified food and the power that Monsanto has over our entire corn and soy industry (for now) by our government giving them a patent on genetically modified corn and soy. They have other patents pending on food. One company has a patent on a terminator gene that will chemically modify the seed so that once it is planted only once, the seed will die. Now the problem with patenting corn is that you know how seeds spread? Well if you are a farmer and somehow this genetically modified seed gets into your crops, then guess who is going to get sued? That is right, you the farmer. Unspeakable! Farmers are being sued for their crops being infested with genetically modified corn. This is just the tip of the iceberg.

I will hope that you will watch both of these movies for several reasons. What we eat has been packaged to look pretty, but the way it is processed is nothing but pretty. For example, they throw cute little chicks and put them in a dark room for 40 days and feed them as much as they can, with no light and they are all on top of each other, and of course guess what they are eating? That's right, gmo corn. The cows too. They actually cut openings in the side of the cow so they can see the cows digest their food to make sure they don't have ecoli bacteria. I will leave my story at that, and if you are compelled to watch either movie, please do so.

My take away from these movies was one very strong statement, that being when we think that we can do nothing about something, such as the case with Monsanto and any other company that gets a patent on genetically modified food for that matter, when we go to the store, we are voting. When we buy from our local farmers market and local butcher that raises free range chickens and grass fed cows, we are voting. We can make a difference by being more aware of what we are putting into our bodies and demanding to know the truth before we just blindly eat without thinking of the consequences. There was a powerful statement in the end of The Future of Food where the narrator said: "It is up to you." It gave me goose bumps, knowing that I do have the power, and have choice. I take that very seriously, and I hope you will too.

www.thefutureoffood.com
www.foodincmovie.com