Why I Eat What I Eat

By Taylor Joshua Gretz

Food is one of the most important things in our lives as it sustains us. Whether it's fruits
and vegetables or livestock, there's a lot of discussion about what food to eat based on
how the food was grown or raised. I've grown up in the world of understanding the
origins of “industrialized food”. My mom seems to be always on the hunt to be healthy
and in doing so, she has navigated the various avenues of healthy food and where it
comes from and has passed that on to me.

A lot of people don't know where our food comes from. For example, McDonald's sells
2.365 billion burgers a year. All that meat comes from cows that live on a farm in less
than ideal conditions–They live with 2500 other cows in close proximity with each other
and are fed the same things till the day they die. And the way they die is not humane. I
believe when animals are stressed and killed in cruel ways, the chemicals produced
under this stress actually affect their meat and their meat is not as good for you as it
could have been if they’d lived a more healthy life. And as far as growing fruits and
vegetables, pesticides and monocropping gives us cancer and the nutrient content of
the food is greatly depleted, so we don’t absorb thy phytonutrients to actually fight off
cancer.

Since I've grown up in the world of health foods and have seen several food
documentaries over the years, any new information about where our SAD (Standard
American Diet) comes from certainly does not surprise me. Yes, I know where the
majority of our food comes from and what living conditions our animal food is raised in
and our fruits and vegetables are grown in–But most typical Americans don’t. When
they view these films they suddenly find themselves connected to the horrors of the
over-farmed and an inhumane food industry and experience a negative reaction when
they learn of these truths. For me, I’ve been over-exposed to these truths for much of
my existence, so my views on food have actually done quite the opposite of what you’d
expect. I am aware of what is in processed food and where my live food comes from.
Typically I choose to eat overall in a healthy manner–choosing fruit over sugary
substances because I actually prefer the taste of the fruits and vegetables over the
processed foods, in most cases. But the overexposure to it all has actually disconnected
me from caring about the humaneness of how the animals I consume are treated. I
guess I feel truly powerless to make a difference if I choose to abstain from
less-than-healthy food. Perhaps, when I am older I will gravitate back to connecting to it
all and will feel that I could actually have some impact with my food choices. But for
now, I will eat as I always have, which is healthier than most, but doesn’t not take
ethical treatment into consideration.