5 Surefire Ways to Transform How the World Eats

Maybe I was an Italian grandmother in my last life, because so much of this life is essentially devoted to helping people eat healthy food, while having a healthy and satisfying relationship with that food. When I look at the nutritional status of planet Earth, my heart aches. We manufacture strange concoctions that only vaguely approximate real nourishment. We unknowingly feed our children toxic pseudo-foods. Our taste buds are hijacked by industry-created chemistry that hooks us to the point of addiction. And in countries where we have more than enough to eat, people are too often weighed down by disordered eating. The topic of nutrition is no longer merely about our individual heroic quest for high-powered health, but an issue that grips all of humanity. The challenge to feed the world – in a good way – is huge.

So, what’s a reincarnated Italian grandmother to do? Actually, there’s a lot to do.

In the interest of saving the world in our spare time – after all, we are busy people with active lives – let’s narrow down our list to 5 great strategies to help transform how humanity eats. These are practical and results-oriented ways to plant the seeds for a nourishing future, and to address, point-blank, some of the insane ways that industry and government are purveying recipes designed to suppress our metabolic potential, insult the laws of nature, and give us one big collective tummy ache.

Here are my 5 strategies to eat healthy. Let me know what you think:

1 – Kill Monsanto With Love

In case you haven’t noticed, the Monsanto Corporation has managed to crown itself as the quintessential evil empire of a company. Their stunning disregard for human and planetary health, and their purchase of politicians and push for public policies that destroy the food chain, are rather unsurpassed. If Darth Vader was a company, then Monsanto would have its perfect match. The company has literally become a parody of itself. Fortunately, the grass roots response to Monsanto has been admirable. Many different groups have mobilized to showcase Monsanto’s organized crime approach to food, agriculture, genetics and money. There are all kinds of ways to contribute to the good and necessary fight to take back the food chain. But here is an additional way to fight the Monsanto’s of the world without getting a bloody nose. Kill them with love. Meaning, fall in love with real and natural food. Fall in love with gardening. Fall in love with supporting local organic agriculture. Fall in love with heirloom seeds. Fall in love with supporting any business that purveys real honest food. Yes, we need people who are willing to go into battle, but when we add love into our arsenal of weapons to take back the food chain, we affirm the beauty of life, and we have one of the greatest powers in the universe firmly on our side. Oddly enough, Monsanto, and companies like it, just might be here to remind us how important real food really is. We must speak truth to power, while remembering to fiercely love the outcome we’re fighting for.

2 – Vote With Your Wallet

At its core, money can be a beautiful form of power. Money is energy. Money reflects the thoughts and consciousness that we put into it. Money makes the world go round. No matter what your beliefs about money may be, the fact is, we live in a reality where money is a necessity and is not only essential for our survival, but for the possibility that we can indeed thrive. How you spend your money says a lot about you. It tells us what you value. In essence, every time we spend money, we’re voting with our wallet. Every dollar spent is a subtle yet potent vote that speaks to the system we live in. So many companies have jumped on the green bandwagon, on the organic bandwagon, and on the healthy bandwagon not out of the goodness of their corporate hearts, but because citizens like you and me were busy spending our hard-earned cash on products that truly support the body, the community, and the planet. Empower yourself around your own spending. Know that every time you buy locally, when you purchase from community supported agriculture, and when you buy true organic food – you are making a bold statement that will eventually be heard by the economy, and the universe. And don’t believe this nonsense that eating healthy is super expensive. Disease and ill health costs us the most. Make your dollars do good things in the world, and bless every penny that supports a good cause.

3 – Find One Nutritional Cause and Support It

Speaking of which, here’s another great way to make a big difference in the health of the planet and all its interesting creatures – choose just one place, one organization, one person, or one cause – and honor it with your support. This could mean a cash donation, some volunteer time, or any way that you can practically contribute to an already existing action oriented organization that’s dedicated to the food chain. I recently had the great honor to interview Vandana Shiva for our Online Eating Psychology Conference. She’s considered one of the most influential women in the world. This brilliant and energetic being has long been a humble one-woman army with her words, deeds and actions. She has powerfully fought the poisoning of the world that’s often criminally thrust upon us by companies and politicians that simply don’t seem to care. So if you don’t know where to contribute your money or your time, just go here. We live in a time when we can no longer deny that we’re all intricately connected. The food and the goods that we purchase likely come from overseas somewhere, and how they were produced will profoundly impact our well-being. Find just one cause and support it. Feel the power in your contribution. Feel the cosmic correctness in putting your energy into that which affirms the goodness and the light of the world.

4 – Grow Food Savvy Children

One of the most brilliant concepts that our Native American forebearers have left us to consider is this one beautiful question  they were compelled to ask: how will the decision we make today impact the next seven generations? Isn’t this a revolutionary concept for today? Isn’t this a powerful spiritual teaching that should be tattooed on the forehead of every single politician? In a day and age when so many people are gripped with financial challenge and fear, it’s hard to think ahead.That’s why one of the great strategies we can do to change the way the world eats now and forevermore is to begin to grow food savvy children. Teach your children, or the young ones you’re associated with, about the beautiful and important value of real food. Let them know that good food makes them grow beautiful, strong, and have a long life. Let them know that certain things in life are produced with consciousness and quality, and other things are not. This is simply the world that we live in. Let them know that it doesn’t make a person bad if they eat a bad food, it simply robs them of health. Let them know how the pesticides, hormones, antibiotics, and the genetic engineering that goes into so much of our food is simply misguided and needs to be corrected. Let them know that they will be powerful participants in making the world a better place. Children love to feel a sense of mission and importance. The beautiful truths that you teach the children of today will be transmitted for many generations to come.

5 – First Awaken, Then Eat

This last way to change how the world eats is a little more subtle, but perhaps the most impactful, especially for those of us who have access to good food, good water, and good shelter, it’s often easy to become a bit obsessed about food. We might be pulled into endless dramas about weight, body image, binge eating, overeating, or achieving the perfect diet or perfect health. Of course, we need to address head-on any obstacle that stands in the way of the potential that we’re each here to fulfill. First awaken, then eat. Meaning, it’s a potent act to “wake up” from our self-imposed limitations. Awakening means that we realize we’re here to grow and learn, to contribute to the world, to share the love, to further the action, to bring light into darkness, to bring healing into disease. Awakening means stepping out of the nonsense of the mind that holds us back – silly ways we might use to affirm our belief that we’re unlovable if we haven’t achieved some perfect health, weight, body, diet, or position in life. The world needs you to stay awake at the plate. The world needs you to step into your full potential. One of the great ways to overcome our personal eating challenges is to help others overcome theirs. For some of us on planet Earth, the biggest eating challenge is simply having enough to eat.

How humbling is that?

Awakening also means having the intestinal fortitude to see some of the dark challenges that we face in our world, and to address them with the sword of love, truth and consciousness. It’s time to wake up, have a nice cup of tea, and do some good work. Every day is a new day on planet Earth, and whether you know it or not, every day, the world needs you.

I would love to hear what you think of what I’ve laid out here.

Please share your stories with us – how do you engage with any of the Surefire 5, or how would you like to?