Evolving Backwards

And with seeing and being reminded comes…inspiration…each image of animals being treated with apathy in the most horrific manners…manners in which are impossible to imagine how a human could conceive of them-let alone implement and perpetuate them. And yet, they do…and these events continue to the tune of billions of animals per year in the United States alone.

And with hearing an expert in ecology comes…terror…the stab of shocking inescapable doom we are instigating by the shear consumption of massive quantities of animal-based products. We are literally eating ourselves into the next extinction.

As “evolved” thinking primates, one of the defining features we ought to boast is the ability to learn from our mistakes and ameliorate the choices that led to the ultimate poor results. And yet…have we? Is history not repeating itself? How many mass extinctions have occurred in history? Have you ever considered that we-in our evolved, learned culture-could repeat a catastrophic end of humanity as we know it?

And yet...here we are…right smack in the midst of a cataclysmic downward spiral. The more animal products we consume, the more inane senseless torture of sentient, innocent creatures, the more destruction of our air, soil, land, waters, loss of biodiversity, and then some. Oh yes…how can I forget? As a healthcare professional, I directly witness the impact of animal food consumption in my daily practice. I also happen to experience utter miraculous transformations regularly when people cease their consumption of animal products…as my sick clients get healthy, medications get put back in the medicine cabinet permanently, athletes beat their personal bests, and everyone in between thrives. 

Our fork determines our future like nothing else. Politics, powerful medications, advances in medical procedures, are laughable when you consider and witness the impact of the food that you eat. It is time we all recognize the blatantly obvious…we know too much now…there is no way out. As our 6.5 billion global population ensues, we are literally eating our planet…and we will soon be left with nothing…tick tock. What will you do? Knowledge is command…we are officially at the tipping point. Will we survive? We have the solution…but will we learn from our mistakes? Or will we remain safely protected in our blissful bubble…tick tock…choose wisely…

My New Year's Wish

So here we are in the future...where we are supposed to be flying around in our spacecars, wearing silver metal sleeksuits, and where robots make our dinner and clean the dishes. We are actually heading in that direction at the rate we are going...but not in the idealized projection. We will be forced to live up in our sky hightower homes because our Earth will be sucked dry and destroyed from all of the damage we have placed on it. We will be eating food that we grew in our hydroponic, indoor planters, depleted of true sun-filled nutrition and popping chemistry lab-made supplements to fulfill our deficiencies...

Oooo...this sort of prediction is eerie in its potential probability. I prefer to live on the planet the way we are now...visiting Farmer's Markets and Trader Joes, cooking my meals at home, and having beaches, mountains, and farmland to visit whenever I feel the desire.

In order to do this, I am making a New Year's Wish...I am wishing that the knowledge of the implications associated with Factory Farming; the overuse of drugs (antibiotics, steroids, and hormones); the abuse of pesticides, herbicides and fungicides; and the abuse of animals due to the high demand for their use as food will be acknowledged and absorbed by millions of people in 2010. I am hoping these millions of people will simultaneously recognize that the healthiest diet for the planet and for the animals just happens to be the same one that will sustain longevity and vitality, prevent disease and enhance energy, beauty and endurance.

To a happy, healthy 2010!!!