Lately I've been thinking about food. For thousands of years humans were strictly an agricultural society. If you didn't raise the chicken, beef or pigs you ate for dinner yourself, chances are you bought it from your local butcher whom you knew on a first name basis. You probably knew the farmer who raised the livestock as well. The same went for vegetables; everything was local or at least regional and it was organic. If you lived someplace where the growing season wasn't year round, you would can your food so it would stay fresh through the long winters.
How different things are today. With corporate farming, pre-packaged frozen meals and a fast food restaurant on almost every corner, I wonder if farmer Jones from 1909 would realize where he was? Perhaps he would think that he landed on Mars. What would he think of a Hungry Man 1 lb turkey and stuffing "meal"? I bet he would spit it out. Some people call it better living through science, I'm not so sure. With giant food conglomerates like Con Agra cranking out hundreds of thousands of "meals" every day, common sense says that it's not grandmas home cookin' coming off those conveyor belts. Sure, it's deemed safe by the FDA but that doesn't mean it's good for us. As a matter of fact, a quick glance at the ingredients list and nutritional label of most foods tells the story; chemicals and bad stuff that never grew in great-grampas' country garden now make up your burrito, Big Mac and pot pie.
Here's my challenge to you: Try to go 2 weeks without eating anything artificial or pre-packaged. Things like pre-packaged frozen vegetables, chicken breasts or salmon fillets are fine but not frozen vegetables packaged in any kind of "sauce" or cheese. I understand that most things contain BHT to maintain freshness or some other kind of preservative; it's pretty hard to avoid every single thing. Pre-sliced, pre-packaged deli meats are up to you, I would avoid them but that's your call. I understand that you have to pack a luch for work. Also, I'm human, so I'll look the other way if you down a hand full of trail mix with M&M's once a day; as long as you do the same for me. The real goal is to stay out of the drive-thru and eat real food at home. It's only for 14 days, if you can't go that long perhaps it's time for you to start thinking about food as well and ask yourself what the hell is going on.
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