Why We Do What We Do
A few summers ago, I wasn’t so easy to talk to about farming any other way than conventionally (animals in confinement, chemicals on crops, etc). My narrow sight saw conventional farming, and conventional farming only.
Having been through some health events within the last few years, I started asking BIG questions…
Why can’t people have dairy anymore?
Why are so many people depressed?
Why can’t people tolerate gluten?
We’re in the 21st century, and I would argue that people are generally more sick than ever before. I thought the world is the most advanced it’s ever been.. I thought animals have the best genetics.. I thought vaccines and drugs were supposed to make everything better.. I thought, I thought, I thought…
Answers (or the lack of) from our doctors were not enough anymore. We went on a health mission to achieve true health, and along the way, we discovered that the way that our food is raised makes EVERY BIT OF DIFFERENCE in our health.
I’m a big fan of studying history. I’ve loved studying history for years. I’ve read countless diaries, documentaries, and non-fiction books from primary sources. With my knowledge of history, I finally put together that… people did not used to be so sick. People were not struggling so much mentally. People rarely had issues consuming raw dairy and historical wheat’s gluten.
So, when did all this change? I would argue (and historical graphs support this) that many aspects of American health began declining in the mid-late 1900’s when animals became much more confined (cattle unable to graze, chickens and pigs caged up), chemicals began being used on crops and pharma (drug use and over-use) made its way heavily into our lives.
Doesn’t it make sense? Once I started asking questions, and opened my mind (A LOT), the answers seemed so obvious and reasonable. Humanity dared to tamper with God’s divine plan, and now here we are today, suffering for it.
An animal that is fed an unnatural diet and is stressed ALL THE TIME because of its unnatural living conditions and overcrowding is bound to be a health nightmare, and relay that nightmare to the consumer of it. I truly believe we are living proof of all this, and if you open your mind to it, you can see it too. People are depressed, anxious, obese, sick, weak, severely vitamin – D and healthy fat deprived… the list goes on.
I’m so grateful that God put our family through those health struggles so that we could learn, change, and now help others forward too.
One thing I kept mentally fighting in my head throughout my journey was that, “conventional, mass-scale agriculture is the only way to feed the world.” Now, I am convinced otherwise. Waste is a huge (seriously, HUGE) issue in our consumptive world and the number of farms in general has drastically decreased in the last century. If small farms are around and get back to supporting their local areas directly, communities can grow and thrive with dependence only within its own members; the community itself and its members will be much more resilient in tough times and even more secure in good times.
Let’s get back to that. Food for thought.
Mary