Hungry for Change

The latest film from Food Matters about the lifestyle of North Americans and Western society, Hungry for Change, is a series of interviews from various experts (yes, that word again) giving healthy lifestyle, not diet!, advice that the average person can truly relate too.
Yes, it will probably end up just preaching to the choir. That's usually what's happens with these films.

The free viewing is available online until March 31st. The film is about an hour and a half, take some time out of your day to watch. But make sure you do it, as with all things in life, with your brain turned on.



Here's some quotes from the film...
"We do not eat food anymore, but food-like products"
To beat the diet, you need to shift your thinking from, "I want it, but can't have it" to "I can have it, but don't want it"

And they end with the 3 questions you should ask yourself about what you eat...
Where does my food come from?
What went into the food (what attitude, care, love, compassion)?
What is my intention with the food? Is it to support me? or entertain me?


Have you watched the film?
No? Then don't read what I have to say until you do. I don't want to cloud your view of the film. Take the time to form your own opinion.

Yes? Excellent, then read on...



It was a good film. I think it touched on a lot of excellent points of our food culture.
They want us to start thinking about where our food comes from, for us to know that industrial food companies only want our $ - they don't care about our health, and to start make better choices.

Better choices to them means: plants, plants and more plants.
Eat only organic.
Make juices because they're fast and easy! (that's what we all want to hear, right?)  They focused quite a bit on juices... I have a feeling there's a "cookbook" involved.


That's great! We all need to eat more vegetables!
I love vegetables!

The one thing I'm thinking about while these experts rattle on is, "Is this sustainable?"
Not sustainable as in, "Can I personally keep up this lifestyle?" (which is also an important question to ask)
but as in, "Where are chia seeds grown?"
"Can I get aloe at my farmer's market?"
"How many miles away is Spirulina produced/processed?"
"Sure lemons, limes, pineapple, etc make these juices taste great... but they have to travel thousands of miles to get to me..."
"They didn't mention anything about eating ethical meat products..."

To those of us trying to live a locally sourced food lifestyle (diet doesn't sound right) and NOT living in California, many of these foods are out of the question.

But, we can grow our own herbs.  Parsley and cilantro are the best of the best according to the film, and both are easy to grow, even for Zone 3.

You can live a healthy life without getting organic foods trucked from hundreds/thousands of miles away.
Grow your own food.
Talk to farmers that grow produce and raise animals in your area.  Just because they're not certified organic, doesn't mean they don't practice environmentally friendly farming.
Educate yourself.  Research the research.  You might be surprised who funds some of these studies about food...
Make your own food-bullseye. Decide how and from where you will source your food.

All that aside, the values behind the film are admirable.
- Eat less sugar, in all it's forms.
- Cut out processed foods.
- Read the label before you buy it!
- Detoxify your body. Yes, your body already knows how to do this. You just need to help it along by consuming clean, healthy foods.
- Move more, Eat plants.
- Love. Love yourself. Love others.



What are your thoughts on the film?