Now and again we see in the "news" a ranking of states where the average person is the fattest. Being the beer and cheese state, Wisconsin often rates pretty high on these lists. It is not uncommon for bars to outnumber churches around here, but contrary to popular myth, we do not wear cheese on our heads, that is for folks who are not from around here who think that it will help them "fit in". Wisconsin frequently leads the nation in binge drinking in both frequency and intensity and a huge number of calories are contained in liquor of all types, so we get more than our fair share of those. What continues to startle me is the amount of carbohydrates and sugars that get consumed around here. Not just here in Wisconsin, but our nation as a whole seems hell bent on ruining our health virtually from childhood on.
What is most baffling to me is that the very foods that historically used to stave off starvation, eaten in relatively small quantities for relatively brief periods, have become common at every meal.
We may forget the history of our people, but anthropologists know that there are several factors combining to make us fat. Archaeology is finding proof that civilization came before bulk grain storage and that rather than a technology that increased life expectancy, created healthier human beings or assisted in making life better for the majority of humans alive on the planet, the rapid increase in grain production and storage actually led to many "modern" ills such as indentured servitude, wage slavery, prisons, graft and corruption. Even the Bible spreads the fiction that bread is the staff of life. The preponderance of the bread bowl at restaurants proves this beyond a shadow of doubt. Grains have always been the last line of defense against starvation, in the past we relied on the paleo diet. We did not eat grains routinely as a staple to be eaten every day.
There are authors who explain in detail both the scientific and health reasons for avoiding too much grain, carbohydrates generally and sugar but to really get a sense of what we are doing to our bodies, we need to look more closely at our food system. Corporate "farmers" love a monocrop. They cannot be bothered with the thoughtful and long-term commitment that is required to practice husbandry. Doing in-depth research and controlling what plants are used to produce the best seed for future planting is something that has been taken care of by multi-national corporate welfare recipients. I have people in my family who own one of the largest corn seed production facilities in our state, so I have a bit of an understanding of how these sorts of things work. In addition to hiring "illegals" to do the detassling, they are one of the largest energy users in their county because Lord and Lady know plowing up thousands of acres is a lot of petrochemical work. They cannot rely on fall weather to dry their crop. It is too valuable, so massive energy inputs are needed to husk, shell and dry the seed corn. The physical production of grain is often as bad for the planet as the resulting "food" that we create from the crops.
I will not belabor the point, but let us just say that production of cash crop grains in our country has become such large business that the common person would be unable to fathom the depth of depravity required to wreck entire ecosystems for the sake of cash. Remember, in a capitalistic society, the people who are most rewarded are those with the largest piles of cash. The money is considered a "good" whether it was come by ruthlessly or not. The grain producers are ruthless.
Inside our bodies this ubiquitous material chafes at our cells, creating damage throughout our bodies. Our bodies then throw white blood cells to those cells trying to heal the damage. This causes inflammation. In many cases, this leads to pain. Culturally we have been taught that we can take comfort in food. There are even (usually high carbohydrate and high sugar) foods that we call comfort foods, but actually, these things when put in our bodies create a lack of comfort and often lead to disease. Swallowing the great lie that bread is the staff of life was a breaking point for humans. It has led to great pain, unending sacrifice, slavery, riots and ill-health for billions of people worldwide. when you look a little more closely, you can see why the ruling classes and food producers love them...They last nearly forever when compared to vegetables, they pack the biggest caloric punch by volume and therefore can be manipulated, packaged, shipped and consumed easily nearly everywhere on the planet.
The terrible part is that these sorts of conveniences always come with a hefty price.
What is most baffling to me is that the very foods that historically used to stave off starvation, eaten in relatively small quantities for relatively brief periods, have become common at every meal.
We may forget the history of our people, but anthropologists know that there are several factors combining to make us fat. Archaeology is finding proof that civilization came before bulk grain storage and that rather than a technology that increased life expectancy, created healthier human beings or assisted in making life better for the majority of humans alive on the planet, the rapid increase in grain production and storage actually led to many "modern" ills such as indentured servitude, wage slavery, prisons, graft and corruption. Even the Bible spreads the fiction that bread is the staff of life. The preponderance of the bread bowl at restaurants proves this beyond a shadow of doubt. Grains have always been the last line of defense against starvation, in the past we relied on the paleo diet. We did not eat grains routinely as a staple to be eaten every day.
There are authors who explain in detail both the scientific and health reasons for avoiding too much grain, carbohydrates generally and sugar but to really get a sense of what we are doing to our bodies, we need to look more closely at our food system. Corporate "farmers" love a monocrop. They cannot be bothered with the thoughtful and long-term commitment that is required to practice husbandry. Doing in-depth research and controlling what plants are used to produce the best seed for future planting is something that has been taken care of by multi-national corporate welfare recipients. I have people in my family who own one of the largest corn seed production facilities in our state, so I have a bit of an understanding of how these sorts of things work. In addition to hiring "illegals" to do the detassling, they are one of the largest energy users in their county because Lord and Lady know plowing up thousands of acres is a lot of petrochemical work. They cannot rely on fall weather to dry their crop. It is too valuable, so massive energy inputs are needed to husk, shell and dry the seed corn. The physical production of grain is often as bad for the planet as the resulting "food" that we create from the crops.
I will not belabor the point, but let us just say that production of cash crop grains in our country has become such large business that the common person would be unable to fathom the depth of depravity required to wreck entire ecosystems for the sake of cash. Remember, in a capitalistic society, the people who are most rewarded are those with the largest piles of cash. The money is considered a "good" whether it was come by ruthlessly or not. The grain producers are ruthless.
Inside our bodies this ubiquitous material chafes at our cells, creating damage throughout our bodies. Our bodies then throw white blood cells to those cells trying to heal the damage. This causes inflammation. In many cases, this leads to pain. Culturally we have been taught that we can take comfort in food. There are even (usually high carbohydrate and high sugar) foods that we call comfort foods, but actually, these things when put in our bodies create a lack of comfort and often lead to disease. Swallowing the great lie that bread is the staff of life was a breaking point for humans. It has led to great pain, unending sacrifice, slavery, riots and ill-health for billions of people worldwide. when you look a little more closely, you can see why the ruling classes and food producers love them...They last nearly forever when compared to vegetables, they pack the biggest caloric punch by volume and therefore can be manipulated, packaged, shipped and consumed easily nearly everywhere on the planet.
The terrible part is that these sorts of conveniences always come with a hefty price.
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