Fasting – Re-Thinking The System That Is Food
by Tamara Giltsoff, United Kingdom on 07.11.07
Last week I spent a whole week fasting, on a Jiva retreat in France. I should probably call it cleansing because not eating for a week is one means to the whole process of totally rejuvenating my system and re-thinking my framing of food, happiness and wellbeing. The process is very reflective, not only in the first person ie, how I consume food and drink and the patterns that rule my life, but also a good look at the system that provides me with nourishment –industrial farming – and the global commodity that is food. I cannot tell you how powerful the week was, in many ways: it was personally re-energizing and empowering, and globally relevant, challenging the systemic insanity industrial farming and globalization has led to. I am a lucky, hard working, middle class chick who can afford the luxury of a week away fasting, but I would love to see the principles of the retreat, and the fast ideally, experienced by the wider Westernized world. It should be promoted through corporate businesses, schools (perhaps not the fasting part), culture, and health services... I think it would change so much and put us well on the way to a sustainable world.
It’s a little bit like a near death experience, (no, you do not die when you are doing a supervised fast and yes, another time I have been near death), because it totally changes your view on a system and your behavior in the world. I simply see the system that is food in a very different way now and I clearly see the destruction that much of this system is having on our environment and health/human energy. At a time when our industrialized world is failing the wellbeing of earth and its people, it seems highly relevant. Oh, and the fast makes you feel amazing!
Food is so connected to who we are and how we operate in this world. Think about the different patterns of food that cross cultures and social divides. It also reflects the patterns of the modern world and the downfalls of a globalized world – processed food, hormone induced animals, hymogenization, pesticides, food miles, GM etc.
What did I learn when food was taken away from me and I spent a whole week discussing the provenance of produce, how we should be eating, how we once ate and why the current system of food is failing the world and our bodies? What changed I spent a week really slowing down (which was the hardest bit for me)? There’s no rushing around for food and no time passing unconsciously masked by the steady flow of a fine bottle of Chablis or the ceremony of food. There’s no social reserve – everyone bonds pretty immediately sown together by the shared experience of fasting, detoxing and headaches, food and drink habits, and enemas, and resulting in that very beautiful thing – a dose of raw humanity. How did I feel during and after the experience? And why was the experience so profoundly ‘treehugging’ and worthy of sharing with you readers?
What did I learn?
That we should follow the 80% rule: to only eat until we are 80% full because our stomach needs 20% space to move food around and be able to digest. That the etc. 20% (or much more) that most of us in the West force into our stomach has significantly added to the number of planets per capita is we are using in resources. That being fat, in every way, is bad for this planet.
That bread – largely a highly processed food – sends our insulin levels rocketing, adds next to no nutrients and leaves us craving more food within hours, which again adds to the etc 20% we don’t need to be eating and the world does not need us wasting.
That we have all but forgotten about seasons and wild foods; that our bodies are attuned to eating foods in season (bingo that will be the ecology that is life) and that foods grown in the wild a highest in antioxidants and vitamins. Yet we tend to completely ignore this, importing mass-produced, un-seasonal foods from far corners of the world or modifying crops to create them slightly nearer by.
That food grown with ‘integrity’, ie, as close to how they would naturally grow and cooked with integrity, are far higher in nutrition and typically far richer to eat meaning we don’t need to eat as much. (We tend to overeat foods that are low in nutrition like breads and pastas and refined carbohydrates).
That many of us know very little about the origins of many of the fruits and vegetables we consume, because frankly we can pick them up anywhere in the world, at any time of the year.
That bagged lettuce is washed in Chlorine. Let me say that again. Bagged lettuce in washed in Chlorine. That we seem more worried a small insect will infest us with germs than we are about inducing Chlorine.
That fresh water fish (“oily fish”) is so good for us because nature and our ecology is a brilliant piece of design. These fish survive in very cold waters because the poly-unsaturated oil (a very oily, fluid oil) does not freeze – so they don’t freeze. This oil is so good for us because that fluidity flows through our blood and bones. There are so many incredible facts about the design of nature and our food systems that are all but removed from everyday eating. We simply are just not connected to the knowledge of nature and its design as a system, so we ignore it.
That animal produce is grown on corn, hormones and antibiotics. Animals should eat grass, which is 2-3% saturated fat, instead corn-feed is a concentrated 30-50% fat. We end up consuming more fat than nature had intended. Bingo, we mess with the system again and we end up with high blood pressure and heart failure.
That fish in farms in China are fed with the poo from Chickens that craze above the fish on wire mesh; that animals are so tightly packed together to intensively farm that often their limbs become embedded into the cages that hold them together; that cows are fed hormones to induce Mothers’ milk around the clock and that these hormones are significantly altering the development of children in our overfed Western world. What kind of system is this? And how is it we don't know about these things or don't see them?
That dairy produce is one of the most significant contributors of CO2 emissions and to climate change – the energy to feed and produce animal stock, the methane the animals emit and then transporting them all over the world. No one really knows how to absorb this or what to do with it. How do we reconcile the most basic human need – food – with destruction of our planet?
That we tend to eat on the go. Or do not leave time to eat slowly. That 40% of the digestive process happens before food even enters the mouth (looking at food and savoring it), so we are not digesting our food properly again leaving us under-nourished and our bodies hungry for more… So we overeat and the cycle of over-consumption and waste continues.
That many foods are packaged in highly toxic materials to keep them ‘fresh’ or to transport them to us. Plastic water bottles spring to mind. We’ve been told that bottled water is better for you than tap, but no one told us the plastic bottle was toxic.
What changed for me?
The provenance of food and how it arrives in my basket or on my plate is with me at every point of consumption - the story behind food I consume. I may not always be able to act on it or even really know the true story, but I want to know and it is changing what I buy and what I eat.
Understanding hunger is mainly a habit. That we are not as hungry, as often, as we think we are, we’ve just trained out bodies to think that way. That “I could do food” is not an all right reason to eat. That this kind of thoughtlessness is what fuels industrial food processing, poor diets and ecological and social damage.
Really experiencing everything I put in my body (two juices a day) has stuck with me forever. You can taste every ingredient, and want to know exactly what's in it, why you are having it and where it has come from. And you can literally feel the food nourishing your body as you drink it. That this feeling reminded me everyday to really appreciate the incredible thing that is food and exposed the so many ways we've messed up such a beautifully brilliant piece of ecological design.
Something that the rich world needs reminding of.
Accepting that limitations is a luxury - stepping out of the machine that provides me with any food I want at anytime of the year without a thought, into a consciousness that searches for the sorts of foods I should be eating and to savor the food, where it has come from and how its been produced.
Slowing down. Slowing down in every way is good for my health and the planet. That chewing food slowly totally changes the relationship with what is put in my body. As does preparation and engaging in making foods. And that the single act of slowing down is so inextricably linked to sustainability. Our whole food system, mass industrially produced, is designed to fuel on-the-go, anytime, anywhere lifestyles and its resulting in overeating, undernourishment and waste.
Why is fasting treehugging?
Because the single act of consciousness, this time experienced by taking food away, exposes the insanity of a system that most of us simply do not see and in that act of consciousness much is changed with how one operates in the system. Fasting exposes the downfalls of industrial food production and our modern day behaviors around food consumption. And it makes you re-evaluate.
I am not writing off industrial food production, it nourishes the world, I am just exposing some of the things we simply do not see within this system. Things that are not working within the brilliance of our ecological system, but against it.
[Written by Tamara Giltsoff]
Wow! what a wonderful article. I completely agree with you on all the points you make in here. We have been spoiled in the Western world with ready access to [not fresh] packaged food which came from who knows where.
There are definite advantages to one's health by eating seasonal food that's been grown locally. This has the least effect on the environment and on our health.
> That being fat, in every way, is bad for this planet.
This is a silly argument. Highly packaged diet foods are bad for the planet. Eating meat is bad for the planet. Driving a car is bad for the planet. You can tell nothing about how much harm someone causes the planet by weighing them -- some people are just fatter than others.
As a fat, carfree, plus-size organic jeans wearing vegetarian, I'm offended.
You can tell nothing about how much harm someone causes the planet by weighing them
Of course you can.
-- some people are just fatter than others.
And in the vast majority of cases, it is the result of choices they make.
Wild animals are never fat. Or at least not primates. I've actually never heard of a fat vegetarian. We learn something every day.
OK, let's not get started with that morality game. Being overweight is unfortunately more complex than just eating less. Upbringing, economics, and the less fortunate family genes from (often overweight) parents make it harder for some than others. And not everyone is as lucky as those who live in areas where organic food is easily available.
Let's simply say that everyone can do something, but some have a harder time. We should help those who are disadvantaged via personal and government support.
Great article, very well written. I have fasted myself a few times and loved it. Very empowering indeed. I believe we will not be a better society until we REALLY understand and embrace the value of healthy food and its chain of production. I would vote for widespread free nutrition and food-economics information to everyone, especially school kids - make it as mandatory as math.
I can see now where my food addiction has wreaked havoc on the earth.
For some reason I have finally seen the light and am now trying a raw food diet .
But 15 years ago when I was regularly eating fast food bacon cheeseburgers I had no clue.
dating vegans also helped shed some light. But even so I learned how to make high fat vegan food and went out of my way to find sources of tradtional foods that were vegan.
ie making Jello brand pudding with soymilk, etc.
I wish the playing field was even in advertising. For every commercial for commercial type products there should mini-infomercials about where things come from and the damage they are doing to the earth/our health and where to go to learn more to make better choices.
researching raw food and incorperating more of it into my life has by far opened my eyes the widest.
great post.
well written and very thought provoking.
I would love to know where in France the writer went as this sounds like a dream vacation.
I think fasting is not key to understanding "the system that is food." It seems to me that fasting simply enabled the author to dig deeper into the food process currently used by the western world. Being educated on this issue is really the important message; it is the end goal. Although I understand that many people need first hand experience to comprehend these intricacies of our complex food system, it is not necessary. The average person in America has a hectic, complicated life: children/grandparents to care for, overtime work schedules just to pay the bills, loans to pay off, and many have large sums of credit card debt, etc. Slowing down really isn't an option. Most people that try to make a difference in this world have lots of problems to take on. But reforming one's eating habits based on documented evidence/facts seems more viable and practical for the average person than completely fasting. Regardless, I'm quite glad that the author has been enlightened during her fasting experience and is educating people on how the food system works.
In addition, I wanted to make the comment that I agree being overweight usually does signify eating more than necessary, but i don't see how being overweight decreases a person's integrity for helping the planet. An overweight person may have just as much of a positive impact or more on the earth than a non-overweight person. It really depends on the individual and the actions that he/she takes to innovating, practicing and promoting green living. Rash judgments from the author are rather degrading for a post that is meant to educate people rather than pass judgment.
OK, let's not get started with that morality game. Being overweight is unfortunately more complex than just eating less. Upbringing, economics, and the less fortunate family genes from (often overweight) parents make it harder for some than others. And not everyone is as lucky as those who live in areas where organic food is easily available.
Whether something is organic or not has nothing to do with caloric value. This isn't a "morality game", it's simple physics. Energy input, energy expended. For the vast majority of people, it's because they're either putting in too much energy, or burning too little of it -- or both. There's some more subtle factors having to do with when something is eaten and so forth, but by-and-large it pretty much boils down to simple input and output. And despite a social structure which isn't generally conducive towards being a proper weight, it still boils down to choices and actions individuals either make or don't.
Blaming it on genes or society is a copout.
"Whether something is organic or not has nothing to do with caloric value. This isn't a "morality game", it's simple physics. Energy input, energy expended. For the vast majority of people, it's because they're either putting in too much energy, or burning too little of it -- or both. There's some more subtle factors having to do with when something is eaten and so forth, but by-and-large it pretty much boils down to simple input and output. And despite a social structure which isn't generally conducive towards being a proper weight, it still boils down to choices and actions individuals either make or don't"
if you are so convicted - why do you post Anonymously?
"Blaming it on genes or society is a copout."
it is much more complicated than that.
Thanks so much for your long, thoughtful comment. As I've gradually thought about and changed my habits, I'm finding that changing how I eat (i.e. more slowly) has been the one of hardest things to do. I've considered fasting for a long time. Maybe I should do it.
I just want to point out quickly, amid all the gloom and doom, that not all our food is produced the way described above (although most if it, sadly, is). For people who want to help change the system, and eat healthfully while they're at it, there is the Eat Well Guide. Just type in your zip code and it'll display all the small, local farms near you, as well as the vendors who sell stuff from those farms. Check out the hyperlink here:
http://eatwellguide.org/
Tamara, thanks again for such a personal, in-depth post (which are actually kind of rare on TH). I await your next one.
Not to sound crude.But if i can not kill it/clean it/cook it or grow it on my own.I don't have it.I hunt my land all 120 acres.I grow my own food.I weigh in at 210.But i am not fat.I work out by splitting wood and other activates.Learn to live without you be better off.I have no television/dvd player/vcr or alot of electronic junk.My laptop is my only indulgence.It keeps me in touch with friends and family.Living primitively is better for me.You got what you have and that is it.living without is easier.
What a fascinating article, where was this camp?
never had a problem with food.
Wonderful post!
I was surprised though, that I don't hear anything in this story about sugar?
Congratulation Tamara, looks like you had a interesting week in France.
Now about being overweight (excuse my English, it's not perfect, but not being Brittish so you wo'nt get any: I'm Sorry)
I am overweight, i live on my own farm where the water comes from a natural spring, the power to this computer comes from our own solarsystem (we have two solar-ovens and two solar-toiletts as well)
Almost all what i consume comes from my own land and normally i buy salt, diesel & American Spirit tobacco (to mix with my own grass) cause the rest is grown by me or by my neighbours and then we trade (now thats what i call fairtrade)
Anyway back to that i have a BMI of 32:
I'm sorry to say that i feel perfectly OK with my +100 kilos
(and my girlfriend do'nt seem to mind) so who in that big country who is at war in other countrys, who indeed, living in a town can tell me (or you) how to live or who is to fat!?
I enyoy my life, i do not make to big a footprint with my way of living.
I do not expect to get your approval or respect but i love my land, family, music instruments & i do get dizzy when i go into big towns & citys.
Have a nice summer whatewer your weight is
I think this is a fairly good article, but you need to proof read it. There are tons of typos and misplaced words. Cleaning that up would make the message clearer. Because fasting is a good thing and something that humans can learn a lot from. That it took you into learning about food production is fine and all. In fact aside from the typos, I really enjoyed this article.
As to those complaining about your comments on fat people, well some people have trouble accepting that fat isn't good. Typically these people are fat. I can say this, because I've been fat. I've also starved unintentionally, and fasted purposely at different times and both can have their positives and negatives, obviously starving isn't all that great, but being on the edge of survival and actually surviving is quite uplifting in a sense. And while you can be fat and still be good about caring for the government, setting yourself as an example to others is often aided by personally helping yourself first.
Because of this, if you're fat, you should probably try to change that. While not all fat people get that way by overeating, many do get that way by eating the wrong foods. Nutritional education is terrible in the west. People over simplify by going on non-carb diets or eat packaged meal plans that don't provide the best ingredients for your body. Also many people don't exercise, and that's also a problem.
Being healthy and living healthy helps the planet because it puts your in a better position to help others. Being fat and accepting yourself is important for self-esteem, but depression from poor self-esteem can also be helped with better nutrition and exercise. Sometimes it's not all head games and pills people.
The author didn't say "fat people are bad for the planet;" she just commented on a specific action or situation person can have. You can't tell how much damage a person who drives a car does just by looking at them, but driving a car is still bad for the planet.
I think the author's message was: "If you're fat, you're either eating too much (using extra resources is bad), or not exercising enough (using cars instead of bikes is bad)." Generally, that is correct.
Forgive me while I play the devil's spokesman. Could you clarify what you mean by "intended" when you say:
"We end up consuming more fat than nature had intended"
Someone once said:
"Imagine a being like nature, wasteful beyond measure, indifferent beyond measure, without purpose and consideration, without mercy and fairness, fertile and desolate and uncertain at the same time; imagine indifference itself as a power—how could you live according to this indifference? Living—is that not precisely wanting to be other than this nature? Is not living estimating, preferring, being unjust, being limited, wanting to be different?"
I think one of the important things in this article is consciousness. In our western world people have forgotten or never have known where food really comes from. "You mean cold milk doesn't just come from the guy behind the glass pushing more jugs to the front"?
If we are more aware of from where and how our food gets to us then we will be more selective about where and how it's done.
Not to mention what it does to our bodies. I think that there is a growing push for more natural and organic foods but it's only a step in the right direction.
"That being fat, in every way, is bad for this planet.
This is a silly argument. Highly packaged diet foods are bad for the planet. Eating meat is bad for the planet. Driving a car is bad for the planet. "
All of the above is a silly argument. The planet is a giant ball of iron that is completely un-threatened by anything we could do to it. If you meant life on earth, or more specifically human life, I would tend to agree. But this planet stuff has always sounded childish to me.
Vegetarians can be just as fat and unhealthy as the rest of us, though it takes more effort. Thermodynamics is a harsh but fair mistress. Have you ever seen a fat hunter gatherer?
An economically ridiculous argument......it's very similar to the organic movement. Anyone ever noticed that organic food can never produce the yields that modern technological advancements can, and thus is much more expensive? The fact is, we could NEVER feed everyone in the current world using an "original world" view of eating. Human population is in a totally different state, and the fact that we have even achieved the population densities that we have has come largely because of the advancements we have made in food processing.
YAY let's go to an anti food brainwashing camp and try and get everyone else to do it!
The body was meant to eat. You don't get energy for basic life functions through absorbing dust in the air.
So what religion are you, Jehova's witness or Scientologist?
I would like to know on your one week fast, what exactly did you intake. Pills, juices, water (obviously), etc...
I am a poor person. Just having anything to eat at all is a big deal for me.
So let me get this right, diary produces more CO2 than cars, or forest fires, or industrial processing, or deforestation? Sure....
WOW! De javu! This really brought me back to the days of 4-H. Now while our practices were not green, the ideology of appreciating food: for its growing/raising, processing, and cooking was a central facet of our counties program. I know ill probably get beat over the head by a billion animal protesters for mentioning 4-H, but you have to admit its important to realize how something goes from a seed to being on your plate.