Why I call it "Earth-Based Medicine"
Jennifer Schmid
My 16 year old daughter has been in Switzerland on a school exchange for a week. She has had no food sensitivities whatsoever. She says she has never eaten so much gluten in her life. She feels amazing there--no asthma, no acne, no runny nose, no fatigue. She's not taking any supplements.
It goes to show you how toxic the food supply in the USA is. We eat 90% organic at home, but so much has become contaminated. Plus, when she’s out with her friends, it’s impossible to avoid exposure to the junk.
Why do we let companies like Monsanto poison us and the earth with GMOs and Round Up? Why do we give farmers fracking wastewater to dump on food crops but make it illegal to capture rainwater in many towns? Why it is OK to put nuclear waste (i.e., fluoride) into our municipal water supplies and call it healthy? How is it that greed and chemical profit always come first in this country? Don't they realize that if we stay on the current trajectory, chronic diseases and the Pharma-based health care system are going to bankrupt us and kill the planet? What good is all that money if the planet is dead?
The kids and I make financial sacrifices so that we can buy good quality food, and I am so grateful to have access to a weekly farmer's market and clean water. Not everyone is as fortunate. As my daughter is experiencing, though, how we grow our food and raise our animals can be our poison or medicine.
It’s up to us to inform ourselves about where we get our food and what’s in it (or not in it). It’s up to us to put our money where our mouth is — literally — and support farmers who love and respect the earth.
It’s up to us to bombard our politicians and policy makers to stop letting companies poison our children and our planet. It’s up to us to tell banks and retirement funds to divest from companies and practices that are hurting people and for us to decide if that dividend in our stock portfolio is worth it.
And it’s up to us to tell our insurance companies and healthcare providers that we want a healthcare system that doesn’t rely on poisonous pharmaceuticals to suppress symptoms — we want options that protect us and the earth.
That’s why I call it “earth-based medicine.”