The Right Foods Pt III

Peace,
My righteous brother Sha-King has been addressing the issue of proper diet in his blogspot (http://yellowseed.blogspot.com/). I wanted to add on as I bear witness that the slogan "you are what you eat" is relevant to the reality that many of us live. Starting with myself and my family I have constantly sought to impress upon those whom I come in contact with the importance of the right foods; physical to mental, mental to physical.

In the inner city where many of us live or were raised diet is not stressed unless one comes from a way of life that promotes a specific dietary law. Growing up in the Ville section of New Haven I thought the four food groups were salt, sugar, artifical color, and grease. Such a diet leads to one starving to death from lack of proper nutrients and obesity. You can just do the Knowledge to the youth today in comparisson to the world stage and realize that the wrong foods coupled with the lack of physical activity is 'killing us softly'. This manifests itself as diabetes, high blood pressure, taxed kindneys, livers, etc.. Add to this the living conditions in the ghetto; lead paint, roaches (which promote asthma), etc... This isn't limited to original people in the inner city. Many original people, despite their economic levels, are the heirs to a faulty food legacy where 'soul food' or 'spanish food', etc.. is a part of their definition of self. From the lack of Knowledge we are killing our selves. What is even worse is that we are killing our babies.

In another post I will get into the research that connects many of the aspects of ADHD to diet. What I will say is that it is illegal to give your child vitamins in their lunch to take to school yet it is perfectly legal for you to send them to school with a whole bunch of candy. The neighborhood stores, in my area, are run by many whom classify their selves as muslims yet they constantly sell items that are Haram.

Well God, what do we do???

One neighborhood that I was working in and living the corner store sold a can of beans to a family that was filled with maggots. We found out later that it was a 'common' thing yet no one ever did anything because they felt that they didn't have any power. When they were shown that they had power they basically got that store owner expelled from the neighborhood. They had also formed such a strong union that the next owner was on his toes about making sure that his items were 'right'. The next level, in any type of operation like that would be to be in the position to put someone in the neighborhood into the position of ownership of the neighborhood store.

Around my way I approached the store owners of the corner store about serving pork in their store. They were 'suprised' that I knew a bit about their restrictive laws. I made sure that others came with me each time to 'question them'. With each inquiry they became a little more watchful. I finally convinced them to look at the science of supply and demand. People around my way like 'bacon'. They really don't care if it is pork or turkey. If the store would supply turkey bacon the people would still buy because of convience. In time it would be up to the poor righteous teachers to bring the Understanding. The store only serves turkey products now.

Peace