So I've started a blog...

I grew up in an environmental & health conscious household.  My parents ran 'Clean Up Australia Day' & tree-planting events in our neighbourhood & in primary school my “greeny” mother would pack my sandwich made with multi-grain bread in a recycled bread bag, alongside my homemade, sugar & preservative-free apricot leather. At the time I found this embarrassing & all I wished for was a bag of chips & a white bread sandwich in cling-wrap, like most other kids had. But as I grew up & became more aware of my own choices & their impact on my health & the health of the environment, I realised how valuable my parent’s actions were & especially admired my Mum's commitment to living an environmentally conscious & sustainable life. I am now grateful for the sense of environmental responsibility that my upbringing has imparted on me & am inspired to make mindful choices. I try my best to eat a nutritious, balanced diet & enjoy regular exercise; I recycle & shop with re-usable bags & try to use eco-friendly products at home. But it wasn’t until recently that I really began to take this to a whole new level. In fact, the real changes didn’t come about until I gained new information about food- something that I love & that plays a very important part in my life!

During my recent Summer school holidays, I borrowed a book from my friend Tara’s bookshelf titled ‘Harvest For Hope: A Guide to Mindful Eating’ by Jane Goodall (yes, the chimpanzee lady!) I read this book in a matter of days & the information within it truly astounded, provoked and encouraged me. Constantly I found myself saying out loud (to Jason or myself) “Did you know that?....” or “Can you believe that?...”. In very brief terms, Goodall’s book explains many of the issues associated with modern society’s production & consumption of food. In particular, she explains the damaging effects of industrialized farming on animals, the environment & natural resources & the livelihoods of traditional small family farmers, as well as the horrific use of & dependence on chemicals. She looks at the unsustainable practices of many fishing industries, the depletion & privatization of the world’s water supply & the increasing consumption of highly-processed, unhealthy foods. It is filled with shocking facts, but rather than painting a completely bleak picture, Goodall gives us examples of people who are working to bring about positive change, as well as gives inspiring & practical advice on how we as individuals can make ethical choices about the food we buy & eat. This book was published in 2005 & a lot of the information in it is not newly discovered, in fact much of it has been known for many years now, but for me it was ground-breaking stuff! Since meeting her 2½ years ago, my friend Tara has been trying with little success, to explain to me some of the concepts included in this book that influence her food & lifestyle choices, yet it wasn’t until I read the facts for myself that I truly took notice. For so long I held on to the belief that the powerful people in our society would not allow something that could be so damaging, especially to humans, keep going on. Surely if they knew all the facts they would not let it be so! How naïve & wrong I was!

So after my initial shock & feeling of sickness about all the horrible food choices I’d made in the past subsided slightly, my next thought was ‘I need to tell others about this’. In particular I felt concern for all my loved ones who, like me prior to reading this book, were clueless about the harm they were doing each time they visited the supermarket. I felt moved to tell them, to share my newly discovered knowledge!

So this is where the blog idea came from. Once I had sparked an interest in learning more about how I could live a life that is better for my health & the future of our planet, I felt that it only seemed right that I share it with others. I am in no way an expert, but I do have the time & the interest to explore this further & would like to share my findings with others. A lot of this information is already out there in various forms, but this is a way of bringing it to others in a more comprehensive way. So my plan for this blog is that it presents facts & information, because education is the first step in bringing about change, but then I also want it to be practical & useful, by sharing inspiring ideas & ways we can change our everyday practices for the better. Just like Jane Goodall does in her book. So this is indeed a journey for me. A journey of discovery & change & trying new things, as I move towards more ‘mindful living’ & I would love to share it with you.

Acknowledgement:
'Harvest for Hope: A Guide to Mindful Eating'- Jane Goodall