When faced with a health crisis, a serious health crisis, we will pay whatever is within
our means to find a way out, there is no price too great. As health services around
the globe strain under the burden of populations afflicted by unprecedented levels of
chronic illness, we look to pharmaceuticals to ease the pain. Mostly though these
drugs treat symptoms and not the root causes.
Science is amazing and some of these drugs are breathtaking in their power and
completely necessary. But it is certainly easier to reach for a pill to solve a problem
than maybe making the systemic changes necessary to effect real long-term change.
Our food: clean healthy food eaten most of the time can help carry us into old age
without the unnecessary baggage of chronic illness, and a big bunch of daily
pharmaceuticals.
So, the question needs to be asked are we looking in the wrong places for ways to
stay healthy for as long as we can?
Stress and our food choices play a large role in the incidence of modern illnesses.
There is little question that the chemicals added to our food and the chemicals found
sprayed on our fresh food are not contributing in a positive way to our health. These
chemicals at low doses we are told are thought to be safe, but many are toxic,
irritants, hormone disruptors and some are carcinogenic or at least probably
carcinogenic. The best way to avoid these chemicals is to grow your own or source
certified organic produce.
Two weeks ago, we went to visit the largest organic trade show in the world in
Nuremberg in Germany. It was eye opening and inspiring and we found some
amazing new suppliers.
There were over 2200 companies there and we came home buzzing. (Caveat, if
there is an Irish supplier we will absolutely stock them first, but the organic industry
in Ireland is small) we found amazing fresh cakes, (plant based, but you wouldn’t
ever know it, with clean ingredients) a fantastic ready meal provider from Germany
making gorgeous plant based, healthy meals. I mean convenience and healthy and
tasty this I think is a rare enough occurrence. All organic of course.
We have developed a relationship with one Italian supplier that produces the best
Italian pastas and sauces, and we cannot wait to get them onto our shelves.
It’s funny, with fresh food it is easy to make the connection between possible
pesticide contamination and our health, it seems very real, like the chemicals can still
be on the broccoli leaves.
But when it comes to grocery items it is more difficult, and somewhere at least in my
brain, I think oh it is processed so it is fine. But say when it comes to grains, like
wheat or oats, it is probably even more important to choose organic, as these are some of the most heavily sprayed items on supermarket shelves. That is why we
were so excited last year when we partnered with Carraig Rua and their amazing
bread, and why we are excited to develop relationships with more truly amazing
organic producers that can supply the very best quality organic fare.
As always thanks for your support it makes all the difference.
Kenneth