As a mature student, I’ve taken an opportunity this second year to attempt to live a healthier lifestyle and maintain a balanced diet—only to find it basically impossible to do on a student budget.
We are not rich—we are students. Most of us live off meager student loans and receive the short end of the stick.
North America has been saturated in genetically modified organisms for years now and this information is slowly gaining traction in mass and social media, creating awareness among Canadians. Unfortunately it’s not creating a solution—and it doesn’t take a health expert to see this. Labelling for the customers is not even mandatory.
The sad truth is that many of the foods that are popular with most students contain GMOs–cereals, snack bars, cookies, and processed meats. All of these contain large amounts of high-risk food ingredients. And of course, the absolute worst foods for us are the cheapest ones.
How fair is this to a child born to a family with no means nor education to eat properly?
Local produce, healthy grains, and hormone-free meats and dairy products are all twice or triple as expensive as affordable junk food.
Most of us know someone who suffers from a strict diet and who watches what he eats. It is from them I have learned that even food we call ‘organic’ is not always necessarily organic, but simply a label plastered on a container meant to mislead.
The growing number of people with digestive disorders in society has risen, with hidden sources of GMO’s and sugar products in popular food secretly contributing to increased rates of obesity, diabetes, coronary artery disease and dental decay, yet we continue to be remarkably unhealthy eaters.
The consequences of these behaviours bring many of us to the doctor, men and women we should be able to trust, who might in turn write us toxic chemical prescriptions for drugs.
All of this occurs while politicians battle the idea of legalizing marijuana–a substance far less powerful and dangerous than some prescription pills that are handed out by the billions each year.
We live in hypocritical times. Where is the trust? I hate to get cynical, but something is seriously wrong with the direction of our country and its masses.
It’s a shame to say that I now believe due to corporate capitalist agendas, mass media has failed to inform, and now our generation is paying the price.
For the last few years, I have been taking homeopathic treatments, natural herbs, oils and medicine to treat my own ailments, with much success. I encourage others to take a look at the natural things in life, in food and in medicine.
Advil, Tylenol, anti-depressants, sleeping-aids–these are all items than can be easily replaced with natural homeopathic medicines, essential oils, exercise and healthy eating.
What we can do is be careful. Be informed. Watch what we eat and not believe everything we hear. Maybe one day laws and change will come into effect that will allow us to stop poisoning ourselves with mislabeled propaganda.
