Death By Taste

Absent Truth
Nov 5 · 6 min read

“Let food be thy medicine, and let medicine be thy food” — Hippocrates

“If you love life, why consume death?” — Said Someone

With the new release of the plant based diet documentary ‘The Game Changers’, there has been a lot of conversation in the barbershop concerning this increasingly contentious topic. More specifically the ideal diet for the modern human body, not only the physical and mental impact, but also the impact on the environment.

Due to the necessity of food, our diet and cuisine have become a defining cultural aspect of all societies. With food becoming more readily available to the west and developing countries, the inevitable impact it has on our health and the environment is becoming harder to ignore.

In this article, I’m not here to tell people what to eat or scaremonger, but rather explore the impact from mainstream acknowledgement and some of my personal takes I have from my limited experience and perspective.

So let’s start with age-old debate of herbivores vs carnivores vs omnivores. The popular argument you hear from people who are for consuming meat, will point to the obvious physical attributes we share with carnivorous animals to which are hard to deny. Specifically the appearance of canines. But under further inspection this argument falls short of any real weight for the following reasons:

  • The jaw, as well as moving up and down, moves side to side which is prominent in plant eating mammals to grind down the leaves, etc. for digestion.
  • Apes, to which there is a 1.23% difference in DNA to humans consume mostly plant based diets with gorillas, being arguably the most physically imposing, being strictly herbivores. While Gibbons mostly consume fruit. Monkeys do consume meat but usually due to lack of vegetation in climate change. The reasons for climate change can be varied.
  • Carnivores tend to have relatively short intestinal tracts measuring 3–6 times their body length. While herbivores have intestinal tracts at least ten times their body length. Yep, humans fit into the latter category.

Above are a few points that disprove the physiological argument for humans having a carnivorous past. There are many more nuanced reasons pointing to a plant based consuming anatomy. These reasons, and the lack of evidence, that would indicate we possessed the physical tools to hunt prey in the form of claws and fangs, have not been justified by anthropological study. No doubt, due to mainstream bias, the debate will rage on.

Another popular argument in support of humans being carnivores is the study of indigenous tribes who appear to thrive on a meat and dairy diet. This again shows the nature of mass production of foods and the deviation from natural produce that results in the poorly compromised conditions of modern farming.

For those who lean on the omnivore perspective I like to approach that argument with the question, because someone can survive till the age of 85 smoking 10 cigarettes a day, would you advise it? I say this as the World Health Organisation currently classify processed meats like bacon and salami in the same carcinogenic group as tobacco.

As I’ve transitioned to a plant based diet over the years I’ve been tagged with the popular stereotype of the black man and his chicken from people within our community. The shock when they become aware I don’t eat chicken is often followed by the assertion “but your black”. I’ve learned to laugh at this, albeit receding, limited perspective.

A new player in the game is the synthetic or GMO plant based farming that seems to be ever growing. With international agricultural conglomerates ceasing larger portions of the market. The world leaders in GM seeds since the 1980s, Monsanto, took over Seminis (the largest developer, grower and marketer of fruit and vegetable seeds) in 2005 to claim 40% of the seed market. As we appear to be approaching a seedless fruit and vegetable future, there’s something about taking away the life giving properties from a plant that doesn’t sit well with me. This and the dependency it will force farmers to have on these distributors.

It also seems what compounds this issue is the use of crop protecting chemicals having severe adverse effects on the body. The use of pesticides and fungicides has been cited as one of the reasons for fertility rates in men plummeting over 50% between 1973 to 2011 (this study was undertaken by the Hebrew University, and Mount Sinai Medical School). This stat is showing little sign of improvement.

We now understand that mammals don’t produce protein. The only way we can acquire this essential nutrition is through the ingesting of plants. With this being so, would it not be reasonable to go to the source rather than a diluted, compromised middleman? Most are aware of the negative impact of stress on the cells of the body let alone pharmaceuticals. It has been reported between 70% -90% of the antibiotics in America are used on farms. This should highlight the extent of this compromise

A poor diet is still primarily linked to two of the more prominent diseases plaguing the elderly, diabetes and dementia.

With all the measurable impact of diet on the human body, I will now refer to my personal testimony. One in which I have noticed that when people have cut meat out of their diet they have overwhelmingly declared a new-found empathy for their environment, in particular nature. I refer to this new awareness as a spiritual awakening. One of many experiences that can push someone in the direction of “enlightenment”.

The practice of “death cultures” (symptoms of society that don’t promote a healthy physical and mental evolution of the species) include poor diets, increased working hours, and poor sexual practice. There are many more so-called death cultures, like with food, just the practice of a more disciplined approach has innumerable positive knock on effects on the individual, and our environment. Deforestation, water usage and animal suffering are just a few of the detrimental ramifications of this particular death culture.

This perspective makes rational sense, as it alludes to the phrases at the beginning of the article, where if one truly loves life, why would we choose to partake in the consuming of sentient beings of a higher mode than plants. Science has proven beyond doubt that a plant based diet promotes ideal conditions for the human body to thrive.

With stressful economic demands we have seen the practicality of having a family adding to the decline of child births in the west, not to mention the low fertility rates mentioned above. With the increased use of genetically modified foods being consumed by us and the 70 billion cattle slaughtered every year for our consumption, along with our necessary dietary requirements, we are producing an insidious food industry. Whether this is natural progression or premeditation, some may wish to debate.

In our community we have little in the way of historical, industrial, scientific or even military culture to celebrate that transcends generations, one of our main identities is formed through the value of food. In most cultures it appears that if you turn down your mum or grandmas cooking it is deemed a major disrespect. But what is it within our cuisine that we hold in such high regard. Pig Feet? Tripe? Offal anybody?

What culture are we actually celebrating in valuing these foods? The left overs that the slave master used to allow us? With the creative spirit coursing through our beings undiminished by a violent colonisation we have found ways of glorifying these leftovers into staples of our diet. In turn completely disregarding how harmful, and lack of nutritional value they actually possess.

Down to certain root vegetables like potatoes, yam, cassava etc. that are high in energy, but equally so in starch. The starch converts into sugars in the body that when consumed in large quantities has adverse effects.

It is widely documented that high blood pressure has been a common symptom in our older generations due directly to poor diets. Salt, processed meats and canned foods are some leading causes of hypertension, which are readily consumed in the black community, due to the low prices and availability.

Since 2011 life expectancy has been falling after gradually rising after the last World War. This year the UK life expectancy alone has dropped by six months, in comparison to the 2-month estimates from the previous year. This worryingly is the largest decline in modern record. Down over a year in a 4-year span. No doubt we can guess that our demographic leads all others regarding health issues in old age despite appearing to be the fittest by most metrics in our youth.

Every cell in the body is renewed every 7–10 years. The quality of this regeneration is heavily dependent on the food we consume. We truly are what we eat. I encourage the reader to appreciate the current state of health in our community. Remembering that it appears the gift of being a human is something most have forgotten. If my body truly is my temple with what fuel shall I worship.

-Kwasi Genus

Absent Truth

Celebrate Blackness.

Absent Truth

Written by

Absent Truth

Celebrate Blackness.

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