Integritus Prime

I attended a webinar recently that reminded me about how powerful associations are. Childhood associations can be particularly strong and difficult to uproot. For example, if your parents gave you ice-cream to soothe you, or to mark a special occasion, or whenever they were happy and all was well, chances are you still associate ice-cream with happiness. For some of us, it’s any number of other treats: Indian sweets, candy, popsicles, and so on. Many of these treats contain dairy, which is associated with type I diabetes and some cancers. Is that what we want to get our children hooked on? More on dairy later.

In this post I want to point out three associations we have collectively around the world to varying degrees, but especially in the world’s cultural influencer, the United States, that are destroying human health and planetary wellbeing. Here they are:

1. Toxic chemicals are cool: we associate ingesting harmful chemicals and substances with coolness – various types of alcohol, and nicotine – are associated with sexiness and coolness in advertising. Any mainstream Hollywood movie you watch is likely to have the hero and the villain smoking like chimneys. Many of the movies also glorify alcohol, showing college drinking traditions and bar scenes where beer, spirits and shots are associated with fun. Healthier alternatives might be to quit smoking and alcohol altogether and drink water or fresh fruit and vegetable juices – but these behaviors are not glorified in Western culture – a healthy lifestyle is labeled “alternative” or “new age” or “granola” or “hippie”. The tobacco and alcohol lobbies are so strong and the companies are so rich that their money talks, so it is difficult for politicians and other companies not to prioritize their products. So, people die of lung cancer, and this continues despite it being common knowledge that smoking causes cancer, due to the strong social reinforcement, and the addictive nature of nicotine. Similarly, alcohol is responsible for many social ills, including domestic violence, and despite its addictive nature, it is sold readily in stores everywhere.
2. Driving means independence: American culture has become car-dependent, and many other nations have followed suit. We associate driving with independence because the infrastructure has been designed to create a heavy dependence on cars. There are notable examples, like Amsterdam where bicycles are more common. But for the most part, we sit for hours on freeways, destroying our physical health by being sedentary, and destroying our mental health through road rage and being trapped in dehumanizing surroundings. In addition, we destroy the climate with all the emissions from transportation – about 25% of global emissions come from the transportation sector. A combination of biking, walking, and using public transit would go a long way in helping us be healthier and contributing fewer greenhouse gases into the atmosphere.
3. Meat and dairy are essential: We associate meat and dairy with strength, protein and virility. Advertising has done most of the work to convince us over the past many decades that we need meat for protein, we need dairy for calcium, and that meat is manly. When we look to the science – meat and dairy are strongly correlated with heart disease, cancer and diabetes. We also now know that processed and cured meats are in the same category of carcinogen as tobacco! Ironically, saturated fats from meat also clog up our blood vessels, and one of the results is erectile dysfunction. Overall, eating too much meat and dairy destroys our health, creates and perpetuates cruel conditions for animal life and death, and devastate global climate and biodiversity – contributing 37% of global greenhouse gas emissions.

Here we are, damaging the planet with our everyday actions. Changing our behavior, especially living a plant-based lifestyle, is still frowned upon as being “too extreme”. Even the people discussing this topic in the webinar I attended did not pledge to switch to a plant-based diet. What scientists are now showing though, is that plant-based diets can dramatically reduce our risk of lifestyle diseases, while simultaneously alleviating the plight of animals and reducing our contribution to climate change. What is extremely disturbing is that global warming of 1.5 degrees Celcius, which was previously thought of as a safe limit, is now thought of as possibly a catastrophic scenario for the planet. This interview really summarizes for me what is happening and how women are affected most severely by climate change.

So, what will it be – powerful associations and biases that we subscribe to as we continue to destroy the planet, or a conscious change in behavior that can dramatically make a difference to life for all? There is no action we could take that would be too extreme that could ensure that life continues on our beloved planet – least extreme of all is to eat more fruits and veggies, and to let animals live their lives; to move our bodies more and drive less, and to quit toxic chemicals and drink water. We are, after all, part of Nature and eating whole foods is best for our bodies. Share your thoughts with me on these associations and where you are in your quest for personal and planetary wellness.