On my home page I said –
“In the last eighty years the global population has trebled and we all have to eat.
The modern food industry has increased the production of energy food 40% faster than the increase in population.
There is ample energy food, which is really just fuel – the fact that there are millions of people starving is not because of a lack of energy food but due to inequality, political and distribution failures.
Some 80% of the food we eat is just burned for fuel but we also need food to feed our gut brain which controls how our bodies work and supply the complex chemicals to replace our body parts as they age and wear.
Sadly that is lacking in our modern food system.”
Fortunately it is relatively easy to grow plants in soil that is teaming with beneficial biology and full of essential minerals – that is what the Gbiota technology is all about – any home gardener with a bit of land can set up beds for their own use.
But technology is no use if people don’t have ready access and there are many people who simply do not have a garden, the time or the skills to set up their own Gbiota beds.
It is in every ones interest that people have access to healthy food. Even at the most mechanical level the cost of ill health from a poor diet puts an enormous strain, both financially and in terms of resources which means that people eating a healthy diet are paying more for the health service and may find it more difficult to access should they need medical support.
But I would hope that people would feel that even if they are fit, healthy and wealthy that they should contribute to the society from which they benefit even if there is no immediate benefit for them. There is that old saying ‘what goes around comes around’ meaning that you may help person, who in turn helps another so it goes around until someone will eventually help you.
So how can we improve the diet and hence health of our community as a whole?
So here is the plan.
I am just one person, and like all people I am good at somethings and not so good (eg bad) at others. Now without wanting to appear a big head I am good at technology (just read My Story – I have the track record) but I am pretty useless at marketing and when it comes to social media I am just incompetent – nothing against cute cat videos but it is just not my scene.
But what I can do is help all those people with gardens set up their Gbiota beds. Then I can hope that many of these growers will simply feel better in themselves – just fitter and healthier. This is not a black and white issue as our health is determined by a combination of our gut health and our DNA. Some people are just born with a DNA which means they will be skinny throughout there lives while others will always have a tendency to put on weight. What we do know is that if our gut brain is not fed the right sort of food it senses a deficiency in the diet so sends out signals to eat more. I explain this in detail in Food and the gut biome.
So while eating a healthy diet does not guarantee a long and healthy life span it certainly shifts the odds in favour.
Now all I can hope for is that many of the people I help set up Gbiota beds will read these articles and recognise that almost everyone benefits from a healthy diet and say yes I can help my community by simply telling their friends about the articles I write on our gut brain and health, over a cup of coffee or on line if they are into that.
And perhaps some of these will say I can become a community grower and not just grow gut food myself but gut food for my friends and contacts. This is not a charity and they can expect to get paid for this gut food. That is stage 2 of the plan.
And if that works we can move onto stage 3 which is a bit more difficult. Most people buy their food from the local supermarket. That food is grown on mega farms to produce food as cheaply as possible. It is certainly lacking in certain trace mineral essential for human health but not needed by plants.
But the real issue is that even if the plants were to be grown in soil teaming with beneficial biology by the time they have been transported and sat on the shelf these microbes will have died.
The only solution to this is to modify our food production system so some of our food is grown locally and available for rapid consumption after harvesting. I say some food because if you read my articles you will understand that the bulk of the food we eat is just fuel which we burn off to control our temperature and provide energy.
These local growers will be commercial growers and will be totally dependant on the support they receive from their community. I can only hope that people see my pun about the old advert that oils aint oils being copied by my slogan Kales aint Kales.
Another factor in this local food argument is reliability of supply which could probably have more impact than the health issue. In my article on Food and floods I explore what steps can be taken to ensure reliable food supply against the threat of floods.
At this moment this is very much a hot topic here in Australia with shortages and escalating prices. At this moment we really don’t know if this is just a flash in the pan or an indication of major threats to our food supply from climate change.
What we do know that is that it is much easier to protect a small local farm from floods than the modern mega farm.
I see creating this local food system as the end goal but I can’t make this happen myself – it will only happen if enough people in the community decide that this is a worth while project and take action to spread the word.
Colin
