Green Tip: We Are What We Eat

The Palisadian-Post has partnered with locally founded environmental organization Resilient Palisades to deliver a “green tip” to our readers in each newspaper. This edition’s tip was written by Lisa Kaas Boyle, Esq., environmental attorney and Resilient Palisades Zero Waste Team member.

The statement “we are what we eat” has come to haunt us in an industrialized world where:

Animals are bred and processed in mechanized food factories that rely on hormones to stimulate growth and antibiotics to prevent infections in the dirty and crowded conditions;

Crops are grown with corporate patented seeds engineered to be resistant to the chemical herbicides sold along with the seeds, and the produce grown is doused in herbicides and pesticides that are retained by the food;

Processed food is packaged in plastic that contaminates the food with the petrochemicals that make the plastic; and

Our reliance on plastic for packaging, single-use products and clothing that sheds in the washer has created an abundance of microplastics and nanoplastics (even smaller and able to cross the blood-brain barrier) that have infiltrated our water cycle, soil and even the air we breathe.

It is impossible in the modern world to insulate ourselves completely, but we can reduce our exposure and fight for better control of chemicals, as seen in the European Union. If you care about your health and the safety of your food, here are some resources to inform your food choices.

“You Are What You Eat: A Twin Experiment” was released on New Year’s Day on Netflix, and presents veganism as a win for health, animals and the environment. “Feeding Tomorrow,” released on Apple TV, Amazon Prime and other streaming services on January 23, proposes developing a “just and regenerative” food system through multiple pathways, including agroforestry, urban farming and food education.

“Overload: America’s Toxic Love Story” presents a soon-to-be mother who wants a healthy pregnancy and child, seeking guidance from world-renowned physicians and environmental leaders, scientists, and politicians to uncover how we got to be so overloaded with chemicals and if there is anything we can do to take control of our exposure (The answer is yes, and the film shows how.). Watch on Apple TV and Google Play.

“The Story of Plastic” is a detailed look into the environmental damage and human rights abuses that occur throughout the lifecycle of plastic. What can companies, countries and people do to fix the issues? See on Prime Video.

And here are some nonprofits to follow and/or join for continuing education on these issues:

• Environmental Working Group
• Plastic Pollution Coalition
• Food and Water Watch
• And locally, join us at Resilient Palisades