From Pharmacy to the Farmacy

I was watching a British drama series, Call the Midwife. The show is based on the true stories of one of the nurses. It was East London in the 1950s, when the life of poor people was rough during the post-WWII era. People lived in poverty and lacked resources. Men struggled to find jobs and provide for their families. Women had continuous pregnancies because contraceptives were not available. The doctors, nurses, and midwives worked 24/7 to help those in need. The need was endless. However, everyone needed a minute to relieve their high stress, and that relief was a cigarette. The doctors smoked at home, at work, and in the room with their patients. Expecting mothers lit a cigarette at home and in the clinic’s waiting room, and right before and right after they gave birth. Even the nuns were tempted to smoke. Smoking was normal and acceptable until medical data showed an increase in lung cancer. The lung cancer rate was so high that it was considered an epidemic. Many people refused to quit smoking despite the health risks. They continued the same lifestyle, and the children followed the parental example.

Although smoking was a killer, there was no law forbidding it. The tobacco industry thrived while doctors struggled to educate their patients about health. The X-ray images of black, tar-covered lungs were not as effective as cigarette ads. Ultimately, the choice was up to each person. As simple as that, everyone was responsible for making that simple, yet difficult, decision. Just as there was no law forbidding smoking, non-smoking was not illegal.

Watching that episode brought me to our days. We live during a significant public health crisis in America: the obesity epidemic. Obesity is the cause of killer diseases such as heart disease, diabetes, hypertension, and even cancer. Obesity also has a tremendous negative effect on people’s mental state. Just as stopping smoking prevents most cases of lung cancer, "dejunking" the diet prevents obesity.

Just as nicotine abuse in the 1950s was part of the lifestyle, supported by the money-making tobacco companies, the current related problems are the consequences of an unhealthy lifestyle imposed by big money-making companies. In most cases, obesity is entirely an outcome of an improper lifestyle: consuming too much poor-quality food and lacking physical activity.

Even though we live in a time where stores are welcoming us with bright misleading labels, and a “fast food” restaurant is on each corner of the street, it is within our authority what we put in the grocery cart. We were made to believe that chicken nuggets are fast food. Aren’t we intelligent enough to learn, understand, and apply reason and logic? How can a chicken that lived on an industrial farm, was fed antibiotics and steroids for faster growth, was killed, mixed with salts, oils, and unknown preservatives, coated in breadcrumbs, fried, frozen, then reheated, be called a “fast food” option? Is it fast? No. Is it ultra-processed? Yes. Then there is an apple. Apples grew on a tree, were picked, and brought to the store. An apple is a one-ingredient whole food. Logically, apples should be called fast food. Unfortunately, we were made to believe differently. The companies that make chicken nuggets want their consumers to think that multi-ingredient ultra-processed food is fast, affordable, and suitable for adults and children.

We were taught to buy cooked, canned, packed, pre-sliced, full of extra sodium, extra sugar, and difficult-to-pronounce ingredients foods instead of natural and unprocessed whole foods. For example, whole carrots might take extra time to wash and peel, but they are free of preservatives. Whole carrots go bad in a week or two. On the other hand, canned carrots are good for up to five years. Those preservatives work miracles for shelf life, but what are they doing to our stomachs?

Just like in the 1950s-1960s, the social norm was for everyone to smoke, but it was the individual’s responsibility to break that norm. The same rule applies today. Yes, unhealthy food choices are screaming around us and seducing our kids with their salty, sugary, fatty flavors, but it is our responsibility to say “No” and break that norm.

The change starts with taking control. I am in control of every bite I make. I can either continue eating food that makes me ill and then go to the pharmacy to relieve my symptoms, or I can go to the Fresh Produce aisle or the local Farmers' Market and purchase fruit, vegetables, whole grains, and legumes, which are high in nutritional value. Instead of taking fiber supplements, I can start eating foods rich in fiber. I choose either to go out and buy food someone else cooked, or I can stay at home and make my dinner, being in control of the amount of salt and oils I put on my plate. After dinner, I decide if I want to watch TV until I fall asleep on my recliner or if I want to go for a walk and burn some calories. And if my doctors do not tell me about the healing properties of food, I take the initiative into my own hands.

Even though it is easier to play the blame game with Nature and be angry at genetics, it is in our hands to modify our Nurture or our environmental choices. Someone said: “Sow a thought, reap an action; sow an action, reap a habit; sow a habit, reap a character; sow a character, reap a destiny.” In the end, passing the Pharmacy on the way to the Farm(acy) could be the best decision we have ever made.