The One Thing You Can Do to Change Two Major Industries

This past week I saw a video of the way chickens are being raised at Prince Poultry, the second largest supplier of chicken. Being involved in animal rights back in the late 80’s, I was not surprised by this video. I am well aware of how factory farming operates so of course I did not hesitate to sign the petition urging the owners be brought up on charges of animal cruelty. I wasn't even surprised by the passionate chatter between vegetarians, vegans and carnivores that always comes up over the ethical issue of eating animals. What does surprise me is the lack of chatter about the fact that this is indeed a current food source.  Prince Poultry supplies chicken to Pilgrim’s Corp. who supplies it to Walmart, Kroger, Costco, Chick-fil-A, Wendy’s, Burger King, Publix and others. Where do you shop? Did you see the physical and physiological conditions of those chickens? Genetically modified for fast growth and large breasts to the extent they can’t walk and often die because their heart just bursts? Is that really what you want to ingest into your body? Is there any doubt about the link between the poor condition of our food and the poor condition of our health? Do you not feel the need to question that? Don’t you want to go check the brand of chicken in your freezer right now?

A few days ago I read an interview from who I believe to be the wife of Tim Prince - owner of Prince Poultry. It was before I saw the video, so I read it without having the visual. Her words really stuck with me and actually prompted this blog. What I remember of the interview was her saying that they put the chickens in the hole, away from the house and at night wild animals would come and feed on them. It would keep them from trying to get at the other chickens. They thought they were doing the right thing. She went on to say that the business has been in the family for 3 generations and it is all they have ever known. Now they don’t know what they will do if they don’t have this business. Interestingly I have not been able to find this article again to confirm that it was indeed this same incident.  And while you might find it shocking that it could actually be a different incident, it is indeed the reality of our current food industry. In 2012 Animalplace.org made the largest rescue in California history when 50,000 egg laying hens were abandoned by the owners of A&L Poultry. By the time authorities were notified 20,000 had starved to death, others drowned in giant manure pits under their cages (yes they were left in cages) and another 25,000 had to be euthanized. In the end only 4,460 were able to be saved. This is the condition of our food supply. And what is equally shocking to me is that most of you will agree that it is wrong, many of you will have an emotional reaction to it, yet only some of you will ask, like I did, what the hell are they doing with 50,000 chickens? We get lost in the emotion of these situations, end up feeling overwhelmed and after the media exposure goes away, we bury it somewhere and go about our lives as usual. That is why it is so hard to change the system. We (the consumer) are the biggest part of the problem.

But back to the reason I was inspired to write this blog. It goes back to the interview and the words ‘we thought we were doing the right thing”. Now that can push all kinds of different buttons for people. How could someone think that is the right thing? Where does that kind of thinking or belief come from? Judge all you want, but I happen to believe her when she said they thought they were doing the right thing. I am not saying it is right or I agree with it, I am just saying I believe she believed it was right. The key lies in the next statement she made, the business has been in our family for 3 generations and it is all we know.

How do we know what we know?

Some of the work I do with clients is to help them to discover how much of their thinking comes from programmed beliefs. Our beliefs create our reality. Our beliefs are the lens through which we see the world. But our beliefs are most often not our own original thoughts. Roughly 5 years of our childhood (ages 2-7) our brain waves are in Theta (observing and recording). A child is not in consciousness until age 7. That is how we are able to learn the ‘rules of society’ and how to function so quickly. What we are observing and learning goes into the subconscious mind, which is pretty much like a tape recorder. While this seems pretty efficient considering the amount of information we need to learn at that age, it can be a disaster if we are growing up in an environment that isn’t exactly nurturing or encouraging us to be a free thinker. That recorder (subconscious mind) is picking up everything that is being said to us by our parents, teachers, society, and is being stored away for later use under the file called beliefs. Now how many people do you know that have had pretty rough childhoods? In my line of work, that would be quite a few who spent their childhood in basic survival mode and fear. These programmed beliefs hang out in the subconscious mind and affect every decision we make from our likes and dislikes, to the friends we choose, to the jobs we have, and even our diseases. 95% of behavior comes from our subconscious mind. Think about who did most of your programming. What was their state of consciousness? Programming can also be disguised as tradition or religion. So ask yourself, are they really your beliefs or are you following someone’s programming?

What are your beliefs?

So let’s tie this all together. The woman from Prince Poultry (or whatever poultry company she was from) grew up raising poultry. Everything she knew about raising poultry was taught to her at an early age (programming). More than 8 billion chickens are raised and killed in the US each year so I imagine she is pretty excited because business is good compared to when her family first started. She is feeling good because she is helping supply that demand, she is earning a living and there is no FDA or USDA agent knocking on her door. In her reality everything is right.

You stop at the big box grocery store on your way home from work to pick up some ground beef for the annual summer barbecue at Aunt Mary’s. Out of the corner of your eye you catch the big neon sale sticker on the plump, perfectly cut and wrapped chicken breasts and think it’s too good of a sale to pass up (mom taught you all about bargain shopping) so you throw a couple packs of chicken in the cart too. This barbecue has been happening every year for the last 3 generations and your mother always brought the grilling meat just like her mother did. They always pride themselves on clipping coupons and finding the least expensive selections and you are proud to carry on the tradition (programming).

In comes this undercover investigator to the poultry farm who tapes these horrific conditions and treatment of chickens, someone who has different programming about how chickens should be treated and raised. Two very different realities based on two completely sets of programming come crashing together. We can argue that Prince Poultry was out of control and irresponsible, and I agree. We can argue that the industry as a whole is irresponsible and out of control, and I agree. We can argue that the FDA and USDA are irresponsible and controlled by the very industry it is supposed to regulate, and I agree. But most of all, I will argue that what you demand is what they supply. Sound familiar? If you follow me on facebook you know I am always talking about making change by how you spend your money.

So you will go to the barbecue at Aunt Mary’s and grill your meats and get caught up on the latest family dramas. Everyone will share their new aches, pains, surgeries and new medications since meeting last year. Everyone will make fun of the one crazy uncle and it will be another successful year in the family tradition. As everyone chows down their plump juicy chicken breast, nobody will be talking about the video that was taken at Prince Poultry because it’s old news that came and went and the raw emotion and initial shock has long worn off. You are back in your regular programmed comfortable and predictable routine.

I know we mean well, we don’t want to support that kind of industry. We are so removed from making a conscious decision when it comes to food. As kids we were programmed by our parents and as adults we have become programmed by an industry that manufactures a food-like product in a lab and programs you to buy it and actually believe it is real food. We are so removed from our food that we actually believe velveeta is cheese. We don’t stop to think that a cappuccino potato chip isn’t going to be made with coffee, which means it is made in a lab, a chemical chip is more accurate. Dear Lay’s, do us a flavor and stop killing us with your toxic waste products. If that video from Prince Poultry played over the meat counter at the local grocery store nobody would be buying the chicken. The realty for most people is they don’t know what to do and the thought of it becomes overwhelming so they do nothing.

Start here:

Stop buying food-like products.
Stop supporting an industry that sees nothing wrong with one farm having 50,000 chickens stuffed in cages. Stop supporting an industry that treats animals as a commodity and has nothing in place to prevent the cruelty of those animals. Stop spending your money at restaurants that don’t offer local farm-to-table options – Chipotle is proof that a chain restaurant can do it and succeed.
It will change the food industry and it will change the health care industry.
25-30% of disease is genetics. 70-75% is related to lifestyle. That means by cleaning up your diet you clean up the terrain your cells live in, thereby reducing the lifestyle induced disease epidemic.
Now there is food for thought J
Step out of your comfort zone, nothing grows there. Come with me on this marvelous journey my friend.

The One thing you can do that will change two major industries:

Start spending your money on real food - it really is that simple.

Educate yourself - this is your health.

http://www.change.org/p/burying-animals-alive-is-cruel-and-should-be-prosecuted?utm_medium=email&utm_source=notification&utm_campaign=new_petition_recruit

http://aldf.org/cases-campaigns/features/lawsuit-in-largest-california-farmed-animal-rescue-in-history-moves-forward/

Why I Was Buried In Dirt

I am always grateful for the many opportunities I am given and amazed at my ability to say yes.  It is a daily practice to not give in to fearful thoughts as they spin around your mind like a broken record telling you it is safer to remain in your comfort zone.  I hear that voice; it whispers to me from the dark alley of my mind.  But I also have a voice that now speaks louder. This voice reminds me that when I say yes I am shining a light on the darkness of fear.

Today I said yes to being completely buried in dirt, only leaving my face exposed.  In a beautiful ceremony I was submerged into the soil, the womb of our Great Mother Earth.  As I waited for my turn, I had many thoughts that rambled through my mind.  They were the usual thoughts like bugs, not being able to breathe, panic attacks, dirt in the ears, eyes, nose and other orifices.  When it was my turn, I silently made an agreement with the creepy crawlers that I was only paying a visit, took a deep breath, stepped in, and laid down.  I remember how warm the earth felt, I had expected it to be cool.  I remember the smell, so fresh like after a gentle rain.  I remember the sound of the gentle wind flapping the palm trees around me like the wings of the Eagle.  I remember the sound of the ocean as the waves kissed gently against the shore.  As I was lovingly being covered in dirt, I reminded myself that I am not my body, I am everything and everything is me.  I remember how much lighter the dirt felt over my body than I imagined it would.  When a fearful thought came to me, I observed it in my body.  I felt where I was holding tension and I took a deep breath releasing that tension.  I remember the sounds of rattles, drums and beautiful singing in a language I did not know, but was somehow familiar.  I remember the beating of the earth just above my head that sounded like the heartbeat of Pachamama.  Most of all, I remembered that I said yes.  Repeating my mantra - I am not my body, I soon found myself soaring the heavens with a convocation of Eagles.  My body was weightless, my spirit was free and the beauty I witnessed could only be felt.  It didn't seem long before the excavation began, preparing me for my birth.  With some assistance, I emerged from the earth.  As I stood up on wobbly legs,  I couldn't help notice the darkness of my skin.  I saw a flash of my indigenous ancestors and suddenly felt a connection that was so familiar.  I walked to the hose where I was to rinse off and the chill of the water took my breath away.  As I used my hand to wash off the dirt I felt the intrinsic beauty of earth and water.  I knew I had to be submerged so before rejoining the group, I spent some time in the salt pool.

Following the Pachamama Ceremony we went into a sacred plant ceremony of Sairy and Mambe and ended the night with an amazing fire ceremony.

It was the Monday before this Saturday event that something was calling me to do a short juice cleanse so I made the decision that I would do it Wednesday-Saturday.  On Tuesday I received the invitation to attend this ceremony.  At first I was going to decline because I knew I would be coming off a juice cleanse (fear).  The next day I said YES to the ceremony without realizing it was actually a purging ceremony.  When I say yes, I am able to see the synchronicity in life that reads like a road map to my higher self.  When I say yes, I have growth.  When I say yes, I am free.

What will you say YES to?

~Marla  Saturday 8/2/2014