6:25 PM

Food, Water and Health


How much do you know about your food, water and health risks?

I confess - I love a good documentary. It doesn’t have to be a cinematic feat starring an A-list cast, politically charged like a Michael Moore film, nor a highly publicized Oscar winning production - if it results in change: in my perspective, beliefs or behavior, then I’d say it succeeded and achieved its purpose.

Productions that expand my knowledge and education in Yoga Therapy are of particular interest. And while you may have no idea what Yoga therapy is; nor believe in Yoga, Natural medicine or holistic healing – that’s not the point. Being informed and aware of what’s going on in life, in the world around you- that’s important. The documentaries listed below will inform, educate and likely change your perspective on the food you eat, water you drink, and epidemics that threaten to your family’s health and livelihood.

#1: Food Inc, foodincmovie.com
My Yogi once told me that, “the world has an eating disorder,” referring to our insatiable appetite for consumption – for all things, not just food. Filmmaker Robert Kenner illustrates that the world also has a production disorder referring to the industry corporations’ insatiable appetite for profit. If corn fed cows have e-coli in their stomachs (they have a genetic disposition to digest grass), you’d think we’d feed cows grass, yes? Ummm, no – instead, we give cows antibiotics so they can process corn. And then we buy that corn-fed antibiotic-laden meat at the grocery store. This documentary reveals the unappetizing truth about many of the foods we consume – from meat and produce, and how production costs supersede health and nutrition for consumers.

#2: Under Our Skin, underourskin.com
They say good things come in small packages: parasites – especially, wood ticks -are the diamonds of health disaster. Andy Abrahams Wilson, Director, documents the sad and tragic plights of several victims and their futile attempts for answers and treatment. It’s nothing less than astonishing that Lyme disease remains under the radar despite the 20,000 new cases reported in the US alone (yes, that’s more than HIV). Doctors are stripped of their licenses for treating the infected and patients are misdiagnosed – MS, Fibromyalgia, Chronic Fatigue Syndrome, among others – and even told it’s all in their head like an acute case of Munchausen syndrome. Yep, policy guidelines serve those who profit and not those who are debilitated and suffering.

#3: FLOW, flowthefilm.com
Got water? The economics of a major bottling company paying $230 for a permit to harvest about 1.47 million gallons (approximately 5,564,555 liters) of water A DAY suggests that
a) bottled water is a $400billion dollar global industry
b) the corporations realize huge profits
c) local residents must have lost some legal battles
D) all of the above.

Answer: watch the documentary to find out.

Summarizing from the film's website, Irena Salina's, Director builds a case against the growing privatization of the world's dwindling fresh water supply and focuses on the politics, pollution, human rights, and the emergence of a domineering world water cartel. It reveals the rapidly growing water crisis, at both the global and human scale, and the introduces many of the governmental and corporate culprits behind the water grab, while begging the question "can anyone really own water?"

Food, water and health concerns affect all of us and these three documentaries are must-see’s. Have you watched a documentary that transformed your thinking? Compelled you to take action? Write a comment to tell me about it. I’d love to hear about more documentaries and the impact it had on you.