Everything we put in us has an impact but the body is also very powerful and resilient and has the capacity to endure a lot. But, we must nurture the body with food, water, thoughts and environment. We should do so with the the cleanest food, water and energy we can.

Clean food, real food, organic food and whole food will keep the body in a healthy way and we will perform better, function better, have better sleep, clearer minds and healthier bodies. We have moved very far in a very short amount time away from whole and real food. Dietary choices combined with lifestyle factors play a huge role in obesity, and it has been found that the prevalence of obesity increases significantly for those who consume fast food 3 or more times per week. People are simply overbooked and overtaxed and are overlooking health in exchange for convenience and cheapness. Refined foods and processed foods are chosen because they are simple to obtain and taste good enough. However, these foods are detrimental to our health and well-being. We have become addicted to these convenience foods and these foods are keeping us weak and sick in our bodies and our minds.

We have given up what we as humans innately know about what we need to eat and have placed that power in the hands of government and corporation. In turn we have received GMO’s, “conventionally” grown food laden with pesticides and herbicides, rancid vegetable oils, and higher obesity rates, heart disease, and more diabetes than ever before.

Just as the plants need water, we need water. We need to hydrate ourselves to keep our cells healthy and full, our body loose and limber. Water is cleansing and life giving – absolutely nothing can live without it yet we mistreat water so globally and with such abandon.  Many people would argue that one cannot waste water, but I disagree. Our mistreatment of water by putting additives in it, by using it in Fracking to carry slurry, using it to carry human waste, water parks, soda factories, watering pesticide laden plants is a waste of precious and limited clean water. We are abusing our life source. And unfortunately this has become the norm and this needs to change.

We buy bottled water because we desire the life source and the tap water in our homes doesn’t always taste so good, but this is a vicious cycle. The plastic is terrible for our environment. In the US alone 35 billion plastic water bottles are tossed in the trash – plastics constitute approximately 90% of all trash floating in the oceans – and this plastic will take 500 to 1000 years to degrade, turning into smaller and smaller pieces. In 2013 93% of Americans age 6 and older tested positive for the plastic chemical BPA. We are ingesting plastic whether we know it or not and it is making us sick. We should stop buying bottled water and instead invest in water filters for our homes and offices.

Something to consider is that all wild animals, still living in nature, know what to eat and how to get it. They do not need Burger Kings or supermarkets – everything they need is provided by nature – they have not lost their way. This is a good example for us to follow.

In this highly modernized world which has conquered almost every square inch of the globe it is a tall and difficult order to go back to the wild and reacquaint ourselves with what we left behind. However, we can use nature as guidance and inspiration on how to get back to what we once knew about living healthy and being whole. 

The choices we make in what we eat make a difference in our health and the health of our families. Leaving behind the fast food and the convenience food and going for the whole food and the real food is better for the environment, better for you and keeps more money in your pockets.

Sacred Rok’s camp kitchen has been an advocate of this way of eating and nurturing the body from the beginning. Each year we strive to bring the groups we work with the best food we can obtain and prepare. Our menus consist of organic grains, free-range and local meats and eggs, organic and locally procured fruits and vegetables, raw and local dairy as well as items picked wild in the Sierra. Part of our job in the kitchen is to not only provide this food and prepare this food but it is also to share an understanding about nutrition and what it is we are getting from the things we eat. We also share the process of preparing and help our groups realize that they too can eat this way at home. We look forward  to continuing this journey in 2015 and helping our Sacred Rok community grow in health and harmony with nature.