Just as some people get an occasional massage to alleviate the symptoms of poor posture, I too, in an attempt to improve poor eating habits, enjoy the short-term effects (mainly glowing skin) of a good “brain-wash” documentary or book.
After reading Skinny Bitch, for example, I denounced all dairy products, started a relationship with the vegetable aisle and declared myself a Vegan. Within a short period the gory details that scared me into submission began to fade, my selective memory reshuffled and I began eating dairy again after only 2 months!! I still gag occasionally when I eat cereal but for the most part my old eating habits came back with a vengeance. Since then I’ve sucked in Food Inc., Killer at Large, and The Future of Food. All at declining success rates (Food Inc. at the top).
The success rate is mostly a function of time in this case. The more effective documentaries have a longer-lasting influence – and those seem to be the ones that really emphasize gory or disgusting practices within the food industry. The stronger the image the deeper the imprint. Easier done with meat since the gore associated with fertilizers is mostly abstract. Fittingly, the longest success rate I know of was achieved by my meat-eater friend, who after watching the suitably titled documentary Meet your Meat became a vegetarian for a whole year, which, she alluded, might as well have been 10 years. When push comes to shove our habits beat the hell out of any newly accepted notions. ‘Practice makes perfect’ in this case dictates she would have to ‘meet her meat’ every few months – and that’s assuming she even wants to be a vegetarian (if I remember correctly the movie was a school requirement).
Personally I enjoy even temporary changes/challenges, so last night I did it again. This one is called Food Matters. All I have to mention is the three kiwis and two cucumbers I brought to work today. A good massage motivates the body to straighten itself just as a good documentary promotes a straightening of ill practices; it’s all a matter of spine.
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