1. Is Resilient Health a Religious Experience?
The theme of this blog is about the benefits of fresh whole milk and the right to obtain it through
private agreement, outside the regulatory system. However, an important assumption underlying
this theme deserves a closer look. Some recent visits I had with long-time friends who are
suffering from serious health problems has stirred me with sadness, but also much thinking about
how people come to adopt a better diet, or even know for sure what that is.
A little recognized fact is that all such people who have done this, have actually changed their
whole lives in the process. And that is exactly what a religious conversion does: it changes your
whole life: your view of the world, your choices; it is a lifetime commitment, and changed
people very much want to tell their story to others. We also know that fresh clean milk, properly
produced, represents two larger principles: 1) the right to choose this kind of milk or any other
food so produced without unnecessary regulatory hindrance, and 2) that this choice amounts to
claiming proper responsibility for one’s own bodily health.
Changed lifestyles cannot happen without a changed heart and mind. This is actually a phrase
that has been used regarding the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan: “the winning of hearts and
minds.” Apparently the battlefield isn’t just on the outside. So what does it take to change hearts
and minds for a truth which imparts some kind of restorative, life enhancing quality?
The truth that real food advocates labor for is that 1) our non-industrialized ancestors were in
many ways healthier; and 2) that there is strong historical evidence pointing to their diet as the
cause. The reasonable conclusion is that this kind of food can not only prevent many modern
diseases, but in some cases heal them. This is what we regard as an irrefutable truth of biology.
Some will derisively describe such a statement as truth with a “capital T”, meaning, I think, “my
truth is better than your truth”, or something to that effect. And herein is the crux of the matter:
The evidence speaks for itself, but when it’s all said and done, the choice to commit to change is
an exclusively personal one. Change is hard, because we are forced to reexamine some of our
ideas, values and habits learned from when and where we grew up. So no one can do the work
for you. But it is oh so worth the effort! Could this be a particular example of what it means to be
“born again?”
Some of these “traditional” foods that are health enhancing (pastured production: whole milk,
fats, meat, eggs, butter, for example) have for decades been demonized by the manufactured food
purveyors, and so happen to be politically incorrect to boot. In other words, not only is it a
personal choice, but it might also put you at odds with some people in your social circles or even
in your family. And that is an especially formidable obstacle to change. In this sense, getting “the
gospel according to nutrition”, as I’ve often quipped, is eerily similar to a religious conversion,
and in more ways than you might think.

2. Some other religious or spiritual qualities come into play for those who take the leap and start
making the changes: virtues of character such as trust, faithfulness, perseverance, obedience,
sacrifice.
Sacrifice? Why would anyone in their right mind want to do that? In fact you’re making
sacrifices all the time, and might not know it. Everything in this world is a tradeoff. There is a
hidden cost to cheap food; therefore I sacrifice convenience to invest my time in the kitchen. But
it doesn’t mean I’m some straight-laced Puritan about it, either. I just try to make the best
educated choices wherever I go, of the options available. And “When in Rome, do as the
Romans do,” as they say, so as not to make myself completely intolerable to my friends. I figure
an 80/20 mix at best will probably get me by without completely compromising my principles.
Changing one’s lifestyle is probably best done in smaller steps; the prerequisite changed thinking
is a sometimes careening learning curve for sure, but don’t let that be intimidating. Little changes
are like a savings account: though I can’t afford to stash away large sums, small amounts really
do add up.
At first come baby steps. Get in the kitchen a little more; start reading labels. Maybe we start to
pay attention to who is getting our grocery dollars. More questions: how was this animal raised?
Who makes the rules for food labeling? Who told me that cholesterol causes heart disease? Are
they trustworthy? Such careful consideration is the beginning of obedience to the principle of
integrity: the perseverance to learn new information and the sacrifice of simplistic thinking.
I’ve always been a bit suspicious of those folks who vividly recall the date and hour of their
coming to Jesus. Maybe I’m a little too intolerant here of the variety of religious experiences, but
I always chalk it up to something they could in fact be entirely sincere about, and I need to
respect that. If there is some hucksterism involved, then it would eventually come to the fore
anyway. So I am always careful to remind myself that no one is ever truly convinced about
anything, really, until they decide for themselves. I guess the other option is to let others decide
for you.
For me, a single book was what started it all, around 2006: Michael Pollan’s Omnivore’s
Dilemma. In it, he describes essentially two competing food chains: corn based, and grass based.
The history and economy of corn was laid bare at a level of detail that shocked me about my own
ignorance. Then I got angry not only because I’d been misinformed about nutrition for most of
my adulthood, but also because an entire generation or more has literally been indoctrinated with
damaging ideas about food and health. The food manufacturers have achieved profit for the few
at the expense of the many.
This was the big bang that started my new universe. Many people come to such a personal
decision because of illness and disillusionment with the medical establishment, or a near death
experience from some kind of industrial fare. Then they start to question their assumptions. Then
they start asking other questions, and critical thinking is born: the vehicle necessary to start on

3. the road of lifestyle changing. Others can inspire or inform, but no one can do the work of
critical thinking for you. Without it, even the best intentions can still lead to decisions that result
in harm.
In the throes of the learning curve, what it really comes down to is who (what source of
information) do you actually trust? How many of us ever question the nutritional advice we seem
to absorb from the media, family, or our cohorts? It’s not like we’re taught much about nutrition
in school, at least the kind that doesn’t tow the establishment line. My measuring stick is this: is
the nutritional advice paid for by companies trying to sell their products? If so, motives for such
advice are dubious. Follow the money: who funds the “research” studies? An undermining factor
is that many large corporations have shadowy influences on government publications and
university research, entities that are traditionally trustworthy.
In Christianity, we trust the Presence of Jesus and the Holy Spirit for daily guidance. In
agriculture and food processing, our best bet for trust is local connections: the farmers and small
entrepreneurs who operate with transparency, whose livelihood is built on relationships. The
bigger a company, the harder it is to trust them with quality control and good service. Food isn’t
just any ole’ commodity, like fence posts or copy paper, where production can be easily scaled
up for a global market reach.
In spite of the modern epidemic of debilitating illnesses in our families and communities, despite
the far reaching power of agribusiness, food corporations, and pharmaceutical companies with
their media influence, allies in Congress and the allopathic medical establishment, there is still
one area of human life over which they have no power: the power of critical thinking and choice.
When we heed our biological roots and their connections to the ecology of natural systems, our
choices, small or large lead to a new kind of liberation: robust health, and the promises it holds
for the fullness of Life.