Purists in a Diverse World

Most people don't bend to the will of a rigid ideology when browsing the isles at the local grocery store. Most people simply feel hungry, and pick the brightest box, or pick the brightest box and find they have become hungry. Others, however, won't buy something unless it's over $10, certified organic by 7 independent organizations, and has required the chants of a shaman to leave it's native soil.

The world of health food is complex, to say the least. In health, as in other matters, when a person decides one way is the only way and therefore the right way, problems arise. Room is not left for alternatives. The world of health food cannot be defined in such a concrete way that enables one way of thinking to hold true universally. As aforementioned, it is a diverse and complex world.

How does this aid us in making sense of health food philosophies? We are left with the knowledge that the world is big enough for multiple ways of thinking, and these ways of thinking are not mutually exclusive. Said differently, the world of health is not a zero sum game. Everyone is different, and different people respond to the same food differently. The beauty of this truism is in it's implication: the vegan farmer and the inuit hunter can both be right. As long as neither one tries to force the other to live differently, both live good lives and respect the other's life.

I will eventually devise a simple way to view, understand, and interpret the many different philosophies in health food. Each attempt to draft a clever system has failed miserably. For now, let's be thankful we have the luxury of being able to choose what food we eat in the first place.