I’ve been thinking about the kinds of food I’m eating, and how the types of food I eat affect my health and me. I made a comment once to someone – the price you pay for food is the same, everywhere. You can buy cheap food with dubious cleanliness but you will end up paying for it in another way, in another place (eg, your stomach may ache and you may require medical attention). I used to think that was true but my opinion on that is changing. Before I explain what I mean, there are 3 things I want to say first.
One. Insecticides and other chemcials used to treat plants and farm animals get stronger and more concentrated. The pests that worry farmers become more resistant to these chemicals. Pests, insects and farm parasites notwithstanding, become more resistant to the sprays we use to eliminate them. In my youth, houseflies and roaches die shortly after being sprayed on. Today, I think I can hear the roach laughing as it saunters across my floor.
Two. Where I come from, in Singapore, there is a lot of attention paid to cleanliness. In the surroundings, in food, in the people who prepare food, of the water that is used in food preparation, and so on. Once in a long while, something slips up and some people will require medical help. This triggers a reaction that is fed back into the system as more rigid and stringent rules on the enforcement of cleanliness. This I also notice in cities in many ‘developed’ nations. It is less prevalent in most other places.
Three. There is an old saying ‘what does not kill me only makes me stronger.’ This is echoed in Darwin’s writings (viz natural selection), and is evident in my first point. What then, might I dare ask, becomes of us humans who do not actively seek to raise our resistances, who only seek to consume the cleanest and the purest? As time goes on, this act only serves to breed increased levels of vulnerability and susceptibility to disease and infection. Is this true? I like to think so. I think that by exposing myself regularly to food that isn’t thoroughly sanctified, I am subjecting my resistances to a decent (and much needed) workout.
Back to food. These days, I order my food from stalls in the market, and sometimes on the road side. Som tam thai, yum woon sen, sa-pha-rod, gaei thod, etc. Sometimes the piece of pineapple is overripe, sometimes there’s a housefly hovering near the peanuts. I used to worry and stress about it. Not anymore.
