Festive joys can become ills

What you need to know:

The danger here is that it’s easy to sacrifice what is good for us at the altar of convenience. We must rethink because we’re doing it the other way round.

I do not quite recall the first time I drank soda as a child but the end of year was the time we got a chance to enjoy that because of Christmas. Soda was a reserve for mainly special occasions. Life has significantly changed of course. These days anyone and everyone can access a bottle of soda any day and anytime. We deeply rejoice in the accessibility. Why not? But have you also noticed that with this accessibility and convenience has come the onset of many different challenges? Suddenly there are many obese people and sadly very many are children. Suddenly there are more lifestyle challenges going down to infants as well?
One of the saddest realities of the capitalist world that we live in today is the fact that everything is driven by sales and profits. It doesn’t quite matter what happens in between as long as the set sales and profit targets are met, the end justifies the means.
In a capitalist world, we are presented with convenience, comfort and the path of least resistance. Whereas before a parent was required to take time making fresh orange and passion fruit juice, these days you can get juice cooked/boiled at extreme temperatures and packaged conveniently in a bottle.
All one does is to snap open the packaging and voila! You drink. The danger here is that it’s easy to sacrifice what is good for us at the altar of convenience. Who wants to take time peeling a sugarcane when you can get a box of pringles off the shelf of the supermarket and eat from the comfort of your couch while watching your favourite TV soap? What is most startling is the fact that most of the processed food is deliberately designed to be addictive. What that means is you cannot simply eat something as a one off. Generally speaking, you’ll eat and want to eat the same destructive food again and again and again. The consequences of all these ‘developments’ is a generation of ill folks. The medical facilities are full of individuals suffering one thing and then another. The medical facilities are also business centres where medicines are prescribed not necessarily because they will be helpful but because of the need for sales and profit.
We must rethink this entire strategy. We’re doing it the other way round.
We have shunned the very things that will build us and our natural systems and we’ve embraced convenience on the altar of overall wellbeing. Dear parent, think twice as you laden your precious child with artificial food and drink. Think about the impact in the medium to long term.
Enjoy responsibly.