Let’s Get Back to Growing Food for Health ‘26; Food is Medicine

[By Sister Chirya]

On April 9, 2009, Michelle Obama did something that shattered 200 years of White House protocol when she rolled up her sleeves, grabbed a shovel, (and no, she didn’t destroy an existing rose garden). She organized the planting of a 1,100-square-foot vegetable garden on the South Lawn with 23 fifth-graders from Bancroft Elementary School. But what almost nobody knows is that she faced absolutely fierce resistance from chemical industry lobbyists and corporate agriculture executives who feared her organic garden would threaten their billion-dollar businesses and sent formal letters demanding that she reconsider this “dangerous” message about food.

Michelle read those letters with her staff and reportedly laughed, then doubled down on her mission. She expanded the garden, invited more schoolchildren to help harvest tomatoes and lettuce, and launched her Let’s Move campaign to combat childhood obesity through better nutrition and exercise, completely unfazed by corporate interests that prioritized profits over children’s health. 

That garden became revolutionary without trying to be – it produced over 2,000 pounds of food annually, supplied the White House kitchen and local soup kitchens, and inspired millions of families across America to start their own gardens, teaching kids that food doesn’t just magically appear in grocery stores but grows from seeds, soil, sunshine, water, and care.

What Michelle understood instinctively was that planting a garden was actually planting an idea: everyone deserves access to fresh, nutritious food regardless of their location or income level. The most radical thing we can do is simply show people that there’s a better, healthier way forward if they’re willing to get their hands in the soil and grow food themselves.

In 1950, seniors were sharp, focused, and present. Today, brain fog affects 70% of people over 65.

Dementia rates have skyrocketed 400% since Nixon took office. Yet we have better medicine than ever before: better nutrition, more supplements, and advanced healthcare. So what happened?

After analyzing decades of research, we are discovering that aging is not the problem; it’s what we’re aging WITH. Our grandparents lived in a world with fewer than 100 synthetic chemicals. Today? We’re exposed to over 80,000. 

They ate food grown in clean soil. We eat vegetables contaminated with memory-destroying compounds called Dementogens. Even “healthy” foods are loaded with them: rice contains arsenic, oatmeal contains glyphosate, salads contain pesticide residue, and fish contains mercury. These Dementogens force brain cells to disconnect from each other, creating “blackouts” in your memory regions. 

Plastic pollution is poisoning our food and water supply and ultimately inflicting havoc on the health and well-being of humans and wildlife globally, as most of the plastics do not biodegrade and still exist.

Our brain requires premium fuel to create new brain cells, recall memories, and focus on tasks. And where does it get that fuel? From the foods we eat. However, far too many foods we eat harm our brains, like those containing sugar and trans fats. Considering sugar is found in nearly 76% of foods on supermarket shelves, it is no wonder why so many people suffer from memory issues.

A final note: the body becomes what the foods are, as the spirit becomes what the thoughts are. Prepare food and eat it in loving remembrance of God. Such food is very powerful and keeps us healthy.

(Local Contact: bkchirya@gmail.com. For retreats and classes, register at www.peacevillageretreat.org or by calling [589] 518-5000. Internationally, visit www.bkwsu.org.)