What is going on?
As a specialist farm producing linseed/flaxseed [which is an ancient plant well recognised for its health giving properties] I am finding more and more people are coming to me and asking questions about their health. Many people seem to be engaged on a journey and it may be intuitive; if I eat better foods will I be healthier? Their answer is to come and talk to a farmer and that is what they do.
Fifteen years ago I was spending lots of time on the tractor and with the animals, all the things that happen on a small family farm. I was largely taken in by the system that has turned most farmers into producers of commodities. The need to create an income from the land pushed me to have lots of “make a million” ideas. This lead to a lot of failures - but one idea culminated in an amazing journey learning about and understanding some of the most basic food that we need for our health.
So, the scene is set. There is disillusionment with the medical profession. Obesity, diabetes, cancer and other food-related diseases are reaching epidemic proportions. A little leaning on the gate at any event where people gather in any numbers will tell you that the problem is across the age range.
Children, both boys and girls, are overweight and look unhealthy. Their parents and grandparents are also suffering. The NHS is taking the brunt of the curative effort of this food related onslaught and is creaking under the strain.
I feel I am at the forefront of a new movement to spread understanding, to help people change towards the prevention of disease and to move towards good health. There are many practitioners of all kinds who also have this vision and we invite them to the farm to see and hear the story of linseed. They all tell me more people are seeking to find answers for illness that does not involve drugs.
The majority of farmers probably do not yet realise the vital role they should be playing in keeping us healthy - by understanding how to provide food that heals. It would take a big change for this understanding to filter through. I am pleased to tell you that at least one group is taking the lead and that is The Pasture Fed Livestock Association. They understand that if you feed your animal the right way then you will have an animal with many of the right fats and minerals that we need for life. Please check out the site and join up. http://www.pastureforlife.org/
Looking after your animals also means looking after the soil. There are very real worries about the future structure and water-absorbing abilities of our most precious resource, so we must do all we can to keep the earth fertile.
You may ask where is all the money going to come from to make these changes and how are we going to feed the world? The scale of waste and overeating may amount to as much as fifty percent of all food produced. Globalization and commoditisation of food production leads to waste and over-consumption in the west (a kind of malnutrition) whilst poorer countries selling their food on world markets for foreign currency results in more malnutrition. Balancing these factors, and moving food production closer to the people, would remove much of this waste. Healthier eating patterns would improve all of our chances for a better life.
So here we have saved huge amounts of money from not producing food to waste.
I now invite you to put a different hat on and consider how much money has been recycled out of farming and into big Pharma. Diabetes alone, which is entirely related to lifestyle and eating the wrong sort of food, costs us about £19 billion every year. This is for both medication and treatment, including amputations, because with diabetes healing does not happen very well. Over a period, much of this money could go back into producing food for health. This is just one of the food-related diseases. There are so many others, so you begin to see how much money could be available to create better lives through eating healthy food.
If we started to eat better today, in four generations time we would have a healthier population with more people on the land and a closer connection to food for health. All the money I talk about would be devoted to prevention of disease and not wasteful cures.
This is my challenge to farmers and all interested in food - you must learn what is healthy and then engage with consumers on a one to one level so that they may also learn and become healthy. Or as Hippocrates said “Let food be your medicine and medicine be your food”.
Here is a link to my video produced on April the 1st which sets out the Governments policy and timetable of measures needed to bring about change. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G_XwFGgLPP4
So there you have it, a blueprint for change. Let's engage for a better world.
If you would like to talk to me please call 01403 731106.
Love and healing,
Durwin Banks
The Linseed Farm