Malik Yakini concluded his 2023 SLEE keynote with this short humorous essay, which became an instant classic!
This has just all become too complex!
I long ago gave up eating meat and fish for health reasons. I later developed a sensitivity for the environmental impact of corporate meat production and overfishing. I gave up eating white bread and white rice after reading Elijah Muhammad’s “How to Eat to Live” in 1975. I stopped eating mucus producing dairy products and eggs a few years later.
But now, this is the biggest step of all! To give up eating altogether! Here’s why.
Some of my younger friends have warned me that the continued consumption of tofu or other soy products will result in me growing breasts and becoming, let’s say, less manly! Dr. Sebi warned us against eating hybrid foods, so there goes broccoli, carrots, kale, collards, cauliflower, beets, chard, spinach, celery and most onions, potatoes and tomatoes.
Almonds and products made from almonds, i.e. almond milk, almond butter, etc., require tremendous amounts of water to be grown and are thus unsustainable. Same with avocados which each require about sixty gallons of water to grow to maturity. So, no more almonds or avocados!
Oranges, bananas and pineapples are out of the question because of the carbon released into the atmosphere by transporting these tropical fruits hundreds of miles. Besides, Dr. Sebi said that pineapples aren’t good for you.
Rice is also out, because most of it is imported from thousands of miles away and has a high glycemic count. Cocoa, Brazil nuts and chestnuts are out because of unfair labor practices. Most oils aren’t good for you and much of the “virgin” olive oil on American shelves is fake. Using Palm oil contributes to deforestation.
Ugh! If I only want to eat foods that are hyper-local, are sustainably grown using fair non-exploitive labor practices, and are not hybrids, I’m left to foraging for wild edibles! But they are also impacted by the toxins in the water and soil. This has just all become too complex!
So, I have made the difficult, but socially and environmentally responsible, decision to resign from the eaters of the world. Henceforth, I will only extract energy from the sun and the air around us. I will be forced to distance myself from those of you who choose, despite the evidence of its harmful impact, to continue eating.
#staywoke #vibratehigher #baneating #psyche
-By Malik Yakini, Detroit Black Community Food Sovereignty Network
Watch and share his full 2023 SLEE keynote, “Black Food Sovereignty: Local to Global”
