Felicia: As of this recording, RFK Jr. is currently in confirmation hearings for his position. And we all know that he partnered up with President Trump to Maha, to make America healthy again. And you know, we're gonna be talking about that, about how to actually make America healthy again. So welcome back, y'all. This is the podcast for the Grains and Grit YouTube channel, but it's more unfiltered, unedited. with this podcast. We're gonna kind of be getting deeper and where basically I just sit down and press record and share my thoughts with you. So in case you've been living under a rock for the past several months, ⁓ we ⁓ President Trump partnered up with Robert Kennedy Jr. ⁓ back whenever he was running for president and to and with and with RFK Jr. he is definitely on a mission to make America healthy again and as of right now He's going through Senate confirmations. He has not actually been confirmed for his position in the federal government. So while I am excited about this, I have been following RFK Jr. for several years. And while I certainly disagree with him on some things, one of the big things that I agree with him on is the fact, especially when it comes to our health, that we should have decisions, that we need com to have better conversations. And to not just be bullied or to bow down to whatever certain thing the government says when it comes to our health, because as you have may have noticed, Americans are not exactly the healthiest people on the planet. We have more money than probably any nation that is towards our health care, towards our medical system. And we are definitely not one of the healthiest countries. By any means, we have higher obesity rates. ⁓ and just in general, so many ⁓ sicknesses and ⁓ diseases ⁓ I believe are preventative. They're based on a lifestyle choices, not all of them, but ⁓ but I would say many of them. And that is because for the past 100 years, ⁓ we've been on a downhill slope when it comes to our food. Frankly for me, ⁓ I was born in the 80s and so ultimately my childhood was in the nineties. And if you're a nineties kid like I am, the processed foods that we ate, how we are still alive these days, I I don't even know. But we're talking the typical sugary cereals, ⁓ hamburger helper, ⁓ just all of those typical processed foods. ⁓ and I'm I'm not saying this to bash my parents. I mean, I honestly believe that my mother ⁓ truly believed that she was feeding as well. And I know that she loved me. So this is not bashing any parents raising kids in the 90s because also frankly, we didn't know the things back then that we certainly know now, mainly thanks to the internet. So nowadays we have more information about GMOs. ⁓ we have more information about organic and non-organic foods. We have more information about things like vaccines, ⁓ you know, diabetes and and cancer, and and so much information is now available. And while it can be confusing, ⁓ there these we're now just gonna discuss my thoughts on on Maha, what I believe should be done. Now, first of all, one thing that I want to quote. Joel Salatin on or reference him. If you don't know Joel Salatin, you should. He's awesome and I love him. He's a farmer in Virginia and wonderful, wonderful person. But ⁓ I recently listened to a podcast of his a few months ago where they were talking about this. And one great point he made was that we certainly do not need a nanny state. We do not need the government to come in and then legally mandate, ⁓ you can eat this, you can't eat that. Because frankly, I think the ultimate freedom is people can choose what to put in their bodies as adults. If you want to sit around and drink Mountain Dew all day and stuff your face with candy, hey, you know, that's your prerogative. You're an adult, that's that's your right if you want to do that. Just on the flip side, ⁓ if someone chooses to live more of a healthy lifestyle and they want to only buy straight from the farmer. Or all organic produce or whatever that is, you know, they should have that right as well. And so here here just here are just my thoughts. First of all, ⁓ one thing that I am grateful to see, and again, I say this because I think no matter where you land on the political spectrum, whether you love or hate Trump, whether you love or hate RFK Jr., it really doesn't matter because I think we can all agree that something's wrong with the American diet. Something is wrong. with our health and ⁓ and so I think we can all start there. And I think the num ⁓ the first thing that we need to do is first of all, we need to be able to have these conversations. We need to be able to sit down and have these open conversations with our doctors, with our legislatures, with our friends, with our family, without ⁓ ripping each other's throats out. The ⁓ we can Typically really let emotion get in the way. And then it's just all pure emotion and you just react, or you may react because you are on one side of the political political spectrum and someone else is on the other side. And because these types of issues had be have become so political, you may just react out out of emotion. And we need to set that aside and actually have logical, ⁓ reasonable scientific type discussions and even debate ⁓ concerning these issues. So for example, you know, let's approach, you know, red 40 dye is possibly causing issues. And maybe, you know, and I think if you are a doctor out there and a parent comes to you, especially with in regards to their child and said, hey, I've noticed this, you know, I encourage you, don't scoff at them like you you just being a doctor makes you no more than them. I mean, really, truly listen to them. Especially so many, I've heard so many parents talk about, yeah, my kid was really hyperactive and they just their behavioral issues. And then they made sure that not to feed them foods with red dye 40 or maybe they backed off on the sugar or they changed something in their child's diet and they saw improvement. And that's something that we need to consider that. Don't think that they're crazy, or maybe there isn't something to that. Let us let us open up these conversations and debate. And so that's one thing that I am looking forward and hoping to see more of. ⁓ and it's about anything. I mean, we're talking vaccines, which can definitely be a very polarizing issue. I mean, we're talking emotions run very high when it comes to vaccines, but we need to be able to have these conversations. without just name calling, without all these logical fallacies, without attacking the messenger, without just because someone dares question vaccines to immediately brush them off and say, You're just anti-vaxxing, anti-science. That's not anti-science. Science in and of itself should be asking questions and testing these theories. That's science. To be always questioning things and then to be researching it out and then let's let's find this out. And ⁓ so I'm hoping, you know, I think That is one thing that we need to start doing is allowing ourselves to have these uncomfortable conversations, to be having these debates, to be able to question and ask question your doctor questions without feeling bullied by your doctor. And I can say this from a first hand experience. I have definitely dealt with doctors with God complexes. And again, I'm I'm not bashing doctors. We certainly need doctors for certain situations, but it is also a fact that medical doctors are taught very, very, very embarrassingly little nutrition in medical school school. They are mainly taught to write prescriptions and to prescribe drugs. And that's a fact. And again, I'm not you know saying they're horrible people. I'm pretty sure that they went in with very good intentions, and I think many of them do have good intentions, but As a doctor, you know, I I've definitely had my fair share where they have a God complex. And if you do ask a question or maybe ⁓ refuse something that they are offering, they get really angry with you. And that can be very intimidating for certain people. I've kind of learned to just deal with it and to just come in there, not back down on my stances. But not everybody does that. And we need to be able to do that. People need to be able to have those conversations. And so I think that's the first step. conversations. The second step with making America healthy, and I would say any any Western country, this is very similar. And the second thing is definitely education. We need to educate people. Again, I do not believe that we need to be telling people what they can and cannot do because people are going to choose what they can and cannot do, especially when it comes to their food. Okay. Especially when it comes to their food. People do not like you telling them what they can and cannot eat. You can talk to them about it. And I think education is a big one. And this is a main thing that I do on my YouTube channel is all about grains. I mean, just this one area. There's so many areas when it comes to our food, but just this one area with bread, with grains, it's astounding how we don't know anymore. We have lost knowledge that our ancestors for thousands of years have known. And specifically with bread. Many people think that bread is not good, that we should not be having grains, but they don't know the whole picture. And this is something that I wish I could scream from the rooftops and educate everyone because grains for thousands of years and still around the world, ⁓ in many places, grains are a staple food for people. It looks different no matter where you go. Mexico, there is corn, and in Asia it is things like rice, and here in America it is wheat. ⁓ and same with Europe, wheat, but there's also, you know, you have rye and then you have ⁓ barley and so many of this different type of grains, but every culture has some sort of grains ⁓ in their diet that is a huge staple. And we have lost this fact. And this is ⁓ an excellent example of where we really need to educate people and tell them, no, no, no, see the bread you see in the store, the bread, the flour in the store, that's not real. Okay, that's not real bread. That's not real food. This is real food. And it comes from whenever you actually mill the grains yourself, bake it at home. ⁓ so educating people on these facts, educating people also how to be cooking, how to cook from scratch, you know, how to actually be using ingredients to make food, not just going out to eat and not just pulling things from a box. And so we've we've really lost this. And I would say that this is something that the French still seem to have in France. They very much teach, even in elementary school, they teach students ⁓ how to be eating, how to prepare food, how to be cooking, what foods pair well with each other. ⁓ There is just, it's more of the French culture. It's actually very fascinating as far as their how they eat. And yeah, they have fast food. And yes, they have. obese people in France. I'm not saying it's a perfect system, but I would say overall they definitely are educated from a young age and it is a lot cult of ⁓ cultural base as well as in their ⁓ how they just educate their children ⁓ as far as their relationship to food and and real food they still really like to eat seasonally where here in America we are used to eating strawberries year round But to the French, they know that, you know, hey, there's one time of year that the strawberries are the best. And that's when we want them. We don't want them year-round. We want them when they're at their peak and when they're best. ⁓ so I would say that's that's a big difference, is we need to kind of educate ourselves of what does it mean to actually eat real food again? What is real food? And of course, here on this channel, you know, I teach all about real whole grains from a biblical perspective. So that means that I go to the Bible to determine what is real food. And we should be eating food that God created as food as close to the way that he should be eating it as possible. And don't let anything become an addiction. And as far as food goes, and even even non-Christians can see this. And I I've I've watched documentaries where it's not Christian based and how they even agree, look, if it was made in a lab, then it takes a lab to process it. If it was created in a garden or something natural, then that's something that my body can eat. And Whether you're carnivore, keto, anti-bred, fully for grains, you know, I think this is something that we can agree with, is that, yeah, things that come out of a lab, maybe not a good idea. Okay, to have. And so again, all of this I I just bring it back to education. We need to educate ourselves again and reclaim the lost arts that we have lost. There. There was a time again for thousands of years, up until like the Industrial Revolution. And this is probably another podcast that I like to do is the whole like history of our food system because it's fascinating. Like, how did we get to where we're at when for thousands of years it has been something different? and up until the industrial revolution, you know, people, ⁓ the way to get butter was either you had a cow or you knew a farmer with a cow who milked said cows and would churn that. milk to create butter and then you were getting that butter and it was fresh. It wasn't didn't have preservatives in it. It wasn't from these huge, massive dairies, ⁓ you know, things like that. It used to be that's how you got milk. And it used to be that if you had to, if you wanted bread, that you would have to get some grains, most likely maybe you grew them yourself. Then you went to a local miller and they would mill those grains into flour and you would bake the bread from home. ⁓ you know, if you wanted certain vegetables, you probably had a vegetable garden or you knew someone with a vegetable garden, you knew the farmer. And for thousands of years, that's how we got how we got food is it was basically farm to table in s in some capacity. Since the Industrial Revolution, that has changed. Now that we have ⁓ you know, now we have these factory farms where it's these huge ⁓ cattle farm, you know, beef farms, or these huge dairy farms. We're actually in between two massive. dairy farms reek to high heaven when you pass by. But you know, that's that's now where most people get the milk from. And, you know, our system has changed. Our food system has has changed. We have a lot of processed food. And so we've lost the knowledge of first of all how to cook from just ingredients and not processed foods. How do we how do we bake bread? You know, how do we ferment? How do we make sauerkraut? ⁓ how do we how do we make cheese? How do we make jams and jellies? How do we do these things? And I'm not saying that you should be making every single thing from scratch. Start small, start with one thing at a time and ⁓ and then just build your skills from there. So, but ultimately, you know, we've lost these skills because we're used to now just go down to the grocery store, pick it up, or or go to fat or go to a restaurant. Go to fast food where they're preparing the food, and how so many people are so far removed from their food. And that's another reason why we're in the state that we're in. And part of making America healthy again is to be reconnected with our food. Where does it come from? Who is growing it? How was that that cow or chicken or whatever? How was that raised? How was this food grown? Where does it come from? And these are things that I'm hoping. I'm hoping we can start seeing a change. There's so much regulation, and I understand in some ways why we have regulation. ⁓ and in other ways, it really hurts the smaller farmers. It's more for the big, you know, the big ag ⁓ it's more helpful for them and hurts small farms. And so these are all these conversations that I believe that we really need to make. So And ultimately, if I was to make America America Healthy again, I would be stressing that everyone gets a grain mill back in their home. It used to be everyone had it. ⁓ the Bible refers to in the Old Testament, ⁓ I believe it's in Deuteronomy or Leviticus that I have to find it, but where it talks about that to take a pledge that you are not allowed to take the upper millstone as a pledge, like for a debt or something like that. You're not allowed to take it because you would be taking. their life. The millstone was life. The fact that people could mill their own grains, that was seen as life. I mean, a law that God gave in the Bible. You can't take the millstone as pledge. You will be taking his life. And so yes, I do believe that everyone should get a grain mill, whether you are gluten free or not. There are so many grains out there, even that are gluten free grains, that you can be having. And I think that is one way is to be getting our staff of life back. Our grains back, but that starts with education. And it is a huge uphill battle. But that's why I've started my YouTube channel, Grains and Grit. And I love, love, love, love when I hear testimonies from all of y'all of how you started, maybe because you heard me or Sue Becker or some someone else. And then you started telling others about it. And other people started milling. And that's really how we're going to start making America healthy again is the change starts with you. The change begins with you. You start changing. Other people are gonna see that you're doing better. Maybe you're losing weight. Maybe you're getting healthier. Maybe you get more energy. You know, there's there's various levels to this. And then people start asking, hey, what are you doing? And then you can tell them. And I think that's how it's gonna start is it starts with you. And even if you think you don't, you know, I'm just one little person, what difference can I make? Trust me, you can make a difference. one person. shared with me Sue Becker's ⁓ Do Not Eat the Bread of Idleness CD over a decade ago. And that's how we started milling grains. And then here I am. These people do not have a YouTube channel. I have no idea if they ever converted anyone else to milling their own grains, but they converted me. And God has given me this platform here on YouTube and through this podcast. And I'm able to tell so many other people because that one person told me and I may have a larger impact. Than they do, but without them, y'all wouldn't be impacted. So don't ever think that you can't make a difference. So those are my thoughts, y'all. ⁓ let me know in the comments below. I would love to hear your thoughts of making America healthy again. So again, recap, we don't need a nanny state. ⁓ we really need to be able to have these open conversations, you know, with our doctors, friends, family, ⁓ with our communities. We need to be able to have these conversations without biting each other's heads off. We need to have these conversations in love and understanding and logic and facts. ⁓ and then also, you know, we need to be reclaiming the lost skills that we that we have lost and start with one, you know, milling your grains, baking bread. That's one way. And then you're gonna start and you just beware because you may end up in the woods like me with a lot of chickens. I'm just saying. But you all we all have to start somewhere. And hopefully this is helpful and encouragement. ⁓ to you to just start with yourself with making America healthy again. And I think we're we might be on the on a good path to at least start making a little bit of a wave, a little bit of a difference, but it is going to take some time. So there you go, y'all. I hope y'all have a wonderful day. And I will talk to y'all again soon. Bye.