Oh Sugar!

I have to begin by admitting to being a former sugar addict.  Never having dealt with weight issues, I felt I had a free pass to eat as much sugar as I wanted, whenever I wanted.  I consumed sugar daily and more often than not, all day long in some form or another.  Dessert was a must.  A full package of cookies in a sitting was no big deal.  I wasn’t consciously aware of any guilt. I thought I was a healthy person.  I was fit, I was active and I ate what I thought was a pretty healthy diet, besides the sugar of course.  Luckily, my body finally gave me a reason to look deeper into how I had been treating it.  A lot of things have changed for me now, my life has improved dramatically and I owe most of this to what I have learned about sugar.

Sugar, it’s seemingly sweet and simple, but this kitchen staple has a dark side.  Besides fake (chemical & genetically altered) and cruel (factory farms) food, this is one of the most damaging ingredients you can consume.  I could go into depth on the ways sugar harms the body and mind, but Vin Miller at Natural Bias has already written an excellent and thorough article on the topic here, which I highly recommend.

With a history steeped in unconscionable crimes against humanity and the environment along with a present day ‘Big Sugar’ lobby in Washington, sugar has more than it’s fair share of injustices.  Sugar has it’s roots in slavery and today still relies heavily on indentured servants.  One example of the grave mistreatment of human beings in the cultivation of sugar are the Bateyes (sugar workers’ towns) in the Dominican Republic.  Haitians are often bribed to take ‘jobs’ with the promise of a better life for their families.  They are trucked into the DR and then after confiscating their documentation (so they have little means for escape) are forced to live in police states.  They are expected to work 12 hours of hard labor each day for the average pay of two dollars…per day.  The work is some of the most labor intensive still performed by humans today and the conditions are harsh.  With extreme temperatures, clouds of dust and working mostly with machetes and bare hands, illness and injury runs rampant.  The workers have no access to medical care and very limited access to food.  Families are forced to purchase food from the stores erected in the bateyes at costs double and triple that of what is available in local towns.  Families caught growing their own food have their gardens destroyed, forcing many to go hungry or subsist chewing on canes of sugar.  You can imagine the damage this causes for their bodies and teeth, especially in growing children.

Everglades and Turner River by Chauncey Davis

Environmental damage is of great concern, especially here in the US where the ecologically important Florida Everglades is being destroyed by sugar farms.  Efforts to protect the environment and place taxes on sugar production have been futile as the Big Sugar lobbies hold huge power in government.  Two years ago the governor of Florida proposed a $1.75 Billion deal to buy out the 180,000 acres of Everglades land currently owned by the sugar elite, however this deal has been dramatically scaled back during negotiations.  Just last week the state voted in favor of a plan to purchase 27,000 acres for $1.97 Million.  Even though it sounds like a small victory, it is US Sugar who benefits the most from this deal.  The acreage is made up of six disconnected parcels, much of which has been devastated by plant disease and toxic chemicals such as DDT and arsenic.  US Sugar let go of some unusable and contaminated land and gets paid far above current market value.  The Everglades are in a critical state and this purchase has actually stopped the restoration work that was in process as available funding will now be appropriated to the sale.

Seek out healthy substitutes for sugar.  Cutting out sugar doesn’t mean never having a sweet again, once you re-balance your tastes a little sweetness goes a long way and it can be achieved through more natural and nutrient rich sources such as dates, honey, stevia, molasses, coconut sugar or maple syrup.  It is time for us to cultivate awareness and take action.  We need to inform ourselves because, currently, there is a carefully placed veil between us and the most basic things in our lives.  Information is readily available on most every topic, most times at the touch of a button.  Question, explore and find more meaningful ways to find joy than the fleeting euphoria of a sugar high.

Tagged as: Big Sugar Lobby, environment, Everglades, Haiti, health, indentured servants, slavery, social injustice, sugar, unhealthy