Late last night, I read various headlines on Google that boasted of Jay-Z announcing on his website that he and Beyonce have embarked on a 22-day challenge to become vegans. Feeling spiritually inspired by the upcoming date of his 44th birthday, Jay-Z stated on his website that "it just feels right!"
"Why now? There’s something spiritual to me about it being my 44th birthday and the serendipity behind the number of days in this challenge; 22 (2+2=4) coupled with the fact that the challenge ends on Christmas day…It just feels right!" - Jay-Z
Now, I'm no fanatic of Jay-Z or Beyonce. I don't have all their albums and don't subscribe as a member of the "Beyhive." However, I am a product of being born in 1983. Meaning I was raised in the 90's. I remember summers spent listening to Beyonce and crew (Destiny's Child) belt out notes from their infamous sophomore album, The Writings on the Wall. And I remember the gym going crazy when my high school drill team danced to Jay-Z's rendition of Hard Knock Life. So, I know their effect on pop culture.
Jay-Z's newly found food revelation as an extension of his spiritual and physical well-being sounds much like my process for the last two weeks. While writing this blog, I'm watching Food Matters. A 2008 documentary, it emphasizes the relationship between nutrition for attaining and maintaining good health as opposed to medicinal and prescription options. Prior to today I also watched Forks Over Knives, another documentary that promotes (and has evidence to back it up) a whole foods, plant-based diet as a means for curing many diseases such as heart disease and diabetes. I watched it two weeks ago and my mind was blown! The injection of GMOs, preservatives and other processed elements are widely contributing to higher rates of obesity in our children and a poor quality of life. Simply put, food is better for us when presented in its natural state---simply food.
Presently, me and my husband have eliminated processed foods in our home by roughly 80 percent. Is it more expensive? Is it a strain on our finances? Yes and yes! But sometimes you have to pay more to get more. And I'm no Jay-Z and Beyonce in terms of money...but I'm doing it! Once, I had my mind made up, there was not turning back! I'm a firm believer that my job as a parent is to provide my children with the best resources, knowledge, tools and information for them to make the best decisions when I am long gone from this Earth. And the best way to do it is to model it. Show and prove!
So, while I wasn't a huge fan of Magna Carta Holy Grail and didn't buy a Samsung Galaxy because the album would be free if I downloaded it; and I wasn't a big fan of his partnership with Barney's department. But, Jay-Z might be onto something here. He and Beyonce's influence in pop cultural crosses race, gender, age and socio-economic status. Together they have the power to move crowds and I like their choice to move people to think about their eating choices. For now, I'm eliminating processed foods more and more everyday and deciding what I'm going to do long-term.
And I'll be watching Jay and Bey for the next 22 days ;-)
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