Battling Anger in the Face of Adversity
It’s Friday April 27, 2018 as I begin to write this article out of frustration and anger. You see, I just found out that I’ve been lied to, and that this lie has been going on for the past 4 months. As you may know from reading my articles, I am very passionate about living a healthy lifestyle. I’ve also been suffering with physical and mental health issues which has made it necessary for me to eat a healthy organic, non-gmo diet.
In January of this year I became very sick and went to see a Korean acupuncturist and herbalist who helped me greatly. He told me to stop eating chicken, turkey, beef and bison and to only eat pork, duck or fish. I am not a pork eater and I tend to stay away from fish due to the toxic nature of the ocean. So I sought out the best duck I could find. At first I started cooking organic duck legs from whole foods, but I soon discovered how amazing the duck breast tastes. While eating out at a neighborhood restaurant I had ordered the duck breast. It was so amazing that I had to find out how to cook it myself. This restaurant suggested that I buy the duck breast from a neighborhood butcher called “MiCalli’s Meat and Fish” (name changed for anonymity purposes). They told me that they sell only the best organic meats! So I called MiCalli’s on the phone and asked if they sold organic duck breast and they replied, “Yes.” So I had them place a pound of duck breast on hold me for me. When I arrived I asked them again, “So is this duck definitely organic?” Once again they told me “Yes”, however it is not certified organic. “Ok”, I said but it’s still eating an organic diet right?, pastured raised, etc? And they answered, “Yes”, so I believed them!
So now it’s 4 months later and I finally see that they’ve displayed the name of the company that they are purchasing their ducks from. The label says “Grumeed Farms” (name changed once again for anonymity purposes). So naturally I decide to email Grumeed Farms just to make sure that the ducks are really organic, as I still suffer with health problems and I’m trying to figure out if the duck may be contributing to these problems. I had been noticing that I was feeling worse after eating the duck breast and I actually started eating salmon instead. Grumeed Farms never emailed me back though! So today, the day I am writing this article, Friday April 27th, I decide to call Grumeed Farms. I was able to get someone on the phone and asked if their ducks are really organic. To my astonishment, not only are their ducks NOT organic, but their diet may contain GMO’s (particularly GMO wheat)! Holy shit! You mean to tell me that I’ve been lied to by the butcher? And I’ve been poisoning myself for the past 4 months? I was flabbergasted and hung up.
So now I am boiling over with anger, yet I cannot let this anger get the best of me! What can I do to utilize my anger in a productive manner? Well, it came to me to write a negative review on yelp. This is not something I’ve done before because I really don’t like writing bad reviews, but in this case it felt necessary! However, this did not feel like enough to me…so I decided to post my review all over facebook! Okay, feeling better but now I’m wondering if I was wrong? Perhaps they had switched to a different duck distributor after I became a customer? So I called up MiCalli’s to ask them if they’ve always used Grumeed Farm’s ducks. The answer was “Yes.” So I asked them one more time, “Have you really always just used Grumeed Farm’s ducks?” “Yes, always Grumeed!” “Well then you guys have lied to me and I will never shop there again. Go online and read my review!” And I hung up!
Still unsatisfied, I filed a complaint with the Better Business Bureau. Then another complaint with Consumer Affairs! Hmmm…Feeling better but still pretty pissed, I said, “You know what? I’m going to write an article about this.” What a great idea! A new topic for an article emerges out of anger! And as I sit here typing these words, knowing that people will read this article and realize that they really can’t trust the meat industry, I will know that I used this unfortunate incident as a platform for positive change. You see, this article isn’t just about battling anger in the face of adversity. It’s an article about lies in the food industry. I should’ve double checked this duck company from the very beginning. So it’s my fault for trusting a business that lies. Now I will have to move on, having learned from my mistakes. But I do feel better that I vented in a productive way!
Perhaps if more people were productive with their anger we’d get a lot more accomplished on this planet and have a lot less violence. So please keep this in mind the next time you feel angry or frustrated. There’s no need to take out guns and start shooting up schools, or whatever. There’s always positive productive ways to deal with bad situations. Sometimes we just need an avenue for expression! (Sigh of relief) I’m feeling much better now thank you...at least for the time being!
Be sure to check out next weeks article "Is your Organic Restaurant Really Organic?" ...as my food saga continues. Yes, unfortunately the story gets worse! More lies!
Jennie Haiman is a Reiki Master Energy Healer, Co-Founder of Self Saviorz Society California Non-Profit 501(c)(3), Poet, Author and Entertainer with goals to help raise the vibration and consciousness of humanity!
