I'm sitting in Starbucks in the Marriott Hotel, chewing on some Raw Coconut Granola from The Squeeze, popping some organic chlorella tablets, right next to Spilaurina - my old new friend and new soul sister.
As most of you already know, I have been in Anaheim, USA since 28 February 2014 working. ExpoWest 2014 is my first foray into the large, noisy, exciting world of international natural products. 11 days have passed since, and the one word that comes to mind is:
WOW.
Since I'm writing this article in retrospect, I shall have to break this is a few parts - you'd want all the juicy details anyway, and I'd want to share with you all I have experienced and learnt. Communication is a 2-way street - and sharing is caring. Isn't that what they always say? =)
Although I had my plane tickets booked in advance, I hadn't sorted out my accommodation until 3 days before departing. A short scramble onto Booking.com and I find myself acquainted with Motel 6 Anaheim Maingate.
Being a fuss-free, the-world-is-my-home kinda traveller, my expectation for accommodations are really low (a bed and a roof, really does suffice). So stepping into Motel 6 Anaheim Maingate was a very very good surprise. I know all of you must think "UGH" when you hear the word "motel", but I must insist that the entire establishment was clean, well decorated and extremely comfortable.
Not too shabby!
Unpacking ensued and if you must know what my bag was filled with, it was food.
Yep. Why wouldn't I bring some of my own products? They're amazing superfoods!
As mentioned in my previous post, starting-up isn't a glamorous thing. Very few of us, in the initial start-up phase will live well, comfortable or exorbitantly. On the contrary, we're extremely watchful of cashflow - so every penny/cent we can save, we will save. And you know what? We don't care - if anything, I relish in the opportunity to live simply - because every experience, even food, becomes that much more precious. You become grateful for the little things in life.
I spent the first few days in Anaheim getting acquainted with the neighbourhood and working through the ExpoWest exhibitor list, engaging and familiarizing myself with the exhibitors, and mapping out a strategy for who I would like to meet, what I would like to see, and what I would like to know.
The first thing that blew my mind was the number of exhibitors at the expo. The list is MASSIVE and the variety is astounding.
The second thing that struck me was the simplicity of getting work done here in USA. It was so easy to pick up the phone, call interested parties and get information. Information and support are so readily accessible here that I remember sitting in my chair, staring at my phone and wondering how I could export such simplicity and support back to Hong Kong.
The third thing that struck me as I was making my way to a national supermarket chain, on Day 1 in Anaheim, to hunt for some food (no, I had no money to bus to Wholefoods in Huntington) was the number of fast food chains there were in a place that was right opposite Disneyland. It shocked me and saddened me all at the same time - fast food and non-foods were the options for the children and the parents. It makes me wonder why no effort was put into increasing the accessibility of natural, wholesome, healthy foods to the children who visit Disneyland. What kind of values and habits are we, those in the food industry, instilling in the youths of tomorrow?
Go Mickey.
Coming from a background in psychology, and applying a behavioural conditioning perspective, this worries me. Consider this:
Children and their families are basking in positivity visiting or just coming from their visit to Disneyland. They see Mickey mouse and Disney characters all outside. They walk to the main street and are hungry but happy. They walk into a fast food chain (because that's all that is available) and then they eat together in shared joy and happiness. There is laughter. Fond memories are created in the children and they remember happily their visit to Disneyland. This could potentially become a subconscious program where they associate happiness with fast food, or a happy outing with fast food. I'm not saying it definitely will be so, but chances are possible. These children grow up continuing to eat fast food because it makes them happy (fond memories) and also because fast food (as we all know) is addictive. The cycle continues. It gets harder to break out of. This continues into adulthood.
Perhaps some might be lucky to meet a mentor or get introduced to a person who educates them about the disbenefits of eating non-foods. It might be education in school. It might be a sudden desire to break the cycle because they begin to realise how weak they have become or how their wellness has been compromised. In the worst case scenario, it takes a meeting with eating disorders and little guidance to set them back on the right path. In my career as a psychologist, I have seen a myriad of outcomes and heard countless stories of pain. And it reminds me, that sometimes, all people need are just options. A way out. Sometimes, inspite of greater intentions, they don't know where to look, who to go to for advice and how to do better, because there just simply isn't any guidance.
So again, I find myself filing a mental note to myself that this was something I hope to avoid in Asia. It's an opportunity to make a difference and no matter how hard the struggle, I would love to do it and believe that many others share the similar desire. We just need to pull together.
I finally get into said nation-wide supermarket chain store and am blown away by the scale of the superstore. It has everything - from clothes, sports equipment, furniture to food. What blew me away next, is how unfortunate that the fresh produce section was a meager 1/5 of the produce section and possible 1/50 of the whole store.
Entering said superstore
The fresh produce section. Yep, this was all there was. Let's not even talk about organic.
Thinking that there might be salvation in the form of raw nuts somewhere, I decided to continue exploring.
It didn't get better.
Aisles and aisles of severely processed foods crammed with additives.
Sugary sauces
More sugar; just bigger bottles.
More & more sugar!
And... Vegetable oils. *sighs* Premature death would ensue if I consumed all these products.
The landscape of the average consumer's food options. Yep! It's not very promising is it?
That galvanised me into action. I didn't want to take action too late in Hong Kong. I didn't want this to be our landscape in Asia. I just didn't want people to be deprived of knowledge and options. I know that my strengths are my legal, psychological and business background. However, the only 'weakness' I have as a health foods entrepreneur is that I do not have an officially certified nutritional background. A training in psychology has taught me how to hunt, read and analyse scientific data, and a training in law has taught me the value in chasing references and resources and plowing the mine field of data efficiently.
Now, all I need is an official education in nutrition. So I began taking an online course:
Screenshot of one of my classes.
Although I finished it, I can't say I did well on it. In many cases, I disagreed with the material taught - that animal fats are bad for you, food additives as we see them on labels is acceptable as they are not harmful to health, and that calories are a good indicator of the nutrient density of the foods.
Well, now I have a nutritional education.
Yaay me.
But I sucked at it as it varied distinctively from all scientific data research I have read. Did it help? Sure, I can speak the lingua franca of nutritionists, but will I apply it to my lifestyle and advice to people?
Probably not.
There were some interesting tidbits, but I'll stick with the scientific data I've read and peoples' experiences about foods, diets, lifestyles and what my body tells me.
I believe Mother Nature knows what she's doing, and since we are her children, anything chemically formulated and unnatural cannot be part of our genetic code.That's my belief. Please feel free to disagree.
As I near the end of my solitude in Anaheim, and as we approach the beginning of ExpoWest, I find myself asking myself, what my purpose was for ABS. What does ABS want to achieve? What can ABS do? We've already set the wheels in motion for societal change. But now, I want to do more and I believe WE can do more.
As I ready myself to tackle the string of emails I see sitting in my inbox, I shall leave you with this thought:
"Your present circumstances don't determine where you can go; they merely determine where you can start."
- Nido Qubein
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