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Letter To The Editor - Newton TAB Friday, March 25, 2005
The Newton TAB has given recent attention to hate crimes in Nonantum and to prejudice crimes at Newton North, and according to the Newton TAB, one participant at the “Newton Dialogue on Race” forum said last week that “the Tab should take a more active role in fostering racial tolerance and harmony in the city."
I called the TAB to follow up on the suggestion, and Greg Reibman, editor-in-chief, advised that I write a letter to the editor.
Letter writing is fine, as are the forums and open dialogues and statements such as the one from Hubie Jones, who said in the March 23rd 2005 issue, “It is absolutely unacceptable for any young person in this community to feel afraid. (We) adults have a responsibility to end that now!”
The question is: What is the positive action each individual can take to reduce hate, violence, prejudice and crime?
I have one answer!
As an adult with a responsibility to my 26 month old daughter, Abigail, and as a professional providing services to optimize health to citizens far and wide, I say: Return to eating biologically correct foods!
It is common knowledge that our thoughts and actions and the choices we make in our daily lives are influenced by our physiological, psychological and spiritual states. These influences have as their foundation the food we cook and eat. Consider the power of food in our lives with the following examples:
In 1981, when dietary changes were made at the Tidewater detention home in Virginia, the findings had front page impact. Stephen J. Schoenthaler reported a 45 percent decline in formal disciplinary actions for twenty-four boys during three months of a sugar-reduced diet.
While noting that too little scientific research is available on the diet/aggression connection, Dr. Melvyn R. Werbach argues in an article, “Nutritional Influences on Aggressive Behavior,” Journal of Orthomolecular Medicine, Vol. 7, No.1, 1995, “a nutritional approach should be considered in the treatment of the aggressive behavioral syndrome.” Additionally, Schoenthaler reported “overall violence fell 66 percent from 306 incidents to 104.” He went on to say rather convincingly, “Dietary changes can produce a significant reduction in violence and antisocial behavior in incarcerated juveniles.”
The Asst. Superintendent of Pre-Release at the Hampden County Jail at Stony Brook in Massachusetts, Toni Atmore, stated in DIET AND CRIME, Japan Publications, 1987, by Michio Kushi, “Our state and county correctional facilities are overflowing with men and women who possess a range of disorders of which (high/low) blood sugar is epidemic. And on a daily basis we see problematic behavior which is made worse by the large consumption of sugar, additives, preservatives, and refined and processed foods….We in the criminal justice field can have a substantial impact on… the problems of inmate health care, prevention of disease, and improvements in behavior by making available in a voluntary way a natural whole foods diet and the macrobiotic education which is the key to its success. Through macrobiotics we have one of the most powerful healing approaches known to mankind. Let us share this wealth of diet and lifestyle with those who are in dire need of it.”
I myself believe that when one regularly eats violently killed animal flesh, one takes on the energy of fear and violence. I also believe, and know from personal experience, that eating refined white food, i.e. white bread, white flour and white sugar and salt, can only exacerbate the problem.
While most adults have learned to hold in check any violent emotions that arise from the foods we eat, I could see where children who are undisciplined in societal norms would tend to act out the fear and violence brewing within them, especially when drugs have been added to the concoction within their bodily chemistry.
These problems of crime, hatred and violence CANNOT be isolated from our physical condition and way of life. Only by understanding the interconnectedness of mind, body, and spirit, can we begin to solve these problems.
My suggestion for fostering racial tolerance and harmony in the City of Newton is to begin a diet of whole grains and vegetables, just like the new January 12, 2005 United States Dietary Guidelines suggest for maintaining health.
David Snieckus
99 Crescent Street
Newton, MA 02466
617-964-2951
david@davidsnieckus.com
www.DavidSnieckus.com
