Crossfit, and the Organic Hysteria

After being given this assignment, I was excited to be able to write on a free topic. I was hoping to write about what I’ve been doing over the weekend. Then I realized I had to connect it to the readings, and I began to get a little nervous because I wasn’t exactly sure how I would do this. Well, to begin, let me just tell you all what has been going on this weekend. I have been attending a Crossfit Certification Seminar. This means, by Sunday night I will be an official Crossfit Certified Trainer. Crossfit is a methodology of fitness that incorporates ten points of fitness performance attributes. These attributes include, but are not limited to power, strength, coordination, agility, and respiratory endurance. Along with this certification, I’m planning on getting a personal training certification that will allow me to train my own clients. So this has all been very exciting to me. Along with these certifications, there have been changes to my diet due to Crossfit’s nutritional plan. This eating plan is called the “Paleolithic” diet. This diet consists of eating meat, vegetables, nuts, seeds, no sugar and small amounts of starch.
Following the readings, I came across a Whole Foods article written by Seth Lubove. He wrote about Whole Foods and its sale of organic products. He was critical of the selling of these organic products and he was skeptical of their benefits. I know this article was written prior to 2004 and therefore prior to recent literature regarding the benefits of organic products. The article also spoke of the prices of these products and their drastic profit margins. While I know Whole Foods really increases their prices on many products, it is important to consider the experience that one gets when visiting the store. It isn’t a normal grocery store, and this isn’t because of their large selection of organic products, but because of their presentation. They first began as a niche market grocery store, but I believe within the next 30 years, after much of the literature I have read regarding the benefits of organic products and naturally raised animals, this niche market will grow into a larger market. At this point, I believe competition will increase and prices will become competitive just as in any other industry.
Because I am a big fitness enthusiast, I want to touch on the benefits of the products that Whole Foods has decided to sell, even if it is at a large profit at the consumer’s expense. First, I’m a big meat guy, and I wanted to know what all the fuss was about with organic, grass-fed, and “natural” meat products. These products are important to our diet for many reasons. In the times before cows were set to graze in pastures and fed grains, they were free to roam and eat grass. The relevance behind this is that cows that eat grains become high in Omega 6 fatty acids, and low in Omega 3 fatty acids. On the other hand, cows that are fed grass contain high amounts of Omega 3 fatty acids, and lower Omega 6 fatty acids. This is important because high Omega 6 fatty acid content leads to heart disease and high cholesterol. Organic, and natural meats become “certified organic” if they do not contain any additives or hormones. These additives and hormones are given to the cow to give us a meat that is artificially enlarged to sell more meat at a cheaper price. Studies have also shown that many of the additives contained in non-organic products cause a chemical reaction in the body which tells it to store fat. There are many more benefits to organic products that I won’t be able to go in depth to, such as the support of local farmers; however, I hope the aforementioned information is at least enough to get people steering towards the right direction.
The weekend is wrapping up, and I have another day of certification to get through. I hope to get more research done in nutrition, but I want to encourage the readers of this blog, even if it is just my TA or professor to visit the following website, www.eatwild.com. The website contains a lot of great information on the benefits of grass fed, and natural products. Again, while I enjoyed the Whole Foods article because I enjoy the store so much, I was displeased with the painting of this CEO as a money sucker. The article made me feel like I was being scammed for purchasing these products. I feel that because of the rarity and difficulty in attaining organic products, a store that offers them at a higher price can still be seen as reasonable.