One of the things that I find most interesting about fitness is how much it ties into the rest of the world. I was at a networking event organized by Be Social Change (a great organization to know, btw) and was surprised at how many people and organizations I’d heard of through my own investigations in the fitness space.
Food Affects Personal Health
While I was at this particular event, I started a conversation with someone from Buildon. Their mission is to “break the cycle of poverty, illiteracy and low expectations through service and education.” In particular, they work with high school students in some of the world’s toughest educational environments. This may seem unrelated to fitness, however, I had heard of them, which is what I’d like to tell you about.
Food Educates
One of the most important pieces of health is nutrition. What you eat is a HUGE determiner of your wellness. That means that food and food systems are important. To tackle any diet, you have to look at not only what people have access to, but also how and why they have that access. When I learned this as a personal trainer, I started looking. As I went down that rabit hole, I was lead to local food, which lead me to urban agriculture.
One of the things about urban agriculture is that it very often becomes an educational experience. These little oases draw people into an experience with the natural world that they don’t often get in an urban environment. Children in particular, especially if they have been born and raised in the city, might have no experience with growing plants, much less food. As a result, urban argiculture often morphs organically into a place of education. That’s how I ended up finding Buildon. Somewhere along the line, I was reading about a community garden or a rooftop farm which lead me to their community education, which lead me to children’s programs, which lead me to Buildon.
You’re Often Only One Or Two Steps Removed
What I think is cool about this little anecdote is that it showed me, once again, that people are often only one or two degrees removed from something they never think about and fitness is such a great example of this concept. I loved the fact that I knew an organization because of my interest in healthy food. It illustrates the way that fitness connects to so much more than just one’s own personal health. Our bodies are both a reflection of our world and a connection to it. I’m hopeful that through that relationship, we can all connect more intimately and hopefully, become a much more healthy society in the process.