Food Chain

We all intuitively understand the meaning of this phrase – big fish eat smaller fish and bigger fish eat them. It’s the natural order of things and over millions of years it has produced a balanced ecology and a multitude of creatures with ever more elaborate means of evasion and defence. Now in the 21st century, modern agricultural methods have all but destroyed this balance to the point where we now consider our distortions as normal and even desirable. Our arable lands are ravaged by monocultures requiring inordinate amounts of fertilisers and pesticides to sustain them and CAFOs produce our meat and poultry in conditions so vile that operations are largely conducted in secret. There is nothing natural about this food chain; it is doomed to failure. There is also a danger that we use our man-made thinking, rather than nature, as the template for our business affairs. Digestion is one of the most energy intensive operations in the body. It takes high levels of energy to create the digestive acids in the stomach, which in part explains why indigestion and heartburn are mostly ailments affecting older adults. We had a saying in our home – ‘Your eyes are bigger than your belly’ and we’re all familiar with the idea that we can ‘bite off more than we can chew’. These sayings vividly describe our tendency to overreach by relating it to physical discomfort. Certainly, many of our chronic illnesses are caused by what, when, how much and how quickly we eat our food. The habits we adopt as children can last a lifetime and, all too often, that lifetime is shortened as a result. Learning to eat slowly, modestly, even mindfully, giving thanks for the abundance, richness and providence of what’s before us prevents us from overeating and greatly improves our digestion. It’s also easier to digest real food rather than edible products formulated for addiction. Poor eating habits often result in indigestion, which has given rise to a variety of remedies, most of which bring instant relief but actually exacerbate the problem. Instead of reducing acid production through the use of Proton Pump Inhibitor (PPI’s) medications we actually need to strengthen our stomach acid. It is fermentation of improperly rendered foodstuffs, caused by weak acid, that produces excess gases, which then escape up through the alimentary canal and cause pain. Corporate takeovers, whether welcome or hostile, often flounder due to cultural mismatch. A boardroom idea, with seemingly faultless logic, fails to win the support of those affected. The head of the organisation has made the decision but the heart has not been consulted. Boardroom predictions of enhanced efficiencies through economies of scale, and attendant redundancies, result in overworked and disgruntled remainers. Companies with such callous disregard for their employees are treating staff like CAFO livestock. Instead of feedstuff antibiotics, staff are fed cash mollifiers and short-term incentives to win their support and stop the risk of ‘leaver infection’. But those who can leave usually do and the problem worsens. Contrast this with business development that follows a natural, organic evolution. Groups of people with a shared interest combine their efforts in mutually supportive ways for the benefit of their communities. Occasionally new ventures emerge to meet a need and staff join friends in adjoining businesses in a symbiotic relationship benefitting all and expanding capability. Enthusiastic staff engage in upskilling activities constantly preparing to meet future opportunities. Such organisations attract talented professionals with youthful attitudes that accommodate divergent opinions. In these high energy environments existing teams break up and new teams readily form. This is business as it should be. Some years ago it was mandated, by lenders, that small start-up operations take out ‘Personal Protection Insurance’ (another PPI) almost in anticipation of (stress induced) failure of its principals. It’s a sick system indeed where another tax is imposed on start-ups to serve lenders at the top; rather like taking an antacid remedy before a meal. But it’s a healthy system where the food chain promotes natural growth of evolutionary ideas that serve all.