While the media is still too often dominated by discouraging reports on all
fronts there is a tidal change in progress, we just may be approaching
a tipping point of sorts.
Two examples have transcended the bounds
of what I call the “already-converted”
Al Gore’s An Inconvenient Truth and Michael Pollan’s The Omnivore’s Dilemma. An Inconvenient Truth was able to reach a mass audience with his message of the need for each of us to make different choices regarding our energy usage. The movie precipitated unprecedented dialogue in Washington D.C., in homes, corporate boardrooms and classrooms across the country. Even within our own community at NCNM we are taking
a good look at our energy choices and considering making much needed changes.
At the same time The Omnivore’s Dilemma struck a major chord in the country regarding the nature (or de-nature) of our national food supply; and, equally important, he offered compelling and sensible alternatives. Again, this work was able to speak to more than the already-converted. While still gaining much deserved applause from the sustainable food movement’s amen corner Pollan was also able to connect with an audience not necessarily inclined towards “organic food” or “sustainable agriculture.” I know this to be true for one concrete reason. My Dad, not a big supporter of movements of any sort, a dedicated salad avoider, a begrudging consumer of my Mom’s weekly farmer’s market trips and excellent cooking (he would be just as happy with a Dominoes pizza), devoured Pollan’s book.
Not only did he devour it, he promptly phoned me to tell me he thought it was the most important issue facing our nation and he wondered aloud how could he get involved.
Not to mention The Omnivore’s Dilemma was both a popular and critical success and this is near impossible in the book world today.
People are literally starving for change.
However, this change needs
to be tasteful.
It needs to be prepared for them and presented with the creativity and good care of a chef cooking for her or his family on a special occasion. A good meal is a story all its own and we
remember them fondly. This change needs to be nurtured as a good meal is nurturing. Pollan and Gore where successful because to differing degrees they told a compelling story, there was a narrative thread that people understood and it was riveting and well done. We are hardwired to respond to a good story well told, stories can transcend all sorts of boundaries, especially if they involve the realities of, and are told in the language of regular folks. Unfortunately, the voice of natural medicine has been muted in this cultural discourse.
This is true while more out of pocket money is spent annually on “complimentary and alternative” medicine then on conventional medicine.
I have a personal belief that people are inspired more by the opportunity to have a good time then out of fear and that common sense transcends impassioned argument (which I too often fall into). I also find good old-fashioned hard work with other people to be fun. The Helfgott Research Institute in Portland, OR is currently envisioning a way of unifying the impact of NCNM’s tremendous volunteerism within our larger community. And here is where we sit on the cusp of a great opportunity.
Portland is a hot-bed of civic activism, there are abundant examples of small local
organizations taking matters into their own hands and solving problems, and at least some of the time having fun and building a stronger sense of community while doing it, which in and of itself is healing. Many of the people who work at and attend NCNM are part of these groups and many more want to be.
Natural medicine has a vision that ties together the two threads so well presented by Gore and Pollan and yet people rarely make this connection in the general population.
Even though people may be ardently in favor of making changes in the environment and personally committed to doing so and want to support their local food chain, they might not see the connection between this and their health-care choices. The sustainable and organic food movement has been successful because on some level they have been able to de-polemicize their mission and yet still be able to increase awareness about the importance of local and sustainable agriculture and create more access to good food. This, while at the same time helping local and small-scale farmers become more successful and increase the size of their market. Something similar is happening relative to climate change, it has been pitched not as fundamentalism but common sense. In part they have been able to do this by aligning themselves down in the trenches with the people they hope to help and hearing from them what the existing barriers are.
Common sense speaks across all sorts of boundaries that otherwise might isolate people.
It just makes sense to purchase green power or light bulbs that use less energy, to ride your bike more. All these (and much more) are choices that people are willingly making everyday.
With a unified vision and concerted effort we can do an excellent job of demonstrating to the general public the way natural medicine weaves seamlessly into values they already hold. Just this week a group of NCNM people spent the day at City Hall spreading awareness about how cool natural medicine is. There are huge problems with health care in this country and most people are dissatisfied with the care they receive. Add to this that conventional medicine takes a dramatic toll on the environment, hospitals being one of the largest polluters wherever they are found.
Even if we ignore the medicine administered and just focus on the toxic nature of the waste and the amount of it, conventional medicine is an environmental issue.
This is a time that is ripe for us to get the word out in a positive and proactive way about who we are and how we do things.
One of the tenets of our medicine is that we listen to people’s story; we take the time to hear about our patients’ lives. We can be a powerful presence throughout the Portland Metro area by simply involving ourselves in our communities or in communities where we recognize there is a need, and show up first and foremost to listen to their stories. And then ask them how we can help. I am reminded of the Brazilian Liberation Theologist Paulo Freire’s work teaching literacy to sugarcane workers in Brazil. His method was to use the realities of his students’ everyday life as their “textbook.” He was able to achieve functional literacy in forty-five days and at the same time empowered people to define and begin to envision solutions to their problems. The natural health community is already playing an important role in addressing many of the problems our culture is facing and yet with a bit more focus the work we are already doing can reach a wider and wider audience and we can do much to remove the barriers between the natural medicine community and the general population. NCNM and the Helfgott Research Institute have the potential to take the lead in establishing the relevance of our medicine to larger segment of the public, and as part of the solution to more than just our country’s health problems.
This is exciting and will most likely hasten the approaching tipping
point.
Michael