After taking a philosophy class on the meaning of food, I have had some time to reflect on my eating habits and further my stance on how Americans should eat and think about their relations with the world and how it sustains them. So many people are "blind consumers" and do not care or concern themselves with where their food comes from and who their actions affect. We often see food as "products" which taste good. and that's about it. Many of us do not think about the hard work and labor that goes into our food and how many people are involved in the creation and growth of the food we eat on a daily basis.

Now that I'm graduating I plan on taking more control of my life and my eating habits. I refuse to be a bling consumer whose money supports slave and child labor. I refuse to be fooled into eating foods that have so many hidden preservatives and junk packed into them. I refuse to eat foods that come from abused animals. These simple standards of eating will change my life. Yes, I may stay in whole foods or local grocers for over two hours comparing labels and googling foods on my iPhone before I buy them, but that time and effort is what makes the difference.

Now that I will not be relying on the college to feed me, I will have so much more power to choose what I eat and where I buy my food from. Living in downtown Indianapolis is going to be amazing because of the resources available to me. I plan on going to the farmer's market every weekend and shopping at local stores.

I think it is important for our generation to realize that we can make a difference in the food industry and the way the world views food. I think change starts at the individual level for each person is responsible to make their life what he or she wants it to be; once people begin to transform, they spread their opinions and knowledge to others who will then think about how they can apply such ideas to their lives.

So don't be apathetic! Make the change today and take responsibility for how you treat one another and how you treat the earth... because if things keep going the way they are, we aren't going to have this beautiful and resourceful earth that we have been so blindly dependent on.