The Hidden Cost of Cheap Feed (and How to Fix It)
Quick Recap for Busy Chicken Peeps
Why “cheap” food leaves us empty inside
What big ag doesn’t want you asking about labels
The myth of 300 grams of carbs a day
How we are what our animals eat, too
Why real nutrition starts with hard questions
When Food Feels Off
“Food is thy medicine.” – Hippocrates.
Ever eat something and feel off right after? I’m not talking about that half-cooked hot dog at 7-Eleven or grandma’s flavorless casserole. I mean food that fills your belly but leaves your body empty. The kind that makes you bloated, tired, and running to the bathroom like you swallowed a sewer.
I’ve had those meals. We all have. You pile up your plate, grab seconds, maybe thirds...and still feel hungry.
Why?
Labels Don’t Lie (But They Don’t Tell the Truth Either)
At the grocery store, do you hunt for the lowest cost or flip the label and read what’s inside? Mono-this, poly-that, high-fructose corn syrup, ingredients you can’t pronounce but know damn well aren’t food.
As someone with a nut allergy, I have to read labels. My life depends on it. And after years of scanning those black-and-white Nutrition Facts, I noticed a pattern:
The cheaper the food, the longer the list of things that sound like they belong in a chemistry lab. The more expensive, the shorter the list...sometimes just two or three ingredients.
And yet, when you line up the macronutrients on those labels—carbs, fats, proteins—they look eerily similar. That’s by design. The USDA’s MyPlate guidelines tell us how much we “should” eat based on a 2,000-calorie diet. One where we are supposed to eat 300g of carbohydrates every single day.
But the dirty little secret? Those numbers weren’t written for your body. They were written to sell more grain.
Corn. Soy. Wheat.
Sugar by another name.
The American Diet is a Scam
No other country in the world recommends loading up on that much sugar. And look at us...we’re the sickest, fattest, most medicated nation on earth. We trade real food for cheap feed and wonder why our bodies break down.
Here’s what I’ve come to believe:
We are what we eat.
And we are what our animals eat.
When we pump them full of cheap feed, we eat cheap food through them. When we live on processed carbs, we pay the price with our skin, our joints, our energy, and our minds.
The Mirror Doesn’t Lie
This is the hard part. Strip down. Stand in front of a mirror. Look at yourself. Notwith shame, but with honesty.
What do you see? Dry skin? Wrinkles? Hair thinning? Extra padding around the belly, thighs, and chin?
Do you look more like Davinci's anatomical drawing of a strong, lean human...or more like a stuffed bear, stretched and sagging under the weight of food your body didn’t want in the first place.
It’s not just age.
It’s not just genetics.
One factor you can control is what you eat...and how you eat it.
