Global Health

The future we feed

There is an old Cherokee story where an elder talks to a younger member of the tribe. This elder describes that there is a constant battle within all of us. This battle is between two wolves: one is evil (characterized by anger, envy, jealousy, sorrow, regret, greed, arrogance, self-pity, guilt, resentment, inferiority, lies, false pride, superiority, and ego) while the other is good (characterized by joy, peace, love, hope, serenity, kindness, benevolence, empathy, generosity, truth, compassion, and faith). The young one then asks, “Who wins?” To which the elder responded, “the one we feed.”

Broadening the moral of this story to a global stage, it still resonates for how we as a society foster, or have potential to foster, a thriving and prosperous future for our young ones. So, I beg the question: “Which future will we feed?”

The OneHealth framework offers a roadmap by which we can bring about a more harmonious world that produces less disparities and inequities and harnesses respect for all things and people; quintessentially feeding the good wolf/future. OneHealth is grounded in the framework of interconnectedness between people, animals, plants, and their shared environments; much like the beliefs and cultures of the Cherokee people and other Native peoples. This means your breath is not separate from my breath, nor is your pain or hurt separate from that of the ecosystems we rely on for sustenance, which, in turn, cannot survive without hospitable environments.

When we translate these understandings of interconnections between all things into action and policy, we can make significant strides in bringing about a healthier global population as a whole and molding a more sustainable and favorable future for our young ones. Being mindful of what we choose to consume and the processes that brought those resources to us is important, but it is only impactful if those individual-level shifts are met with more system-level changes in extraction, production, transportation, manufacturing, and distribution practices. This highlights the importance of local, regional, national, and global level action in concert.

In order to feed the good future of our planet, we must appreciate that ‘we’ are not healthy until ‘they’ are healthy. This effectively speaks to the need to discontinued divisive thoughts and actions that separate the proximal ‘we’ from the distal ‘they’. Let us all consider one another as brothers, sisters, children, and relatives from the same family. With that, compassion for the morbidity and mortality experienced in different populations at the hands of health outcomes we now take for granted (food-, water-, and vector-borne and vaccine-preventable diseases) will lead to more equitable action and implementation to ensure we all have an opportunity to feed our own wolves and feed futures to come.

Please follow the link below to learn more about the OneHealth Initiative. OneHealth Initiative: https://onehealthinitiative.com/

This blog was originally written for the American Academy of Pediatrics National Public Health Week Themes in collaboration with the APHA