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Bishop Robert Barron in a recent homily suggested there are many things that we can fast from during this Lenten season. These included our cell phones, television, alcohol and of course food.

It struck me that in the 21st century, at least in the West but I suspect elsewhere, we are all addicts in a consumer society and this is the central cause of poverty, obesity, climate change, sickness not just in each individual but in society as a whole. But how has this happened? Well perhaps a couple of examples would help.

Growing up in the 50s and 60s in the UK, television entered our world, my parents rented a black and white set which if I remember correctly, was able to show just 2 channels, BBC and ITV. There was a cut off-time just before 6pm when children’s programmes not only ended, but the TV went completely blank. There followed a period when parents were able to read to their children and prepare them for bed and there could be no arguments about wanting to stay up to watch something else because as far as we children were concerned, TV had ended.

Somehow, more channels gradually became available, television morphed from monochrome to colour and the close down before 6pm vanished. Fast forward to today and we have hundreds if not thousands of TV channels and streaming services available 24 hours a day on as many TV sets in the home as a family can afford – or obtain on never ending credit. Are we any better informed? Does all this choice allow us to be free to choose what we watch? Well, in a way it does, but it has also allowed us to become not just consumers but addicts too, ready to binge on the next season of whatever takes our fancy. Worse still, we now have a plethora of ‘reality’ programmes which in reality are pure fantasy. Children are exposed to violence, crudeness, sexual content and more, whilst adults have somehow lost the will to switch off and say ‘no’.

Another example is food. Again, growing up when I did, fruit and vegetables were seasonal. Strawberries were a treat once or twice in the early summer and we looked forward to their arrival. Meat and poultry came from the local butcher and was generally, though not exclusively, sourced in Britain. Exceptions for example, were Danish bacon and New Zealand lamb. There were probably others. Butter and milk were delivered fresh to the doorstep by the milkman. Processed food was actually processed in the home using whatever was available in the cupboard and people knew how to prepare food and make it go further, this was especially important in the larger families that existed then – I was one of four hungry boys who filled up on copious amounts of porridge before school and stew and dumplings in the evening. There was very little obesity around then with perhaps only one or two boys in a school of 600 being overweight and called ‘fatty’ or nicknamed ‘Billy Bunter’!

Then supermarkets selling cheaper food sprang up everywhere and as more became available, more was consumed. This meant that food producers had to produce cheap meat and so farming became more intense, chemicals were used on the land, animals were pumped full of who knows what and ready meals arrived on the scene quickly followed by takeaways and fast food chains on every high street. Indeed, some 20 years ago I accompanied a party of Scouts to Hungary, a few years after communism fell in that country and one of the fist arrivals was McDonalds.

The net result is that in the 21st century we are all being poisoned, mainly by the sugar content of our food and drink, which our bodies do not require but which, in my view, is the most dangerous substance known to man. Obesity levels are at pandemic levels, hospitals are overflowing with people suffering from the illnesses that inflammation has caused (which is most conditions) and informed physicians are well aware of this underlying cause. But government, bought and paid for by the beneficiaries of ill health, namely the pharmaceutical companies, aided and abetted by the food and drink industry, does nothing.

In the meantime, we allow ourselves to be distracted by mainstream media spouting climate change, AI, aliens and UFOs, the latest gender narrative and sport whilst so-called celebrities and influencers promote veganism, alternative man-made foods, insect meat and every other dietary fad that can be found in a laboratory.

So perhaps Lent is a time to review our own lifestyles and to fast from one thing we consume every day, from TV to social media to food and drink. Perhaps then, in addition to an enhanced spiritual awareness, we will also start to recognise our own addictions and begin to deal with each one. Maybe, just maybe, if we all consumed a little less, we can change the world for the better – but that’s a discussion for another day!