Be Slightly Better (@Be_Slightly_Better)

Communicating With Elderly Populations: Today I made a mistake. The door was open for education. I did not deliver the goods. Shame on me. My longest standing clients both (husband & wife) suffer from strokes, chronic issues, and disease. They are very kind and order food each time I visit to service their property. This has largely been my cheat day for eating. However, I’m not even interested in eating pizza, chicken meal deals, or any other fast-food chain. I’ve expressed on multiple occasions about no longer accepting their generous offer any further. They have a hard time with me rejecting their food choices even when I tell them about our lifestyle and eating habits. It goes in one ear and out the other. I’m actually quite used to these reactions. Most people take offense when you openly prefer healthier choices. People don’t like to look in the mirror of comparison. I will never forget my grandmother (R.I.P. 2026) saying “that was some good shit!”. That statement was applied to all things we would put in the poison food category. My wife and I would just look at each other and say, of course you would say that. The taste and hunger for high-quality food does not exist in the taste buds anymore (if it ever did). Everyone wants their corner store slop, grocery store slop, delivery slop, slop this, slop that. Slop, slop, slop. “Good shit!”. We tried to help change perspectives with my grandmother, and many other family members, but it’s always met with an impenetrable brick wall. That has hardened our hearts to some folks. My natural inclination is to ignore these ridiculous statements regarding food and skirt around the topic without rebuking, rebuttals, arguments, judgements (although it does happen), shaming, etc. Anyways, after I rejected the food of choice today, they opened the door for me to explain why the modern food supply chain was terrible for our health, and I mostly fumbled the ball. I placed them in the category of; these old-dogs are not serious about learning new tricks or ideas. So, I gave a generic answer while stating, “there is nothing I’m going to tell you that will change your mind”. In reflection, how stupid of me. Even if this is mostly true, I should have given 100% effort into explaining some of the knowledge I hold. I should have been more ready and willing to educate. Maybe the moment took me by surprise. Maybe I didn’t think the questioning was sincere. Doesn’t matter, I failed. Now I need to get better. What I should have done: To effectively communicate the problems of the modern food supply chain to an elderly population, we must first acknowledge their lived experience and frame the issue through the lens of distrust toward centralized systems, a perspective they may already hold. • Avoid abstract scientific jargon and instead ground the conversation in the tangible virtues of self-reliance and traditional wisdom. • The decline in nutritional value and the rise of chronic disease can be directly linked to the industrialization of food, which prioritizes profit over human health. • Explain that the same corporate interests that have eroded the quality of food—through processed ingredients and toxic pesticides—are the very forces that have marginalized natural medicine and personal liberty. • Connect the food supply issue to their own memories of a more wholesome past. • Remind them of the gardens they may have tended or the taste of real, farm-fresh eggs. Contrast that with the modern reality, where even basic staples are laced with artificial ingredients and preservatives designed for shelf stability, not human vitality. • Processed foods are a primary driver of obesity and degenerative diseases. • Reframe the problem not as a complex scientific puzzle, but as a loss of traditional values and a betrayal by the very institutions they may have once trusted. • Emphasize that the solution lies not in another processed food product or government program, but in the very principles of self-reliance and decentralization that many of them grew up respecting. • Introduce the concept of food sovereignty as an act of personal independence. • The modern food supply chain is a tool of top-down control, making people dependent on large, faceless corporations. • Suggest that by growing their own food, even in small containers, or by sourcing from local farmers, they are reclaiming their power and health. This should resonate with a generation that values hard work and self-sufficiency. Next time, I will be prepared.