Yesterday 🎶 I visited the neurologist again. I’ve been cured with medication that, after years of use, had made me ill. It’s called drug-induced parkinsonism. Just to be “safe,” they also tested me for Parkinson’s disease. Well, fortunately,  I don’t have neurodegenerative parkinsonism.

In the waiting room, I sat among a bunch of “farmers.” That is, older people who speak the dialect of Drenthe NL and look like they might have a farming background and therefore come into extra contact with pesticides; a known cause of Parkinson’s.

As we walked outside, past the restaurant, I smelled the aroma of cheese- and sausage rolls.

I may have been vegan for almost 10 years; I was craving something tasty. But there are hardly any vegan options in the hospital. Let alone healthy ones.

When I was in the hospital for surgery about 15 years ago, I was given a bowl of custard (that’s the closest translation of “vla”, which is milk with sugar and artificial vanilla aroma) when I woke up. To regain my strength. Even though it has a similar nutritional value to a Snickers bar. (At least that still contains peanuts.)

My partner was in the hospital about five years ago. After surgery, they were given the vegan option: a cracker with jam. Apparently, they’ve never heard of bananas in the hospital.

Yesterday I was at Ekoplaza, the organic grocer. A wonderful outing for me because the organic store smells good and the customers are more like me. They have a lot of great vegan options and bulk ginger powder that’s cheaper than the standard version at the big box stores. Also, almost everything is quite expensive, with the exception of organic kale, which is almost twice as expensive as the organic kale at the big stores. So that’s incredibly expensive.

That price difference is understandable, people assure me. Okay, so a stew with a tenner’s worth of kale in it is simply not feasible for me. So I often end up with the poison kale. Incidentally, it was on sale today at Jumbo and cost a fraction of the kale that’s not in the “Dirty Dozen.” But it came from Spain, which is pretty insane, because it doesn’t freeze there. Never mind, no cruciferous dark green leafy vegetables then.

What I find quite annoying in Ekoplaza, by the way, is that I find animal products in all sorts of strange places. Dried sausages next to the cookies (with herbs, so apparently ethically responsible), and when I was at the pastries, there were also some rolls filled with dismembered animal parts (see photo) and other meat products mixed in. Truly disgusting.

Today a friend pointed me to a “Lubach” late show about goat farming. The title was: Are goats a danger to humans?

I think the answer is: humans are a greater danger to humans. And to goats.

It’s insane how people are collectively committing suicide/murder by drinking themselves to death and stuffing themselves with animal parts and -secretions.    Have you been to the cardiologist? As a consolation, have a nice piece of cake with whipped cream before leaving. Or have a body parts sandwich. Those neurology patients who produced that junk already have Parkinson’s!

The hospital truly embodies the Dutch’s lack of knowledge about healthy eating.
There’s a high-tech solution for almost every problem, but God forbid you serve people anything other than sickening junk.
In some ways, we’re still living in the Dark Ages.

Fortunately we’re blessed with the option to take responsibility ourselves, and become the master of our own health, food wise. Which is also beneficial for your conscience.