The Cost of Comfort: Is Easy Food Making Us Weak?

You’ve probably heard the quote by G. Michael Hopf:
“Hard times create strong men. Strong men create good times. Good times create weak men. And weak men create hard times.”

I’d argue the same cycle applies to our food.

Hard work creates strong food.
Strong food creates good times.
Good times create comfortable food.
And comfortable food… eventually creates weakness.

Not weakness in the moral sense—weakness in the physical, metabolic, mental, and societal sense.

Let’s break this down together.

What Happens When Food Becomes Too Comfortable?

We live in the easiest food era in human history.

A full meal can be ordered, delivered, and eaten without leaving the couch. That’s “good times.” But what does that convenience cost?

• Ultra-processed foods now dominate the American diet—kids ages 6–11 eat the most at 65%, and adults still average around 53%
• These foods are engineered to keep you eating, not nourished.
• The ingredient list reads like a science experiment—not like something that came from the ground, a pasture, or an animal.

Comfort food has become synthetic food.
And synthetic food creates synthetic health.

Easy calories create hard consequences:

• Inflammation
• Obesity
• Anxiety
• Low energy
• Nutrient deficiencies
• Chronic illness

This is a system designed to profit from comfort and dependency.

How Does Easy, Ultra-Processed Food Erode Our Resilience?

When food requires no thought, no effort, and no connection, something deeper is lost.

We lose the resilience that comes from real nourishment.
Resilience that past generations didn’t have to “learn”—it was baked into their daily life.

Think about this:

Past generations:

• Cooked from scratch
• Ate whole foods
• Knew their farmers
• Understood (and appreciated) where food came from
• Didn’t outsource every meal to a mega corporation

Today:

• Kids can go an entire week without touching a single real food.
• Adults “meal prep” by microwaving plastic trays.
• Our taste buds have been hijacked by seed oils, sugar, and artificial flavor.
• We’ve normalized being too exhausted to cook… ironically because our food makes us exhausted.

Comfort is convenient.
But comfort also comes with a cost.

When food is too easy, the body gets weak.
When food is weak, the mind gets too foggy.
And a foggy nation is a vulnerable nation.

Why Does Real, Regeneratively Raised Food Build Strength Instead of Weakness?

This is where small, regenerative farms come in—not as a trendy alternative, but as a solution.

Regeneratively raised food is the opposite of convenience food.
It’s slower.
It’s intentional.
It’s nutrient-dense.
It’s rooted in the land and nature, not a lab or factory.

And here’s the wild thing:
Strong food is forged through hard work. And when you eat strong food, you become strong too.

Small farms raise food that forces you to engage:

• You cook it.
• You think about it.
• You connect with where it came from.
• You appreciate the labor and price behind it.
• You slow down.
• You eat every bite.
• You nourish your kids instead of just filling them.

This is how resilience returns to a society—one meal at a time.

How Do Small Farms Rebuild Physical and Mental Strength?

1. Nutrient-Dense Food Build Physical Strength

Animals raised on pasture have:

• Higher vitamins
• Better omega ratios
• Cleaner fats
• No hidden chemicals
• More bioavailable minerals

Your body feels the difference.
Your kids feel the difference.
Your brain loves the difference.

2. Real Food Re-Engage Us With Our Own Health

Cutting, seasoning, cooking—this is not “hard work.”
It’s human work.

It builds confidence, skills, and connection.

3. Regenerative Farms Strengthen Communities

Buying from small farms keeps money local.
It keeps families on the land.
It builds relationships instead of just transactions.

This strengthens the community—and a strong community strengthens the nation.

4. Eating Real Food Make Us Harder to Manipulate

Ultra-processed food keeps you:

• Tired
• Irritable
• Inflamed
• Dependent

Real food makes you:

• Alert
• Stable
• Grounded
• Resilient

A population that cooks, thinks, questions, and connects?
That’s a powerful population.

Where Do We Go From Here?

We don’t need to go “back in time.”
We need to go back to wisdom.

Ask better questions.
Choose real food as often as you can.
Support farmers who actually raise food, not factories that manufacture it.

When you support small farms—farms like Rebel and our partners—you’re not buying meat.
You’re buying strength, resilience, and sovereignty.

Strong food creates strong people.
Strong people create good times.
Good times don’t have to make us weak…
if we remember where strength begins.

Thanks for giving a damn,
Jenni Bajema