Eating Clean Means Fighting Convenience

Eating clean is not always easy. And the system certainly doesn’t help.

This county prioritizes work and convenience. Each morning we leave for work without breakfast, every evening we roll through the drive through for an affordable dinner, we step further and further away from the origins of our ingredients, the traditions of our meals.

Our ancestors had gardens and ranches. They lived off the land, cooked with local herbs and seasonal vegetables. Maybe they had chickens, maybe they had neighbors who shared fresh milk. Regardless of circumstance, food was never convenient; back then, no one expected it to be. Preparing a meal was a process with many steps, and organic was the way of the world.

Oh, how that’s changed.

In the second of four short-form episodes of Living y Ready, Vol. IV, we zoom in on cooking healthy at home in 2026. At the center is Dorian Klemensine, a gay Latino zillennial living with HIV, who learns how to make a quick and easy quinoa bowl with Chef Eddie Garza.

“I think it’s really important to make sure that we’re eating healthy diets, not just because I’m living with HIV, but also life in general,” Dorian says. “I think there’s so much to gain when we eat healthy. When we fuel our bodies with proper food and diet, you’re able to do so much more.”

Even after being diagnosed with HIV, Dorian didn’t always prioritize healthy eating. He ate what he could. He didn’t put much thought into what consisted of his meals. In the last couple years, however, he has become more conscious about eating clean food, and his doctors have noticed positive overall changes in his health.

Today, especially in the United States, clean eating isn’t valued as highly as economic productivity. Just to keep up with multiple jobs, tightening schedules, endless expenses and unforeseen bills, the cheaper, more convenient option for dinner, for lunch, can seem like the only option. Without the time to cook, lacking the luxury to source fresh ingredients, how can you be blamed for frequenting fast-food chains off the freeway or throwing frozen dinners into the shopping cart at Ralph’s?

And here’s the thing. No one is blaming you. But, over and over again, your body will carry the burdens of that highly-processed food. Eventually, that convenience will harm your health. Your body will start to look different, your mind will become less sharp, and you’ll slowly weaken your innate connection to the earth and all its gifts.

Years of eating this way could make you sick. And if you get sick, how economically productive can you even be?

Just like we prioritize our jobs to make money, we must also prioritize clean eating to sustain our health. Plus, all of us have a unique set of pre-existing conditions. Diabetes, HIV, depression, Hashimoto: no one is made perfect, and health challenges are ever-present at every stage of life. All the more reason to feed your body nutritious, whole ingredients that come from the earth.

“Back in the day … I was twice the size that I am now,” Chef Eddie Garza says. “I just started eating healthier, and I realized that the more of these types of foods that I ate, the better I was feeling, and I changed my entire lifestyle.”

Watch Living y Ready.