Plainly, 2020 has been an awful year.
And I know that I haven't been blogging, but it just feels wrong to be writing about nutrition, medicine, or weight management in the face of our tragic new realities.
I do hope this post finds you and yours healthy and spared from the pandemic's impact, but I don't know that any of us have been spared, and for some of you I'm sadly sure, the costs have been beyond horrible.
Consequently I debated whether or not I was going to do Movember this year or send out this post. I'm still not convinced it's the right thing to do as people have given up so much, many have seen their incomes drop dramatically, and if an option, charity can certainly be metered out more locally and urgently (for instance we chose back in March to have a standing monthly donation set up with Ottawa's Food Bank).
With that said, no doubt charities are hurting too, and the causes they fund haven't gone away which is why in the end I decided to throw my moustache in the ring. Contrary to what some believe, Movember is not simply a prostate cancer charity, and though some of its funds do go to prostate cancer research and treatment, Movember funds multiple men's health initiatives including those involving mental health, suicide, body image, eating disorders, substance use disorders, testicular cancer, and more.
As a show of respect for Alex Trebek, I've done my best to shape my moustache accordingly, and as a thank you for donating, I'll send the top 3 donors a bottle of my homemade, home-grown, 6 week fermented, mesquite smoked red habanero and carolina reaper hot sauce (pictured below at the start of the ferment and ready to be bottled next weekend).
Thank you and stay safe out there.
Yoni