Food Incorporated - Inspiration for Healthy Eating

Mike and I watched the documentary Food Incorporated and it really struck a chord so I have to blog about it. With Logan needing a special diet we've become very aware of what we consume, we have to because it directly effects his health.

We are strong proponents of eating organic food because it is scary the amount of chemicals and toxins that are used to grow produce. Over time you ingest these toxins and your liver and kidneys have the job of cleaning them out, if they don't do a good enough job you will probably end up with cancer or some other negative health issue.

The stuff they do to our meat and the way they raise our livestock is extremely disturbing. Cows sit ankle deep in their own poop while they are fed corn, which their bodies were not meant to digest. This causes them to be sick, thus needing hormones to help them grow big and fat and antibiotics to keep the infections at bay. You guessed it, every time we consume livestock that isn't grass fed from organic farmers we are eating these antibiotics and hormones. Europe has banned this practice in their countries because they are concerned about the early puberty of girls, the lower sperm count in men, and the rises in cancer such as breast cancer. In America, we have a wait and see approach and with the powerful lobbyists working to keep these corporate farms alive, I'm guessing we won't know the truth until 50 years from now or more. If the city of St. Michael would let me, I would totally put a chicken coop in our yard and grow our own darn chickens!

So, I'm going to get off my soap box now and urge everyone to watch the documentary. Then, I would suggest growing your own garden this summer. We did last summer and neither Mike or I had much experience in this area. With the book "The Square Foot Garden" we had an excellent little garden growing. We plan to add another couple of boxes this year so we can grow our own fresh veggies and we plan on planting a fruit bearing tree and some raspberry bushes too. www.squarefootgardening.org.
Honestly, our kids loved having a garden! They would eat fresh carrots and peas straight off the vine. Logan loved to help water it and pick the veggies. I'm sure he and Lily will have even more fun this year.

If you can't grow your own garden, buy organic as much as your budget allows, or go to farmer's markets and buy locally. You can also create your own fruit and veggies wash from water and vinegar. Here is the recipe: www.greendaily.com. They keep track of our purchases at the grocery store, every time you buy organic meat and produce you are voting for a better food supply for your family. Remember that when you wince at the $6 a bag apples. Eventually, if we all demand organic, the price will come down because corporate farmers will go with the trend and start supporting better farming practices.