What am I eating?

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Some of the food that we eat is garbage. Some of the things that I have eaten over the years are garbage, but things have changed at our house (for the most part).  Fortunately it is not difficult to educate yourself before it goes into your mouth.

Preservatives are in all kinds of foods.  They help to prolong the life (in the fridge or out) of the item for months or years or in the case of Twinkies, a lifetime. To name a few, BHT(keep oils from going bad), aspartame, nitrates(preserves flavor of meat), MSG(can cause headaches and nausea), High Fructose Corn Syrup[HFCS] and potassium bromate (increase volume in breads).  Some of these are even know to cause Cancer, steer clear!

Artificial Colors are relatively obvious (check out the bright colored fruit loops). They are in yogurt that is blue or soda that's not clear or M&Ms or jelly beans or frozen ice pops.  Mischievous companies put color in all kinds of things to entice our children to beg for them. Things like goldfish, cereal, crackers, jelly, hot dogs, snack food, and juice.  Artificial colors are usually the last thing listed on the ingredient label as FD&C Red 40 or Blue 2 or any variety of combinations, it's usually obvious.

Genetically Modified Organisms (GMOs) are scary. They are seeds that are manufactured to resist pesticides and/or herbicides and they are mainly used to grow corn, soybeans, cotton and canola.  There are so many reasons why we don't want these engineered seeds in our bodies and on this planet.  First of all, they are hard to avoid, because 70% of processed foods contain them.  Second, scientists say that side effects of eating GMOs are allergic reactions and gene mutations.  Not to mention we are basically eating foods that have more pesticides than a non-GM crop and it is killing the soil. 

What to do? Eat certified organic (they are not allowed to use GMO for use with the organic label), look for foods that are GMO-free (Trader Joe's private label products are already GMO-free), and download this list of how to eat GMO-free from The Center for food Safety.

Making these changes or even a few is wonderful. It has taken our family years to get there and sometimes even we fall off of the bandwagon.

Where do I begin?

For several years, I have been gradually increasing the amount of "green" things that I do in my life and I would like to be able to tell my friends about what I have learned along the way.

I have been a consistent recycler for years, but that did not seem like enough. Then I had kids and my view of the world in which we live, changed. Now, most of the "green" moves that I make are motivated by two little people that don't even know what they have inspired.

I started with food and realized all of the chemicals and hormones and antibiotics and who-knows-what-else was not what I wanted to put in our bodies. After switching to organic milk, I started with the "Dirty Dozen" list of fruits and veggies that Environmental Working Group recommends that you buy organic.  I started pricing out where to get the cheapest apples, pears, strawberries, etc. I also learned out to save food and eat in season. (That is quite a challenge, since I still can only freeze food and we just eat a lot of frozen fruit in the winter.) I buy most of the pears and apples in bulk at Trader Joe's and strawberries from May-July where I find them cheapest (sometimes Costco has frozen ones). I buy potatoes in a big bag at Publix. Blueberries I either pick in July and freeze or buy frozen at Costco. Salad greens I get at TJ's.

From the fruit and veggies, we moved on to meat. As many of you know, I don't eat much meat, but I have watched Food Inc., and many other food documentaries (as well as read the book, "Skinny Bitch" by Rory Freedman) and I know what they do to it. Scary stuff, if you don't already know, you need to find out. So, I buy organic chicken at Costco and grass fed beef and organic beef hotdogs at Trader Joe's (along with most of my other food). I have gotten fish recommendations from Monterey Bay Aquarium.

Now I try to buy all organic when it comes to what the kids eat. Whole foods has the best and cheapest cheese sticks and boxed mac and cheese, both organic. TJ's has organic tomato sauce and pasta and cereal. Costco has great frozen organic veggies and peanut butter and jelly and edamame.

Now that I am set with where I buy food and what I buy, I am concentrating more now on where it comes from. I would rather have local than not and I would rather have made in the USA than China. For example, I needed honey. Publix honey is made in FL, but the Organic Goodness Brand was made in CA. No question about that, I bought the one from FL.

I still have a lot to learn and I am learning more daily. Keep reading.