Today, I'm going to deviate from the normal topics of PPD & running to talk about eating. And nutrition. But mostly eating. This will be a two part series. The first part is about why my family has embarked on a mostly organic, whole foods diet.
Four years ago, when I found I was pregnant with #1, I started to embark on a journey of healthy eating. We had been eating a typical American diet of processed foods that were easy to prepare as both of us work full time. By the time we would get home from chasing students all day, we were often too exhausted to do much more than pop a frozen meal in the microwave or warm something up on the stove.
It all started with some research I had been doing. I came across some information about Monsanto. Monsanto is a huge company with questionable ethics. They are one of the biggest producers of GMOs. GMOs are genetically modified organisms, but it typically refers to grains. Soy, corn, and wheat are some of the most commonly GMO-crops grown right now. These grains are crossbred with pesticides and other chemicals built into them to increase production and reduce crop loss. While the reasoning behind why they are crossbred is great, what is put into the grains isn't. I personally don't want to be eating pesticides. Monsanto claims that their GMOs are safe. The FDA has taken Monsanto-paid scientists' data at their word and approved it for safety here.
However, the EU and Japan refuse to buy our GMO crops. Their take basically comes down to this: pesticides do harm to organisms, so they do harm to us as organisms.
(As a side note, Monsanto also sues conventional farmers for stealing their crops whose fields have been cross-pollinated accidentally due to those pesky bees, birds, and other animals who know no boundaries like fences.)
I wouldn't spoon feed my children or my husband or myself bug spray, so why would I feed them food that was specifically injected with it. Why would I feed them food that was even sprayed with it?
Furthermore, once I realized I was having a daughter (and now we have 2 girls), I started thinking about all of the little girls I've taught who at the age of 8 started getting their menstrual cycle. I'm not ok with that. Little girls should be able to be little girls. They should be able to play legos, climb trees, play tag, and play dolls without having to worry about changing their tampon. I don't want my little girls to have boys lusting over their bodies at age 8 because they already have a figure. (I don't really want boys lusting over my girls period, but let's be real here.) Girls shouldn't have to be fighting off boys when they are in elementary school.
After more research, I determined that feeding conventional meat was also a concern. Growth hormones are injected into these animals to encourage abnormal size which means more meat for the market which then generates more money for the farmer. Also, they pump these animals full antibiotics whether they need them or not so the prevent sickness.
Studies show that growth hormones have contributed to early onset of puberty and a multitude of many types of cancers.
And it's no secret that antibiotics aren't as effective as they used to be. That's because we are consuming a low level of them almost daily.
(And here's the deal, when I talk about the farmers here, I'm not talking about the small town farmer that you might be envisioning. Those farms are fast going by the way-side. I know. I grew up in a small farming community. I remember the outrage when the first factory farm installed itself there. I'm talking about the huge factory farms where animals are shoved in every nook and cranny. Where the whole intention is about making as much money as possible with whatever possible, regardless of how good it is for the consumer.)
Recently, hubby and I watched Forks Over Knives. This isn't a documentary to scare you away from eating everything, but it was extremely eye opening. They reference the China Study frequently. Reading & watching that research sealed the deal for our food journey.
We had already been purchasing organic milk, eggs, and most of what was on the Dirty Dozen list. We had used our organic co-op for fruits and veg off and on. Forks Over Knives really hit it home to eliminate much of our meat, or greatly reduce the portion size, and up the amount of fresh fruit and veg we were eating. We try to have at least one or two meatless nights and eat quinoa or beans as our protein.
We aren't perfect. Eating this way can be EXPENSIVE. We do enjoy the occasional burger. We do like bacon. We eat out and I know that isn't organic. We do have McDonald's or Chickfila. We do eat cookies, but usually we make them ourselves with our organic flour, sugar and eggs. We do eat cereal, but it's organic (most of the time, except for those Corn Pops hubby snuck in the other day...) or I make homemade granola. We eat chips.
We are real people, after all.
Here's the deal though, when I look at what we are MOSTLY eating, what our diet is MOSTLY comprised of, we are eating fresh fruits, legumes, and vegetables with fish and chicken. When I look in my fridge and see it packed with color and then look in my cupboards and see them almost bare without the shelf-stable foods, I rejoice.
Are we perfect? No.
But I can go to sleep at night knowing that I'm trying to prevent cancer in all of us and early on-set of puberty for my girls.
What do you do to feed your families? What changes have you made to make sure everyone is eating right?
Here's another nice link that I couldn't find a place to insert about GMOs.
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