Tuesday, August 23, 2011

Food Beware


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I have had a bunch of nutrition shows in my Netflix queue.  I finally decided to tackle them and watched one today.  It is called Food Beware: The French Organic Revolution.  I am in love.  I am thinking in a completely new and more aware way.  I highly recommend it.  Admittedly, it is rather one sided, and I know it is always a good idea to get both sides of an argument but, as they say, the proof is in the pudding.  

At any rate, I wanted to share just a little of what I learned with you.  But this post would be far too extensive.  So I am just going to share the things that I can remember right now.

Cancer, diabetes, infertility, and many other deadly sickness are more prominent today than they were even ten years ago.  More and more children are dying from cancers than should be possible.  

A small village in France got tired of all their children having malformations, and dying, and so decided to change all the primary schools over to organic meals.  The children also had a garden to tend, and harvest.  I learned that most of the disease was from pesticides.  All of the foreign chemicals put on (and seeping into) the food is what was causing that.

I want to start buying organic.  This Earth, which we as the human race have stewardship over, is being destroyed by all the chemicals we use for our food.  When we pay for "cheaper" food, we pay for fossil fuels to transport the food, the ozone layer to be depleted.  We pay for all the disease and sickness caused by the pollutants in the air.  It makes me sad.  And really, can you put a price on health?  Will paying for chemo be cheaper than buying uncontimanited foods?  Just a few questions to ask yourself.

Sigh.  And now I am tired of being on a soap box.  Suffice it to say, I am going to try hard to change our style of living.  I have big plans.

Jeffrey has wanted me to start baking all our bread for a while now.  Since there is a heavy duty wheat grinder here, we will grind our wheat, bake our bread, use my mother in law's pasta maker and make our own pasta.  Also, I am going to try my hardest to buy locally.  Organic, obviously.  I don't really want to add to the greenhouse gasses.  

My long team goal is to nearly eliminate processed foods from our diet.  And to eliminate pesticides and gmos.  Sigh.  I have a long way to go, I know.  So, this is my bucket list:

Have my own organic garden from which to gather the majority of my seasonal produce.
Buy local organic when I need to buy.
Have a fully functional beehive.
Make home made bread and pasta.
Have chickens (for the eggs).
Start a charter school (that is for another post).
Treasure and save water.

I am excited to start.  Baby steps, obviously.  But the best news of all, learning this has inspired me to be healthier.  I don't know if it was watching the French eating their meals, or if it is the fear for my children's health.  Either way, I have noticed I have begun to eat smaller portions, and more produce.  Which is awesome!  I am excited about it.  

1 comment:

Trish said...

Awesome Amy! I have been eating pretty much all organic for a while (not necessarily when we eat out) and I just LOVE organic food (and other products)! I think that show sounds awesome! Way to go on educating yourself! I left a couple of movies at my parents house and I bet they wouldn't mind if you borrowed them. There is Food Inc. and Food Matters. If you're interested just let me know and I'll see if I can set that up! You go girl!