Several months ago, on the recommendation of a fellow blogger, I read Barbara Kingsolver's "Animal, Vegetable, Miracle" and it really has contributed to the way I think about the food my family and I eat. One of the things the book discusses is the way our food is grown and processed and the impact it has on our environment and ourselves. When I finished the book, I spent the next few days unable to stop thinking about the things I had read and proceeded to do further research. I decided that I was going to change the way my family did things and the way we eat.
I resolved that I would resume recycling and stick to it this time. Our family now recycles plastics, glass and metal through our town's recycling program. We recycle our paper through one of those Paper Retriever programs that helps a local school earn money. I chose to eliminate many of our cleaning products and instead opted for natural, environmental safe cleaning products....and a whole lot of elbow grease! For the things we can't do without such as toilet paper we have switched to a brand that is made from 100% recycled paper. <---That one was the hardest; I dearly love my Charmin 2 ply!
Our family also joined a CSA. We receive a large box of fresh seasonal produce each week. My husband built two raised garden beds which supplements our produce each week. Its yield isn't as high as it could be but this is my first year gardening and I'm proud to report that I so far I have grown--and used!--basil, thyme, oregano, sage, rosemary, strawberries, potatoes, tomatoes, cucumbers, onions and 3 different types of peppers. My first Roma tomatoes are just now forming and I spotted a wee, tiny melon just beginning to grow two days ago. Not too bad for a first year!
Are you wondering about what we do for our other food? It's simple. I buy organic food almost exclusively. I'm talking about 95% of our food is organic and it has made such a difference in our health---AND it just tastes better! I am very lucky to live in Pittsburgh with easy access to three stores that have organic foods. One is a co-op which I must say I'm not rather fond of. I like my groceries without dust on them thank you. Another is Trader Joe's which is new to town and hasn't quite won me over yet. The third one is Whole Foods.
I dearly love Whole Foods. The employees are helpful, the store is immaculate and the selection is amazing. The produce section is laid out beautifully and it's really hard to remember I receive a farm share. I have to restrain myself to only supplement my farm share and not replace it.
I do all of our grocery shopping at Whole Foods with the exception the 'Oh no! We are out of milk and it's nearly 10pm and what will we do in the morning?' emergency trip to the store several blocks away. Some people might wonder why we don't mind paying 'more' for organic food and I'll tell you why. We don't pay more for organic food. Sometimes even a little less.
How? It's simple. I purchase little to no pre-packaged foods. I choose to buy things at their 'base' level and cook or bake them as necessary to get the desired finish product. If we want something like a vegetable rice pilaf I cook rice with the proper seasonings and vegetables. If we want waffles, I mix up the batter---and I'm not talking the Hungry Man mix kind either!--pull out the waffle iron and make waffles. Breads, cookies, puddings, ice cream, desserts, etc....well I think my blog is evidence enough that I make all of those things from scratch too. All it costs is time and it is well worth it.
With Tristyn and Maia back to school, I'm finding I'm busier than ever making sure our family eats properly. I was browsing around the Whole Foods website the other day to find out about their store specials and to peruse their recipes and discovered that Whole Foods has a blog! Yes, a blog. My friends could tell you that I'm obsessed with reading blogs and I would counter, 'But who isn't?' I wasted no time at all catching up on the posts that five minutes ago I hadn't any idea even existed. Even better, the posts were geared to Back to School and were really informative. Perfect timing! Then, I noticed at the end of one of the posts that there was little thing to click that let you listen (and sometimes watch) to the podcast.
Even better! Whether I'm kneading dough for Italian bread, shaping bagels, licking brownie batter of the spoon icing cookies I can just listen to the Back to School Podcast. I can keep my hands free for more important things than using my thumb on Little Mac's mouse pad to scroll through a website. Like constructing Napoleons or picking 1000 grapes off their stems in preparation for making grape jelly.
Here's what you can find in Back to School Podcast:
How Tweens & Teens Benefit from Natural
Natural Oral Care for Kids
Does your Child Need a Multi?
EFAs & Back to School Brain Power
Healthy Immune System for a Healthy School Year
That last one I am really looking forward to listening to. It seems that the start of every new school year brings a home a whole slew of fresh germs for my kids' immune systems to practice on and this year I want to be prepared. =)
