March 26, 2010

Food Revolution

There's been something interesting happening in my brain since having Chloe. I'm turning into a bit of a purist. I look at everything through a different lens - a bit of a skeptical one. To be more specific....I just don't trust anything anymore. When it comes to her health & well being, I want to ensure I am giving her the very best. Not only in the food she eats, but in the example I provide her as her mother. A few of the healthy changes I have implemented in the last year are:

- switched our cleaning chemicals to all natural vinegar & baking soda mixes
- now buy all organic produce for the "dirty dozen" list
- plan clean & healthy meals 6x/week
- bake healthy treats 2x/week so we're not reaching for boxes of sugar laden sweets


I can't remember the last time I didn't hear about a product recall involving baby food or furniture. I leave the grocery store angry because of all the misleading food labels & the $200 receipt in my hand for healthy food. Why does healthy food with less ingredients cost 3x more than unhealthy food with loads of ingredients (Rhetorical question). I know it's completely due to the fact that the unhealthy food is mass produced with chemicals that cost nothing to make.


I read an article last week about how pop (diet & regular) is really the modern day cigarette. How true is that! Years ago, cigarettes were glamourous and certainly were not related to cancer. And today - our kids are completely addicted to pop. We have yet to see the affects of this over a lifetime.

I watched Jamie Oliver's Food Revolution tonight and I hope that most of you were able to catch it. My heart was heavy as I watched this. He was brilliant & made quite the effort in showing the kids exactly what is going into their food...because that is what is missing. Not enough people are making this connection. And then there was the family with the 40 frozen pizzas in their freezer. But I really can't blame them at all. I am initially really upset at the parent feeding their child that garbage, because the child doesn't know any better. But, neither does the parent really.


The light just needs to be turned on in more people so that they too, would not be so trusting of all the companies making a big buck off of their misleading products.


There have been many shows that attempted to educate through showing the food in terms of pounds of lard, or the show that age progressed the children to show how their eating habits would affect their adult life. But what is it going to take?


We have a tremendous responsability to our children in teaching them to lead healthy & active lives. We have to know that the very "systems" that are in place to protect & educate us are actually misleading & failing us. From vaccinations to applesauce...we have to know what's involved.


What were your thoughts on the show if you watched?

8 comments:

Anonymous said...

I watched that too, and I saw Food, Inc. last weekend. Both were so interesting and have had me thinking about healthier food all week long! As a new mom to a little girl (the same age as your daughter!), I am constantly thinking about the things that go into her little body - much more so than about what I put into my own! I liked what you said about how much your lens has changed since having a baby. That is so true. I just started reading your blog, and I love it! Your family is darling!

Juliana said...

Thank you for posting this. Are you on facebook? (Juliana M King) I just went OFF about this tonight. It makes me so upset. I am not a perfect mother, Johnny has had a couple girl scout cookies, but I try very hard. I made him almost all of his food organic when he was a baby. I make as much food as I can now. I do not allow him to have pop or processed crap and it just upsets me so much that people do not realize they only have ONE body!! Thank you for posting this!

Lena said...

I love what Jamie Oliver is trying to do. It's not right that people can't afford to eat healthy. Becoming a parent has definitely changed how I see things and how I eat. It's monkey see, monkey do in my house. If Mama eats it, baby eats it so it better be something good!

D said...

I meant to watch but I totally forgot about it! I'll have to hulu it later.

I'm with you 100% on this. At the risk of sounding like I have a stick up my rear end, I don't trust processed foods, plastics, many cleaning/personal care products . . . the list goes on and on. I'm trying hard to approach parenting, and life in general, with a "back to basics" mentality. With food, this means trying to stick with things that are actually found in nature! :) Check out Michael Pollan's work - he has written several books on this topic.

D said...

oh and p.s. - re: your comment on the cost of healthy food. One of the things Pollan wrote is that $1 will buy like 1200 calories worth of processed food, but only 250 of fresh food. Isn't that ridic?!?

Scentsy said...

Amen! I was so relieved to read your post. Trying to raise my daughter it today's world with today's misleading habits and marketing is difficult, so I really admire your determination. It is a journey I try to keep on track as well, but when the other kids sit around with their soda pop, cookies, and sugar filled snacks, it's not easy. My daughter feels a little out of place and asks why I can't be more like the other Mom's because all we have is healthy food. Although, it's not appreciated right now, I'm sure it will be in the long run. Keep up the great job!

Jen said...

I agree 100%. I saw the show and I saw Jamie on Oprah on Friday... apparently he said something along the lines of "parents who feed their kids unhealthy foods are abusing their kids" - Oprah said it was a bold statement. Whateves. She is right! Yes, it is more expensive to feed your kids healthier foods - but even if you buy frozen healthy foods, it's a heck of a lot cheaper and you CAN easily make a healthy meal for the same $$ as a frozen pizza. That obese family was so frustrating for me because I'm pretty sure as soon as the cameras are turned off, they'll go back to normal. I'm with you - I'm becoming more and more "granola" with each day since becoming a Mom.

limo hire said...

i love Janie oliver's food revolution but last week i missed the food revolution...