The Bandwagon of Truth

The last couple of years I have made some drastic changes in the way I look at my role in consumerism and stewardship. I have jumped on the environmental bandwagon and begun taking action surrounding global warming and how to save the planet. The documentary "An Inconvenient Truth" was the straw that broke the camel's back for Rebecca and I, and since then, we have not turned back.

Being an environmental geek has opened up new areas of needed improvement for our life as consumers in this age. We've done a good job of avoiding plastic and recycling at every opportunity, we compost and use the car as little as possible. I feel we are good stewards of the earth, and our hearts are in the right place as we continue to look for ways to better ourselves for the sake of bettering the world's health and efficiency. So, when it came to changing our eating habits, I had no problem with that. After all, I can't stay in optimal physical health without proper nutrition (cue the flexing of my muscles and sucking in of my gut.) I really haven't noticed or been bothered by not eating enriched flours, hydrogenated oils or occasionally substituting Splenda for sugar (although Rebecca can tell the difference instantly.) I have not gone completely overboard either, as I still enjoy a temporary chocolate binge and ice cream sandwich. I have just taken on a much more mindful approach to what I am putting into my body. So, as you can probably imagine, we did not stray from looking into Organic options and how to avoid too much dependency on chemically altered foods and products. I had no idea just how deep the Organic rabbit hole was, and now I find myself really in for some major overhauls in lifestyle. Let me explain...

My wife and I were given a book titled: "Grub: ideas for an urban organic kitchen" about a month ago from our dear sister Christine, who lives in Portland, Oregon - one of the most eco-friendly places in the United States that we've ever visited. This book has absolutely rocked our minds - we are continually being astonished by the hidden world of food that we simply had no knowledge of before now. We of course had our suspicions, yes, but hearing how we get our food and what shady practices are actually going on behind the scenes is really, really disturbing. I will not name any of them here, but you really should check it out for yourself and get informed. I used to think that eating organic was for uber-obsessed control freaks or hippies, but I am definitely changing my tune. It's smart, environmentally helpful and natural - and is definitely going to be much, much healthier in the long run. The fact that we are so dependent on chemicals and mass food production is sickening to me - some of the food we are eating probably isn't even "food" by the time it gets to us, it has been so tampered with to increase shelf-life and taste that there is very little actual food content present. I freaked myself out the other day when I read the ingredients on my package of peanut butter crackers. I was laughing and crying (not literally) as I fearfully gulped them down because of the extensive list. I have only been checking ingredients this past year or so, but mostly just looking for a specific ingredient and then discarding the item if I saw it. But now, I am really disturbed by what "food" manufacturers are really up to when they are working on feeding the masses - do they really care about my health, or is the sale what really counts?

I'll get off my platform for now, but I just wanted to get it out there that I have no shame in admitting that I'm buying my tickets for the Organic bandwagon. I am thankful for learning this now and being able to continue the investigation before it's too late. I also realize how difficult it is to make any change, let alone something of this magnitude, but "small changes over time make a big difference." I'm trying - it's all any of us can do...