I grew up thinking, "Usually when it comes to national versus store brand ... if you can't taste the difference, there's not a difference, right?"
Then I started watching things like Jamie Oliver's Food Revolution, and Food Inc, and various other shows that made me
A) thankful I don't eat Frankenfoods (my affectionate nickname for things like hot dogs, Twinkies, and other processed things that are more from a laboratory than nature) and
B) kind of ticked off at the United States' food industry. Maybe if I feel comfortable (and if I stop freaking GETTING SICK and BEING BRAIN DEAD) I'll write more about that. Hoo-boy, I have a lot to say about the government's involvement in our food supply.
C) curious about the quality of the produce I'm eating due to genetic modification. For example, tomatoes have been modified so they have higher yields, but there's the same amount of nutrients in the soil for a higher yield, so our tomatoes pack less nutritional punch than they used to. (suck!!!)
D) curious about what's in REGULAR food.
So I haven't switched to organic yet or anything, but I'm really missing the garden I had back home in Utah. We had a little strawberry patch that was starting to grow TONS of berries, a raspberry bush that had finally matured (my grandma gave me a few raspberry starts when Carmen was born. One died but the others were okay!), and this peppermint plant I regretted planting because I was constantly cutting it back (even more than the strawberries) and it was trying to sneak through the fence into my neighbor's yard. =p Then every year we'd plant some tomatoes and some zucchini and other random plants. Now I go to the grocery store and the produce is generally okay, but honestly? NOTHING can beat homegrown tomatoes and strawberries.
You know what I just realized? This entry could easily get really, really long. Since I have such a bad track record of writing entries, I'm going to split it up into smaller entries about food and spread out the posts over the course of a week or something.
I've done lots of research and have learned a lot of things in the past several years (since I graduated college?) It's hard to get out with little kids in the home, so I spend a lot of time watching documentaries on Netflix (if someone asks, I could totally write an entry about my sources, but I think you might find that boring?) and reading things on the Internet to develop my opinions about everything. So if anyone asks questions in the comments section of my entries, I can go back and edit my entries (with an ETA at the end, or the new stuff in bold, or something) to answer any questions anyone has. Okay? And if you have all given up on me and nobody reads my blog any more, I guess that's fine ... I'll just blog to the ether and leave my entries untouched. ;)
Oh my goodness, I just discovered the "Schedule" button on the sidebar. Now I can write a bunch of stuff and set it up to be published later! Why did I not do this before?!
So I don't listen to food people anymore. There is so much information out there and 90% of it is conflicting that I just give up. What I am working on right now is eating at home more - don't care what we eat, as long as we're not eating out. Once I get that down consistently, that's when we'll move to eating healthier. It's sad that I have to actively work on that, but we got into the worst habit of eating out every meal when I was pregnant and couldn't move without barfing and it is a hard habit to break.
ReplyDeleteCurse your convenience, restaurants!
Also, WE EAT HOT DOGS. Although I only like the Kosher kind, which are all beef, so that's a little better for you, right? (Just go with it.)