Why Eat Healthy, A Promise to Inspire

As I said in my last entry, I've been reading a lot about food and about feeding children. I can't even begin to summarize all of the information I've learned and I've realized that I don't want to. There is so much bad in our food industry and if you don't realize that, then there's some research to do. And if you don't care about that, then I'm not going to be the person to preach to you. Sources abound. Michael Pollan's In Defense of Food (one among so many works of his), Jeannie Marshall's The Lost Art of Feeding Kids, Lisa Leake's 100 Days of Real Food, Participant Media's Food Inc., the list goes on. One simple Google search and you'll probably have a million sources that can tell you exactly why you shouldn't trust our food industry, why you shouldn't eat processed garbage off the shelf (including the supposedly "healthy" versions), why you should avoid GMO's and pesticides, why you should go organic and stick with "real food"--food that has lived and been cultivated as it has for hundreds of years before we started experimenting with it.

There are statistics you can look at...Why have rates of food allergies gone up? Why have obesity rates exploded? Why is the American lifespan shortening? Why are children being treated for heart disease? There are so many questions about the recent rise in so many health issues that can all be answered with "you are what you eat." So if you care, pick up just one of those books above. Buy the audiobook and learn while you're working. Just do the smallest amount of research and your world will be rocked.

But don't look for that here. I don't want to spend my time detailing all the negatives in our culture. I don't want to teach you the common sense knowledge that we live in a capitalist society, which means profit is of utmost importance, which means businesses need to make a higher profit every year or else they are failing to grow, which means they'll do anything they can to get you to buy their product, which includes taking advantage of whatever trends possible, such as the current health food craze--replacing real sugar and fat with chemicals because Americans don't seem to care as much about actual health as they do about their waistlines. Filling junk food with vitamins. Teaching us that we don't have time to cook, so get your nutrients from this factory-made vitamin. Teaching us that nothing need be special anymore, you can have your cake and eat it too, and however many and as often as you like! 

I'd rather spend my time on something more positive. I'd rather give you inspiration. I'd rather relate with you, telling stories about my trials and tribulations trying to feed my family and myself. I'd rather teach you how to achieve health AND delicious happiness in your home with your own two hands. I'd rather convince you that you absolutely do have the time and skill to overcome any food obstacle in your home and show you exactly how.

So...right-hand raised, I promise to do my best not to preach...but to strive to be an inspiration, an example, a friend.

Keep your fingers crossed ;)

Kisses and well-wishes,

Barefoot Momma