Last night, the husband and I watched Food, Inc. I've watched snippets before and understood the concept of the film; really, it just underscored what I already knew but, it left me questioning, "what is a girl to do?" When compared to most friends I stand apart as the only one jumping on the green/recycling/organic band wagon as these are not Corpus Christian "hot topics". Though, it seems common sense to me and it's been pretty easy to make small changes (albeit more expensive since organic costs more), Corpus is really limited on it's recycling program and doesn't have much in the way of organics or Farmer's Markets so people just stick to what they know. This leads back to my question, "What's a girl to do?"
Recently, Corpus Christi was ranked, by Men's Health Magazine, the fattest city in the nation (if you've ever been here, you'd know this is no surprise). I wish Jamie Oliver would come over here and shake things up! We don't have the option to choose from a store other than HEB unless we want to drive all the way over to Sun Harvest and often I do just that. Unlike living in Austin there's not a big selection for organics here because there's not a big demand. The majority of people here are not informed about what's really in our food, I think but, that doesn't help my dilemma. How do I choose healthy options for my family?
Since my baby was born 4 months ago, there have been two major recalls. The first was the big Tylenol/Mylecon scare in which God only knows what was being found in the contaminated bottles and the second was most recently with the Similac Advance formula in which beetle parts were found in the powdered versions. This IS the very brand that we were given in the hospital and have stuck with because it's what she's had since birth. If I hadn't had such a terrible bout of Mastitis, I would have gladly kept breastfeeding but, the body doesn't always allow us to do what we want so BUG PARTS are my alternative?!
Really, I'm just frustrated because I love to cook and I want the best for my loved ones as I'm sure we all do. I buy the leanest meats but, what does that matter when it's ground up with feces and rinsed with ammonia? We hardly ever eat out but, is cooking in really that much better than Micky D's? I buy fresh veggies most often because I prefer to skip out on the sodium found in canned but, does that really matter with the heavy dose of chemicals laden on all the crops? I buy white meat chicken because it's supposed to be better but, is my family inadvertently becoming resistant to all antibiotics because of the large quantities they ingest by way of the chicken? Maybe all the crap in the food is causing my daughter to have blood in her urine in what's been dubbed as "the mystery illness". Since 4+ Dr.'s can't figure it out I suppose my guess is as good as their's.
It's nice to think we can make a change but, watching that film just made me feel even more helpless. What do I buy to make a change? Where do I go to buy safe meat? Come short of selling our home and moving away to a land free of growth hormones, what is a girl to do? Maybe you would like to join me in prayer for food....maybe you'd just like to leave me your thoughts and comment. Either way, I'd like to hear from you out there~ Let me know
2 comments:
I totally understand. And short of growing and raising all of your own food, there's really no way around it. I try really hard to buy fresh local produce - though I can't control what happens to it before I see it, at least I know where it's from. Much easier to do in CO than it was in AK!! Also, we're planning to get a meat grinder and start purchasing beef a quarter animal at a time and making our own ground beef... same with chicken. Still there's only so much that can be done...
I hear you. I have been trying to learn more about food and how it gets from the field to the table ever since my college daughter took a class on sustainable living.
It is quite scary the things we do not know about our own food.
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