Making the Switch

So our family watched a movie called Food, Inc. It was very enlightening. It was all about a veil that is put up between the consumer and the producer/manufacturer of food. Even today at Wal-mart, I noticed the woman in front of me in line purchasing a dozen eggs. Just normal, Walmart-brand eggs. Not organic, nothing special. On the package, it said "farm fresh". However, the movie we watched showed another side to how the food gets to us and the price both the animals and farm/plant employees have to pay. In the past, when I heard vegetarians say that they felt bad for the animals, I didn't get it because I thought this was the order of things in nature. It's a food chain, it's not animal cruelty. I never considered how the animals were treated prior to being killed. I just thought that they were fed and taken care of until their day. I know that's naive, but typically I'm naive about many things. After watching the movie, I saw several examples of how mistreatment of the animals impacted many humans. I also saw how the big-dogs of the food industry treated their employees as poorly as they treated their animals. It really opened my eyes.

We went shopping at Harris-Teeter to pick up some organic things. They have by far the best selection in our area (only 15-20 minutes away). Making the switch to totally healthy is tricky. First of all, I have 37 years of experience of eating whatever, not thinking of the impact on my health and on the food industry. A 37 year habit of eating convenience foods from time to time, not even every day, is tough to break out of. It takes more time and forethought to make thoughtful, considerate food choices.

At the end of the movie, the screen read, "You get to vote three times a day." I'm praying that as the New Year rolls around and I have some time off next week to get organized and regroup, we'll be able to lean a little more to the organic side of things.

One week in particular was very good for us on an "eating organically" scale. I noticed, even in that short time, that the children were able to find something for a snack that they liked from what we had in the cabinet. For years past, the cabinet had more processed, convenience foods. For snacks, at least for that week, we really tried to think outside of the box. All the children, especially Birdie, tolerated the difference and actually ate less-processed, less-convenience, and less-good-for-you snacks.