sHaKiNg hands with REAL food

I had no idea what I was getting into when I repinned a pin on Pinterest about 3.5 months ago. The picture featured a platter with cheese, lettuce, tomatoes, meat, cilantro and homemade pita chips. The comment below said "100 days of no processed food recipes." Clicking on this photo was a no brainer, considering my love for mexican food and the idea of eating healthy. I say the idea because, while I wasn't eating fast food or tons of meat, I was eating a lot of sugar and prepackaged "foods." 


I clicked on the link and briefly looked through Lisa Leake's Blog: 100 Days of No Processed Food.  I checked out some recipes and scoured the rules of the 10 Days of No Processed Foods challenge for exceptions and potential loopholes. Nothing. This was no joke. No artificial anything. No sugar. No prepackaged food with more than 5 ingredients. The rules continued…and in no time I was back to wasting time on Pinterest.


Weeks passed but I couldn't seem to shake this whole idea of not eating processed food. Was this something I could actually do? At the time I was eating like a full grown kid. Lucky Charms, Fruit-Roll Ups, Lunchables and Oreos were among my staples. And I can't forget the Handi Snacks. I would literally stuff my face in the plastic so I could lick all the cheese out. I always justified my boxed food addiction by staying on top of the latest diet fads. I made sure to supplement the junk-food with Fiber Plus granola bars and Fiber One cereal. I always opted for multi-grain crackers, wheat bread and baked chips. I chose low-fat and fat -free options. See how wise I was? (or so I thought) 


As more weeks passed, I periodically clicked back to Lisa's blog and continued to ask myself if I could do this. I settled on the possibility that it was too extreme and that I would be fine if I just ate everything in moderation. Ha. Define "moderation!"


Each trip to the pantry or grocery store brought more questions and curiosity. I started reading labels….differently.  I read labels before because, like I said, I was on top of the "nutritional" trends. I needed to know which of my colorful cereals had less sugar and more fiber. I also made mental notes of calories and serving sizes.  I usually lost those notes :) This time, however, I was reading the ingredients of the food I was buying. That. was. all. though. I read them. I didn't read them and put them back. I just processed the information. (no pun intended) I bought these foods that contained ingredients that I couldn't pronounce and made excuses for eating them.


Then one day the lightbulb went off! I figured out how to be "healthy" AND eat processed foods. I would just eat only "organic." It was perfect. I could still eat sugary cereal and even oreo-like cookies and it was seemed so much better for me. I just compared the organic varieties and picked the one with less "stuff" in them. It was perfect. Well, it was at least easier and it settled some of my worries. 

http://michaelpollan.com/books/in-defense-of-food/

So I thought….
I couldn't stop thinking about food. ingredients. health concerns. pesticides. antibiotics. I had so many questions and I knew just because it said "organic" on the box, it didn't mean it was REAL food. So, I began reading Michael Pollan's book In Defense of Food as recommended by Lisa Leake. I couldn't put it down. I told anyone would listen who was breathing about the things I was reading. There was so much I didn't know. And so much that I knew or thought might be true but filed away for sheer convenience. I began scouring the internet and library for as much information as I could find. (We live a block away from the library and it is the most wonderful thing!) Aside from a short period of food anxiety, I was really coming around and beginning to realize that I could cut out most processed foods. 

http://www.takepart.com/foodinc

After finishing In Defense of Food, I checked out the documentary Food, INC.  I vaguely remember ignoring this movie when it first came out in 2008. The truth surrounding the american agriculture, poultry, beef and dairy industries are uncomfortable, sad, disgusting and calls for action. I'm not saying that this time I was armed with spray paint and screaming "meat is murder" but I was ready…ish. So I sat down on a Saturday night to watch the inevitable emotional roller coaster. I cried, of course, over the conditions of the animals, furrowed my brow at the manipulative power houses and smiled at the happy animals grazing on a farm in Virginia. Aww:)


So was I called to action? Through these last few months of throwing myself into rediscovering food, I realized that I had a choice in my actions. My daily decisions could help the movement that takes us back to a simpler time when farmers had a say in what they did, animals and workers weren't exploited and our food came from the earth as nature intended. I could vote with my dollars by buying local organic produce and meat from humanely treated, 100% pastured animals. This means making sacrifices in my budget to allow for more expensive, quality food. It means being educated not ignorant. It means talking to local farmers, shaking their hands and thanking them for their sweat and dedication to the integrity of our food.