Like many parents, the arrival of our little munchkin caused Mr. T and I to really consider the food we are serving and eating every day. Not a big surprise, since Americans are one of the populations that buy the most "diet" foods in the world. And yet we are also one of the least healthy - overweight and dealing with nationwide problems of cancer, diabetes, and heart disease.
Mr. T and I have struggled with choosing a healthier diet. What are the best foods to eat? How do you make good choices when those foods that are oh-so-bad for you are the ones that taste oh-so-good? And what about newer studies that show that low-fat "healthy" diets that Americans have been encouraged to eat for years might actually cause more harm than good?
In our reading, Mr. T and I have become increasingly aware of our country's dependence on processed, industrialized food. Much different than the farm-fresh offerings of our grandparents' and great-grandparents' era, today's food in America has become a huge corporate business, driven by the need to create "food" at the lowest possible costs, usually in a laboratory and not in a field.
So, we were both very intrigued to hear about the new film documentary that came out in June, Food Inc. Daniel at the Corganic blog gave a review of it here.
Unfortunately Mr. T and I haven't been able to see the movie yet. But I have been reading some informative, eye-opening books that will really make you think about food, where it comes from, and what to choose. For example, Nina Planck is a "real food" advocate, shunning margarine and boxed cereal for meat, vegetables, and, oh yes, lard. Lard. Now when have you heard that recommended in the past 50 years? Mr. T read her original book Real Food: What to Eat and Why, while I borrowed a copy of her new book, Real Food for Mother and Baby: The Fertility Diet, Eating for Two, and Baby's First Foods which seemed appropriate for me in my childbearing years. Next on our list is In Defense of Food by Michael Pollan, which was highly recommended to us.
We are fortunate to live near some great local farms, as I mentioned in this post. We currently subscribe to an organic crop share from a farm down the street; buy pork, beef, lamb, and chicken in bulk from local farmers; and have a great small dairy where we buy fresh raw milk and pastured eggs. This season we hope to start our first attempt at canning, and next year we want to actually put in our own garden.
It is a huge change in perspective from anything we have done before, and we do still struggle with the convenience of pizza delivery and dinners-in-a-box. But I hope that we can keep learning and taking baby steps to improve our diet, and to raise our munchkin so that wholesome, real food is her part of her normal.
So, we were both very intrigued to hear about the new film documentary that came out in June, Food Inc. Daniel at the Corganic blog gave a review of it here.
"Food, Inc. exposes America's industrialized food system and its effect on our environment, health, economy and workers' rights."
Unfortunately Mr. T and I haven't been able to see the movie yet. But I have been reading some informative, eye-opening books that will really make you think about food, where it comes from, and what to choose. For example, Nina Planck is a "real food" advocate, shunning margarine and boxed cereal for meat, vegetables, and, oh yes, lard. Lard. Now when have you heard that recommended in the past 50 years? Mr. T read her original book Real Food: What to Eat and Why, while I borrowed a copy of her new book, Real Food for Mother and Baby: The Fertility Diet, Eating for Two, and Baby's First Foods which seemed appropriate for me in my childbearing years. Next on our list is In Defense of Food by Michael Pollan, which was highly recommended to us.
We are fortunate to live near some great local farms, as I mentioned in this post. We currently subscribe to an organic crop share from a farm down the street; buy pork, beef, lamb, and chicken in bulk from local farmers; and have a great small dairy where we buy fresh raw milk and pastured eggs. This season we hope to start our first attempt at canning, and next year we want to actually put in our own garden.
It is a huge change in perspective from anything we have done before, and we do still struggle with the convenience of pizza delivery and dinners-in-a-box. But I hope that we can keep learning and taking baby steps to improve our diet, and to raise our munchkin so that wholesome, real food is her part of her normal.
