I don’t see myself as an hysterical person, but when I read articles like this one, I feel just a teeny weeny little bit hysterical.
It’s no secret that I don’t eat red meat and as a household we are careful with meats and try to buy free range/organic whenever we can find and afford it. This is part due to reading My Year of Meats and All Over Creation by Ruth Ozeki about what goes into our food without our knowledge or permission. If you haven’t read her books, you should really try. They aren’t just very well researched, they are also very well written.
The biggest reason I feel a little hysterical is because a lot of what goes into our milk, meat, potatoes and apples is making us infertile. Even worse: it’s making our children infertile. I have a well documented history of infertility and seeing all this really just pisses me off as infertility is an issue very close to my heart.
It also pissed me off that we try to make healthy choices for our children, but we are doing the exact opposite by giving them the “healthy” foods we do and forcing them to eat them.
Picture this:
“Dear, eat your potatoes, and don’t worry that they are full of pesticides, they are good for you.”
“And while you are at it, please eat that lovely spaghetti bolognese we made you with canned tomatoes and I don’t want to hear a word.”
That derelict vegetable garden of our is about to get a make-over I think. We already have a compost heap with beautiful compost and a laid out veggie patch, we just need to keep it going and keep the delinquent dogs out.
Watch this space.
And no, I haven’t listened to any Alanis Morrisette in days. Just so you know.
We grow most of our veggies ourselves now. With the odd exception here and there. After harvesting, we pack and freeze whatever we can to use later. We’ve got our free range chickens for eggs and meat and goats for milk and meat. But most of this we’re doing to save money. We just can’t afford to buy meat/milk/chicken/eggs/vegs etc on a regular basis anymore.
Hysterical is code for passionate and I don’t think anyone has to minimize passion.
Mmmmm … I also had some difficulting having our second child … but I do think there is a link between what we eat and the health of our bodies. For some it comes out in their skin (eczema) and others possibly our fertility is affected. Its very difficult. And who really knows …
One of the things my oldest daughter (she is 11 years old now) has taught me is … do it with the right intention, and for me, leave the rest to God.
I can’t always afford organic even though I would love to live in that world, maybe even running my own farm, eating our own produce (probably not in this life) but we do our best at the time … that is something I am learning.
That is really all we can do … our best in the moment … when we know better, we do better (at the risk of quoting Oprah) … maybe I won’t use quite as many tinned tomotoes but I truly do believe that we do our best and our intentions are seen by the Universe.
Keep up the passion … and LOVE your blogs … thank you!
Warm regards
Collette in Cape Town
Oh I read “Year of meat” and we so try to get “healthier” products but hec, it costs money!