Friday, March 19, 2010

Is Organic Really Organic?

Certified organic doesn't necessarily mean that it's grown organically.  Horizon milk for example takes sick cows from feedlot farms(literally), trucks them to a certified organic farm, milks them there, then returns them to the original uncertified farm.  They sell the milk as organic.  I don't understand why they just can't make the effort to raise them in a healthy way but they will take the effort to transport them.  It's really sad.

Whole Foods standards are no longer what they were since their merge.  They use to have high standards.  They now sell meat from less than reputable sources(as far as the natural consumer is concerned).


I wish that Wholefoods was really focused on truly organic, natural, wholefoods.  But if you read labels there are still many items that I don't qualify as wholefoods.  The first time I went in there I assumed everything was good for me.  But that is what society tends to do with everything.  My doctor knows best, my teacher knows all, my banker knows the right investments, my natural grocery store sells only pure foods.  But that's not true.  We ARE responsible for all our decisions and should make educated ones.  But often we go along with a 'professionals' opinion.

Attachment parents, especially, know that doctors are not always right.  There are second opinions and tons of research to look to.  These professionals are just people, that were taught by other people.  Granted they do have a lot of knowledge in their fields and are probably worth talking to.  But they are limited to who taught them, and what interested their own research.

I babywear, as well as sell slings.  Which means that I'm a professional babywearer in a way.  Does that mean that I'm an expert.  NO!  But I can tell you that there are a lot of people that may consider me to be.  I often tell them to attend Kara's babywearing classes because she's the pro.  My point is that- yes I babywear, yes I've researched slings and carriers, yes I know a lot about my products, but even with this knowledge I am still limited to my own experiences and subjective research that I've done.  I hope that my customers will hear what I teach them, but I hope they will attend Kara's class, research on their own, try different carriers and carries, and learn for themselves.

So how does that get back on topic?  I can appreciate the thought of Wholefoods, and I can take classes to learn about organic food.  I can do some research.  Read labels, look up farms.  Maybe call some of them.  Take the initiative to fight for my family.  Food is one of the greatest impacts of diseases today. The crap that most people eat on a daily basis is greatly impacting their quality of life and they don't have a clue that it's the food.  They blame sugar, fat, carbs.  But the chemicals, the gmos, the hormones, even pasteurization- which are all suppose to make things better, are killing us.

People don't eat real butter because it's 'fattening' when in fact raw butter actually helps you loose weight because it has high amounts of lipase which is an enzyme that breaks down fat.  So people are blinded by following professionals that they trust like the FDA when in fact the FDA has influences such as money and power in mind when they publish information, studies, etc.  There is no large company that can be blindly trusted.  We have to take responsibility and action ourselves.  So grow your own food.  Do your research.  Call your farmers.  Get to know your food providers.  It will make a world of difference once you know.

I use to be unknowing when it came to food.  And honestly I still have a LOT to learn.  But I'm getting there.  Transitioning our lives.  We went to a restaurant recently and I couldn't eat the beef.  I could taste the difference from our free range at home.  I honestly couldn't in the chicken but don't have access to a lot of free range chicken so it makes sense.  I also couldn't eat my brothers conventional birthday cake the other day because of all the sugar that was in it.

Researching GMOs really took me for a whirl but I won't get into that now.  HFCS and soy are things that I try to avoid.  We have access to certified organic produce and natural meat now which is nice.  Although I can't wait for local produce to be back in season.  And I'm learning about the healing properties of wholefoods from friends who have cured their cancers.  It's amazing how good food heals.

So my point has been to educate yourself, rely on yourself, and make your own decisions, and to take action in your life.  It will make a difference in your life and the life of your family.

1 comments:

Green Acres in the City said...

thank you. What wonderful insight. We are trying to educate ourselves as well. One day at a time...

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