Ramblings of a Hippie Foodie

Our Tiny veggie Garden Apple trees in the back and Blueberries to the  right

Eating mass produced food is a 3 pronged assault on your wellbeing, any one of these should be enough for you to at least try to transform your eating habits.

1. Mega meat farmers dump untold amounts of toxins into our environment as do farmers of plant crops such as corn, soy, wheat, sugar and many more. These are POISON!  I'm sure we don't even know the long term detriment to the environment and our health some of these toxins will cause. 

2. Cruelty to farm animals is common practice, caging the creatures inhumanely for most of their lives before slaughter, cutting off body parts, and treating them like a commodity instead of living creatures. (supporting these practices should be depressing for you)

3. The amount of meat and processed food such as sugar and corn syrup we consume is making us fat and sick. Cancer, heart disease, and diabetes are running rampant...I'm not sure if you realise these things are much less of an issue in some cultures purely because of diet!

I am not perfect in my eating habits but things can be done to reduce your personal impact.

We saw these poor chickens in transport on our last family road trip

•Grow a little of your own food (awesome if you get enough yield to share with your neighbors!) Tiny little gardens can be grown on decks, patios and even the grassy patch between the sidewalk and street! This is a helpful website http://www.urbanorganicgardener.com/

•Buy locally grown organic produce and meat, and buy in bulk, it's cheaper and there is less packaging (I participate in a small food club where we jointly purchase from this company and have it delivered to one of our homes.  Most of their products are locally grown, organic and fair trade. Check them out here: http://www.azurestandard.com/ if you live in the big city where you have access to a good co op, you won’t need this)

•Become a less-meatarian or vegetarian (I have perfected some delicious no meat dishes, and try to have them at least 3 or 4 times a week and we try to buy organic meat or purchase it directly from our local farmer.  Invest in a chest freezer!)

Simple. If we all adjust a little bit it will have a big impact on the whole. And who knows...maybe just maybe these huge food conglomerates will listen to us!

Here is an article that is very eye opening

http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1917726,00.html

And one I just read on Facebook addressing the fact that changes can be made on a legislative level as was done in other countries. Our government seems to need a tremendous amount of pressure from the people to counteract the dollars they receive from the huge food producing companies and companies such as Monsanto.

http://www.motherjones.com/tom-philpott/2013/05/7-dodgy-foodag-practices-banned-europe-just-fine-here?fb_action_ids=10201340653304287%2C10201340650104207&fb_action_types=og.likes&fb_source=other_multiline&action_object_map=%7B%2210201340653304287%22%3A374315839354963%2C%2210201340650104207%22%3A409686865796961%7D&action_type_map=%7B%2210201340653304287%22%3A%22og.likes%22%2C%2210201340650104207%22%3A%22og.likes%22%7D&action_ref_map=%5B%5D

Also movies to watch 

Dirt

Food Inc.

Forks over Knives 

Lastly...This woman is an inspiration! Check her out. She has a great youtube video too

https://www.facebook.com/pages/Vandana-Shiva/44783433201

Eat with your eyes open.