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| {Image from the Weekly Sticky} |
As we travel through the supermarket isles there are a few things that I notice frequently on the rise. One of those things are an expansion in the Natural and Organic section of the store. Is society finally getting smarter with their food choices? Or is it kind of a “monkey-see-monkey do” type of situation? Either way there is a positive end result, health.
I started my quest for a natural healthy life in late 2009 when we moved in with my parents. After about 3 months of trying to find quality food in our regular big chain grocery stores. (Around here that is pretty difficult, unless it is an organic “processed” food.) We would get organic produce from one store and everything was awful. The apples were bruised and mealy, the oranges were dry and sometimes even moldy, and don't even get me started on the bananas if you could consider what we brought home a banana. It was more of a puree in a banana skin. It is ridiculous.
We had had enough of this mistreatment of our produce. So we searched out a different option. We tried shopping at Wal-Mart, which in our area does not carry organic produce what so ever. We tried other stores, and with out any success except for finding new canned and “non-perishable” items, left empty handed.
So the search for quality organic produce continued. Every Sunday on our way to our church we drive past this building that is very “downtown” in it's awesomeness. I didn't know how awesome it was until I went inside. The smell that lives in this building is a smell of health and wholesome living. The colors of the first isle are beautiful with ripe fruits and vegetables all waiting to meet their consumer, who will enjoy every last bite. And hardly any of the food is damaged. The way this food is delivered is another awesome thing about this place. There is only one truck that comes. Everything else is delivered by the farmer. So not only do you get beautiful fruits and vegetables, you also get hand delivered by the farmer because most of the produce is local. SWEET!
This place is the Menomonie Market Food Co-op. I love it. Many of you readers who are not from around here probably have a food Co-op near you and can take advantage of their great variety of offerings. In fact here is a list of the places that are a part of this Co-op maybe there is one near you.
This holiday season has been very hard on me. We have had four Christmas celebrations, and at least 2 or three New Years parties. And not that the food didn't taste good or anything but I am sick of eating every one else's GMO, pesticide filled, poison. So I went to “The Market”, got some food that was not full of pesticides, and am enjoying everything I purchased. We are eating healthy again and hopefully experiencing some detoxing symptoms.
I hope this next paragraph does not get me in trouble. Many of my friends and family members are almost angry with us because we shop at “The Market.” Let me tell you why. We are on Food Share assistance. (There is no shame in being on assistance. With the economy the way it is right now and lack of jobs available, it is no wonder there are not more people on it.) We are not actually paying for the food we purchase there, the state and tax payers do, and that is why they are “angry.” Which I think is totally bogus. I do not think that it is completely fair to us “low-incomers” that we cannot have quality organic foods. Just think with all this organic food that we are buying, we are having less medical bills that we have to pay, which means less Medicaid for you to pay. I think as long as we purchase things that are base ingredients and not just all these processed, prepackaged items, we should be fine. There is no reason for all this hate and hostility to be thrown at anyone for the way they decide to eat. And that is the end of my rant of people being angry with my decision not to feed my family with products that have ingredient lists that are longer than my arm.
Aside from getting great food at the Co-op we also grow our own food. Which sometimes I think tastes better than the stuff from the Co-op, but I may be biased. We preserve what we can and stock up on the things that we use a lot of. We substitute expensive ingredients for very inexpensive ingredients. (Like using beans instead of oil or butter in baked goods.) We are really trying to eat very little meat. We raise chickens and ducks for eggs and meat. And much more. All of these things help us lower our grocery bill, especially when good organic, free range (that really is free range) eggs cost any where from 4 to 5 dollars a dozen.
Eating organic wholefoods on a budget does not have to be hard. Menu planning is a great way to save some money. Sticking to a list of ingredients you will need is another. Or how about buying in bulk and storing the items properly so you don't get an annoying and expensive infestation of pantry moths in the house is also another. Pantry moths are evil, and if you are not careful they will devour your entire supply of stored dry goods costing you thousands of dollars. (Trust me... I unfortunately know.)
I hope this little rant will leave you wanting to find a wholefoods Co-op near you, make things from scratch, grow your own and be inspired to learn to preserve and store your food properly.
Happy Munching!!
