You Are What You Eat

We are what we eat.  So, do you personally know what you are eating?  Are you really paying attention to what's going into your mouth? 

On September 7, 2010 I finally cared enough to take the time and research these vital questions.  Originally, I wanted to change my diet for better health alone.  But the information I began pouring over took many unanticipated turns. 

My blood really started to boil when I learned how the USDA/FDA/EPA and many, if not most, of our appointed government officials are "in bed" with Big Food.  The USDA consistently favors corporate interest over that of the public, producers over consumers and lies over truth.  In fact, public health has been sacrificed, in more ways than you can imagine, at the altar of profitability. 

The next "discovery," obvious after just a moment's reflection, was that we should always READ the ingredients of foods before consumption.  Consumer beware and face the facts.  Many ingredients are of questionabe benefit and safety.  Not uncommonly labels reveal toxic or even cancer-causing contents.  Once you realize an FDA  product may have 20 different ingredients that cannot be pronounced and a shelf life of 20 years, it's hard to escape the conclusion that perhaps what is commonly eaten cannot even be called food! 

I am now an ingredient nazi.  Most of the foods I consume do not have a package or label.  I try to eat whole foods as often as possible and minimize consumption of that which is processed.  These two simple, but profound revelations are just a few of the topics I plan to cover on this blog.  Ignorance is not bliss.  What you choose to put in your mouth makes a HUGE difference for your body, health and mood, not to mention the environment. 

Whether you choose looking away and refuse to believe how BAD things are, animals bred for food are most cruelly treated.  The horrific lives these animals endure and the senseless abuse they face is a reality.  It is my humble intent to further disseminate the work of Michael Pollan, Mark Bittman, Eric Schlosser, to name just a few. 

I want to unveil the dirty secrets that Big Food doesn't want you to know and get you started on a path of eating consciously.  Information that I uncovered was powerful enough to turn me, a "meat-at-every-meal, feel-sorry-for-vegetarians" kind of gal, into a vegan.  (Click here to read some food facts that turned my world upside down!)  Not one day goes by that I feel like I'm missing out, or that I gave something up.  I have gained an awareness of the world around me and feel proud of the difference I am making, while experiencing better health because of it.  Oh, did I mention shedding 18 pounds along the way as fantastic dividend! 

In this blog I want to include you in my continuing process of discovery and share my passions.  Educating myself and experimenting with different lifestyles is how I got here.  I compared 30-day cycles of going vegetarian, vegan, and raw.  Going raw was the most eye opening of all the experiments and therefore my enthusiasm for raw foods will be a central theme in this blog.  Raw foods, compassionate living, fun recipes, nutrition, holistic well being, etc.  These are just some of the upcoming posts that you can look forward to.  Thanks for stopping by and I hope you'll visit often!