Be the change

There is major change needed in our food system, and while it may seem that your voice doesn't matter, every descision you make food wise adds up to a vote for the kind of food our government allows to be served. Its basically supply and demand at it's simpliest form, and we need to start demanding better! If you haven't seen Food, Inc, they explained it best when they described your food purchasing practices in terms of voting. Everytime you buy a fast food cheeseburger, a can of soda, or any kind of proceessed food, you are putting in your vote to say that that food is what you want to be supplied. So now when I'm at the grocery store, I try to really think about all my purchases in terms of votes. Would I rather vote for fresh, local or organically grown fruits and vegetables, or processed, sweetened and chemically enhanced snacks? I think you know the answer:)

Here are 10 simple steps you and your family can take to vote for the change we need:

1. Stop drinking sodas and other sweetened beverages. I try to drink nothing but water and unsweetened tea, and even Lincoln likes unsweetened tea, since we haven't introduced him to any sweetened beverages. Start young with teaching your kids good eating habits!

Sometimes Lincoln has juice, check out that juice mustache! We love Naked juice, it has no added sugar or chemicals, several servings of fruit, and taste amazing!

2.Eat at home instead of eating out. Anything you can get at a restaurant you can make for yourself with a little effort. That way you can control the ingredients, and know for sure what is going into your body. Plus, children consume almost twice as many calories when eating food prepared outside the home, so give your kids a fighting change against childhood obesity by feeding them yourself. Its easy!

3. Bring food labeling into the 21st Century. "Half of the leading chain restaurants provide no nutritional information to their customers." If places are proud of their ingredients and stand by their product, why would they not want to share with the public this basic information? Because they are sneaky snakes, thats why.

4. Tell schools to stop selling sodas, junk food, and sports drinks. Over the last two decades, rates of obesity have tripled in children and adolescents aged 6 to 19 years. I'd say that constitutes a BIG problem.

5. Meatless Mondays—Go without meat one day a week. Do yourself a favor, and watch Food, Inc. It will jump start your desire to eat less meat! We have really limited our meat intake, and the postive changes are incredible. Richard and I have both lost wieght, with out feeling like we are dieting, and without working out. When we do eat meat, we make sure we only have one meal that day containing meat, and that meat is never the main focus of our meal. I will start posting some of the deliscious meatless recipes we've been trying, and trust me, you will not feel like you are missing out!

6. Buy organic or sustainable food with little or no pesticides. According to the EPA, over 1 billion pounds of pesticides are used each year in the U.S. Thats chemicals that then go into your body! No bueno!! Buy organic, shop local, nad ask questions. It's your right to know where your food comes from and how its treated.

7. Protect family farms; visit your local farmer's market. Farmer's markets allow farmers to keep 80 to 90 cents of each dollar spent by the consumer. And the farmers don't have to follow the rules of the big corporations, who do not have your best interest in mind.


8. Make a point to know where your food comes from—READ LABELS. The average meal travels 1500 miles from the farm to your dinner plate.

9. Tell Congress that food safety is important to you. Each year, contaminated food causes millions of illnesses and thousands of deaths in the U.S.

10. Demand job protections for farm workers and food processors, ensuring fair wages and other protections. Poverty among farm workers is more than twice that of all wage and salary employees. Help take care of the people who can provide you with good, healthy food.

Check out Hungry for Change for more on these tips, plus so much more.

Be the change you wish to see in the world.