Category: Nature

At times, I pile the bags of food in my car after spending a boatload of money and feel lost. With all my research and knowledge of the world of organics, I should radiate confidence. Instead, I doubt my choices and wonder if I even make a difference in what I feed my family.

Back in the store, I gazed upon the simple choice of cookies. With food allergies and touchy digestive issues for my kids, I can spend time laboring over even the simple choice of which animal cracker I should choose. Do I buy the kind without sugar? If so, what other kind of sweetener does it have? Is it organic? Gluten-free? Loaded with food dyes? Preservatives? GMOs? Is it local? The days of walking out to the barn to get the milk is gone for most of us. Now, we rely on a chain of people, machines, and often corporations to bring us our food. Instead of a place to nourish my family, stores feel like science labs – the joy of life squeezed right out of it.

Avoiding one toxic choice feels like bowing down to another. I’d like to always buy organic and planet-friendly for my kids and not stumble over ingredients I often cannot pronounce. The word organic gives me hope that there are fruits and vegetables still glistening with nutrition. Then, I look at the prices: a single cucumber is $2.29. $2.29? Each? The other cucumbers are $.79 each. Yet I remember (from all my research) that cucumbers are one of the most chemically sprayed crops. When I go back to the bin of organic cucumbers, I wonder about the plastic each cucumber is wrapped in: Isn’t that bad for the environment? The conventional cucumbers feel waxy. But just one cucumber for $2.29?! One won’t last the whole week! It’s my kids’ favorite vegetable. And it’s so nutritious! Which one should I buy? After only being in the store for five minutes, I was exhausted. This shouldn’t be how we have to buy food.

We’ve polluted our planet and can’t eat our foods without loads of labels warning us what the food does and does not have. We can’t drink the water unless it is filtered or eat the fish unless it is found in the right waters.

Whether organic or not; whole grain or gluten-free, vegan or vegetarian, we’ve got to eat. I have to find a place where food is happy again. I’ve put down my food-battle sword and written a seal of peace on my shopping list. I eat organic whenever I can. I eat as little sugar as I can. I eat greens more than anything else. I stay within budget without beating myself up. I let it go when eating with others so as not to be a know-it-all or worrywart about the food contents.

Most of all, I relax and give thanks for every bite I take and am able to give my children. No food is any good unless it is served with joy.