I am a stress eater. Whenever I get nervous or overwhelmed, I tend to head to the kitchen, or worse. I tend to eat whatever's closest and usually, the worst for me. I'm also a boredom eater to some extent, but I've managed to keep that in control by not having crappy food around the house. It's the stress eating that really gets me.
This week, we had quite a scare at home. Lauren had a febrile seizure, one triggered by a high fever. I spent Tuesday afternoon with her in the ER after a trip in the ambulance. She's fine, but took a little longer than I would like to come out of it and so the trip to the hospital. Once we got discharged and were headed home, I had a terrible, terrible urge to stop at McDonald's. I was starving and knew I had food at home, but really wanted to have something salty and bad for me. I was literally driving down the street to McD's and I had major second thoughts. I don't need the salt. I don't need the grease. I don't know where the meat came from. I don't need it. I thought all those things and still kept driving. At the last minute, my conscience won out, and I turned around and drove home. I felt good about that; I am making changes!
Veggie Week is going well. I'm enjoying the yummy things I'm eating and just feeling good about sticking with it.
Thursday, July 29, 2010
Monday, July 26, 2010
Veggie Week
I'm back, trying to get slowly back on the horse. I'm finding that my interest in the topic isn't waning at all; it's really more that my desire to blog about it has waned. I think I need to cook something pretty and colorful and it'll be all love and excitement again.
Jeremy is out of town this week, so I've decided to go vegetarian while he's gone. I'm not a big meat eater anyway and I have a ton of veggies in the fridge, so I think this will be pretty tasty and easy to do. I'm also trying to stick to eating whole foods. Yesterday, I made a gorgeous stifry with onions, bok choy, purple cabbage, carrots, and celery with tofu that was heavenly. I had that over brown rice. Tomorrow I'm planning on making an Eggplant Parmesan that's really delicious and healthy. So, Veggie Week is starting off well!
One interesting development on the Lauren front: she dug in and ate some of the tofu yesterday as I was prepping it and seemed to really like it. She called it cheese. Of course, once I cooked it, she'd have nothing to do with it, but it was a start!
I've been continuing to read In Defense of Food and have been doing some good learning and thinking. I'll share that later in the week. Baby steps!
Jeremy is out of town this week, so I've decided to go vegetarian while he's gone. I'm not a big meat eater anyway and I have a ton of veggies in the fridge, so I think this will be pretty tasty and easy to do. I'm also trying to stick to eating whole foods. Yesterday, I made a gorgeous stifry with onions, bok choy, purple cabbage, carrots, and celery with tofu that was heavenly. I had that over brown rice. Tomorrow I'm planning on making an Eggplant Parmesan that's really delicious and healthy. So, Veggie Week is starting off well!
One interesting development on the Lauren front: she dug in and ate some of the tofu yesterday as I was prepping it and seemed to really like it. She called it cheese. Of course, once I cooked it, she'd have nothing to do with it, but it was a start!
I've been continuing to read In Defense of Food and have been doing some good learning and thinking. I'll share that later in the week. Baby steps!
Monday, July 19, 2010
Putting my money where my mouth is
Last week I did something I was proud of. The main struggle I've dealt with along this new path is eating out or eating when someone else prepares the food. I'm good at sticking to my resolve when I'm cooking for myself and my family, but when I'm not putting the food on the table, it's pretty much a fail.
I changed that for myself one day last week. I was down in Olympia, working for the state superintendent's office. Each day, lunch was catered. It was delicious, but not always what I would choose for myself. After reading the chapter in Food, Inc. about the treatment of animals at the large factory farms, I was feeling disturbed about my choices with eating meat in my life. Not that I didn't know terrible things were happening to animals in our country, but I just shoved it to the back of my mind. I still do that to some extent even now, but less and less so.
Of course, after reading that, the next day there was flank steak available for lunch. I stood there and stared at it for probably 30 seconds before I chose not to eat it. Without knowing where it came from, I just couldn't do it. Now, that's just one time that I made that choice, but it's a start, right?
Also, the last two times I've bought eggs, I bought those that were organic and cage-free. Terrible things happen to chickens in large farm settings: beaks snipped off so they can't peck each other, living in tiny cages, standing in their own feces... chickens may not be the smartest creatures, but they deserve better than that. From now on, I will be making better choices when I buy eggs and chicken meat. I feel like it's one of those changes that are rather easy to do and is totally the right thing to do. Doing better for the Earth and its creatures (including my family and myself) is what this is all about after all.
I changed that for myself one day last week. I was down in Olympia, working for the state superintendent's office. Each day, lunch was catered. It was delicious, but not always what I would choose for myself. After reading the chapter in Food, Inc. about the treatment of animals at the large factory farms, I was feeling disturbed about my choices with eating meat in my life. Not that I didn't know terrible things were happening to animals in our country, but I just shoved it to the back of my mind. I still do that to some extent even now, but less and less so.
Of course, after reading that, the next day there was flank steak available for lunch. I stood there and stared at it for probably 30 seconds before I chose not to eat it. Without knowing where it came from, I just couldn't do it. Now, that's just one time that I made that choice, but it's a start, right?
Also, the last two times I've bought eggs, I bought those that were organic and cage-free. Terrible things happen to chickens in large farm settings: beaks snipped off so they can't peck each other, living in tiny cages, standing in their own feces... chickens may not be the smartest creatures, but they deserve better than that. From now on, I will be making better choices when I buy eggs and chicken meat. I feel like it's one of those changes that are rather easy to do and is totally the right thing to do. Doing better for the Earth and its creatures (including my family and myself) is what this is all about after all.
Tuesday, July 13, 2010
Sometimes, it's better to be in the dark
On the heels of my post yesterday about not knowing what you're eating, I thought I'd write a little bit about what I've learned about food safety. This is definitely one of those cases where the more you know, the less you wish you knew.
All of this information comes from a chapter in the Food Inc. book entitled "Food Safety Consequences of Factory Farms" by Food & Water Watch. You can visit their website here. Yet another website that has way too many great resources to delve into!
The chapter starts with the almost obligatory information about the use of antibiotics in factory farm animals and how this is leading to more resistant forms of bacteria. Fortunately, it seems that the FDA is finally listening, as it has released draft guidelines for the reduced use of antibiotics in animals. I have to admit that my faith in the FDA is a little shaky given their track record of less and less oversight of an gargantuan problem of a food industry, but it's a step in the right direction.
They then move on to talk about Mad Cow disease and E. Coli. They're related because of what cows on these farms are being fed: corn and various animal products. Certain animal by-products are allowed in the feed of other cows in order to fatten them up quickly for slaughter. For example, "poultry waste", the material found on the floor of poulty barns can be added to cow feed. Also, cattle blood is allowed in the milk replacer given to calves*. These are risky, potential avenues for Mad Cow transmission, given that it is transmitted by eating the nervous system tissue of another cow. Unlike other food-borne illnesses, Mad Cow can't be cooked out of the food or by otherwise disinfecting the meat.
E. Coli comes into play because of cows eating primarily corn* which is not what their bodies are set up to break down. Both of these issues are especially troubling given the lax oversight by the USDA and reduced testing of animals for these bacteria.
The use of hormones (rBGH) is next. The entire story of the rBGH is still yet to be told, but it seems to have a clear link to certain types of cancers. It also has been linked to the increase of twin births in the U.S. which, while not necessarily a bad thing, makes me wonder what other parts of our reproduction are being tinkered with. Around 22% of all dairy cows in the U.S. are injected with rBGH, with a higher percentage of those in large herds (read: factory farms) receiving the injections. Canada, Australia, Japan, and the EU have all banned the use of rBGH and the FDA here only approved it after a single study done by Monsanto. Talk about the fox guarding the henhouse! The Food & Water Watch folks have this rBGH-free guide, written state-by-state so you can see which milk product producers in your area are rBGH-free. I'm going to have to take this list with me to the store, as I didn't see many of the big names in our area on the list. I have a feeling this may be tough to sort out.
*Pardon me if this gets ranty, but why in the world are we messing so with nature? Feeding baby cows formula?! Forcing cows, who are ruminants, to eat corn?! Simply because we can and we feel that we need to in order to grow the already oversized food business? Maybe this is just the mom in me, but the thought that calves are being taken from their moms and fed formula in order to a) fatten them faster for our consumption and b)use the milk produced by their mothers for our consumption makes me very, very sad. I think in pursuit of a faster-producing, more productive food system, we've tampered with nature in ways that may have some serious consequences.
More on this tomorrow...
All of this information comes from a chapter in the Food Inc. book entitled "Food Safety Consequences of Factory Farms" by Food & Water Watch. You can visit their website here. Yet another website that has way too many great resources to delve into!
The chapter starts with the almost obligatory information about the use of antibiotics in factory farm animals and how this is leading to more resistant forms of bacteria. Fortunately, it seems that the FDA is finally listening, as it has released draft guidelines for the reduced use of antibiotics in animals. I have to admit that my faith in the FDA is a little shaky given their track record of less and less oversight of an gargantuan problem of a food industry, but it's a step in the right direction.
They then move on to talk about Mad Cow disease and E. Coli. They're related because of what cows on these farms are being fed: corn and various animal products. Certain animal by-products are allowed in the feed of other cows in order to fatten them up quickly for slaughter. For example, "poultry waste", the material found on the floor of poulty barns can be added to cow feed. Also, cattle blood is allowed in the milk replacer given to calves*. These are risky, potential avenues for Mad Cow transmission, given that it is transmitted by eating the nervous system tissue of another cow. Unlike other food-borne illnesses, Mad Cow can't be cooked out of the food or by otherwise disinfecting the meat.
E. Coli comes into play because of cows eating primarily corn* which is not what their bodies are set up to break down. Both of these issues are especially troubling given the lax oversight by the USDA and reduced testing of animals for these bacteria.
The use of hormones (rBGH) is next. The entire story of the rBGH is still yet to be told, but it seems to have a clear link to certain types of cancers. It also has been linked to the increase of twin births in the U.S. which, while not necessarily a bad thing, makes me wonder what other parts of our reproduction are being tinkered with. Around 22% of all dairy cows in the U.S. are injected with rBGH, with a higher percentage of those in large herds (read: factory farms) receiving the injections. Canada, Australia, Japan, and the EU have all banned the use of rBGH and the FDA here only approved it after a single study done by Monsanto. Talk about the fox guarding the henhouse! The Food & Water Watch folks have this rBGH-free guide, written state-by-state so you can see which milk product producers in your area are rBGH-free. I'm going to have to take this list with me to the store, as I didn't see many of the big names in our area on the list. I have a feeling this may be tough to sort out.
*Pardon me if this gets ranty, but why in the world are we messing so with nature? Feeding baby cows formula?! Forcing cows, who are ruminants, to eat corn?! Simply because we can and we feel that we need to in order to grow the already oversized food business? Maybe this is just the mom in me, but the thought that calves are being taken from their moms and fed formula in order to a) fatten them faster for our consumption and b)use the milk produced by their mothers for our consumption makes me very, very sad. I think in pursuit of a faster-producing, more productive food system, we've tampered with nature in ways that may have some serious consequences.
More on this tomorrow...
Monday, July 12, 2010
Mystery food
Apologies for my MIA-ness lately. I got caught up in the festivities of the 4th, a nasty stomach flu, and more festivities with the family in Seaside, OR. An exciting life have I! We just won't speak of some of the things I ate. At least it wasn't a deep-fried Snickers bar like a certain husband of mine!
I've continued to read the companion book for Food, Inc. and have some thoughts on food safety that I'll share with you tomorrow, but an interesting thought occurred to me as I drove down to Olympia to work for the week:
Why do we so confidently eat foods when we don't know a) where they came from and b) potentially, what they even really are?
This thought occurred to me as I was listening to a radio ad for something called Beta Prostate. Essentially, it sounds like a pill designed for gentlemen to take when they're having prostate issues. As I was listening to the ad, I was thinking, "Why in the world would someone put something in their bodies when they're not even really sure what it is? Responding to this ad is the eating equivalent of buying some product out of the back of a comic book!" As soon as I thought that, though, I realized that we do that all the time. Really. All the time. How often are we eating something prepared by someone else? How often are those things first processed in some way by some nameless people in factories? Even if it's produce, how do we really know where it's coming from and who handled it? Or what was sprayed on it? It's been shown time and time again that the regulatory agencies that are supposed to be looking out aren't, so why are we eating with such confidence?
Even with all the things I've learned, I'm really not acting on it as much as I should. Obviously, it would be difficult to know where every morsel I put in my mouth came from and probably even more difficult to make sure it's all from sources I feel confident about, but there's certainly more I can do. I think buying locally and organically has been a step in the right direction, but there's more to it than that.
Another step I did take recently was to buy organic, cage-free eggs from Costco instead of our regular package. I'd still like to look at the company, but I'm thinking differently. Jeremy also didn't freak out about the price, which is good. Progress.
I've continued to read the companion book for Food, Inc. and have some thoughts on food safety that I'll share with you tomorrow, but an interesting thought occurred to me as I drove down to Olympia to work for the week:
Why do we so confidently eat foods when we don't know a) where they came from and b) potentially, what they even really are?
This thought occurred to me as I was listening to a radio ad for something called Beta Prostate. Essentially, it sounds like a pill designed for gentlemen to take when they're having prostate issues. As I was listening to the ad, I was thinking, "Why in the world would someone put something in their bodies when they're not even really sure what it is? Responding to this ad is the eating equivalent of buying some product out of the back of a comic book!" As soon as I thought that, though, I realized that we do that all the time. Really. All the time. How often are we eating something prepared by someone else? How often are those things first processed in some way by some nameless people in factories? Even if it's produce, how do we really know where it's coming from and who handled it? Or what was sprayed on it? It's been shown time and time again that the regulatory agencies that are supposed to be looking out aren't, so why are we eating with such confidence?
Even with all the things I've learned, I'm really not acting on it as much as I should. Obviously, it would be difficult to know where every morsel I put in my mouth came from and probably even more difficult to make sure it's all from sources I feel confident about, but there's certainly more I can do. I think buying locally and organically has been a step in the right direction, but there's more to it than that.
Another step I did take recently was to buy organic, cage-free eggs from Costco instead of our regular package. I'd still like to look at the company, but I'm thinking differently. Jeremy also didn't freak out about the price, which is good. Progress.
Thursday, July 1, 2010
Just because it's organic...
Several times this week I saw references to an interesting story. Evidently, people (in this small study) think that organic also means low-calorie. Given the choice between organic and non-organic cookies with calories clearly labeled (and the same)and people chose the organic ones. They even said they'd eat more of them.
On first read, I thought this sounded totally ridiculous. It's like that old what weighs more: a pound of bricks or a pound of feathers? I mean, really, who doesn't know that just because something is grown naturally that it doesn't have a different calorie count?
Upon thinking about it, though, I can see how people do that. I certainly have been lulled a bit by knowing that I'm eating better. It's easy to get caught up in the whole pull of organic food and healthier eating. It's easy to feel like just changing to organic food is doing enough, but it really isn't. I need to be mindful not only about what is organic and what isn't, but what I'm making with those ingredients. Sticking with whole foods goes a long way, but it takes more thought as well. There's the big component, the change I've already undergone: buying different foods, shopping different places, using new recipes, and cutting back on several things. I feel like I've done that well. Then there's the small component, the part that I wrestle with: making those small day to day decisions, meal to meal decisions.
Take today for example: I have a whole fridge full of organic, healthy, delicious food and I even have a couple large sets of leftovers. What do I have for lunch with Lauren? A hamburger and fries at a restaurant. Ugh. I wanted to try this new place and it seemed like something fun to do with my kiddo and I ended up not making very good decisions. I need to find a way to wrestle down that food=fun, food=relaxing bent that I seem to have and make better small decisions. I have a couple of challenges ahead with a group trip to the beach coming up and then a week away for work in which I won't be fixing anything I'll be eating, so we'll see how I do. It's all about doing a little better a little bit at a time. That, and being a good role model for Lauren. That's key.
In fact, I seem to be making some headway on that. Tonight, all she wanted for dinner was applesauce and peas with milk. She ate every bite of a decent portion of each and then declared, "Mommy! I'm a good eater!" I still can't get her to try new things, but at least there are many healthy things that she's already eating. I'm proud of my girl.
On first read, I thought this sounded totally ridiculous. It's like that old what weighs more: a pound of bricks or a pound of feathers? I mean, really, who doesn't know that just because something is grown naturally that it doesn't have a different calorie count?
Upon thinking about it, though, I can see how people do that. I certainly have been lulled a bit by knowing that I'm eating better. It's easy to get caught up in the whole pull of organic food and healthier eating. It's easy to feel like just changing to organic food is doing enough, but it really isn't. I need to be mindful not only about what is organic and what isn't, but what I'm making with those ingredients. Sticking with whole foods goes a long way, but it takes more thought as well. There's the big component, the change I've already undergone: buying different foods, shopping different places, using new recipes, and cutting back on several things. I feel like I've done that well. Then there's the small component, the part that I wrestle with: making those small day to day decisions, meal to meal decisions.
Take today for example: I have a whole fridge full of organic, healthy, delicious food and I even have a couple large sets of leftovers. What do I have for lunch with Lauren? A hamburger and fries at a restaurant. Ugh. I wanted to try this new place and it seemed like something fun to do with my kiddo and I ended up not making very good decisions. I need to find a way to wrestle down that food=fun, food=relaxing bent that I seem to have and make better small decisions. I have a couple of challenges ahead with a group trip to the beach coming up and then a week away for work in which I won't be fixing anything I'll be eating, so we'll see how I do. It's all about doing a little better a little bit at a time. That, and being a good role model for Lauren. That's key.
In fact, I seem to be making some headway on that. Tonight, all she wanted for dinner was applesauce and peas with milk. She ate every bite of a decent portion of each and then declared, "Mommy! I'm a good eater!" I still can't get her to try new things, but at least there are many healthy things that she's already eating. I'm proud of my girl.
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