The Change

For most of my childhood I grew up with organically grown vegetables and very little meat. The meat my mother used was also hormone and medication free, since in those days they weren’t used to enhance animals growth. She grew all her own fruit and vegetables and herbs out of necessity, not because it was fashionable. My three brothers and I were always healthy. We very rarely got ill.Looking back, even though we were very poor, we were always the healthy kids on the block.

Then I grew up, had my own family and the convenience foods took over. With a child and a full time job, the idea of growing my own produce became a non existent venture. Especially when processed food were cheap and readily available. it was also a status thing. To be able to afford canned food meant you were affluent to a point.

I recall buying a half side of beef, early in my marriage, but that’s as far as buying healthy foods went. Most of the vegetables came in cans, especially in the winter. Buying fresh and cleaning and cutting vegetables became “old fashioned”. Years went by. I gained a lot of weight, no doubt due to my lifestyle and in 2005  my brother was diagnosed with a brain tumor. My oldest brother had passed away with colon cancer in 2002.

I started thinking. How much do modern time illnesses and their increase have to do with what we eat? My middle brother was diagnosed with heart disease and diabetes. Now I finally paid attention. I wasn’t going to be the next one to fall ill. We totally changed our lifestyle. My husband and I rented a house int he country, where I can raise all my own vegetables and we even have chickens and 3 cows. I realize that this is not possible for everyone, yet every one can buy from local farmers thereby reducing the cost of their ingredients and also ensuring that they are fresh. Also the small greengrocer in your neighbourhood carries fresh produce, usually locally grown.You can always ask where it is from.

The trick is to cook and bake like the olden days with modern conveniences of Food Processors, Blenders and Bread makers and a good Vacuum packer or decent Freezer Containers. But the ingredients should all be bought separately so that you have control over what you eat. If we added the amount of preservatives we put into our body in a year, up I am sure we’d all be shocked. My personal opinion is that it is far healthier to eat fresh. It takes a certain amount of dedication and the support of every one in the family, but the benefits are countless. I have gotten rid of allergies that I had for years, I sleep better and generally feel better. I am not a fanatic. I do eat fast food now and again, but it’s a treat not a habit.

What I want to do with this blog is do the research for you. Find out how long  “Supermarket Produce” has been in transit and how long it sat at the distribution center before  finally reaching the bin in the Supermarket. From there I will assemble a list of Farmers Markets in the GTA and research the Farms who sell direct to the Public. The next thing I will investigate is the cost factor  and the savings generated by  canning freezing and baking your own.

Lastly and this will be the mainstay of the blog I will pass along tips and tricks and recipes that get sent to me or that I have discovered myself, that will not only save you time and money, they will also ensure that your family eats the healthiest meals possible.

Til then

The Organic Lady