Against The Grain (Industrialized food system)

Photo courtesy of Dan by Free Digital Photos

*disclaimer* Please don’t fuss at me and call me phony if you see me eating a double stuffed Oreo:) Being against the grain is my goal.

Let me start from the beginning and share with y’all where God has taken me to give me the disgust and rebellion I have for our industrialized food system. About 3-4 years ago I took my husband to a farm tour for his birthday. (Seems random but he and I are fascinated by them) It was a dairy farm in SC called Happy Cow Creamery. On the tour he explained where our supermarket milk came from and why they were different. They fed their cows GRASS. Huh? We looked at each other and thought, well don’t all cows eat grass? I know to a lot of people reading this are thinking how could you have not known all of this. Basically comes down to how you are raised, your education, and what is available to you. We knew no different. He began to explain that the milk from the supermarket was from cows who ate a diet of corn feed, received antibiotics due to their confinement and diseases, and were given hormones to increase their milk production. (Though most claim this isn’t true) It’s not just in milk but in all dairy products we use every day. He explained that cows were made to eat grass and the health benefits increase dramatically when the milk is from grass-fed cows compared to corn-fed ones.  They gave samples of the milk and oh my word, no comparison, delicious!

This was a huge eye opener for us. We wondered who else knew about this secret. Nobody in our family did. When we got home I began to research where I could buy that same quality of milk around here locally. Turns out there are a lot of people out there who do know about this, it’s just not easy to get your hands on. If any of you are research queens like me than you know one thing always leads to another… Turns out there are also select places with grass-fed beef, pasture raised chickens, grass-fed hogs..etc WHAT??? You mean to tell me this whole time I’ve been eating food that is sub par. My risk of getting food borne illness, heart disease and cancers is all increased due to what these animals are consuming including chemicals, antibiotics, and hormones. I thought I was eating real food that was good for me!

As we all know with most things done the right way you have to pay for it. All of these grass-fed meats and foods that have the least intervention cost the most. As a society we are constantly penalized for going against the grain, rather that be financially, emotionally, or even educationally.

Turns out even a tomato from the store has been chemically altered to give it its shelf life, color, and vitality. It really blows my mind at how much the food system feeding our country is able to get away with, yet it is illegal for me to buy raw milk in NC. Just about every week there is some sort of recall on these foods deemed safe to eat.

We all need to start questioning our own food safety and be our family’s advocates. It is no secret that the leading cause of death is heart disease. This is REVERSIBLE by our diets. It is my opinion that we are being tricked and schemed into a money market as what “healthy” really means. I can remember a time when I used to buy lean cuisines and key lime flavored low-fat yogurt. Unless you have educated yourself these labels look like they are healthy options. THEY ARE NOT! They are horribly processed.

Through all of my research I have had times of being completely overwhelmed at where to start to gain me and my family’s health back. The conclusion I have come to is that this is the most basic and easiest diet to follow. REAL FOOD! I need to mimic not what my grandmother fixed at her supper table but my GREAT grandmother. This includes fruits and vegetables grown in season with no interventions. Meats raised on what they were born to eat and milk from the town near by. They had no minute rice or cream of mushroom soup. They used what was available, local, and what they grew. This may sound difficult but it was an art. To be truly creative in the kitchen and put real ingredients together to make a masterpiece. (Even if that masterpiece was a simple homemade biscuit.)

There is the issue of time spent on gardening or money spent at farmers markets. When you think about it… it sure does cost a lot of money for your stent or cancer treatments and it’s an awful lot of time wasted in the hospital or not feeling the way we were meant to feel.

God didn’t design us to eat the way we have been eating. We know what to do but we put our heads in the sand just because it’s easier. It’s time we go against the grain and feed our bodies what it is meant to have, REAL FOOD! The good thing is we can start off small and work our way up. Start by not having fast food. We all know how terrible it is for you and you can save money. Dig in and start finding information to encourage you and show you the benefits of eating real stuff you can pronounce. The truth is we have all been starving ourselves. Not of calories but of vitamins and minerals essential for living, this is all a form of malnutrition. Let’s feed ourselves again!

Did I mention the food from real ingredients taste 100 times better? Even the Oreos don’t taste as good anymore:) Any one else with me? Interested in joining the food revolution? Did you have a moment like we did that stopped you in your tracks and got you thinking? If so, subscribe and share!

Here is part I of my series: Against The Grain (Birth Control)

I will be adding more to this series, so subscribe so you won’t miss it!

Sharing this with: The Prairie Homestead,  A Mama’s story, Raising Arrows, The Modest Mom, What Joy is Mine, Growing Home, Time Warp Wife, Thankful Homemaker, Mamal Diane, Teaching What is Good,  Mom’s the word, conerstone cofessions, A proverbs 31 wife, Some of the best things in life are mistakes, Let this mind be in you, A Wise Woman Builds her home, Deep Roots at Home, Graced Simplicity, Raising Homemakers, Women Living Well, Hope in Every Season, Jill’s Home remedies, Little Natural Cottage, Our simple country Life, Raising Mighty Arrows, The Purposeful Mom, Happy and Blessed Home, Homemaker by Choice, Your Thriving Family, My Joy Filled Life. New Life Steward, Hometead simple, Let this Mind Be in You,