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Going Green....even my candy.
Jun. 11th, 2007 12:05 amSo I just bit into a snickers bar and it was green inside...like snot green, which freaked me out. But I looked at the wrapper and apparently it is supposed to be that way as a promotion for the new Shrek movie. But it is like moldy green. And what if they find out in like 10 years that the snot green food dye they used in my snickers bar causes some rare untreatable cancer?
Which reminds me why I've been slowly making the switch to organic and natural foods. It all started a few months ago when my dog died. Why would that spur me to change my eatting habits? Well, poor adorable Scottie dog Henry was fed fancy vet approved dog food by the breeder and by myself, food which was recalled. Food that apparently had crap from China in it that caused his kidneys to shut down and for him to die a painful death. In my research on the recall, I kept reading about food and additives that are increasingly used in everyday food that come from China. CHina is extremely under-regulated in the food industry and their substandard food products are making their way into our food and drug supply. This was not conspiracy theory stuff...this was being reported on by the NY TImes, Wash Post, etc.
It just got me thinking about what I put in my body and the impact i'm having. I mean going beyond the possible harmful affects from the food, how big of an impact am I having environmentally if some of the products in that Oreo I'm eatting are shipped all the way from China? Al Gore would probably kick my ass for eatting the China Oreo. Plus I just watched Super Size me and I'm never eatting fast food again (that shit is all from China).
So I made a change...its not a total change, hence the snickers bar. I still have pizza out, I still drink soda, and have candy bars every once in awhile but I started buying better for me food. Organic, natural, and locally grown. It isn't as hard as you think. There are tons of things made organically now. They even make organic doritos (which taste better and don't give you orange fingers). A lot of it actually does taste better (milk especially). And I like that when I read the ingredients list on the side of the box I know what the ingredients are rather than some long chemical formula. It can be more expensive but a) there is just me and so actually in the long run it isn't...for instance organic milk has a longer shelf life than non-organic because it is ultra pasturized, this means that I do not end up throwing out milk that has expired before I've had time to drink it. And b) my local wal-mart, devil incarnate that it may be, has a huge selection of organic food that is reasonablely priced. They even carry the organic shampoo that I have not been able to find since I moved from New York.
These changes have pushed me to take other changes such as recycling (we don't have curb side recycling here so I have to take it to the university) and I've bought cloth grocery bags to use instead of plastic (and yet again Wal-Mart is the coolest place I've been about me having my own bags and they recycle old plastic bags).
I'm not really trying to change the world or anything. I won't give you a lecture about your eatting habits or environmental impact. I'm just doing what I feel is best for me and what makes me feel good.
Which is not this green snickers bar which is actually making me a little queasy.
Which reminds me why I've been slowly making the switch to organic and natural foods. It all started a few months ago when my dog died. Why would that spur me to change my eatting habits? Well, poor adorable Scottie dog Henry was fed fancy vet approved dog food by the breeder and by myself, food which was recalled. Food that apparently had crap from China in it that caused his kidneys to shut down and for him to die a painful death. In my research on the recall, I kept reading about food and additives that are increasingly used in everyday food that come from China. CHina is extremely under-regulated in the food industry and their substandard food products are making their way into our food and drug supply. This was not conspiracy theory stuff...this was being reported on by the NY TImes, Wash Post, etc.
It just got me thinking about what I put in my body and the impact i'm having. I mean going beyond the possible harmful affects from the food, how big of an impact am I having environmentally if some of the products in that Oreo I'm eatting are shipped all the way from China? Al Gore would probably kick my ass for eatting the China Oreo. Plus I just watched Super Size me and I'm never eatting fast food again (that shit is all from China).
So I made a change...its not a total change, hence the snickers bar. I still have pizza out, I still drink soda, and have candy bars every once in awhile but I started buying better for me food. Organic, natural, and locally grown. It isn't as hard as you think. There are tons of things made organically now. They even make organic doritos (which taste better and don't give you orange fingers). A lot of it actually does taste better (milk especially). And I like that when I read the ingredients list on the side of the box I know what the ingredients are rather than some long chemical formula. It can be more expensive but a) there is just me and so actually in the long run it isn't...for instance organic milk has a longer shelf life than non-organic because it is ultra pasturized, this means that I do not end up throwing out milk that has expired before I've had time to drink it. And b) my local wal-mart, devil incarnate that it may be, has a huge selection of organic food that is reasonablely priced. They even carry the organic shampoo that I have not been able to find since I moved from New York.
These changes have pushed me to take other changes such as recycling (we don't have curb side recycling here so I have to take it to the university) and I've bought cloth grocery bags to use instead of plastic (and yet again Wal-Mart is the coolest place I've been about me having my own bags and they recycle old plastic bags).
I'm not really trying to change the world or anything. I won't give you a lecture about your eatting habits or environmental impact. I'm just doing what I feel is best for me and what makes me feel good.
Which is not this green snickers bar which is actually making me a little queasy.
