A must see!

Ok, I know I've been negligent in my blog updates, but I've had a good excuse which I won't belabor here. But now I'm back in the swing of things and just had to make you aware of this movie thats out called Food Inc. Here's the link to the trailer.

I have gotten certified as a Nutrition and Wellness Consultant by the American Fitness Professionals Association and am now studying for the American Association of Nutrition Consultants certification which is much more involved. But what I'm learning is just exactly what is in this movie. Our soils are so depleted that if you eat your veggies like you are supposed to you may still not be getting all the nutrients you need. Further, if you are like most Americans and are eating processed foods, you are getting even less nutrient than if you eat your veggies. Folks, this is exactly why cancer rates are sky high and why so many degenerative diseases are cropping up across America!!

Use your good sense and your pocketbook to vote for an alternative - organic products!! You only get one body to live in, period! There is no do-over! Once the symptoms of degenerative disease show up is too late to start thinking about it. It takes each individual coming to realize this for his/herself, and I completely understand the "lack of time" and "organic costs more", but we must overcome those issues to be healthy. There's just no two ways about it.

I hope you'll check out the movie. I know I'll be there!

When do I really need to buy organic?

I just returned from the grocery store and I always have to pull out my little cheat sheet on when to buy organic and when it doesn't matter so much. So I thought I'd pass this on to everyone so you can make your own cheat sheet.

The things you should always buy organic because conventionally grown these are typically sprayed with pesticides or chemical fertilizers:
Peaches
Apples
Sweet Bell Peppers
Celery
Nectarines
Strawberries
Cherries
Pears
Grapes
Spinach
Lettuce
Potatoes

These are typically ok to purchase conventionally grown:
Onions
Avacado
Sweet Corn (frozen)
Pineapples
Mango
Asparagus
Sweet Peas (frozen)
Kiwi
Bananas
Cabbage
Broccoli
Papaya

Milk, eggs, chicken and other animal products should be raised without hormones or antibiotics. Packaged and canned products are typically processed with all kinds of yucky stuff like high fructose corn syrup, so I usually opt for the organic versions or skip them altogether. Canned beans are where I'll make an exception (but rinse them before using). Read the labels!

There are differing schools of thought regarding whether or not frozen is as good as fresh. My thinking is that frozen veggies that are really fresh frozen and haven't thawed out are probably just about as good nutritionally as fresh, and are certainly better than canned or no veggies at all. The biggest unknown is whether or not they've been allowed to thaw along the way to the grocery store. But certainly if you are freezing your own veggies, are using really fresh veggies, and aren't leaving them in the freezer for a really long time, you should get just about as much nutrition value from them as if you had eaten them straight from the garden. But not everything freezes well, so I typically stick with things like corn, peas, butter peas, and okra. And I like frozen spinach too. No way are you going to have a frozen tomato that tastes as good as one right out of the garden! That said, you can freeze tomatoes for using in soups and stews. And it's really nice to be able to pull something like butter beans and corn out of the freezer in the winter to remind you that spring planting season is right around the corner!