By: Linsley Oaks, LuxEco Living Editorial Assistant
I love food. I mean, I really love food. Good food. This is no puppy dog love relationship: it is a border line obsession. Growing up, I was spoiled: my dad was a French trained chef while he was in college, and my family reaped all the benefits from his expertise in the kitchen. I didnʼt even know what Hamburger Helper was until I was 19 or 20. I have an overinflated palate that covets quality.
Grocery shopping is not a chore to me, it is an adventure; an acquisition of tastes and wonder. Since I am not of the means to dine on five star cuisine served in restaurants, I enjoy cooking as a means to a delicious end and relish in five star experience in my own home. And the end result is more than just something that tastes good, but that is also good for you. Because we all know the ʻmomismʻ of “you are what you eat”. But this has grown beyond a ʻmomismʻ directed at getting your to scarf down some greens with your mac and cheese Kraft dinners in college, this is becoming a matter of life and death. The food manufacturing industry, in a very real way, is slowly killing the very public that creates its revenues.
In my ever eager search for quality sustenance, my grocery cart has less and less meat, cheese and dairy in it and more and more organic vegetables. Now, donʼt get me wrong: I am from farm country. I love steak, I love cheese, and I REALLY love butter. I am no vegan; but most people at the checkout counter tend to make this assumption. Friends poking around in my fridge for something to snack on have the same impression. I do buy meat, when I can afford the free range organic fleshy gold. Unfortunately, those times can be few and far between these days. But you know what? I feel healthier now, at 26, than I did at 17. I am in better shape, my skin is definitely happier, and my energy levels can put some high school seniors to shame. Any time I stray from my endeavor to full my gullet with only the most positive and nutritious of delicacies, I feel it almost immediately.
Try if for yourself sometime. We are all so used to the toxicity in our food that you donʼt notice it- much like an addictʼs tolerance. Let yourself go through the withdrawal. Buy only organic, whatever you can afford (you may find yourself being a look alike vegan too) for a month. Feel the difference. Then try to go back. Trust me, those Blue Ranch Doritos and YooHoo will never look the same again.
