One Small Step for Man, One Giant Leap for the Smith-kind

We made a big decision here at Casa de Smith.  It was over a year ago that I watched Food Inc. and others of the like.  I was of course, inspired, grossed out, wanting to change our eating habits and quit my job to lobby for better food practices (ok, maybe not that far).  There is no denying, it is pretty horrific what happens to our food.  But, change is expensive and not easy.  And with our major debt diet, how do you fit that in.  So therein lies the rub.

But things are relaxing a bit (just a bit, mind you) budget wise and recently our company had a health and wellness fair where lots of health affiliated companies come out, set up booths and chat with the employees.  We (meaning Neil and I, we work for the same company) also got our blood pressure taken, sugars and cholesterol checked.  The results, for me they were ok.  For Neil, not so much. It scares me, I just want him to be healthy for our family and for himself.  But that is for another post. We signed up to get some information from a company called Fresh Foods Direct.  They specialize in all organic, free range, hormone free, organic, wild caught whatever else you can think of meats.  This is something that is hard to affordably come by unless you shop at Whole Foods (which is not affordable for us) or some other specialty stores.  But even then there are loop holes as to what they can call "organic".

So, a representative came out to our house.  He was really nice, I knew most of the stuff he was talking about already, but I must say we were very impressed. It is the hybrid we have been looking for. I have long talked about wanted to buy a 1/4 or a cow and pig so that we know what it ate and how it was raised.  But that too, is expensive and laborious. And truly organic, free range chicken is hard to come by. So this idea is delievering in bulk, all trimmed and pre packaged, sans all the salt water, hormones, antibiotics and other yucky stuff. 

While we are by no means an all organic family, I would like to try and move more towards a homespun, organic lifestyle. I/we cook probably 6 days a week, I don't allow frozen stuff (i.e. dinners, pizzas, hot pockets etc) in our house.  But if you go through our cupboards, you will find a box of Apple Jacks bought as a treat and a few cans of Pringles, cause they are my favorite.  But, for the most part, we aren't huge into processed, pre-prepared food.  Maybe like 85% of the time being really good is what I am shooting for.  I think the ramification of what is in our food will compile over the coming years and we will come to find out that it is the culprit of many modern day diseases and disorders. Especially having a girl.  We have been advised by our late pediatrician, if we can afford to feed our kids one organic thing, it should be meat.  The increase in disease and how early menstruation is happening in young girls now is astounding.  So, we take one step at a time. We take it with a grain of salt.  We have to live in the real world too, but we can adjust some of our choices. Both Neil and I want to set a healthy example for our kids and also fuel them with the best food we can.

So, gulp, we took the leap and signed up.  It ain't cheap.  But it is far less than shopping organic at main stream grocery stores.  We got a fairly size able package.  It should last us around 6 months.  We got to pick from all kinds of choices.  We have everything from ground beef, to ground turkey, to steaks, a TON of chicken, wild caught salmon, halibut, mahi mahi. Organic chicken sausages, frozen organic veggies and nitrate/hormone free bacon.  Seriously, a TON of food. We took the hit up front and will end up really the same cost wise in the end I think.  Since it is portioned and trimmed, it really limits waste.  And forces us (which we already do) to eat in all the time and use up our restaurant grade, organic meat at home.  It is hard for me to write a big check, but Neil calmed me down and talked me through how it really is in the best interest of our family and our health. And he is right.  In the end, it may cost slightly more, but it is worth it.  Gotta put our money where our beliefs are.  And it STILL is cheaper than eating out (that is a fact).

We should have our shipment in early July.  We need a deep freezer and that is pretty much it.  I am excited to try it out.  I am hoping as I have more time to focus on our family health and get back into shape post partum, that I will really hone in on health.  This is a start though.  One major staple covered.  I am hoping to grocery shop with $30.00 a week now, since our major food cost is covered.  Hoping for some new, fresh, healthy recipes and an overall lifestyle change to come..... one step at a time!