Ever since I first found out I was pregnant, food has played a very important role in my life. Being responsible for another life made me committed to having a very long love affair with food. At the beginning of this journey, I found it very difficult finding food that contained no preservatives, chemicals, artificial coloring, and pesticide sprays. I never imagined the day I could not simply walk into a grocery store and find some naturally grown organic foods, like when exactly did we fall this far off track with true food?
After looking around the city, I found a great place to find exactly what I was looking for, the local farmers market (Halifax). I loved going there every Saturday, it was very refreshing knowing that there was more people who cared about producing good quality foods, while at the same time having enough integrity to care about the land and the consumers eating the food. It wasn’t long after I started going to this market that I started to gain interest on a whole new level. I started asking the farmers all about production and the real difference between Organic farming and Monoculture farming, and WOW was there ever a difference.
Soon after, I started to teach my children all about the differences between fun foods and growing foods. It started as just a game, but I soon realized I was giving these kids a true advantage to making healthier decisions in their lives, or at worst if they made the wrong decision they would at least have the knowledge to know the difference in what they are eating. I would hold up a carrot and say “hey boys, what is this, fun or growing?” then they would scream out in their young squeaky voices, “growing food mom”. I explained to them that they had to have growing foods everyday or they would not grow, it’s all a balance.
I told them that they were both homes, and I was going to build them out of the best materials possible. They have to live in their bodies for their entire lives, why not make it as strong and as healthy as you can. I asked them “do you want your house to be made out of rotten wood like processed foods, artificial coloring or flavoring, and preservatives, or built out of the best stone, teak, wood, and spikes you could find? Even when they would fight me for giving them a healthy breakfast or supper, they still knew that they were building that home strong whether they liked it or not.
My kids are now 20 and 18, and both very healthy young bucks. Neither of them eat perfect, but they both know exactly what their putting in their bodies, and how it can seriously affect you later in life.
My favorite story… At about 4 years old, Jake, (my oldest son) was at his grandmothers for the weekend, where they eat a little “different” then they do at home. Sunday, when he came home he ran up the stairs yelling “I’m Home!” I replied by asking him if he had had a good time there for the weekend and he said “sure did mom, but you better peel me a carrot because I didn’t grow all weekend”.
