I’ve been playing with the idea of this for quite a while now.  I’m not sure why the idea of a blog could be so daunting, but today I decided to just get it started and quit over-thinking it.  So why the blog?  What do I have to offer?  I feel like the past five years have been a major turning point and beginning to the life I really want.  Really, if I’m being honest, the beginning of the life I never knew I wanted until now.

Five years ago this May, our newest addition only weeks old, life changed and my eyes were opened.  This was baby #3 for us, so we were far from being newbie parents.  I was nursing and our 3 or 4 week old baby began having blood in his stools which was soon attributed to food allergies, most likely milk.  I took all dairy out of my diet, and while this seemed to improve things, it didn’t fix them completely.  Through many doctor visits and much research I was eventually able to identify the culprits, remove them completely from my diet and continue nursing.  What was he allergic to?  Milk, soy, corn, beef, potato and chocolate.  If you are a label reader you will know that milk, soy and corn are in EVERYTHING you buy in a package.  I couldn’t comprehend how this brand new little baby could possibly be allergic to so much, and didn’t realize what I would have to do to keep them out of our diets.

It amazed me how different food tasted that was made from scratch.  I always thought we ate healthy, but until you can no longer eat fast food or pre-packaged food, you have no idea how much salt is in everything and how good fresh food can taste.  Over the years since I have read A LOT and watched a lot of documentaries on our food system and it has lit a fire under me to learn how to provide my family with the healthiest and safest food possible.  I don’t believe that there was a single thing wrong with my son at birth.  He was perfectly and wonderfully made.  His brand new little body was able to do something that mine was not.  It showed me that much of the food we are putting into our bodies is poison, for lack of a better term.  So much is genetically modified and pumped full of and covered with pesticides and herbicides and grown not based on how nutritious it is, but how it will hold up and make it to the store looking perfect.  We have factory farms growing the animals for our tables that are a disgrace to our species.

I want to grow what I feed my children.  I want to buy locally what I can’t grow, as much as possible.  I want to support those who choose a more kinder, sustainable path.  And I want to share with others what I’ve learned by putting all of the best resources I’ve found in one spot.  I will not, for second, claim to be an expert.  This is all my opinion and my experiences.  Take it with a grain of salt and do your own research.  We can’t continue to be sheep blindly following the herd and pretending to not see what is happening around us.  We need to make big changes, if not for ourselves then for our children.

“Let us walk softly on the earth with all living beings great and small, remembering as we go, that one God, kind and wise, created all. ”

― Ancient American Indian Prayer