Going Organic Starts Here

A huge part of going organic is making a point to consume locally grown food. You can develop a relationship with the grower and as a result, become better informed on how your food is produced. You may also find that organic produce is not as expensive as you originally thought.

However, if you can’t get all your food organic or all natural all at once, an important place to prioritize is with animal products. Why? Because animals are at the top of the food chain. While a tomato or string bean will take in some of the pesticides that have been applied to it in the course of the growing season, a chicken or cow can accumulate pesticides from all the food it’s eaten over the course of its life. Those chemicals will tend to accumulate in the fatty tissue and organs of the animal. The amount of pesticide you consume will be greater when you eat meat or drink milk than when you eat a plant. So you should make it a priority to get your milk and milk products, meat and eggs from chemical free sources. This can be accomplished by purchasing those products directly from an organic or all natural grower.

Perhaps the most local you can go is to raise some of the food yourself, and a time-honored way to do this is to have a garden. There are many resources available for getting started with gardening. It’s very important to be prepared with a gardening plan before you plant your first seed. You should have in place a system for making and using compost. In this way you can transform both your kitchen scraps and your yard waste into valuable humus for your garden. The great thing about composting is that you can start doing it at any time of the year.

The other plan you should have in place is a means of preparing and preserving your harvest. You should have on hand recipes for preparing the produce fresh and for preparing it for long term preservation. It’s important to have those recipes lined up ahead of time because you will be very busy dealing with your harvest when the time comes. You should have accessible recipes for every crop you plant so that you know
what to do with them once you harvest them.

There are a variety of ways to preserve vegetables such as canning, freezing, and lacto-fermentation. If you have never preserved vegetables before, you should become familiar with the process of your choice before harvest time. You can practice on some vegetables from the store. Do it in small batches until you feel comfortable with the process. This way, you will be able to efficiently process and preserve your home grown vegetables even if you harvest more than you expected.

There are other things to have planned ahead of time for gardening, but if you have your compost and your preservation systems down, you will already be well prepared to plant that garden. At harvest time you will be able to add natural, local produce to your natural animal foods, going a long way towards eating healthier food.

Meeting Your Healthy Eating Goals

So, you’ve resolved to eat healthier in 2008, have you created a plan for this? Setting a goal is great, but without a plan of action, it’s not going to happen. A plan can help you to meet your goal of eating healthier and won’t overwhelm you. To create your plan you will need to decide what steps you are willing to take now to make these new habits last a lifetime.
The following are some examples of attainable eating goals:

1. Try something new. Many times, we all decide we can’t stick to an eating plan because it limits us to certain foods or cuts out entire food groups, like carbohydrates or dairy products. Many diets are set up this way, but eating healthy doesn’t mean you have to go on a restricted diet. There is so much variety among fruits, vegetables, whole grains and nuts. Try a new food like kefir or miso soup, or a new recipe from a healthy cookbook. You never know if you’ll find a new food you love.

2. Make it easier on yourself. Take advantage of cookbooks, ready to use foods, and meal planning options that you can find online to help you to create a plan that works for you. Don’t try to figure out what to cook for dinner when you’re starving, because your body will be crying out for sugar at that time. Be proactive and have a plan, and stock your pantry and fridge with healthier options.

3. Choose just one meal. Choosing one meal at a time to improve will help you stay focused and not feel overwhelmed. This does not mean you should eat junk or fast food the rest of the day, but focusing on one meal at a time can make the step to healthier eating a little easier. As an example, switch from cold breakfast cereals that may be high in sugars to a cooked whole grain like oatmeal, or even a yummy fruit salad for breakfast.

Taking each of these steps one at a time could really help to launch you onto a plan that will work for you. Remember it does not have to be difficult so start your plan today.

Make healthy eating simpler with the Ultimate 365 Salad Cookbook. With a different salad recipe for every day of the year, you and your family will never be bored.

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