FOOD!!!!!!!

Hi folks. 

I'm going to be posting a lot about food, so I thought it would be as good a place as any to start. 

These Things are Though Best:

Fire, the Sight of the Sun,

Good Health and the Gift to Keep it,

and a Life that Avoids Vice

Anyone who has been to a heathen event can attest that we have as many problems as the mainstream culture with food related health problems, if not more. This doesn't make sense people. For folk who value self control, common sense, and being in tune with our own natures, we really could do much better in the feeding our faces department. 

Don't let the more annoying examples of food police or granola cry babies claim the high ground and reap the benefits of health, vigor and longevity while many of us are missing out. You love yourself and your folk? You love life in this beautiful middle realm? Make a better effort to live that virtue, and to resist the media and industrial food cartels who want you to pay to live like you're on a feed lot. Reclaim your wholesome food heritage and respect your body, and your children's health and well being.

First and best step 

- go organic. 

Don't complain that it's expensive, it's cheaper than illness, and better things usually cost more. Don't worry that you can't eat all organic all the time, just try to start, every little bit helps. Likewise, don't fall for the foolish line of "reasoning" that says "well, I'm exposed to this, that and the other risk, what's the point of eating healthy with all that other stuff being wrong?" C'mon. That's just silly. If you are exposed to loads of other risks, all the more reason to do your best in this one area, one you can in fact control to a great degree. Offset the other risks with some healthier less-poison-filled food. 

It's also healthier for the farmers, for our soil and water. Yes it's not perfect, and if you want to you can find ironic examples of hypocrisy, flaws in the program, sure, but it's STILL better than the available alternative. 

Don't be turned off by big jerk celebrities or whoever else has annoyed you talking about healthy food. Remember than pesticides are another product of Big Foreign Oil, a tool of the New World Order, go hand in hand with mono-culturalism in the fields, and then in stores and on our tables. Resist it. 

You might also be surprised in the benefits, not just to "health" that nebulous idea that we sometimes forget doesn't just mean the absence of sickness, but in your children's behavior. More and more parents of kids with "behavioral issues" hyperactivity, ADHD, autism, etc. are finding that better diets helps their kids level of happiness and self-control. How the heck could it NOT? 

On a heathen esoteric level, we believe that objects have power, for good and ill. Isn't it worth at least trying to give your kids better food, food that carries the might of happy landwights and traditional farmers? And don't you owe it to your kids to take care of your own body and health, so that you will be best able to take care of them, until they are ready to take care of themselves and their kids?

How to start? Just dive in!

Or, if you want to make some targeted changes, focus on getting organics for the most heavily pesticide-laden items. 

The 2 crops with the highest use of pesticides are Coffee and Cotton. 

Organic coffee is also frequently "fair trade" which helps keep farmers on their own land, rather than traveling to the USA to work as migrants, which is also a positive thing. Organic Cotton is becoming more and more available, and I can attest that it's usually much nicer than industrial cotton, it's softer, "premium", and well worth the higher price. Sticking to only organic fabrics has helped me to buy less overall, which is good. When I can't get organic, I get used, no additional pesticides there! 

Another area to take a hard look at is animal products. Many toxins, not just pesticides BIOMAGNIFY, that means that as animals live they take in toxins which collect and become concentrated in their tissues. If I spray poison on the ground, some will get stuck on (and worse, inside) plants. Some will get on and into animals, but as animals typically live longer, and eat a lot of plants, they keep getting exposed, and the toxins build up to greater levels in their tissues than the maybe "safe" level I sprayed on the ground. 

So Meat and dairy, although expensive, are a great "bang for your buck" kind of purchase. This is ESPECIALLY true for your kids! The relatively large amount of food kids eat and their smaller body size, coupled with their great need for nutrition for growth makes it really vital to feed them well. 

We tend to eat too much fat and animal protein in our culture anyway (and fair play to us, our ancestors worked hard to get us to the point where we could indulge in loads of delicious foods!) and we could stand to curb that a little. I'm NOT saying go vegetarian, I'm just suggesting that if you spend the same $$$ on organic meat & dairy as you're spending now on industrial foods, you'll be getting less quantity, but more wholesome foods at a healthier nutritional ratio. 

Absolutely do not assume that because you live in a rural area and see lovely farms that you're local grocery store produce brand is wholesome or organic, that might have been true at one time, today it's highly unlikely.  

Targeting the healthiest items is another good trick. Some fruits and vegetables tend to have very high pesticide levels, others by their nature absorb less. 

12 BEST CONVENTIONAL PICKS
These conventionally grown foods have been shown to have consistently low pesticide residues. 

• Asparagus
  
• Avocados
  
• Bananas
  
• Broccoli
  
• Cauliflower
  
• Corn (sweet)
  
• Kiwi
  
• Mangos
  
• Onions
  
• Papaya
  
• Pineapples
  
• sweet peas
  

On the other hand, some crops are more heavily sprayed, and some foods by their nature absorb more pesticides, these include:

• Apples
  
• Cherries and berries
  
• stone fruit - peaches, nectarines
  
• peppers, 
  
• greens, 
  
• melons
  

There have been many studies done in this area so by all means do your own research. Here are some links I've found useful. 

Produce to Buy ORGANIC

TreeHugger - lots of green-living articles

World's Healthiest Foods - great general articles of different delicious foods, very positive and approachable, no hippie slant

Last but not least, do you want ONE good tip to help you eat much better, avoid the worst excesses of agribusiness and the unhealthy food industry? 

REFUSE TO CONSUME ANY CORN SYRUP!

Look at your labels. The lowest common denominator for crummy fake food, overly processed empty calorie junk food is High Fructose Corn Syrup. It's not in ALL bad foods, but it's not in ANY good foods. If you decide to go Zero Tolerance on the corn sweetener you will immediately start re-thinking your eating habits. 

As you look for better alternatives, you might start to remember awesome recipes your grandma made, the least healthy of which is likely going to be better for you than corn syrup junk food. Honor your grandmothers by preparing the old family recipes with organic ingredients, that's what they used, as that's all our ancestors had, it was all they needed, and it will do you good too.