Chemical Laden Babies-Say it ain't so!

This is how ranchers move cattle. With horses or ATV's, dogs and usually their families.

I have been thinking a lot lately about healthy eating lately.  And I have been watching A LOT of TV.  So there is definitely conflicting data (and I use that term loosely) of what is good and what isn't.  I have to say that the ones that show the babies really bugs me.  I am not in the business of calling out baby food companies so they will go unnamed.  But I will say this.  It doesn't seem right.  I can choose, babies can't.

Here is what I know.  Potatoes are potatoes.  I mean real potatoes.  Not instant.  I mean potatoes that you peel, cook, add butter and milk to and mash.  I personally think they are good for kids to eat.  And they are cheap.  Like 20 lbs for six bucks cheap.  There are a huge amount of vegetables and other food that kids can eat, even as babies, that are good for them.

My kids only ate baby food from a jar for a couple months and only ate that when I needed to give them something on the fly especially when we were travelling.  My kids ate scrambled eggs, mashed potatoes and gravy, cottage cheese, you get the picture.  They not only survived but grew up healthy and strong.  One hundred years ago, toddlers lived on table food.  ONLY!  And babies lived on boobs.  It's true! Hard to believe, I know but true.

We need to start questioning our purchases more. Do we really believe that we need to give our babies drinks or food filled with sugar, corn syrup and salt?  Our children just need to eat what we eat.  Period.  Now if you don't think what you eat is good enough for a baby, you have a different problem. And what, pray tell, did said baby eat whilst in the womb?  Delivery?  Take out?

Do you realize that these commercials start with words like "Worried they aren't getting enough..." "Picky eaters..."  Do you know why baby food advertisement's do this?  To make you buy their product. To make you doubt yourself and then buy their product.  TV ads are incredibly expensive.  So is farming.  Farmers spend their money buying land, seed and equipment to grow potatoes for you to eat.  They don't have very much money left to try to convince you to feed your kids potatoes. They have to trust that you will want to do that on your own.  

But wait you say, "I don't want to feed my kids chemical! They spray those potatoes in the field and on their way to the store.  My baby will be filled with chemicals."  Yeah because there are no chemicals in these types of foods.  (insert sarcastic eye roll here.)  I'm just saying there is a whole list of things that are in store bought toddler meals. I don't even know what they all are but I know that in a bag of potatoes the ingredients are "potatoes"  And if you don't want to risk chemicals or spray, eat organic. And if you want to be sure, grow your own.  


Do you want to eat beef?  Call a rancher.  They all know their animals. And I am not talking a big feedlot.  I am talking about a rancher.  A guy who calves out his own cows, checks his cattle himself, that remembers what each calf looks like and from sight will know which bull it's off of, even if it's the neighbours.  A rancher that runs his own herd and doesn't use steroids or growth hormones. There are lots of them out there.  A good rancher will be able to sell you a beef that has never had a shot of antibiotics even.  From farm to fork not enough, so how about conception to fork?  Does that seem like enough?  How about two or three generations back?  Is that enough?

We all vote with our dollars.  Use yours to vote in the way that you value.  You have not heard the last of my ranting and raving about food, where it comes from and what we need to know about it.  We all need real food.  Real food.  We need only real things in our life, relationships, people, and food. Today vote with your dollars.  Vote real!