Eco-Friendly Family

Since I'll probably be talking a lot about environmentally friendly (and healthful) baby items, I thought I'd address some of what I've been learning in this blog, and how it relates to DomerBaby.

Organic foods:

Here are just a few tidbits I've learned from reading these amazing books that have literally changed the way we live our lives. Check them out!

"The Omnivore's Dilemma" by Michael Poulin
"In Defense of Food" by Michael Poulin
"Animal, Vegetable, Miracle" by Barbara Kingsolver

Not all organic foods are eco-friendly. Even if pesticides aren't being used, the cost of transportation can be enormous. Produce travels an average of 1,500 miles to get to your plate. Organic farming practices themselves aren't necessarily great for the environment, either. Buying locally can also help - especially when you are buying from small family farms that plant different foods together.

Organic foods are generally a lot better for you, however. Here is a list of "The dirty dozen" foods that you should buy organic because of the pesticide load. It's a good place to start. We've added grass-fed beef, cage-free eggs, organic chicken, organic milk, and wild fish to our grocery list as well. Besides being bad to ingest, pesticides really take a toll on the environment. Pesticide use is much, much heavier than it was when we grew up. They flow into our rivers and lakes and kill plant and animals.

The best thing to do environmentally is to buy local produce. The best thing for your health is to buy organic. If you can combine the two - you are amazing. We're doing our best at making these choices... sometimes it's confusing and depressing. I hope that by putting our money where our mouth is, more and more organic farming will be done, and more stores will offer local and local/organic produce.

So, how does this relate to DomerBaby? First, I firmly believe that industrial food, and the processed foods that come from them, have adversely affected the health of our nation. Sure, our children will have mac'n'cheese and McDonald's, but not often. I'm usually a big fan of moderation, but I think "rarely to never" is the best idea for some of these foods. Second, our legacy to our children is the earth (ours certainly won't be coming into a large sum of cash!). What are we leaving them with? We can - and need - to do better. Working on our food supply would be a great start.