Sitting here watching my fave episode of Sesame Street - the Buckaneers. Where else can I get Abby Cadabby's "Words" song, Tina Fey and Chris Brown singing the catchiest song about signs to infect my brain. Big thanks for Elmo, because this week Dylan sang his ABC's all the way through by himself. I about crapped myself, it was as though he had written out the formula for curing cancer and put it in my lap. Sometimes he says "next time won't you sing with Elmo" since that's what his little ABC toy says. Makes me laugh.
Other than that, I'm faced with a moral dilemma. Jason and I have been fans of documentaries and I am suddenly carrying a burden of guilt (conscience?) because we learn a lot and don't do anything. What I'm talking about is environmental... we were watching "Six degrees could kill the world" or something close to that on either Discovery or Natl Geographic and they looked at how one cheeseburger from a fast food joint slaughters so much carbon. It was a reminder how much every little thing we consume has a long story behind it. The cheeseburger starts with a cow (slaughterhouses are aweful for the environment too!), grains are grown, etc and then all this stuff is transported via refrigerated vehicles long distances, paper wrappers, and so on. Really, the one cheeseburger put the Stepford Wives' SUV's to shame. This was on top of me reading Fast Food Nation last summer and knowing the awfulness that is a slaughterhouse and the patheticness that is the processed American menu. I can't believe I am saying it, but maybe I need to find ways to feed my family using natural local resources. When I opened my eyes to what all comes from China, I was astounded. My jar of Mandarin oranges, apples, shrimp, etc. They don't just ship us lead paint, peeps. If you think of how much it takes to ship all that here, it is sorta sad. Not to mention the chemicals, preservatives and such that I know must be responsible for my chronic migraines and such.
So I started looking at ways I could help. We recycle and we drive a Prius and that's nice, but it is nothing. Everytime I go to a store and get twenty plastic bags I cringe. Guess who is headed to the Target dollar spot for some of those vinyl bags? I think that will make me feel better. My friend and I had a big discussion on all of this and she told me about small markets in Houston where local farmers come in to sell meat without hormones and such and raw milk. Not sure if I am ready for raw milk, but meat that isn't put through radiation would be nice. I am happy to say we went organic with milk when Dylan started it, but my understanding is that organic is still a far cry from any natural form. And yes, I need to get my bum to the farmers' market for some pesticide free fruits and veggies from local farmers. Whenever I do go to market, I need to remember that rule that the only things I need to buy are along the outside of the grocery store, avoiding aisles. Do I think that benzoate sulfuric no 8 is something intended for the human body? Probably not.
Sorry for the hippie rant, but I was suddenly faced with the fact that I should make some changes for me and my family. If you get a chance to TiVo that documentary, do it. It is amazing that people can think global warming doesn't exist after you've seen that. Seeing why English wine production is doing better than French is fascinating...and was probably preventable if we weren't turning our planet into a hotbox. Rant complete.
** thanks to my super sis andrea who emailed me this link to a dude in nyc who is feeling my guilt and doing something: http://noimpactman.typepad.com/blog/2007/02/the_no_impact_e.html
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6 comments:
Very interesting blog, I'll have to keep up with him and his family. Yeah, it's scary. If people would eat low on the food chain, world hunger could go bye bye.
I'm far from it, but still working at it.
hmm... that post was enough to keep me far away from a burger, if I could have gotten any further away from processed meat already. Although this Stepford does pollute the air with her SUV, I have always bought organic produce & meats, steered clear of processing, and organic milk is the only way to go... I think raw scares me though.... anyways, the vinyl bags are a great idea. Target trip in my future....
Man you really get a girl thinking. I've never looked at it in that way but you are right. Going to have to start changing mine and my family's ways....
our local store started their own vinyl bags... nick and i have discussed just haven't done it.
good luck!
I think my parents wanted to be hippies, but just didn't quite make it. They tried to grow their own rice, we drank goat's milk that mom milked fresh every day, grew (and sold) tons of different fruits and veggies. I remember walking through our bush with my dad collecting maple sap to make our own maple syrup and helping pluck/gut our own chickens... eww, right? I wouldn't be able to do it now, but they ruined me for grocery store fruit, and I do use the re-usable bags for groceries. Definitely need to stay out of those aisles too and stay with the fresh stuff.
Creepy, your family members read your blog.
:)
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