It's been about eight months or so since I saw a movie that would change my life...I'd read about it on blogs and heard about it in the news but it wasn't until I actually sat down to watch it did I realize that I would never be the same again, or look at the world in the same light. It's still amazing to me that a movie can make that kind of change...and I wonder just how much change it could make in the world if everyone would actually take the time to watch it...
The movie I am talking about is not a big blockbuster hit...it doesn't have any famous actors or fancy production tricks...only truths...and so much free thinking that most people are afraid to even watch it...it makes people uncomfortable and is a real slap in the face to the way our country is run and the falsities we are told and expected to just "swallow".....now I'm not say this movie is the be-all-end-all (as some of my farming friends have voiced to me) but it does bring up questions that I think everyone should have to answer for themselves.
Food Inc. opened my eyes to the way our food is dumbed down, for lack of better words. It is dumbed down to the point that we are poisoning ourselves and we don't even care....For me, I always thought of us as fairly healthy eaters. We eat salad, not too much fast food and I try to buy organic when we can...and still the movie through me for a loop!
I had seen Michael Pollan on Martha Stewart and then again on Oprah before realizing that this was really something I wanted to delve into. I watched him on Oprah, and then watched it again with DH...I was so moved that I might actually still have it on my DVR...I got Food Inc from Netflix and DH and I sat down one evening to watch it. The responses we felt were disbelief, anger and then empowerment....a surge within to take control of our eating and to truly make a difference in our lifestyle and those of our children.
As with anything new, we went into it full speed and I know our friends thought we were crazy and our family probably still thinks we are! lol I stopped buying hamburger completely, and started buying bison meat as it was the only meat I could purchase at the time that actually had labels on it that I could read and that stated that the animals were grass fed and antibiotic free. We had a meal of cooked chicken that I already had in the freezer and found ourselves sick to our stomach when it came time to eat it...so we stopped eating chicken too until we could find a supplier that we felt good about (which never happened in that location!) I started researching blogs online that gave me some alternatives to meat and DH was a doll and actually tried the vegan recipes that I found! It was a whole family renovation and we were all in it together. Surprisingly...the vegan recipes were good and I think there was only one that didn't make it into the permanent recipe box!
We also had just purchased a Jack LaLanne juicer (worth every penny!) for Christmas and boy was it ever great! We started having more energy and craving the crap drinks less and less! A few times I even tried to drink a Coke and it just didn't taste that great! It's amazing to me what our bodies can do if only given the chance to flourish instead of bogging it down with things it doesn't really need.
Now, I don't want you to think we are going vegetarian, as that would never happen with DH being such a hunting fan...I totally believe that God put animals on this planet for us to use however he did not intend for us to use, abuse and throw them away! I felt like after seeing this movie, it was just one more way that the world is creeping farther and farther out of control, and I know that there probably isn't any real hope of changing it completely as I also know the Biblical stand on how the state of the world is going, but on the other hand, I don't have to just stand by and watch it happen. There are things we can do, little things that add up to be big things...little things that we can teach our children are important and little things that can make a big difference....
Back at the beginning of the year, I joined a blogging journey to bettering ourselves and the world around us through One Small Change... blogging about one thing each month that you are doing to make a difference in our world...to make it a better place...I was so moved by this and somehow it helped me focus in a time of so much chaos in our lives. I felt good about the changes we had made like using rags instead of paper towels, changing from plastic to glass storage, using vintage (or new) cloth hankies, and of course our not so small change in the way we view and purchase foods...
I am horrified and sadden that somehow I dropped the ball. I thought the challenge was supposed to go only thru Earth Day and I stopped the challenge when in reality I guess I was still going on! I just happened on to the blog this morning and realized it today so my One Small Change for the month of October is going to be getting back to all those changes we made, as we are still getting back to "normal" after the big move and unfortunately that means we got a bit lax in the way we were doing things...so today is the day...the paper towels are going back into hiding for true emergencies and the juicer will be humming again as soon as my wee ones awake...
My urge to you is to go check out One Small Change and be open to the small changes we can all make in our lives to add up to something big...an awareness! And by all means...go watch Food Inc...(for FREE)...your lives will never be the same! Try not to look at it as scary or daunting but rather see it as voting with your fork!!!
I would love to hear about the changes you are making...please leave a message with the link to your change and perhaps I will even have a showcase of the changes going on...anyone game for being a guess blogger? :)
A stop sign is a gift for you to learn that moving in the same direction won't take you any place new.Rex Steven Sikes
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