Thursday, April 28, 2011

New Soul in Whole Foods

Walking through Whole Foods, I feel like an alien. Most recently I asked where I could find the Chow Mein noodles. The nice man gave me a sympathetic and gentle look. "Are you looking for the crunchy ones?" Immediately sensing I was committing a whole food blunder, I fessed up. "Yes, but I am guessing they aren't considered a Whole Food?" He was then nice enough to show me the substitute.

When I married my husband 12 1/2 years ago, my diet resembled a toddler menu at a greasy spoon. I was lucky to eat a vegetable, any beverage I consumed was a soda and entrees were complete once smothered in cheese. A mass spam email was my first food awakening. It was about aspartame. I had just switched over to diet soda thinking it was the best way to tend to my slowly growing waistline. In my 21 year old mind, the heaping bowls of Shoepps Chocolate Chip Ice Cream before bed weren't contributing in anyway. Well, the message whether true or false sent home the message that chemicals in your food could be harmful. I never considered this fact. Discussing it with my husband and announcing I was only going to drink regular soda, he quickly pointed out high fructose corn syrup isn't natural. So with that I began weaning myself off of soda. It was a first step.

Many years later, 2 kids, several documentaries and discussions with health conscious people I have expanded my list to eliminate trans fat, high fructose corn syrup in as many things as possible, and my latest endeavor avoiding the antibiotics in food. Deciphering ingredient lists and taking it one battle at a time is helping me be mindful of food choices. Looking back, it is a huge leap from the girl who only ordered grilled cheese sandwiches.

For my kids sake, I wish I could have been more mindful of my food from the beginning. The unexpected result is they are taking this journey with me and learning about food as I do. Alex's questions and reflections while Jamie Oliver explained about pink slime in ground beef as we watched Jamie Oliver's Food Revolution filled me with excitement. Getting to explain to him knowing where your food comes from is the issue, not the ground beef empowered both of us in different ways. He is now asking about the food on his plate, and I am motivated to keep learning.

I am a ways off from feeling confident in Whole Foods or properly utilizing the farmers market. I am a new soul in strange world, and it is starting to feel a bit more like home.

7 comments:

Gina Jacobs Thomas said...

Hi there! Following you from Voiceboks. We're going through a food thing here at our house too. Well, I am, not sure about my husband. We've made the switch to organic milk and trying to stick to organic for the "dirty dozen." Although, it really depends on who is buying. I will not compromise on organic milk or milk from cows not treated with hormones or antibiotics. Have you read The Unhealthy Truth?

Gina
http://totallyfull.blogspot.com

Lexie Lane said...

Hi! I've done the same as Gina mentioned. I've done a switch to Organic everything as well. My husband thinks I'm crazy and Dr. Mercola (great site btw) wrote an article about how organic food will no longer be abiding by the "organic rules" pretty soon.
You're a good writer. Can't wait to read more!

Lexie Lane
www.voiceBoks.com

Unknown said...

Very Interesting ;) Never really looked at food in that way. In fact food to me is more of a want and not a need ( I guess you can say ). I love cheese .. anything smoother in cheese as well as Soda ( just like you ). Weird that I came cross this site .. its because I woke up this morning and realized my self that I needed to make some changes.
Anyways, your blog is very informational and I am looking forward to reading more.

Kirsten
http://theemtmommy.blogpsot.com
http://kirstiesbowtique.weebly.com

Tracy Wilson said...

Hey there- what an awesome blog- so glad I just happened to be reading blog titles and saw yours- then was hooked. You are on the blog hop, and so am I...very nice to meet ya!

Kristina said...

I loved reading this - and love the name "kitchen singer" - I'm always singing in the kitchen too:). I'm definitely a foodie, and am relatively new to the US (also very new to blogging - mine's about food too!), and on my to-do list this WE is to visit a Wholefoods shop... when talking to the locals here about the type of food I'm used to cooking with and wanting to eat, they keep pointing me there, so can't wait.

Thanks so much for sharing!

CraveCute said...

Found you through the blog hop from Adventures of JMan site. Was drawn to your blog name, because my Mom always sang in the kitchen. Love your blog, very funny! I belong to a neighborhood food Coop too and still have to shop at the regular store to get my husbands favorite junk food! If you have time check out my blog.
http://cravecute.blogspot.com/

Unknown said...

follow back at alaskamonkeys.blogspot.com