Change For The Good-Giveaway

About a year ago I started to make some significant changes to my diet.  Well, it is probably longer than that.  Two years ago I gave up diet coke and I think that was harder than giving up crack.  I'm not sure, I've never given up crack, but it was pretty damn hard.  From there I gave up white flour, and almost all processed foods.

And then, we did the hard thing.  We went almost all organic.  And no food dye.  Yes, it is expensive.  But it is not an expensive as you would think it would be.  You don't have to just shop at Whole Foods, although I shop there a lot.  You can also shop at Harris Teeter, My Organic Market, and even Target.

I have to tell you, my life changed for the better when this change was made.  My weight, which I had always struggled with, stabilized.  Michael's behavior changed, for the better.  My skin cleared up.  I felt better. 

This change seems drastic and preachy.  And granola crunchy.  And I'm not the crazy mom who will not let her kid have ice cream or cake at a birthday party.  We eat all organic IN MY HOUSE.  I recognize that not everyone else does and we also eat out.  Michael also eats like a normal 5 year old boy and is allowed the occasional treat.

I highly recommend the book The Unhealthy Truth.  It will scare the living daylights out of you about what is in your food and will give you good tips on how to make the change in a cost efficient manner.  I live by the 80/20 rule.  If you can eat well 80% of the time, it is okay for the other 20% of the time to be not so good.  I still love wine.  And cupcakes.

Stoneyfield* has been a big part of our movement towards organic.  The food is good, and affordable, and accessible.  They also have a great organic living section on their website.  Stoneyfield was kind enough to supply me with a prize pack to giveaway to a reader.  It includes something for you and a child in your life:

Top, left to right: Oikos tote bag, YoKids superhero cape

Middle, left to right: Oikos spatula, Stonyfield lunch bag, Eric Carle growth chart, Preserve travel bowl with lid, Stonyfield measuring spoon (under bowl)

Bottom: recipe cards, coupons

To enter, please leave a comment telling me what you have done or hope to do to lead a more organic or healthy lifestyle.  The contest is open until Sunday at 5.  A winner will be announced Monday morning and will be picked by some random method I have not decided yet.

****I was not compensated for this post.  Stoneyfield provided me with coupons for their products (which I already used) and will be sending the prize pack to the winner.

Comments

[sara]

I try to buy only organic foods when I can. I want to give my kids the healthiest life possible.

[Angela]

I'm trying to switch to natural cleaning products and beauty products. My favorite change has been using organic jojoba oil as a cleanser/moisturizer.

[cagey (kelli oliver george)]

I try to buy organic when it comes to the Dirty Dozen - and yes, The Unhealthy Truth went a long way in educating me to how corrupt our food supply. I wish folks would get as furious with the likes of Kraft, FDA, Monsanto, etc as they do Nestle. Nestle is the very least of our problems, at this point. Have you read any of Michale Pollan - another guru when it comes to educating us on the subject of food and eating.

I do love Stonyfield when eating flavored yogurts. Whenever we go to Boston, we fly into NH and drive right by Londonderry - I had hoped to do a tour someday, but I am not sure if they still offer them. When it comes to plain yogurt for topping with honey or cooking curries, we also use Mountain High - it is SO thick, like a Greek yogurt.

[Hope]

We try to buy organic as much as possible. I am (slowly!) cutting processed foods out of my life. We shop at local farms. Next year, I think we'll do a farm share.

[Brooke]

The Unhealthy Truth made me preachy - out of love, I swear. We switched everything over a year ago - I try to get organic everything, but it doesn't always work out, so I settle for no artificial colors/flavors or preservative stuff. Either way, I agree with you - I've seen noticible changes in things like my skin, and my son's behavior.

I just had this conversation at work.. there are a lot of people that roll their eyes at me at the mere mention of organic or anything that we eat (that I don't allow my kids much in the way of processed sugar, candy, etc, especially). I think that a lot of people think that in order to make the switch you have to, like, only eat hummus or tofu and they don't realize that you can pretty much get anything organic.. and the prices are not always off-the-wall. We shop at Trader Joe's for pretty much everything and I actually spend less there, buying (mostly!) organic, than I did at the regular supermarket buying garbage.

Anyway! Sorry for the novel.. just wanted to show my support for granola crunchiness!

[Rachel]

I also gave up diet coke, or my regular habit of diet coke. I just have it for "special occasions". Anyway, we try to eat more organic and local -so in the summer we do a produce share as well as shopping at the farmer's markets and for meats we try to buy from local farmers and we just purchased our first quarter of a cow (w/ 2 other couples). We also do organic dairy -and Stonyfield is my favorite yogurt even before I realized that they were all organic. So we're trying to do our part. However, we're still guilty of buying processed snacks and that's the next habit I want to kick.

[ClumberKim]

We have some work to do to catch up to you (though I gave up diet coke 6 years ago) but we get a veg/fruit box every week, year 'round. So far the kids are not getting on board much but I keep putting it in their face. I know they will show interest someday.

[NS]

I've moved toward a paleo diet, particularly cutting grains and sugar out of my breakfast.

[rebecca]

well, violet has slight sensory issues, and carli is lactose intolerant, and BOTH girls have digestive issues...so whole grains and soy products and no food dyes and NO hfcs are teh rules 'round here...

[Holly at Tropic of Mom]

Good for you! We also gave up artificial stuff and have gone mostly organic. I love Oikos yogurt.

[Jessi]

I don't worry so much about eating organic, but I try very, very hard to eat local. I truly believe that the globalization of food has done more damage than anything else to our diets.

[Leandra]

I'm just beginning to make some real changes. I've been buying hormone free milk for a couple of years now, but that's been about it. My stomach/gallbladder have started giving me issues and so yesterday I gave up soft drinks. I'm really starting to think about what I put in my body.

[Diane]

For the last year or two, I've slowly been transitioning us to more and more organic foods. Recently I switched our meat purchases to organic, steroid free, tucked in with a blanket meats. To compensate for the increased cost, we eat vegetarian 4 or 5 nights a week. I buy organic produce from the farmer's market in the Fall and Spring, but I live in FL, so it's not available in the summer. I really wish we had a Whole Foods or something to give me more organic produce options.

[Janna]

I am torn... we don't have whole foods, trader joes... we have a health food store that doesn't really sell produce, and our farmer's market is only open during the times I work, so this is a challenge, and the cost around here for organic is at least twice as expensive, but I do try to do about 50/50 and always get organic when its on sale. (Hello- run on sentence!) I just can't afford 6.00 for a gallon of milk every time with how much it costs for our groceries already with 3 big eaters in our house- and me! I wish that there was more supply and convenience around here for these things.

[Kate]

We've been making small strides this year. We joined a CSA and have been eating tons of fresh, organic vegetables (and currently drowning in cherry tomatoes), cut out most processed foods, nearly eliminated using paper towels and napkins, changed detergents and cleansers to biodegradable alternatives, and retrofitted our toilets to be low flow. We just bought a new house, so we are trying to be more conscience with new purchases -- buying better lightbulbs, recycled items, used furniture rather than new, and much to my husband's delight, a non gas or electric (aka "oldtimer") lawnmower. Turns out he loves mowing with that, plus gets high fives from the other 'hippie' neighbors. I haven't made the total switch to all organic meats and dairy - maybe that should be a fall goal?

[Safire]

We're making the switch to cloth paper towels in about a week (when the stuff I ordered arrives). We also have our milk delivered (all hormone free) from a local dairy. I also hit the farmer's market 2 times a week to get some awesome produce in the summer.

[Laura]

Beyond buying organic milk, we don't do much but this post has inspired me to try harder. I'd be interested to hear more about what you do eat, and what Michael eats as my 3 year old is pretty picky.

[Pocklock]

I'm really good about what I feed my two-year-old and she eats about 95% organic, but I'm not that great about what goes in my own body. The one thing I will not budge on though is buying organic milk. The non-organic, mass produced, hormone laced milk scares the crud out of me.

I've set a date to turn my own diet and lifestyle around - December 1. It'll be six-weeks after my second baby is born and I'll hopefully have the all clear to work out again. I'm actually looking forward to it!

[~a]

I buy organic/natural whenever I can a)drive the 50 miles to that store and b)afford it. But I LOVE Stonyfield yogurt. Seriously. It's the only kind I eat anymore.

[Linda]

I am just starting to think about going organic. Maybe this would help me make the leap?

[Roberta]

After reading Michael Pollan's books on food, my husband and I decided to (literally) put our money where our mouths were. We bought a share in a Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) farm about 45 minutes from where we live in DC (they deliver to our neighborhood). Most of the produce we get is organic; our farmer also supplies us with not purely organic but low-enviro impact produce from other small farms near him, including some Mennonite farms cultivated the really old-fashioned way: with a horse. The difference in taste is unbelieveable; the cooking is adventurous (what do you do with kohlrabi???), we're supporting local, small, organic farmers, and there's no mystery about where our food comes from.

[AmandaJo]

I bought a CSA share from a friend that started a farmer's market in my town. So every tuesday we get tons of fresh produce, which we use to make our dinners for the week. I make a lot of my baby's food, and what I can't or don't have time to make, I buy organic. I started working out again recently (and would like someone to kill me now, oh the pain, the sweet, sweet pain) and have set a goal to feel better about myself by spring. I'm not so worried about weight, but I want to feel good about the way I look.

[Jenn]

We started with dairy and eggs--I get milk and eggs delivered from a local (MD) dairy. I also follow the Dirty Dozen guidelines and always buy organic (or local) foods on that list. I try for other foods but admit that sometimes I really just want an orange!

We try to limit processed foods at home. Like you guys, we try for 80/20, though I think more realistically we're more 60/40. We eat out a lot, but I try to pick local restaurants (no national fast food chains) and try to make good food choices. I am really horrified by what is on kid's menus these days, so most times I build a meal out of adult sides or share an adult entree with my 3-year old.

[stephanie]

I just finished reading Mark Bittman's Food Matters, and although I already knew and agreed with a lot in the book, it has inspired me to be a lot more conscious of what I put in my body. I am also trying to cut out white flour and sugar and as much junk as possible. I just feel better without as much processed food in my diet. We've even been making our own whole wheat bread.

[Heather]

I, too, read The Unhealthy Truth. Scared me straight, yo. What we do: organic as much as possible, non-hormone milk and dairy, non-hormone meat, as little HFCS as possible, as few artificial colors as possible (I half and half Koolaid powder and lemon juice when making lemonade.) Trying to grow a better organic garden. Will be trying to bake crackers again tomorrow.

[Jessie C.]

I've buying organic for years and we started our small organic garden a few months ago.

[melanie]

we try to buy more organic food when we shop. i have been changing from regular yogurt to healthier versions. we will have to give this a shot...

[Sarah C]

We are buying more organic veggies and ready made foods. We have yet to make the meat switch. That's next, but it's a bit more challenging to the budget.

[Sue]

I try to buy organic when I can, but have a long way to go. I do grow my own tomatoes, cukes & zucchini in the summer. I make my own spagetti sauce from the tomatoes & freeze it for use later. When my kids were babies, I made my own baby food & used organic fruits & veggies for it!