Healthy Eating

     I hope everyone had the opportunity to celebrate their fathers this past weekend!  We enjoyed our weekend in Dallas with friends and family, and celebrated father's day with my dad at the farm.  It was a little hot, but nice to be out in the fresh air and summershine!

     I keep trying to encourage my mom to set up an organic garden at the farm, and we've (or really SHE) has been reading up on different ways to get a garden started.  What we eat is a huge part of living chemically-free.  And while I'd like to say that washing my face with baking soda is the sole reason my skin looks healthy, what I eat also directly contributes to healthy skin.  The pesticides, antibiotics and hormones that are added to our food cause a myriad of problems that show up in our body, on our skin, and affect our quality of life.

     "You are what you eat! We hear that so often; yet don't consider what that truly means. What we eat determines what kind of life we will have. This process starts from where we buy it at the supermarket or the grocery, how we prepare it, and how it is cooked. Also, some other aspects to be considered are when we eat, how much, and how often.

     Studies have shown that buying organic foods and eating it can be beneficial to living health lives. For couples, it is very important to consider the possibility of having a child. Eating food that lacks the right amount of vitamins, minerals and other essential nutrients may impede the child's growth development.

     For a few years now, scientists and other experts in the field of health have been carefully monitoring non-organic foods and its affect on people’s health.

     To their shock, they discovered that the fertilizers and chemicals used to help the crops grow are more harmful than good. Tests have shown that increased amounts of these substances, when entering the human body, can lead to diseases." (courtesy of Organic Food Corner www.organicfoodcorner.com)

     In an effort to start eating more healthy with less chemicals ON A BUDGET, I recently found an amazing produce co-op in Houston called Rawfully Organic.  Every other week I go down to the Houston Arboretum and get a half-share of produce for $47.  All of the fruits and vegetables are organic and seasonal.  We have loved eating fresh produce without the chemicals and my wallet has really gotten a break.  Not to mention, deciding what to prepare for dinner has become so easy because I plan around what I have.

     Local Harvest is a great resource for finding co-ops wherever you are.  My best advice is to try to find one that is convenient to get to and also does not charge a membership fee.  At Rawfully Organic, I can order a share whenever I want, and because there is no membership fee I don’t feel bad if we have to skip a week because we are out of town.  We continually get a bounty of healthy, fresh produce that is nourishing and satisfying.  What are you doing to eat healthy?