Corn syrup. Red dye 40. Pesticides. These are just a few of the things that I’m not supposed to be feeding my kids. Add to that shredded cheese, non-organic milk and Froot Loops. If you’re paying attention to what the nutrition experts are saying, you probably have plenty more to add to the list of no-no foods. The list is long. Very, very long.

These days it seems that almost everything I hand my kids is guilt inducing for one reason or another. The food experts say almost everything is full of cancer-causing GMOs or some other crazy chemical that’s banned in Europe. It’s so frustrating.

No trail mix. No Kraft mac & cheese. No Cheerios. No Starbucks. These were all things I needed to avoid to get away from GMOs, pesticides and harmful dyes according to the few experts I was following.

For a couple of weeks, I read these things and tried my best to follow their recommendations.
I did a great job at first. We bought the organic stuff at Aldi, I replaced our chicken nuggets with veggie bites (which I ended up eating because they’re delicious), and I replaced the Cheerios in our pantry with some organic O’s that tasted like cardboard. I did everything I could afford. It was still expensive. I spent our entire month’s grocery budget in one trip. And some of it was really hard to sell my kids.

“Here HJ! Check out this yummy homemade mac & cheese that Mommy spent two hours making! Isn’t it delicious?”

“It’s yucky. Where’s the box?”

It was maddening to spend three times the amount of time cooking, five times the money, and ultimately throw it away.

I get that our food system has evolved to become atrocious. I get that food corporations are trying to maximize profits at the sake of our health. I even get that I’ve already broken my children for nutritious eating….and that’s my fault.

But why does almost all of the good food have to cost so much? Why does eating healthy seem to be something that only the wealthy get to comfortably enjoy?

On one hand we have corporate America trying to sell us bright packages of processed corn for pennies. Then, on the other hand, we have the experts telling us to buy only natural, organic food…that costs five times as much.

Either way, someone is profiting. And it’s not me. I’m going broke trying to feed my family food they don’t like.

Then the day came when I decided enough was enough. One of the experts on my Facebook News Feed came out with a list of beer you should avoid. Beer. As if we’re drinking beer to benefit our health. Lady, I couldn’t care less if the hops in my Newcastle are pesticide free. The alcohol is taking care of my liver on it’s own. I mean, really? We’re really going there? Please! “Drink this poison. Not that one. That one is using the wrong kind of ingredients.” Get outta here.

I was done. I felt like I was totally a sheep. She had an agenda or maybe a “sponsor,” I’m almost sure of it.

So now we have a new food plan: our own. We eat fruits and vegetables. We eat chicken, fish and even red meat. There are even times we still eat Froot Loops. But, we do it all in moderation. If we have waffles for breakfast today, tomorrow, we’ll have oatmeal mixed with applesauce. If an organic item at the store fits our budget that week, we’ll buy it. If it doesn’t, I’m not going to stress about it.

After all, until I can grow, harvest, prepare, and cook everything we eat myself (Ha! Like that will EVER happen), I’m just going to have to do my best.

But to all you experts, stay away from my beer. That poison is delicious, GMOs or not.

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