I know I often get up on my high and mighty here when it comes to food.  I’m not going to do this today.

BUT, we were watching Dual Survival on .. whatever channel it comes on.. and it’s basically Man vs. Wild except there’s TWO men.  One is a hippie and the other is an ex-sniper, military trained kind of dude.  So their wealth of knowledge is polar opposite of each other, as is their survival morals.. if there is such a thing.

So last night, we were watching this show and they were dropped in the Peruvian desert, which was formed by a volcano a LONG time ago and it’s where the Incans lived.  Or something.

(It should be noted here that I’m the genius who proclaims at 8:45 that IT’S ONLY FIFTEEN MINUTES UNTIL NEW JERSEY EMBARRASSES ITSELF AS A CITY!)(Yes, quite a few people pointed out my mistake.)(I’m just saying: geology ain’t my strong suit.)

So after two days of no protein (and the hippie having a stomach virus), they finally catch sight of these jackalope looking animals.  The hippie doesn’t believe in taking lives if it can be helped, but the sniper is tired of eating fruit that the locals refer to as “devil’s cock”, and he sets out to catch him a varmint.  They manage to smoke the thing out of a cave, and the sniper .. I shit you not .. KARATE CHOPS the animal’s neck.  One GI JOE action swipe, and the animal’s neck is severed.

.. typically, I cannot stand to watch things like that.  I am a weak stomach and a sensitive soul.

But .. the sniper went out to skin/gut/etc that animal so cleanly, and with so little remorse or emotion that I was mesmerized.  I even rewound it (rewound?  TiVo backed upped?) to watch it again.  The hippie sat there in awe too, noting, “More people would be vegetarians if they had to butcher their own meat.” (The sniper was not fazed.)

In light of the major recalls of eggs (and this morning of deli meats), it does go to show that knowing where your food comes from may pay off in the long run.

Our city doesn’t do farmers’ markets, per se, but we have some shops that stock local goods.  We also have an EarthFare which is good to stock (and mark!) local products. (The prices at EarthFare, though, are INCREDIBLY off-putting.) Part of what I’m pushing for in our local Downtown Development Initiative is a weekly farmers market; until then, what can an average citizen do?

PickYourOwn.org has local listings of farmers that invite you to come and pick your own produce.  I love these as family outtings; don’t EVEN get me started on the education process of teaching our children about good food.

LocallyGrown.net provides you with local CSAs (Community Supported Agriculture).  We’ve never done a CSA because we couldn’t find one that was cost-effective for our family. (Remember, I’m the only veggie eater in the house.) BUT I’ve always been super envious of those who have, and this search engine actually took me to one local to us that might make sense to take part in.  Hooray!

Although our local division of LocallyGrown.net provides meats/eggs/etc, if yours doesn’t, you can always check the Eat Well Guide.  Featuring local, organic, and sustainable farmers, this should get you a taste of what your neighborhood food produces.

And even though it’s not QUITE the same, I have a thing about eating at local restaurants when we eat out.  I’ll pick a local diner or restaurant over a chain ANY day of the week.  While you’re probably not eating local or organic produce when you eat there, you’re helping your local area with cash flow.  And if you eat there often enough, you get to know the staff and the owners.. and you can always ask where their food comes from!

When we pledged in January to stop feeding the diet machine, I never realized what an education was going to take place regarding food.  And I have to tell you .. eating REAL, WHOLE-FAT food has been an amazing journey.  Neither one of us have gained weight (in fact, the only time we’ve gained weight is when we go off of the rails), and we’ve been FAR less sick this year than in years past.

Also, for anyone who cares, if Bryan and I were dropped in the Peruvian desert, I would be the hippie and he’d have to do all of the karate chopping of jackalopes.

This morning, we got our daily email from GI Joe reminding us how we’d tortured our bodies that morning and including a little nutritional education.  I actually love this part the most about BootCamp; it reminds you that your health and your body are yours to take care of all day long, not just the hour that you spend working out.  Not only that, but word has it that GI Joe can be a little funny.

Jury’s still out on that one though.

Today’s email, though, hit me harder than I thought would.  This morning’s workout was tough, and not really physically tough, and certainly no tougher than any we’ve had recently, but my body just FOUGHT ME every step of the way.  I kept fighting my stomach from retching; my knees constantly buckled.  I am not sick or feverish or anything that would lead me to think that my body needs to recover, yet, there it was: it was not playing this game with me.  I had to stop and sit several times to keep from passing out. (The 89% humidity didn’t help either, I’m sure.)

Regardless, the email brought news of a disturbing study.  GI Joe constantly finds things that are enlightening in that sixth-grade-dissecting-a-frog kind of way; my particular fave is when he found a study that used one of those ab crunch machines in a gym and a pig spine exploded from too much stress on the machine.  Who knew?  GI Joe, THAT’S who.  And knowing is half the battle.

Anyway, the email (I’M GETTING THERE; BACK UP) included a study that showed that in female rats that were fed high-fat, high-sugar diets (essentially, “junk food”) were more likely to pass on the predisposition of obesity to their children.  Well, duh.  Knew that.  What stopped my breath is that IT WAS THEN PASSED DOWN ANOTHER GENERATION.  Regardless of how that middle generation ate and exercised, the predisposition for obesity and its horrible side effects were going to be present.  Regardless.  There’s not even an “unless” there.

I have generations of Type II Diabetes and blood pressure issues behind me.  Obesity is prevalent in my family.  I do not want this for my son.  Hell, I don’t want it for me, but for my son? DO.NOT.WANT.  Which is why we’ve worked so hard to reform our eating habits.  Why we’ve found the one kind of chocolate syrup readily available without HFCS.  Why we’ve even only given him chocolate milk once every few days now.  Why we don’t eat fast food.  Why we eat at local eateries.  Why we ask where the food comes from.  Why we eat outside.  Why we have completely revamped our entire lives around food.. we have done that because I don’t want that for my son.

And now?  Is he doomed?

NO.  I refuse.  I will not admit defeat, and you shouldn’t either.

Today, I was given a personal tour of the new EarthFare in Huntsville.  The place was already hopping by the time I arrived; I saw the always lovely Lizzie pushing her sweet pea around the produce section.  Jayne, who opens the stores, was gracious enough to walk me through the various places in the stores and pointing out to me the Food Philosophies hanging in each area.  NO HFCS, it proclaimed.  And I sighed.  FINALLY.  No bleached flour.  No animal by-products.  Lots of gluten-free choices.  Lots of local organics.  Lots .. just lots.

The store was gorgeous, and just a breath of fresh air, as you could smell the LIFE in there.  No shrink-wrapped, shipped-frozen crap.  Just real food.  REAL FOOD.  Products from local farmers were marked clearly, and I overheard more than one customer raving about the meat selections.  “Once you’ve tried EarthFare,” one man said, “you’ll never buy beef anywhere else.”  They had a Foodie Cabinet, for people like me who are just DYING to try some odd spice or some rare herb or something that we’ve read about but don’t know where to find.  They have a self-serve wall, containing everything from sweets to legumes.  They had a peanut butter bar, where you can choose your flavor and grind your own peanut butter.  There are no surprise ingredients here.  You see everything as it is.  It is all real food.

Jayne struck me the deepest when she brought me to the Itty Bitty Bites section; this area is directed at the children.  “Education is one of our CEO’s highest goals,” she started, not realizing she was talking to the American Jamie Oliver.  Itty Bitty Bites is an educational program that hopes to end childhood obesity through teaching our children what trans fats are and why they should avoid HFCS.  Special menus are available for visiting children, and –  my absolute FAVE — on Thursday nights, one purchased adult meals allows up to six children to eat for free.  “We hate the idea of any family feeling like they can’t afford to eat well,” she said.  “You should bring the boys over on Thursday!”

And that .. that, right there .. is what I think will make EarthFare a success in Huntsville.  It’s already got a strong sense of community.  It’s integrated in our local farmers’ markets, it cares about our children, and it is looking at long-term longevity.  It’s not about being the next big thing with flashy stuff; it’s about being healthy, real, and honest today and ten years down the road.  Prices were competitive, employees were knowledgeable and friendly, and I was sad to leave.

We are not giving up this fight.

We were laying in bed.  We were both exhausted.  Bryan had played some serious frisbee earlier with the boys and I had had Bootcamp that morning.  “I’m getting old,” he said.

“But you’re doing it the right way,” I smiled.

The conversation ensued and we got to the topic of our family genetics, and how we feared what appeared to be inevitable.

“I just .. I WILL NOT put my children in this fight,” I said, tears coming to my eyes.  “I will not damn my children to a lifelong struggle with obesity.”

Jesus, I meant it.  I could not have been more sincere.

Our household is not perfect yet .. none ever is .. but we have made HUGE strides.  We read labels now.  If anything says “high fructose corn syrup”, we put it back and find something that doesn’t.  We work hard to find juices that have three or less ingredients.  We cook.  We involve the kids in preparing the meals.  When I’m grocery shopping with Tony, I introduce him to all of the produce, letting him hold and smell each different item.

Is it time consuming?  God, yes.  Can it be mind-boggling?  Sure.

Has it been worth it?

Beyond measure.

Aside from the Allergy Season from Hell this year (seriously, pollen counts were 1000 points higher than usual for the season), no one got sick in our house.  There was no flu this year.  There hasn’t been any infection.  Our energy is actually much better than it has been.  We play outside more.  Most evenings, we may not even turn on the tv, instead shoving the kids in the backyard while I cook.

Jamie Oliver’s Food Revolution, now over but available online, was such an amazing thing to watch.  Most episodes made me weepy because .. dude, two passions of mine?  Food and kids, no doubt.  And seeing teachers proclaim complete behavioral changes when food choices changed was just so .. real.  The principal of the elementary school lost 25 lbs just by eating smarter.. local, organic, simple, real food.  Everyone saw a benefit.  Even the kids enjoyed it.  I am just consistently floored that our government hasn’t yet opened its eyes.  But they will.

Quick reminder: today is the last day of my Living a Greener Life contest.  Leave a comment for a chance to win a $50 gift card to EarthFare!