The "V" word

Since we had the baby I've become keenly aware that practically everything we eat, sleep in, drink from, floss with or inhale is toxic. We're bombarded daily with the message that everything we do (and above all everything we eat) is bad for us and we'd best make sweeping changes to our homes, work, diet etc. lest we perish horribly in the very near future. Oh, and would we please buy this uber-expensive solution to our mortal peril.

I am a skeptic, especially as regards this zealous North American fear mongering about everything in existence. I am also a person who does not *ahem* take orders very well...or in fact at all. So this veritable avalanche of frequently alarmist (and not infrequently biased, green-washed) information is kind of grating on my nerves at the moment.

The problem is, as a new mother you're bombarded not only by the media, but by everyone else around you. People you normally like start proselytizing about the horrors of plastic and how disposable diapers will leach dioxins directly into your baby's tender little bottom. I've had it up to the gills with hearing about this stuff and especially hearing others list off, for the millionth time, all the steps you should be taking to protect your darling. I mean, honestly, who cares if your q-tips are organic?

Maybe that's why I'm having a hard time with the "V"-word. I can certainly rattle off a string of expletives that would curl my mother's hair. Well, if it weren't already curly. But I can't bring myself to say the "V"-word, lest I sound like one of those crazy Type-A Consumers who will have to take out a mortgage to pay their grocery bill because they'll only shop at a well-known lifestyle/image store masquerading as an actual healthier alternative to mainstream groceries. I buy from farmers markets, because I like knowing where my food comes from and because I think it tastes better. I am not, however, about to buy that $6 imported organic mango out of a sudden fear of pesticides because, come on - flying a fruit halfway around the world isn't exactly "organic", is it?

I guess I can't ignore some things much longer though. After my husband, having perused the weekly menu up on the white-board beside the fridge,  asked rather directly, "where's the meat?", I can't help but notice that we've been eating a lot less of the red stuff and a lot more of the green stuff lately. Not that it was ever a conscious decision...it's just sort of evolved that way over the last couple of years.

So no, I'm not a vegetarian. And I most certainly am not one of those "I'm a vegetarian, but I eat chicken and fish" sorts either. In fact, I'm going to cook me up a great big steak now. Bloody rare too. Well, I would, except I'm rather stuffed full of refried beans and avocado...

Comments

[Blaise]

This is the first time i've commented on your blog, but i had to say right on. I'm so sick of listening to every one of my co-workers with new borns telling each other and me (someone who does not yet have kids) all the evils and lethal dangers of every possible permutation of normal living. The height of ridiculousness was my one co-worker refusing to take baths (shower only) because she was afraid of boiling the baby !!

We've managed to raise perfectly good generations of kids for the last couple of thousand years without being so paranoid that children are no longer allowed to live.

That being said the mushroom empanadas sound incredible. any chance for a recipe?

[Lolotte]

I totally agree with your point of view and thanks a lot for saying it! I am French but live in the USA, so I can tell you that this ridiculous fear of everything is unfortunately also increasing in our country...

[Andrea]

A long-time lurker coming out of the woodwork...

As a mother of three, I've been there with well-meaning (meddlesome) people who share their opinions on every aspect of pregnancy and motherhood. The proselytizing is downright annoying, actually. Thanks for speaking out!! :-)

[Pam]

This is long, but it points out "nutritionism" as an ideology that's not getting us anywhere with quick fixes: http://www.nytimes.com/2007/01/28/magazine/28nutritionism.t.html

Oops, now requires (free) login -- anyway, as heard on CBC!

People look at me funny when I say I like to keep my kids (both under 2) out of the car, partly for safety reasons.

[Pam]

Under 3, meant to say...sheesh!

[Aime]

Love this post! (round of applause here)
I don't have any children, but your point is totally valid even for non-parents!

[Pam]

Also, you make menu boards like this at home? Well done.

[lyn]

Blaise - I am hoping to get the empanada recipe up this weekend.

Pam- the menus are an experiment to see if I can actually plan meals ahead (which I am not very good at doing) thus minimising the need for 20 kazillion grocery excursions each week. So far it seems to be working.

[Randy]

I just made a cabbage roll recipe and happened to see "The V word". Being a hard core vegetarian is a lot of work and maybe not totally necessary but healthy eating is better then non-healthy eating. In your blog you talk about the raising and feeding of children and how we as humans have been doing this successsfully for thousands of years. Thousands of years ago or a hundred years ago or fifty years ago our children were not eating the processed foods the corner store of the fast food restaurants are feeding our children today. One has only to look at a group of children today to see that well over half of them are obese to the point of sadness. The chances of these children to ever lose this weight and thus avoiding the diseases and health problems that accompany this problem is almost poor at best. What a young child eats for the first seven or eight years of their lives is so important. Let us as parents be very vigilant in what our children are fed, as it is not only our duty as parents it is also the right of our children to lead a healthy life.

[Tim H]

Lynn....
Wow...broken washing machine is getting to you hey? Let's face it, there is better living through chemicals. One just has to be careful what they buy and where its from.