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...
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