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Article Source: OneHealthyGirl.com
Written by - Carla Cappiello Golden
 As
you know, dollars are tightening here in the USA which puts a big
squeeze on luxuries, indulgences and recreational habits. For the uber
rich, this won't matter too much and for those who live on the bottom
rung of society, this change may go by unnoticed. When you live on
nothing, it's sadly easy to get by on less.
For the rest of
us - the middle-class, the majority, the masses - we will need to
become more conscientious of how and where we spend our money,
especially when it comes to FOOD. A financial crisis is a perfect time
to assess priorities and start voting with your harder-earned greenbacks on those items you want to see survive the economic downturn.
We
need to get comfortable with the notion that what we buy now - today -
we need to purchase with the realization and acceptance that in doing
so we are helping to create this to become our only choice tomorrow. We
vote with our dollars. The one with the most votes wins.
What does this mean?
If you buy conventional tomatoes shipped from Chile in November
while in the back of your mind promising that you'll go back to the
organic and/or local tomatoes when the economy gets stronger, you are
possibly voting away your choice to have organic or local options in
the future. If you don't support the markets that match your values now
- when we're all adjusting and struggling - they may very well
disappear.
If money isn't your issue, perhaps the state
of the environment is. The two are intrinsically intertwined in their
problems and their solutions.
I have put together a list
of guidelines for The Economic (or Environmental) Crisis Diet below to
help all of us become more conscious with our food choices. Let's put
our mouths where our values are. It is now more important than ever to
keep alive that which we would embrace in the best of times!
[Click on the heading of each pledge to read an in-depth post about just this topic.]
YOU: Studies have shown that ingesting pesticides, herbicides and fungicides is detrimental to overall health.
WALLET:
You should be able to attain local foods a bit cheaper because
extensive transportation costs are not folded in. The price of organics
will come down as the demand increases.
PLANET: Less transportation, chemical and waste pollution.
YOU:
Foods in their most natural states or slightly cooked offer the
greatest nutrition. Avoiding trans fats, high fructose corn syrup,
excessive sugar and salt and artificial sweeteners, colors and
flavorings is crucial to long term health.
WALLET:
Packaged and prepared foods as well as boutique drinks are costly. The
less packaging, the less the company is passing that expense on to you.
PLANET: The fewer the ingredients, the less transportation and production pollution.
YOU: The less contact your food has with plastic, the better, especially when heat is involved.
WALLET: Many
countries and states are now charging for plastic and paper bags. Might
as well start using your own and be in the habit before your rules
change.
PLANET: The less non-degradable plastic in landfills, the better for the future of Earth.
YOU: Possible
fat storage loss, increased energy levels and more efficient
assimilation of nutrients, not to mention the decrease chances of
lifestyle diseases like Type 2 Diabetes, High Blood Pressure and High
Cholesterol.
WALLET: As prices of food go up and your consumption goes down, your bill remains about the same.
PLANET: The fewer resources your mouth demands, the less taxing the resource production and processing on Sweet Earth.
YOU:
Studies have indicated that regular consumption of conventional, mass
produced (beef, chicken, pork and seafood) meats offers an unhealthy
dose of antibiotics, growth hormones, heavy metals, and possible
exposure to cannibalistic diseases (such as Mad Cow Disease).
WALLET: Meats can be quite costly. Cheap meats should be avoided because the quality is too questionable.
PLANET:
A disproportionate amount of land, corn, soy and antibiotics are
consumed by the meat production industry whereby creating an inordinate
amount of run-off water pollution and greenhouse gases.
YOU: The higher quality food, the more nutrition potential. Cheap food is made from substandard ingredients and mysterious additives.
WALLET: In
support of independently owned, local restaurants, chose those which
offer vegan, vegetarian, organic, raw and/or local food options.
PLANET:
Really, does the world need one more McDonald's? KFC? Starbucks? Pick
your chain, I don't care. Just boycott it and the massively destructive
practices of offering unhealthy products on every corner.
YOU:
Greater connection between mother and baby, nature's perfect food for a
growing baby complete with immunity and healthy fats, chemical chain
reactions to stave off post-partum depression, aides in maternal weight
loss and hormonal balance.
WALLET: It's free!
PLANET: Empty formula containers = trash.
YOU:
If the company that creates your food doesn't have a heart for the
planet, the employees, the plants, animals and environment, do you
think for one second that they care about your health? If they'll
exploit one resource, they'll exploit you.
WALLET:
Do we need 78 choices of cereal? 83 choices of chips? 17 peanut
butters? 67 loaves of bread? Narrow down your favorite, respectable
companies and make your shopping that much easier. You'll be less
tempted to buy less honorable brands and impulsively blow the shopping
budget.
PLANET: R-E-S-P-E-C-T is R-E-S-P-E-C-T whether it's the cow, the green bean or your liver.
YOU:
Less exposure to plastic (exposed to heat in transportation) is crucial
to the health of your water. Filter your tap water to keep it available
and relatively clean. If we don't use it, we'll lose it and municipal
water should always be flowing to the citizens. Yes, there is some ICK!
in tap water, but do your research and find a great filter - ideally
for the whole home/office/school.
WALLET: Bottled water is so much more expensive than utilizing reusable bottles of tap water.
PLANET:
Bottled water has been one the worst paradoxes of recent times:
polluting the planet with discarded plastic in the name of ingesting
clean water. Even recycling the plastic (which happens to a very small
ratio of plastic bottles) still requires unnecessary and pollutive
plastic production.
YOU:
Stable, healthy emotions will get you much further in life than another
round of sweets, fats, salts, booze, beer or smoke. Have fun in
moderation by choice, not by dependence.
WALLET:
Vices aren't cheap financially as well as emotionally. Your hard-earned
money is better spent on the investment of psychotherapy, journaling,
self-help books or a healthy, harmless habit.
PLANET: Discarded toxins and packaging from excessive, non-vital consumption is just polluting the planet as well as your body.
These
items are a start and have been chosen based on benefits to our health,
our wallets and our planet. If you don't understand why I have included
something, if you need more information or if you would like to see
something added to the list, please contact me kindly.
May
we all come through this crisis within or under budget, with greater
energy, a bit slimmer, happier and with greater health for ourselves
and our planet. Excess and garbage are not wise choices for little
babies or great Mother Earth nor anyone in between.
Maybe I should call this The Silver Lining Diet because it's a win-win-win situation.
Live Light, xo-C.
Carla Cappiello Golden
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