Posted by Snow in 
I met someone yesterday who reminded me of the meaning and purpose to living through organic processes and resources. Her story was not a happy one but one that could happen to anybody. While the energy conservation and energy climate legislation is held in the balance, I am thankful I grew up in a Eisenhower era food environment instead of a pizza delivery, Chinese take out, fast food nation.
Long term unseen mold has effect a life threatening exposure that had caused lifelong health defects in her young children. Her house had been overtaken by sub-linoleum mold and her daughters, herself and her mother now had asthma and cancer was looming if not present throughout.
She told me she lived and shopped organic not out of choice but out of necessity, that family allergies had become so rampant she was in short an amateur chemist. We got to talking in the grocery store, where she could identify the excess chemicals and substances in every sale item on clearance. She spotted dyes and glycols before even turning the boxes over or picking the bottles off the shelf.
This was an eye opener. How much artificial stuff really goes into what we eat and consume every day? How much dye and plastic and wax and gum lives inside us after decades of drugstore and mega brand consumption? I was hard pressed to remember the last time I had considered evaluating what I bought at the grocery store by ingredient purity alone.
I regarded my snack of the day: an apple. It had no thickening agents and no artificial sweeteners. There was no propylene glycol lurking under the skin. It had no dyes or preservatives like cured meats and sausage. It had no chemical emulsifier to make it seem thicker and taste good. There was no dough conditioner or whipping agent present. No maltose or corn syrup was keeping it gooey for my taste buds.
Apples need no glycerin to keep them sweet or other chemical to maintain water content or tartness. Apples are tart and sweet on their own. Fact is, the tiny label identifying the stock number of the apple for the grocery store had more artificial ingredients to print it than the lack of chemicals that went into the organic apple. No conditioning agent kept the dye fresh on it, and no invert sugar doubled down on the empty calories.
The organic and sustainable living message for today is: If you are in a grocery store looking at boxed food or packaged or processed edibles, stop. Go to the produce section. Buy organic produce. Put it on the table. And thanks your lucky stars you can eat it.
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