Like you, I too am worried about my family. I worry that they aren’t getting enough vitamins. I worry they will get cancer, so I try to buy organic, no hormones — pure food — but it’s impossible. I feel like a total failure, but I swear I’m not giving up.
We aren’t grass-eaters or alfalfa-sprout-eating tree huggers. We like meat, candy, sugar and bread. Trying to go without sugar or bread, gluten free; can you say gross? I haven’t tried any gluten free stuff that I like and I’ve tried a bunch of it. Forget it. I’m not eating that.
I personally don’t eat lettuce or pretty much anything that was green. It’s funny, I can’t stand lettuce, I just can’t swallow it. But in the spring I can go outside, find a little patch of sweet clover and munch down. I eat pickles, pickled beets and pickled wax beans but won’t eat them otherwise.
Have we been able to give up eating GMO’s? The answer is absolutely not. We buy grass-fed beef, grow our own organic chickens for eggs (the feed is very expensive), we buy raw milk on a regular basis. We are slowly using up condiments and trying to replace them with non-GMO items but it’s difficult.

In-n-Out Burger
I’ve switched to making most things from scratch: bread, cakes, cookies, snacks and more. I’ve been making more casseroles and crock pot dinners lately, and it’s going very well. We are still coming to terms with organic tortilla shells costing about $1.25 each, and come in only 6-count packages. I tried my hand a making them, but I never get them quite right. For now, I’m taking a break from trying. But I can’t keep paying that price.
Let’s face it, we can’t duplicate some stuff.
Crackers, for example. There are organic substitutes for crackers and they aren’t much more expensive. You want to know a secret? Eating these products, really helps you to lose weight. Over the years companies have figured out that certain chemicals cause you to eat more. They have deliberately put things in their products to make us crave more of it. Thus, not only have they built in brand loyalty, but they know you will eat more and more of these items. Look around, we are all overweight.
We’ve been forced to make hard food choices lately. Like when we are traveling. We took a trip to Modesto yesterday. We went out for Thai. It was delicious but I know every bite was most likely GMO’s. Do you have any idea how difficult it is to find non-GMO rice? Thai is almost completely made of rice: rice noodles, rice sides, even the sauces are composed of rice.
Part of the problem is with stores like Smart and Final and Costco. We stopped in at Smart and Final. Small businesses buy their resale and food stock items here. I was disappointed to find only one organic item in the entire store. Now, I didn’t go up and down every aisle but I did go down 5 or 6 and was explicitly looking for organics. It only follows that if restaurants can’t buy organic stuff they can’t serve it to us.
Costco is getting better. Each time I go, I see more and more organic items on their shelves. Unfortunately, they still have a way to go with their meat products. In the beef department, the only grass-fed beef I could find was hamburger. Not the best cut of meat if you want to stay healthy.
So, yes we are still eating GMO’s but we are eating more and more organic. I have been canning organic foods such as carrots, pickles and apples. Basically picking up whatever is on sale that we will eat and I can put up. It’s not a lot but it’s one less thing I’ll have to buy from the store. It gives me items that I can barter or trade with others and it gives me a sense of accomplishment. I highly recommend it and really, the only thing you need to get started is a pot big enough to hold a few jars.
Each week I am trying new things, finding out what I like and don’t like. I will never be a health nut; let’s face it sometimes you just have to have an In & Out Burger or a Pretzel Burger from Wendy’s! I’m still grieving after discovering last night that Wendy’s burnt down. Wendy’s was my favorite fast food restaurant in Modesto. They had a big remodeling sign out front, so a least they are coming back.
Thanksgiving is fast approaching. Are there GMO-free options for your Thanksgiving meal?
A couple months ago I called and talked to someone at Ocean Spray. They said that their cranberry sauce didn’t contain GMO’s but then someone put out a Meme on Facebook saying they did, so I did some checking. They lied — Ocean Spray does have GMO’s. From their website:
While cranberries and grapefruit are not products of biotechnology, the sweeteners used in some of our products are from plants that are considered genetically modified.
The use of genetically modified (GM) ingredients is not only safe for people and our planet, but also has a number of important benefits.
Many of the most influential regulatory agencies and organizations that study the safety of the food supply, including the U.S. Food & Drug Administration, the American Medical Association, the World Health Organization, Health Canada, the U.S. Department of Agriculture and the National Academy of Sciences, have found genetically modified food ingredients are safe and there are no negative health effects associated with their use. [Read more…]
Notice it does not say that any of these organizations actually tested them. Instead of trying to provide healthy foods, they are making excuses for the products they use. Pay close attention to the actual words they used. There has not been a single long-term study of the effects of GMO foods, and the FDA and USDA have declared that since the intended genetic modifications (it’s not an exact science) to most foods are primarily to introduce pesticidal behaviors (intentionally putting poisons into the genetic structure of our food) that it is unnecessary to test them.
Let’s talk turkey. I know an organic turkey might be out of the price range of some, but if you can afford one please buy organic. You may want to consider getting a small ham instead if you’re buying for a small family.
There will be lots of sales on GMO’s this week: only buy those things that you can’t do without or that is otherwise priced out of your reach in it’s organic variation. But do yourself a favor and buy at least one organic item this Thanksgiving. Every item affects the market for GMO foods, and showing them that you care is the only way we are going to get these poisons out of our food and out of our children’s bellies. If you still don’t know anything about GMO’s, educate yourself today.
Happy Thanksgiving!