Slowing Down...Slowly

I took a really interesting class last night through Continuing Education's Lifelong Learning Program. It was called "Eating Local-Slow Food". It was a simple class that only lasted two hours, but it was really informative and gave me A LOT to think about. I have always been pretty conscientious about what food I give my family in regards to sugars, fats, trans fats and 

partially hydrogenated anything, or other crap I cannot pronounce (except for my Jif, please oh please do not take my PB&H sammys away from me. Oh and fruit snacks because a Mom needs some leverage). BUT I have been dubious about the benefits of organic foods vs. the sky high prices these chemical free gems tote and I hate myself for saying (okay writing) this, but I like Walmart. I know I said it "My name is Lacy and I am a Walmart liker-aholic" so now you can all boo me and my trying to feed my ever growing family on a VERY tight budget hypocritical self.

So back to the class. It really made me think "what am I putting into my babies precious little bodies?". I try, but is it enough? So, I think I am going to start small and slow, but try to really truly integrate better and healthier eating practices for the Egbert-Meikle crew. I am scared of the expense, but I read part of a study in conjunction with the class that said in the 1930's Americans spent over 30% of their income on food and in 2007 it was less than 10%. I know the 30's were harder economic times (maybe not for long), but I am beginning to wonder if I can make some more sacrifices in the budget in order to help give my kids some better/healthier food choices. So, maybe the beloved fruity snacks from Costco will have to bite the dust and I will be void of my ultimate "do it now or no fruit snacks" threat.

I also like the eating local angle too, especially since some of the local farms I have found to buy shares from are related to either Dave or myself (who knew!) and I like supporting more community based initiatives. Keeping our money close to home, so more people can benefit from single family run farms like both of Dave's Grandfathers and my beloved Grandpa Monson. 

I do know that I will NEVER EVER EVER be able to live without two non-local loves of mine: olive oil and my beloved peanut butter, but hey no one is perfect, even the great lady who taught the class and leads Slow Food Utah said she buys pineapple and bananas. Phew, because a world without olive oil and peanut butter is not a world in which I was meant to live.

I think this will be an interesting family experiment, but hey, we have been slowly going more "green" each week and it has worked so far and really not been as painful as we thought (when I say we I mean Republican Dave). Oh, and a great green tip: Costco not has all their fluorescent light bulbs $5 off thanks to a Rocky Mountain Power instant rebate. I purchased 10 60W's for $5.74 on Saturday.