But the fact for me is, the vast majority of the food we eat in this house still comes from a supermarket, or from a store somewhere. I am tending now to shop more in smaller, independent stores rather than the big supermarkets whenever I can, mostly for dried pulses, fruits and vegetables and some household items where I can get them. But I still find myself back at the big supermarkets often enough. I suppose the driving factors for me are the freshness of the food, and whether or not it is organic. And how much it costs, that factor is still pretty important, especially when comparing the organic to the non-organic.
I flat out refuse to buy fruits and vegetables that are imported (ok, with the odd exception being garlic from Mexico when I'm desperate for garlic). It's not that I don't think the produce is good enough; of course it is, for what it is. It's just that I want to buy food that has had less time in storage, that has travelled less distance, that is fresher and healthier. I want to eat food that is in season, in our seasons. The early appearance of grapes and watermelons from the US is a big one - explaining to my kiddo why we can't buy it yet when we pass them at the supermarket. And I want my food to be free of pesticides, or genetic modifications. I want to eat food that was grown naturally in healthy soils, as close to home as possible. Obviously some things have to come from far away - coconuts and bananas don't grow so well around here. So I suppose the choice then is, to eat those things or not to eat those things. I'm still eating those things.
The reality is that everything is energy, you know? And the best energy, the highest vibrating energy with the most life force, comes from fresh, organic produce. And what we eat, what we take into our body, has a huge impact on our own energy! Our own vibration, our own life force. So when we consume foods that are on the lower end of the scale (manufactured anything), we are lowering our own energy, we are reducing our own life force energy (Chi, or Qi). Think about pesticides, they are designed to destroy life. That's a pretty low energy to be taking into our bodies. And that has a pretty big impact on our life. It impacts on how well we function, how positive or negative we are, our physical health, our ability to make positive change in our lives, our ability to operate at our highest potential, our energy levels, our overall wellbeing.
It is costly to shift to organic produce, I'm walking that tricky line between balancing the food budget and giving us the best food, and I would love to say we eat all organic but it's just not true. Still, making small changes here and there, they all add up. I do believe the small changes are the important ones, day in and day out. Little things, like organic tea (or coffee). Cutting out processed drinks. My last stand, my last guilty pleasure, is the hot chocolate that I like to have. Since I stopped drinking coffee it's become a little more prominent, but still I notice every single time that I get a little stomach pain when I drink it. My body speaks to me, tells me what it needs and what it doesn't, and the more I cut out the things that are no good, the louder I can hear it. Sensitivity increases, when you take away the things that dull it.
It's something I'm focusing on more this year, even more than usual. Starting with buying a local organic vegie box from a local farm, and I'll just see how we go with it. Little changes, big changes, all positive changes; always has a positive effect on your life.
