The Renfrow Recap: just like Christmas...

Over the Christmas Holiday Garth and I watched the movie Food, Inc.. Many of you have heard us mention it a time or two but in case you haven't... RENT IT! It is not gross, it is simply thought provoking. Have you ever thought how that hamburger got in your hand? Or did you know that corn or some derrivitive of corn is in ALMOST EVERYTHING?!? I had no idea... if you say to yourself... "I would really rather not know" we don't believe it. Most of the people we know are health conscious working hard to lose weight or say they want to... there is a connection to how our food is "created" these days and how our bodies are reacting to it... I mean did you catch Dr. Oz out on Oprah the other day?

The movie left us asking more questions. So much so that we spent the evening in Fort Worth after the Cotton Bowl at Barnes and Noble with our noses in books rather than at the bars drowning our sorrows from our emabarrassing defeat... poor Pokes. Okay back on track. We decided that we were going to have to make changes with our food as a family.
After a lot of reading and discussion we have decided to become a household that will be conscious of where our food comes from.

Things we are asking ourselves at the grocery store...

How was it grown?

Where was it grown?

Can we pronounce all of the ingredients and know what they are?

Our shopping cart now consists of seasonal fresh fruit & vegetables... hopefully organic and locally grown. And of course our meat purchases... we look for Bison, pork, beef, poultry and fish that have been raised humanely on sustainable farms that do not add antibiotics or growth hormones and allow the animals to do what God created them to do...

There are really no cans or boxes in the cart anymore.

I thought that this would make cooking so much harder but it really hasn't. We eat a meat and a couple of different veggies. Easy. Easy.

My favorite part of this journey has been discovering this great company here in Austin called Greenling. It is a company that delivers to my doorstep produce, meat and dairy products that are either grown on sustainable farms locally or are organic and if we're lucky both! I think the girls have enjoyed this more than we have. Every Thursday is our delivery day, for them it is just like Christmas! The two green greenling boxes arrive and they dig in! Izzy and Sophia both dig through it to see what fruits and veggies they get to snack on through the week. They help put the food away in the pantry and then run to their seats at the table for their mini bell pepper snacks with kiwi (which has become their new favorite thing, they eat the mini bell peppers like apples)! They are excited to open the box and we are excited that they are eating what is inside... and it is good for them!

Our family is choosing to vote every time we go to the super market. If the item we are choosing has a true organic option then we buy it... and that is our vote. The more organic items you purchase at a store the more likely that store will carry more organic options. This has raised our grocery bill a little, however, we are more concious about the amount of food we buy and are throwing away less due to spoilage (which saves us money). We are also switching our mindset to pay more now for what we put into our body and be healthy rather than paying later in doctor bills for not taking care of ourselves.

Another option when purchasing your food is the Farmers' Markets in your area. This is a great way to support your local farmers and get healthy fresh food on your table. You can visit the Local Harvest website and do a search for Farmers' Markets near you! There is a handy little "What are you looking for" box, check Farmers' Market and enter your zip code in the "Where" box, then click search! I did this and to my surprise there were even options near my home town of Stigler, Oklahoma, America... well within driving distance ;)

And here are a few disclaimers...

No, we have NOT become hippies since we moved down to Austin... HA!!! We were actually headed towards this path in Oklahoma
Yes, we still eat out on occasion... we just know what is best to order for ourselves at the restaurant
We realize that we are human and plan on making mistakes and rebounding quickly, holding each other accountable! If we can both stick to it 80% to even 90%, we are happy.
No, you do not need to have special food on hand just for us if we are coming to visit
No, we are not judging you if you do not agree or conform to our Austin-hippy ways... oh wait, I said we haven't become hippies... hmmm...

And of course I can't make a post without pics of the girls!!! Here they are enjoying the Greenling delivery... the doorbell just rang and our food has arrived!!!