We are what we eat...

The title of this BLOG post is an ad motto that has been around for ages and yet it is more pertinent today than ever. There are so many more options today for what we put into our bodies to eat than when I was kid. Thirty some years ago, junk food and sweets existed but the amount of choices for choosing what we eat certainly did not equal the shelves upon shelves of packages consumers find themselves perusing now. Grocery stores were half the size of the towering Super Targets that I routinely frequent.

What I remember about food growing up is home cooked meals and a family sit down dinner every night. I never liked vegetables and though I have added many of them to my diet over the years, I still shy away from most that are green. Mom prepared us three meals a day, packing our lunch pails with peanut butter and jelly sandwiches or in my case, butter sandwiches (was margarine even on the market then??), crusts or no crusts I can't recall. We loved going to Goodnoe's for ice cream cones and enjoyed frozen hershey kisses when we visited Grandma and Grandpa amongst my multiple other favorites, Carvel ice cream cakes and Dairy Queen softserve with the chocolate shell. I don't have a recollection of what I ate being at all a big deal. We ate, we grew, we thrived.

Now becoming a parent and being the "chef" for a toddler has been complicated by the varied studies that what we put into our babe's mouths have proven consequences and not all positive. In a rush to find out why various medical, cognitive and developmental delays rates have risen, research is growing (and showing) that the ingredients in what we consume do matter especially in little ones with their brain cells still forming. Too many residues in their foods can alter their body's ability to absorb the good nutrients. So the more I hear about this preservative and that additive and the potential detriments they cause, the more it poses an everyday conundrum as to what to purchase, prepare and feed Cole.

We had decided when Cole began eating solids to offer a range of foods. The more introduced to him early on the less apt he would become a picky eater later or so we hope. As I found myself buying items outside of the designated baby food aisle, I found myself reading labels more carefully. I bought organic produce and fruit most of the time because they were grown without pesticides. It was not that much more expensive surprisingly. It was when I began to expand his menu and add in finger foods and snacks is when the challenge began. Most of the boxes of cereal or crackers that were marked "natural" and/or "healthy" were far from it. "No trans fat" has been the tag line for many vendors trying to woo shoppers. That is a start but there are far more dire artificial elements in most packaged foods that lurk inconspicuously on the label. So I began shopping more often at Whole Foods and local organic stores for prepared goods. As I mentioned earlier, the difference in cost of buying organic produce versus non-organic was not that great. The difference in price when buying organic cereals and the like was significant however the more I considered the return on my investment the more I began spending the extra cash.

Our cupboards now host many products without high fructose corn syrup, without enriched white flour, without colorings and ingredients I can't spell let alone pronounce. We have found that many morsels taste better without all the "stuff". That "stuff" may give my pantry items a longer shelf life but if something needs chemicals to make it last longer then maybe it shouldn't be in the pantry at all?

Don't' get me wrong, Dave and I have had to retool our palates after years of Doritos, Sugar Smacks and Reeses Peanut Butter cups and we do still indulge ourselves with our favorites but we find ourselves noshing on many of the things that Cole eats and acknowledge that we too should be putting our mouths where we preach. We need to lead by example.

Of course, as a child learning about his own taste buds Cole will be allowed to sample almost anything he wishes with the understanding that those "treats" are for special occasions not daily consumption. I want him to appreciate that what he puts into his body is in essence what gives him the fuel to leap, climb, run and learn. However, I do want him to have memories of visits to the ice cream parlor, licking the insides of an Oreo cookie, chomping on REAL hot dogs while attending baseball games and eating gooey cotton candy at the state fair too!