Hellobee Boards

My husband and I are not processed food people. We barely were during our college days and certainly have not been since we didn't have to pinch pennies. So we do not intend to start feeding our children processed food. Everything we eat is cooked made from scratch. No boxed potatoes, no frozen foods, etc.

As far as "organic" goes. I'm not convinced everything out there that claims to be "organic" IS. I know some of you believe there are FDA regulations against this. But there are ways around it. Just like the whole "green" thing. So many products claim to be "green" but they are not. It's called green washing.

Having had the chance to meet with many local farmers who are "certified naturally grown" I now know the difference between farmers who use pesticides, who are certified organic and certified naturally grown.
We believe in buying naturally grown but don't feel the need to go to the extent of "organic".

I usually buy whatever I find at the farmer's market for LO. She only eats puree's that I make so it's not too hard to feed her healthy.

Ideally, when LO is here, we'll buy most of our fruits and veggies at the farmer's market. What we can't get there, we might order from Fresh Direct (they have a pretty good local foods section) or buy organic. We've also become more conscious of what we're putting in our bodies (thanks in large part to reading Michael Pollan's books and Barbara Kingsolver's Animal, Vegetable, Miracle--highly recommend both) and we generally try to stay away from super processed foods now. HOwever, I'm realistic too---I know that we're going to end up buying processed cereals, snacks, etc sometimes, because we like how they taste! I"m okay with that, as long as the majority is local/organic. I definitely want our LO to grow up with a healthy diet and a healthy attitude toward food.

I'm not that hung up on buying organic - I'd rather buy local veggies that are not certified organic, than buy certified organic veggies that have been flown across the country. Being certified organic is a really expensive process for farmers, and I don't really trust the labels "natural" or "organic" to be what they say all the time. There are "100% natural" Dinosaur shaped frozen chicken nuggets for sale at BJ's - sorry, but that's just not what I consider to be "100% natural"! ;-0

My philosophy is to try to eat as simply, cleanly and locally as possible the majority of the time, which is how we'll feed LO.

@yoursilverlining:
Ditto!!!

@hilsy85:
You make a very good point re: processed foods. I was thinking only along the lines of say Stove Top Stuffing, Betty Crocker Mashed potatoes, frozen fish sticks, Lean Cuisine, etc. But you're right, I do eat instant oatmeal, chips, etc.

We eat local foods. Our milk comes from cows in our county, the apples are grown down the road and we get our beef directly from a family member. All of our foods are labelled with the country of origin, so I know down to our onions where the food comes so I can make decisions about eating or not. I feel very lucky to be able to eat this way. We don't buy organic because it's not regulated here and I don't feel it is worth the difference in price.

We don't eat a lot of processed or packaged foods, but I do use them from time to time when I using them saves me time and money, like jarred pesto or yogurt. We also eat at McDonalds, but the beef and potatoes are also local, so I feel better about that.

out baby isnt here yet but the two of us try to eat very healthy, we avoid processed foods and do mostly buy products that are organic, free range etc. I also dont understand why most kids I know only eat processed foods like kraft mac n cheese or chicken nuggets, I want my kids ot be able to eat regular food and lots of fruits and veggies so we will work towards that. I do plan to buy a baby bullet and make my own baby food