So, I'm Reading This Book...

I'm a big reader; of course, since becoming a Mommy, my reading time has been shorten dramatically and seems to happen only during Emma's bath time or in bed for two seconds before i fall asleep. A friend recommended that i read this book since she and i are health 'buddies' and i'm having a very hard time with this book.

The book is called "Skinny Bitch"....and wow. It is an in-your-face type of book and has made me sit down and re-think what and how i eat. I don't know much about how food is processed or how beef and chicken is farmed or how cows are milked-hey, i'm kinda a city gal. This book is graphic in how these things are done-graphic to the point of where it is difficult for me to read. (i'm an animal and tree hugger kinda woman, btw....) Now i don't know if fish have 'feelings' or if cows 'know' they are headed for slaughter, but just the description of how these things are done and how the USDA works, well, i'm re-thinking a lot of things having to do with food. The two authors talk about government regulations and who is in charge of our food that we buy. Very disturbing stuff as it goes into how the USDA's folks have a huge conflict of interest and are not looking out for us. The chapter i'm in now has to due with dairy and milk; two of my very favorite things...and of course, more troubling news for this dairy lover. :(

Here is a quote from the book on the USDA:

"One former USDA Secretary was forced to resign amid charges of accepting illegal corporate gifts from seven different companies. He was indicted on 39 felony charges, including tampering with a witness; accepting illegal gratuities; making false statements and violating the Meat Inspection Act of 1907. Tyson Foods, one of the companies that admitted to giving the Secretary corporate favors, was required to pay $4 million in fines and endure four years probation. A mere slap on the wrist, when the USDA could've barred Tyson from selling food to military bases and schools. That would've really stung, considering Tyson sold more that 10 million worth of food to the Defense Department alone in 1996. But friends don't treat friends that way......"

Who is looking out for me and my family if this stuff is true?

It also talks about high fructose corn sugar which the book calls a "bad ass sugar". It's in everything: juice, soda, beer, yogurt, energy bars, animal crackers (yes, the ones i buy for Emma), breads and even frozen foods. Apparently, it's so cheap to produce so it's so widely used in the United States. Not a good thing. The book also bashes artificial sweeteners, Splenda included.

My favorite quote in the book has to do with soda (which i have given up for almost 2months now, WOO-HOOO FOR ME!!) which says that "Soda is liquid Satan. It is the devil, It is garbage. There is nothing in soda that should be put into your body".

This book promotes being a vegetarian; in fact, i'd dare say that it's the main goal of the book. I do know that in my after college life where i was on HUGE budget restraints, i rarely ate meat just due to the price. And steak? Please, lol, it was a rare, rare, rare treat. I did notice some things about that time looking back: i felt better healthy wise and i weighed less. I weighed a lot less. But i was a lot more active, too. I rarely ate cheese or bought milk (have you seen the price of good cheese?!?) either, which made me sad as i love cheese. But you have to do what you have to do to stay in your budget range. Of course, it was easy to go to whatever fast food place had a dollar menu, but that's a whole other subject.

So, i'm doing research into vegetarians. I don't even know if i can do this, should i do this, am i insane for even thinking about doing this (that one, lol, was from my sister, btw), have i lost my mind (another one from my very supportive sister), and what exactly do veggie folks eat?? I have a lot of reading to do. But i think that i want to do this. I've noticed when my eating is healthy and not full of junk how good i feel; i know how good i feel when i don't have a heavy meat meal. I'm not planning on making us a veggie family, nor am i going to bash every person who think i'm nuts but this is something i truly am giving serious thoughts to doing.

So, i'll let you know how my research goes....and if my sister is right in asking me if i've lost my mind or if i'm strong enough to do this.