healthy home, healthy family

Coy and I have always lived a reasonably healthy lifestyle, but recently we've been reading and hearing more about toxic chemicals in our home and lots of unhealthy, pretty gnarly things in our food (ala Food, Inc. and Sanjay Gupta’s “Toxic America” special).

Listen, I always thought *organic* was sort of an overrated, overpriced, new age-y subculture we would never be a part of, but becoming a mom has rearranged my priorities in a big way. So, we’ll be changing some of what we use, buy, and eat because we love our kids and want to give them the best we can within our ability. And, as we have been studying the book of Genesis at FBC we have been struck by the weight of our responsibility for what God has entrusted to us.

Then God said, "Let us make man in our image, in our likeness, and let them rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air, over the livestock, over all the earth, and over all the creatures that move along the ground." - Genesis 1:26

We're not trying to be extremists. We're just making an effort to be more conscious about what we consume. We will begin to replace things as we run out with healthier choices, working towards getting back to the way our grandmothers and great-grandmothers ate, cleaned, etc. This will require doing some research and educating ourselves, buying less from the grocery store and more from local producers, and YES, it will be more expensive. But it is worth it to us.

So, here’s the plan…
Switch to whole grain bread, pasta, and flour, buy organic veggies and fruits that we do not peel to eat (check out the "dirty dozen"), join a CSA for pastured meat and eggs (it wasn't too hard to sell Coy on grass-fed beef), get all natural milk and butter from a local family-owned dairy (Coy is obsessed with their “cream line” whole milk), switch to natural, non-toxic cleaning supplies, laundry, and dish detergent.

Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own. - 1 Corinthians 6:19

And, here are a couple of other easy things to do:
get a house plant (a NASA study found common houseplants can reduce indoor air pollution including formaldehyde, benzene, and carbon monoxide), use a steam cleaner instead of using chemicals to clean the floors, change the water filter in the fridge every six months (it can reduce lead, asbestos, mercury, and more in drinking water and ice).

*disclaimer - We are fully aware that Anna will eat a few Happy Meals in her lifetime, probably even a few Doritos or Oreos here or there. We're ok with that.