Healthy Kids: Preventing Chronic Disease with Real Food
Who doesn't want healthy kids? The good new is you can keep your kids healthy for life and prevent the likelihood of chronic diseases. Discover practical steps to make your family's diet non-toxic and budget-friendly.
Staying interested and learning about health is not just for adults, it affects everyone in the family. We as moms want to remain healthy and happy not only for ourselves but to be able to take care of our kids as best we can, for as long as we can. We already know first-hand that parents are the first and best teachers. Our kids learn by our example, and will take what we teach them into adulthood and pass it on to their children.
I want chronic disease to be a foreign concept to my daughter both now and when she’s a grandmother, the same way it was unknown for my grandparents. This is completely within my power and yours, and we can start making it happen immediately, in our own houses. One of the best books I’ve read on the subject is Good Energy, by Casey and Calley Means. It not only explains biologically what happens to us when we eat poorly, but also why we are surrounded by a sea of toxic food, and how we can be healthy in very practical, achievable steps.
Moms are busier than ever, especially now with the economy in the dumpster. It can feel like adding one more thing to the pile is just too much. However health is the foundation of our lives. It IS life. It’s the whole reason we are so busy working trying to sustain our jobs, homes, bills and kids. The good news is that it isn’t as radical or labor-intensive as many believe.
Being sick and having a chronic disease or three costs a heck of a lot more than organic food. Don’t believe for a minute you are saving money by eating processed food from a factory, or conventional produce sprayed with cancer-causing pesticides.
The total average cost for our 100% organic, mostly local food is just $162 per week. Here is a breakdown of what we spend in an average summer week for the three of us.
Farmer’s market - $35
Grocery store - $95
Local grass-fed beef - $32
We also have a small garden where we get a small amount of vegetables and fruit. Sometimes we decide to spend more than average to buy local pasture-raised chicken, turkey, pork or frozen wild salmon. If we wanted to decrease our food bill, we could work on growing even more in our garden and freezing it. Bottom line, it’s very possible to eat real, non-toxic food and maintain a decent food budget even in these times of inflation.
Perfection is the enemy of the good, as Voltaire probably said. Changes can be made one step at a time. By making one or two substitutions every week, a few upgrades will snowball quickly into real health benefits without having to overhaul your kitchen in one weekend. Additionally, the palates of your family will have time to adjust and enjoy eating real food. It’s a very satisfying feeling knowing everything you buy and cook keeps your family healthy and happy.
