shopping neurosis

After finding out that Whole Foods, Organic Valley, Stoneyfield Farms and Cascadian Farms are in league with the devil Monsanto; my husband is afraid that we are going to starve.  Seriously, I buy my veggies from an organic farm and buy local organic milk, but I need other necessities like flour and butter and raisins and so on. 

I have known for a long time about the organic industrial food complex and tried to ignore what I could on the basis that I was eating as best as I could (and paying for it, to boot).  But now?  Now?  I cannot unlearn what I know and it gives me a panic attack every time I try to buy food. 

James finally did the shopping this week.  He knows my super hot spots and obliged me those things.  He even bought dried beans and cooked them in our pressure cooker.  If you don't have one of those things, get one.  It's amazeballs.  He cooked dry, unsoaked kidney beans in an hour and twenty minutes!!!  So we're working on it.  And although my restrictions drive him crazy, he tells me all of the time that one of his favorite things about me is that I have ideals and standards and stick to them.  He knows it's really hard for me and he understands that my reasons are valid....  And now he's doing the shopping!!!

for the rest of us

My son came home from preschool with cut outs of advertising from the Sunday paper glued to a "Holiday Wish List".  I was not a happy camper.  Discussions were had with the teachers, and next up is the school administrator...  There excuse was that they were working on cutting for their fine motor skills.  This is valid, but I'm going to suggest that next year they take the grocery advertisements and ask the children to cut out food that they would give to a family that didn't have any.
After being bombarded with this and the commercials that he has watched at Kristina's house (my ex's mother), he is not getting anything that he has asked for this year.  Everything I bought him is biodegradable. everything he wants is not.  He is able to get that "plastic hurts the earth, mama", but doesn't seem to understand exactly how his want accounts for that.   If he gives me shit about his presents, I am going to show him this...

http://planetgreen.discovery.com/slideshows/travel-outdoors/chris-jordan-midway-birds.html

I don't care if the photos are posed, they are the truth in a way that makes one understand.

On a brighter note, though, we went and picked out material for an apron for him a few months ago.  In the meantime, I went to real estate school, started a new job, have been doing tons of training and thrown him an awesome birthday party...Here's a pic of the party...

It's totally out of focus, but it's a bounce house.  I found the people that rented it out on the community wall of an authentic Mexican restaurant/bodega.   $90!!!  I'm sure they weren't licensed or insured, but that's how it should be and those other folks charge $200-$300!!  It was awesome because the kids were amused and I got to do everything in my own house and not have to transport shit.  I skipped the goody bags.

Here's a couple of pics of the apron that I finally made him:

He loves to go to the "crab park".

Like I said, this is the only thing that he is getting from me that he actually asked for, albeit months ago.  Pray that I don't have to show him the pictures of the dead birds with plastic in their tummies....

I used to be a lot of things

I won't even get into it.  Most of us knows how it goes.  I understand how fortunate I am; by world standards, I am in the top 15% of earners.  Does this make me feel rich?  Not really.  Am I rich?  Most definitely.  I have healthy food to eat, wine to drink when I want it, a healthy family, a home, music and interesting people to converse with.
But what of those who are having these things taken from them every day so that we can maintain our quality of life?  Not a fan.