March Against Monsanto

Chances are pretty darn good that most of the foods in your pantry and fridge contain toxic chemicals and GMO's (genetically modified organisms) and are owned by a company called Monsanto.  So why should you care?  What's so bad about GMO's and Monsanto anyways??  Well for starters Monsanto is the world's largest pesticide manufacturer.  Just let that sink in for a moment.  The world's largest PESTICIDE manufacturer.  Monsanto also controls much of the world's food supply.  Does that sound strange to anyone??  The company that controls most of the foods Americans are eating is also the largest pesticide manufacturer.  Hmm....pretty sure I don't want to be eating pesticides and I sure as shit know that I don't want to be feeding it to William.

So what exactly is a Genetically Modified Organism?  A GMO is made when a gene from one species is transferred to another species.  Resulting in something that would never be naturally grown or produced.  So that's just a little bit startling, no?  Ever heard of FrankenFish? Yum.  Just one prime example of how the FDA is playing scientist with our food supply.  Since the science behind GMO's is still fairly new- the reality is that we just don't know all the side effects yet.  However, there have been many studies performed that show the connection between eating GMO's and cancer.  You can read about it here courtesy of Natural News.

Scared yet?  I sure hope so!  What we do know is that GMO's are harmful to your health.  They are grown using extreme amounts of pesticides, herbicides and fungicides.  Simply put folks- these ingredients are poison.  POISON!  And they are packaged to you as health foods, convenience foods and junk foods.  And your buying it!!  So here's a list of the Monsanto foods to avoid. 

                                                                                                                                                   It's pretty daunting right?  I challenge you to inventory your pantry and fridge.  Right now...just get up and take a quick look.  How many items from this list did you have?

I will be totally honest and say that when I first started down this path towards healthy eating, my fridge and pantry was full of this crap.  Full!!!  Oh how I loved Pasta-Roni, Marie Callenders Pot Pies were my favorites and to this day William's favorite cereal is Honey Nut Cheerios which is a General Mills product.  My first thoughts were, "how in the world am I going to avoid all these foods?".  Followed closely by, "what the hell am I going to feed my family?"

The answer....buy certified organic foods.  Foods that contain this label cannot contain GMO's.  Yay!  But wait!  Yikes- these foods are really expensive.  Like, really, really expensive!  So what's a concerned consumer to do?  Well, here's what I did.  And keep in mind that this took me several years to accomplish.  It's rough on your grocery budget and most definitely a lifestyle change- but you can do it!

• Start by switching all dairy to organic dairy.
• Make Mondays, meatless!
• Buy your meat from local butcher shops or a specialty grocery.  Learn where your meat comes from and how it's been raised.
• Memorize the Dirty Dozen list so that you can make informed shopping choices.
• Cook from scratch- get rid of the processed junk!
• Do your best to stop buying from the Monsanto Do Not Buy list referenced above.

It's been several years since I first learned about GMO's and Monsanto.  I can proudly say that my house is 80% GMO free and that the majority of the foods my family eats are certified organic.  Every single time that you walk into a grocery store and buy a product, you are casting a vote.  Either for GMO's, chemicals and toxins or against them.  My vote is NO!  Scratch that- I vote HELL NO!  Monsanto, you do not have my permission to poison me or my family.  What's your vote?

Why do you homeschool?

A question that I get asked all the time, is "Why do you homeschool?" Well why indeed? The short answer is that we believe it's THE BEST choice for William. But you wouldn't be reading this if you wanted the short answer, am I right?

So lets step back in time shall we? My precious toddler was entering preschool age. I found myself pouring over preschool websites, reviews, taking school tours & frantically trying to find room in our tight budget for the outrageously priced preschool classes. $400 a month- yikes!  And the conclusion I came to was crazy simple.  I was not ready to let my baby go. That and I was having a difficult time explaining to the husband how we were going to pay some strangers (money we couldn't really afford mind you) to care for & teach our son. What made them so much more qualified then me? How was this preschool better suited to teach my son then I was?  I was so confused and overwhelmed.  I just wanted to curl up in a ball, watch some General Hospital, eat a sleeve of Thin Mints and call it a day.  But as well all know, a Mother's job is never done.  Now back to reality!

Before we ever came to the conclusion to homeschool we pursued all other options.  To be honest, homeschooling was our last resort.  I started researching private schools, thinking the quality of education would somehow be superior.  Ha!  Somewhere along the way, I realized yet again, how broke we really were.  If we couldn't afford traditional preschool, private school was so out of the equation!  Duh!  We briefly joined a preschool co-op and while it was fun, I just wasn't on board to clean up other people's mess.   And pay for the privilege mind you!  Co-ops were not my thing.  I even found this "new-age" & somewhat scary (to me!) school which is a part of the Sudbury Schools.  But it seemed to me that this school model had too much freedom, not the balance I was looking for.  Frankly, at this point- we were clueless.  So we started with a list of DON'Ts.  Things we knew for sure that we didn't want for William. We didn't want him away from home and his loving parents all day, every day.  We didn't want strangers, teachers & children alike, having a negative impact on our child.  We were concerned for his safety.  We didn't want him to get lumped in & labeled which is the land mine so many public school kids fall into.  We were fearful of his emotional development.  And our list of DON'Ts went on and one.  Sometimes it's easier to know what you don't want then what you do want.  Ooh, that's powerful.  I'll say it again.  Sometimes it's easier to know what you don't want then what you do want.

Finally, after much trial and error, we found it!  Homeschool here we come!  Initially, we had lots of doubts in our decision to homeschool.  Could I do this?  How would I do this?  What if I screwed it up?  We still have doubts.  I personally believe that if you don't continually question your choices, then you're making the wrong ones.  Homeschooling was a BIG idea.  A new frontier.  We knew no one who homeschooled.  No One!  Our friends & neighbors thought we were weird.  Ok, we are weird but I digress... After all, if public school was a good choice for their kids, why wasn't it good enough for William?  Our family was concerned.  Very concerned.  Geez, you'd think we were giving him Red Bull & cigarettes....and so our motto stands- "We Can Always Stop".  Yep, just like that.  If it doesn't work, don't do it.

So there you have it.  We homeschool for many reasons, the most important one is that it works for us.  It fits our family, our lifestyle and what we want and don't want for William.  Why do YOU homeschool?