A sweet potato's saga.

Jovi is about 7 months old and I'm feeling pretty good about myself because I am making homemade baby food, which, for me, is a very huge mess.  Who knew that steamed veggies and a blender could be such a cantankerous pair.   Anyhow, I am laboriously peeling a sweet potato over the sink when a family member comes up, peers over my shoulder and softly, yet intimidatingly asked "Is that organic?".  "No...", I stammered.  She takes a step back noting "You know that sweet potato's grow under the ground and whatever poison is put on them seeps through the soil...".  Visions of my little potato before it was unearthed, innocently, yet deceivingly soaking in poison.  After a moment of pondering my nicely peeled potato, I decided I would just eat it myself (anxiety at a 3 on scale of 10, 10 being highest).  Then, I realized that since I was nursing the poisons may still be transfered (anxiety escalating to a 6).  So I guess my husband would have to eat it (5).  It ended up getting thrown out which further intensified the guilt. . . now I was wasteful too (back to a 6).

Yes, I have issues, but at least I know how to rate them.

After this experience if I couldn't swing the high price of organic sweet potato I bought non organic butternut squash due to the shell covering.

Now, I realize that sweet potato's are a member of the "clean 15".   I'm amazed that someone with almost irritating rhyming abilities has made two lists.  Dirty Dozen and Clean 15 (lists below).  I don't mean to sound ungrateful, I am very grateful for this list that makes me feel dirty for feeding my child any dozen of those things.

If you would like to practice rating your anxiety,  check out this website.  This website is a great resource.  It helps you increase your personal neuroticism and become a nervous wreck.  Thank me later.
http://www.whatsonmyfood.org/

If you would like to keep your wits about you and not sound neurotic, like me, then review these lists, do your best, and go on with your life.

Dirty Dozen: Foods to Buy Organic 

1. apples
2. celery
3. strawberries
4. peaches
5. spinach
6. nectarines, imported
7. grapes, imported
8. sweet bell peppers
9. potatoes
10. blueberries, domestic
11. lettuce
12. kale collard greens 

Clean 15: Okay to Buy Non-Organic 

1. onions
2. sweet corn
3. pineapples
4. avocado
5. asparagus
6. sweet peas
7. mangoes
8. eggplant
9. cantaloupe, domestic
10. kiwi
11. cabbage
12. watermelon
13. sweet potatoes
14. grapefruit
15. mushrooms

https://www.naturalhomeandgarden.com/natural-health/2011-dirty-dozen-clean-15-lists.aspx

Milk: It does the body good.

Milk.
Yesterday I stood cross-eyed in the dairy section of the store under pressure because my son was out of milk.  Voices in my head muttering messages read and heard "cows milk is not digestible to humans, cows milk is essential, plastic causes cancer, paper is healthier".  The conversation in my head was loud and confrontational.  I pondered back on my parents generation.  I thought of my mother standing in the milk isle with perhaps 2-3 choices, all from the cow.  I had no less than a dozen choices.  Rice, soy, cow, almond, organic cow, non-organic cow, organic paper, plastic, DHA added..."

I decided on the Horizon Organic Whole DHA added.  I reasoned with my husband that the extra 2 dollars was worth my peace of mind.  He joked that the fancy milk, then, was for my benefit as much as baby's.

Society runs us on fear much of the time.  I wonder if Horizon Organic DHA added banks on moms like me that are laden with guilt and fear.  They write little things on the carton like: "DHA - Gotta Have It!" with a picture of a little boy writing with a pencil.  Also, because it is "Organic" there are no hormones or antibiotics used for the cows that produce it.  Sounds great! Right?

I have some very close friends who have a dairy.  They are milk suppliers for Publix brand milk.  He told me that cows that are not treated with antibiotics cannot be treated when they are sick.  Therefore they are basically ostracized and left to die.  He told me that when they treat their cows with antibiotics there is a regiment that must be followed such as not milking the cow for X amount of time until the antibiotics are no longer in their system.  He serves his family the gallon size Publix brand plain old wallet friendly milk.

Even though I know, and trust, this information, the messages on the carton persuade me that my child needs the DHA fortified.  It's a whole new take on reduced-guilt marketing.

Do we really need to buy organic milk?  Does mine need DHA fortified milk to be a cute little boy writing with a pencil?  My receipt said so.  What does yours say?

dirty dessert.

Pressure.  Oh that familiar feeling of anxiety mixed with a dash of fear.  But all amounts of pressure seem slight compared to the outpouring of it once you begin the joy of parenting.  It starts at your first OB visit and ends... well, my Aunt says the first 40 years of parenthood are the hardest and after that you  just don't care as much.   

At 6 months old, I mentioned to my father-in-law that I had gotten Jovi (my son) organic blueberries for dessert.  They were, of course, part of the "dirty dozen".  In my late night internet research I had learned this was the only way to protect my child from the demons of the pesticide world.  Organic.  I knew my father-in-law would be so proud of me and know that I was, indeed, a good mom.  He laughed, "that stuff is a big joke, its all the same".  "No, it's USDA certified!," I argued.  He was unwavering in his assertion that it was a ploy to make money.  I looked down, sadly, at my $6 blueberries I was once so proud of.  

I do still assert with my father-in-law that organic is better, for baby.  But I work to release myself of guilt for not buying the $6 blueberries.  

Perhaps nowadays we know too much ... knowledge brings PRESSURE.

If you, like me, have fed your child "dirty", yet incessantly washed with guilt, blueberries... stay tuned.  I would like to make this a "safe place" for guilt-ridden and proud parents alike to share in the pressures and successes of parenthood, mainly the pressures of the plate.  Recipes encouraged!