You Are What You Eat

Yesterday the Oprah show shed some much needed light on the truth of where our food comes from. In response I wanted to share with you a little excerpt from Tyler Florence's cookbook "Dinner at My Place." Warning: you will want to become organic after reading this post....My man Tyler Florence has done it again, captured and wooed me!! I received the cookbook as a christmas present from my future in-laws (how cool are they!!). I made his carrot cake for a football party last weekend and the crowd gave it two thumbs up. So many more great recipes in the book that I can not wait to try. Go get yourself a copy - it is well worth the money. No lie I have read this cookbook from cover to cover on a six hour drive back from Dallas. The second chapter is an awesome chicken recipe, but what caught my attention was how he explained so eloquently the difference between all these confusing food labels and what they actually mean.

(The information below is not my own its straight out of Tyler's book which can be found here.)

"All Natural - You know better than to eat a rubber chicken, right? That's basically what this label promises you - that this chicken is not rubber. The USDA prohibits the use of hormones in raising poultry and most preservatives. But besides that, the chicken can be injected with just about anything else - from salt-water solutions to seaweed extract - and still be called "all natural." These solutions up your salt intake, change the chicken's flavor, and end up costing you more because they add weight to the chicken."

"Free Range - Sounds good, right? Vivacious white hens freely roaming sunny, grassy fields with fluffy yellow chicks in tow. Not so much. The USDA allows this label for any chicken that is allowed some access to an outdoor space. Said chicken may never see that outdoor space, and this designation doesn't address what's out on that yard - the conditions, the food, or the cleanliness. So it's a good start, but free range isn't the be-all and end-all we used to think it was."

"Certified Organic - I know there are those of you out there who think that organic is some kind of Hippie thing. But get that out of your head and start paying attention to organics-because they're here to stay. The Organic Foods Production Act of 1990 set forth requirements for products labeled as "organic" that ensure your chicken has lived a life dictated by government-mandated standards. It will have been fed only pesticide and chemical-free feeds of grains and soybeans, not animal byproducts. It also will have lived a life free of antibiotics and medicines. But guess what? It probably wouldn't have needed those antibiotics because organic chickens generally live a life free of the stress and contamination that can make other chickens sick. And of course, all organic chickens are both free range and all natural. See how that works? Whenever I can, I will definitely choose certified organic over the other options."

I don't know about you but that has cleared up years of confusion on the question we all get stuck with at the grocery store "which one should I buy?" I feel like I have been lied to with what all these nutrition labels aren't telling me. Yes organic is more money but by golly I am worth it!!! I feel like a paid advertiser here but on the Oprah show they highlighted a documentary called Food Inc. I just purchased my copy on Amazon, they are running a special on it till Friday at midnight only $9.99, and you can watch it instantly by download. You think this little post has stirred up some truth on the food we buy wait till you see the documentary (I actually cried). So lean into this adventure of organics with me and take a stand for your body and your family!!! I am now gently stepping off my soap box now before I fall off.