Eating healthy, wholesome food shouldn’t just be a trend, it should be a life style.

Leave it to me to make a car analogy, but lets just say that your body operates like a car. What you put in, is exactly what you get out of it. Every car enthusiast knows that you wouldn’t pump your high end Porsche or Maserati with low grade fuel, you would give it the highest grade fuel for proper performance. And your body operates in a similar function in that what you put into your body, is exactly how your body will perform. If you give your body low quality food, you can’t expect high quality performance.

We’ve all heard the phrase “you are what you eat” countless times. But more often than not, this phrase has been said to encourage us to ditch the calorically high, sugary, processed foods, for something fresh and grown from the ground. What many of us don’t consider though, is the quality of our fresh produce. The switch from processed foods to fresh foods simply isn’t enough.

I’ve been on an organic diet ever since I can remember and it has done me a world of good. Though sometimes it is exceptionally difficult to access organic food, and sometimes very costly, my friends who have gone grocery shopping with me before can testify that I can be a bit of a food snob. I’m very picky about the quality of the food which I’m buying. Unfortunately, our own government doesn’t have very high standards of what passes as healthy and unhealthy, which leaves the responsibility of healthy eating strictly up to the consumer. These days, the consumer must do their own research if they wish to be well informed of what they’re putting into their body. And if you ask me, it's a bit of a scary thought that you can’t automatically assume that the food you are putting into your body is one hundred percent safe to eat.

Organic food is free of harmful pesticides, toxins, and hormones that other conventional, non-organic food is pumped full of. So don’t let what you’re learning in your biology or chemistry class fool you into thinking that there is no difference between organic food and non-organic food. Because there absolutely is. It has been scientifically proven that certain chemicals used on non-organic food is harmful to our overall health and even brain development. Many countries abroad like Germany, France, Poland, and Austria have taken the initiative to ban certain harmful chemicals and genetically modified produce. So I’m sure many of you are wondering that if what i’m saying is really true, why is it that the American government hasn’t done anything about our current food predicament? Well, firstly, much of the American public is unbeknown to the importance of choosing organic, wholesome food over the non-organic, chemically pumped foods offered at most stores. And secondly, the American government chooses to subsidies non- organic food over organic food for the fact that non- organic food yields a higher profitability margin. With foods that have been sprayed down, and genetically modified, these crops are able to yield higher profitability because these foods tend to have a longer shelf life and are more adverse to difficult growing conditions. But let me just tell you now, a tomato isn’t supposed to be able to sit on your counter for three weeks and still look like it was picked yesterday. In reality, nutrient rich, fresh food is supposed to only last a couple of days. While you might be able to prolong this timeframe through refrigeration, you shouldn’t expect that that your fruits and vegetables will last longer than a week or so.

Unfortunately, our government is mostly to blame for the lack of accessibility to cheap, organic, wholesome food. The American government has chosen quantity and profitability over quality and our health. And in turn, they have tried to convince us that what we are eating is safe. Unfortunately, too much of the general public is far too trusting of the government and their judgment of what is safe for us to eat. In addition to this, the government has brainwashed many of us into thinking that there is no harm in eating any of the foods provided to us at the grocery store. And that because everything has been approved by the FDA , that it is safe for human consumption. But let me just give you a hint, if the birds and the bugs steer clear from the food which is deemed “safe” for us humans to eat, then we shouldn’t be eating it.

Eating organic food shouldn’t be a trend or a status symbol. It should be a way of life. Us consumers should demand that the government look out for our best interests by providing us with healthy food options that are free of harmful pesticides, toxins, hormones, and antibiotics. We shouldn’t have to search and constantly question the quality of our food every time we find ourselves at the grocery store. We should feel confident in that what we are buying and putting into our body is safe and will in turn optimize our body’s full capabilities.

Be cautious. Be informed. Be smart about what you choose to put into your body.