August 22, 2012 - Living Beyond The Fast Food Lane

Good morning friends, As I listened last night to a report on the "TERRIBLE plight" of our country due to the drought and the effect of the failed corn crop, I was shocked at some of the statistics. I had no clue that 75% of everything we purchase has corn or high fructose corn syrup in it. The reporter continued to elaborate on the importance of corn as a filler - even in some of our toothpaste. UGH! They then journeyed down the road of where we would see the immediate impact of this failed crop - the grocery store and gas pump. For a wee bit - I was concerned as I know food cost for healthy eaters can be higher than normal anyway. Then, I started "processing" what they were saying. They were saying, REALLY, that PROCESSED foods contain this corn filler and were going to increase in cost. Those "fast lane" choices are pumped with a corn product so the cost can remain low. AHHHHH......I began to see this beautiful picture. The reporters then stated that meat will increase, as most animals are fed with corn, but fruits and veggies may go down. Shelf foods will increase while "whole foods" may actually decrease in cost so that markets can remain in business. YES!!!!! That's good news for us - we try as often as possible to stay in the "whole foods lane" as opposed to the "fast lane" of processed foods. Right? This means we HAVE TO COOK, yes, but while everyone else is scrambling, we can be a beacon of hope. We have discussed many times that cooking whole foods takes planning - but we can take one day a week and cook a BUNCH (southern term) and reheat. I don't need canned squash or canned beans or twinkies.......I cook REAL foods and make my own desserts. You know what's funny - I made a sugar free chocolate pound cake with almond flour to take to a staff party yesterday and sitting RIGHT BESIDE the healthy cake and fruit (sweetened with xylitol) was a chocolate, store bought cake and ice cream. At the end of lunch, all my stuff was gone and the processed, FAST LANE stuff was still sitting there. We CAN ride through this "corn storm" with a smile because we already choose the fruits and veggies and bake our own stuff. Yes, meat may increase, so start watching for your cuts of meat NOW and get those to the freezer for the winter. Going to restaurants may increase as they use a lot of processed items, that's okay too. I can take my food to work (and not go out for lunch) and cook at home until the storm passes. And, maybe we could start doing some HEALTHY dinner parties instead of going out???? Whole foods, great taste, less cost, and great fellowship too. Maybe we could get together and do big cooking days, share the cost and burden so we have healthy things in the fridge and freezer??? Let's look ahead at all these BLEAK reports and smile because God has been preparing us for some time now to live beyond the fast food lane. All our whole foods have NO fillers and are not going to be consumed by the failed corn crop. YEA!!!! Smile today and hug someone - it lowers your blood pressure! PK