Really Raw 2009 Day 5

I went on a greens expedition today. I went to an organic grocery store that I used to work in, and went through all of the greens, pruning them back and filling a laundry basket for which I paid $10. Sweeeet!!! I took home beautiful spinach, loads of kale, some bok choy, and both red and green leaf lettuce. I also got a small red cabbage, 2 fennel bulbs and an orange...and I bought 6 granny smiths, which cost $2.75.
So, my total for today was $12.75. That's pretty much lunch at a restaurant...doing good so far!

I've gotta go tomorrow and pick up some more fruit. I'm going to stick to organic more now. I've been reading Michael Pollan's book "In Defense of Food" and it is so amazing. He exemplifies the difference in the nutritional quality of today's food versus the food my grandparents would've eaten. He states that, in order to get the same amount of iron that you would get from an apple in 1940, you would have to eat 3 apples today! It's ridiculous! Modern agriculture's focus has been on increasing the size and calorie content of food using chemical fertilizers and pesticides. Therefore, plants that we eat only get macronutrients (for plants, that is) like nitrogen, potassium and phosphorous. The soil is so depleted that they just aren't producing a lot of vital nutrients like selenium anymore! And the use of pesticides has significantly reduced the amount of antioxidants, carotenoids, and many other chemicals they would normally use to protect themselves that happen to also be incredibly beneficial to those of us who eat them!

When I read that, I realized that I may spend less money on conventional produce, but I have to eat 2-3 times as much in order to get the important nutritional factors that my body needs to function optimally.

I was making a green smoothie today with mango, and the taste of the mango wasn't quite right to me. It was conventional...and ya, edible, but not nearly as delicious and pure tasting as some of the organic ones I've had in the past:)

I can't wait for spring...I'm looking forward to all of the wild greens to burst forth in all of their yummy and medicinal glory!!

Namaste