Feeling overwhelmed

[JLomama]

I have been having a lot of anxiety lately about food in general.  It just seems that everything is bad for you these days.  I need some help just finding balance.  I stay at home with 3 boys and have always cooked mostly everything from scratch.  We have a garden and I do some canning.  However, I've been reading more lately about how bad GMOs are for us and if I were to eliminate them from our diet that means everything containing corn, soy, sugar, and other things.  I also just read a book about going gluten free and that 1 in 6 has a gluten sensitivity.  My oldest son has not been feeling well; he is very thin, pale, circles under his eyes, dry flakey scalp, and  gets random skin rashes. My middle son has some behavior issues of acting out and being violent/going into rages.  I have been tired my whole life and have had many other symptoms that look like I could have a gluten sensitivity (but then again the symptoms are so many and so varied that it could be something else; my ND thought I had Lyme disease a few years ago). Anyway. I'm trying not to ramble here.  The gyst is that I'm so worried about eating these things now, but it is so expensive to go GF (and I haven't even touched on dairy).  My husband is also not really on the bandwagon when it comes to these things, which makes it hard for me to justify spending all that extra $$ on food. I buy organic when the price difference isn't crazy, but a lot of things I do buy conventionally grown (so then I'm worried about pesticides).  Ugh.  What do you do?  For those of you who don't have lots of $$ to spend at the grocery store, how do you eat GF and healthy without going bankrupt? It's just all ridiculous anymore. I want to be healthy and want my kids to be healthy, but I don't want to drive myself crazy trying to do it.

[jenniepaige]

Have you looked into a food buying club in your area? Where in PA are you? I belong to one here in Frederick and it's been a God's send. We get food for generally less than conventional food prices for organic stuff. Now mind you, I do nearly all my cooking from scratch and grind my own grain which helps but it's still a huge savings. We also buy our meat in bulk (there is a great place just north of Hagerstown) and it's less then buying regular meat at the store. These two things have helped so much with keeping down costs. Also you say you live in the country and have a garden. Is it organic? That's a start. Could you maybe get your own chickens to have fresh eggs everyday? I wish we could!

I'm sure there are some farms around you that offer a CSA and I know there are a few Diary farms where you can get milk, meat, veggies, cheese, etc. I know of some places that are in southern PA.

It's easy to get overwhelmed. The best thing to do is to start off in baby steps. It's the best way to ensure that you will make the change long term without it taking over your life. Just start with cutting out some of the bad and replacing it with some of the good.

I can't speak on being gluten intolerant but it doesn't hurt to cut down some. I am looking for some recipes to do that myself. Start with baking with coconut flour!

[JLomama]

I am in Williamsport. Haven't heard of a food buying club! Any idea how I can find out if there is one around here? We do get things from the Amish and actually there is an Amish market right down the road where they sell milk, cheese, fresh produce, flowers, etc.  Some things are just too expensive for us.  Our garden is not exactly organic because we put manure on it from my BIL's dairy farm and he feeds his cows grain and he gives the calves something in their milk to help them grow. So not sure how great that is for us. But we don't use any chemicals, just neem oil and planting dill, marigolds, etc.  We also get meat from him for free (how can you turn that down??).  Last fall we did get half a pig from an Amish farmer who doesn't use preservatives and he sells grass fed beef for a decent price.  I buy my eggs from the Amish as well (not 100% of the time) that are free range organic and very cheap.  I DO want to get some chickens, just have to convince hubby. We had one hen and rooster and something came out of the woods and ate them. In the summer we pick tons of blueberries, strawberries, and cherries and freeze them (again not organic and probably sprayed, but there are no orchards around here that are organic). I gave up using any oils except coconut and olive oil a long time ago, and I've been using coconut and almond milk a lot.  But we are not dairy free.  The kids love cheese as a snack and, well, with my Swiss heritage it's kinda hard to give up dairy!  you are right, though, about taking it a step at a time.  I think it's too hard to do thinks dramatically. I just get so frustrated by what is going on in the world with our food supply (Monsanto is right up there with the devil himself IMO), and I hate that guilty feeling when I make something to eat and then wonder what affect it will have on us. Sometimes I wonder if things are really that bad or if I'm just paranoid! I want to enjoy my life and I want my kids to be happy and healthy. 

[serenbat]

my BIL's dairy farm and he feeds his cows grain and he gives the calves something in their milk to help them grow. 

I would want to know about this-it would be a deep concern of mine (growth hormones are NO-NO's for us)

also does he "spray" his hay-grain-etc? since he is a farmer-where does his run-off go-down towards veggies and grasses?

if you have a garden there are lots of non-chemicals that you can use beside from you BIL- contact 4H or your local Penn State Extension office

also there is local ORGANIC out there! again check with 4H and Penn State

[serenbat]

also-- the "buy fresh buy local" program by the state is filled with places you might not know about

remember Amish DOES NOT = organic!! you really have to watch and ask lots of questions

many in my area of PA do not grow what they sell---just near me, Berks and Landcaster counties have "food" auction and many Amish re-sell

also post in the PA tribe section if you are looking for certain things

[Bantams]

my BIL's dairy farm and he feeds his cows grain and he gives the calves something in their milk to help them grow. 

I would want to know about this-it would be a deep concern of mine (growth hormones are NO-NO's for us)

also does he "spray" his hay-grain-etc? since he is a farmer-where does his run-off go-down towards veggies and grasses?

if you have a garden there are lots of non-chemicals that you can use beside from you BIL- contact 4H or your local Penn State Extension office

also there is local ORGANIC out there! again check with 4H and Penn State

Most dairies will raise their heifer calves on a milk-protein based replacer, even real milk, unless they are really "cheap" and don't care how their future milkers grow up.  Bull calves are typically raised on a soy-based formula.  The only additives I've heard of for bottle calves are probiotics, electrolytes, and vitamins/minerals, and antibiotics only when there is actually a problem.  Antibiotics disrupt all rumen function in cattle (and it is illegal for antibiotic-treated cows to be milked for sale - all treated milk must be dumped during the withdraw period.  Every single batch of milk in this country is tested for traces of antibiotics, otherwise the antibiotics will kill the cultures in cheesemaking). 

Beef cattle usually get a hormone implant in their ears at weaning age, and dairy cows in commercial herds will get BGH shots every two weeks. 

Virtually all non-organic hay is sprayed - otherwise toxic weeds would be incorporated into the hay and poison cattle.  There was a major problem several years ago when entire herds of organic beef cattle in OR died from eating trace amounts of tansy ragwort in the hay. 

[serenbat]

I assumed she was talking about Beef cattle?