I think I may be on a never-ending quest to eat better.
It seems simple at first. Skip the junk food, eat more veggies, drink water. Hey, I can do that. Then the rules get more complex. You start reading the labels, and reading the debates that seem to grow around food. Is this healthy? Is that? Everyone has their own definitions.
This weekend I took another baby step towards eating better, one that is loaded with controversy. We stopped buying cow’s milk.
I’ll admit, I bought into the “cow’s milk is healthy” line of thought. There are many compelling reasons given on why we should be drinking it. Slowly, though, I started creeping sideways. Well, cow’s milk is good. But it should be organic. From grass-fed cows. And raw. And…
I ran out of sidesteps to take.
Face it, we’re not cows. Cow milk is made to grow baby cows. To put on an incredible amount of weight in a short period of time, with little to no boost to brain development. In a logical culture, there wouldn’t be a need for milk because we’d just breastfeed to the biological weaning point then move on to water.
But we’re not a logical culture. So we say breastfeeding toddlers is icky, while giving them glasses of the breastmilk of cows.
This weekend I bought cartons of vanilla and chocolate almond milk. It’s yummy, the kids like it, it works great with granola. And the kids have stopped moo-ing, which is nice.
But most importantly, it feels like another step towards eating healthy for us. Not according to that guru, or that expert. For us, it just feels right.
Sure, there are a thousand more steps to take to get really, truly healthy. And I’m coming to the conclusion that we may never actually get there. Which, is OK, in a way. Everything in moderation, and that includes health food. I’m just trying to get a little more moderate, a little more healthy.
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Julie
on Aug 30th, 2010
@ 8:30 AM:
Hi
I recently discovered your blog through your home/unschooling posts and I really like what you have to say. However, I don’t think milk is evil. Our current milk is an nasty byproduct of unnatural processes. Traditional, raw milk has vital nutrients for growing children’s brains. But you should do what you think is right. Just please don’t follow the vegan mantra (our bodies need nutrients that only animal fats can provide). I really loved the unsocialized article by the way.
Julie
Summer
on Aug 30th, 2010
@ 8:40 AM:
I agree that we need some (very few) animal fats. BUT. We are meant to drink human milk to a point (much, much longer than is “typical” in modern society) and then drink water. We’re not meant to be drinking the breastmilk of cows, not even in it’s raw form. Because, well, it’s breastmilk designed to grow baby cows. I am not a cow. I do not want to weight 500 pounds and have the mental capacity of chewing cud all day. I never said cow’s milk is evil, I absolutely do not think it is. It’s wonderful! For baby cows. There are ways to get the animal products we need (on a much smaller scale than the typical Western diet) without drinking cow’s milk.