Our organic journey started a year ago when I went to a blogging conference in Austin, Texas and I was introduced to Young Living Essential Oils. Our son had been born eight weeks earlier, and I was having milk supply issues, and just felt poor physically. I received my kit shortly after we arrived back home to Pennsylvania, and my husband and I started avidly using them over the next several months. This was around the same time we decided to move our family in a more minimalistic direction by getting rid of material things.
As we continued to utilize our oils for health and wellness, we started utilizing supplements as well. I was on a probiotic and realized how much better I felt taking better care of my body. I started realizing our diets were a lot of high-carb, processed foods. We also needed to lose some weight. Hubby started going back to the gym and I started walking again several times a week with the baby. He also discovered that he had diabetes, so we really had to change our eating habits- quickly!
However, as I started teaching essential oil classes, I realized that our diet really needed a revamp. I started researching terms like USDA Organic and non-GMO Verified Project. I talked to local families about grass fed beef and hormone free chicken. We started by making small changes, like buying more organic at the store, buying meat from local farmers, and visiting the local farmers market.
The amount of chemicals that are in some foods is incredible. I realize that if you are an avid organic shopper, that USDA Organic certifications require a huge amount of money, and that it hurts the local farmer, so I do shop at our local Farmers Market and support local organic farmers as much as possible. I also rely on sites like the Environmental Working Group for statistics and data about organic foods and toxic chemicals as well as genetically modified organisms, etc. I realize that not all conventional farming is unsafe or toxic, so I try to take a balanced approach.
My father-in-law had already introduced us to backyard homesteading, but his “mini-farm” doesn’t produce enough food to feed our family for an entire year. He also raises chickens to lay free range eggs as well, and we knew the taste difference was amazing. Since we both work full-time and our son has had some health issues this year, we have not been able to grow our own backyard garden as much as we wanted. So we are still buying much of our food from local farmers and even Aldi has many organic products. While it can be more expensive to purchase organic, we have worked hard to keep the costs as low as possible. Read more on how to save money on organic foods.
We also started using personal care products from Young Living because of their Seed to Seal Guarantee, and we knew that they were made with therapeutic grade pure essential oils. I was worried that it would take me a while to get used to using products that didn’t have a strong aromatic scent, or that smelled more “earthy.” However, I actually started to love these products and noticed my allergies weren’t as bad and my skin and hair was healthier.
The bottom line is that we are not an all or nothing organic family. However, we do buy organic when possible, and especially the dirty dozen foods. We are able to utilize all-natural products through Young Living because we have built our business to a point where we receive all of our products for free. We also love the Thieves household cleaner, because of the natural ingredients. Each family has to decide how much they want to invest in their health and wellness, and it seems best to do your homework and do what you feel is best for your family.
Comment below and let us know about your organic journey!
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