Hello, my name is Samantha and I think I might be a Food-Snobby Alpha-Mom.

(“Hello, Samantha”)

Have I gone mad?

I don’t give my 2 year old any sugar—ever.

I grind up fresh flax seeds to in a coffee grinder that I add to his organic oatmeal.

photo credit: digiyesica

He doesn’t eat birthday cake at his friend’s birthday parties and I don’t even own a microwave.

The pasta he eats is made from 100% organic rice and I make his formula from scratch.

OK, be honest–I can take it–am I an Food-Snobby Alpha-Mom?

In my own defense, I don’t THINK I am annoying to my friends that have babies yet do not subscribe to my strict dietary standards. I don’t lecture them about feeding something as seemingly harmless as Nabisco Wheat Thins although they have high sodium, artificial colors, white flour, bad fats…I digress.

Am I wrong to uphold these rigid rules with my little one?

I worry about the way kids are maturing these days, they seem to go through puberty awfully young, don’t they? When I was twelve, the other girls at school we not the big breasted, overweight 12 year-olds that I see now at the schoolyards. Am I crazy to think that this early development could be a result of the hormones that have been pumped into the malnourished animals from which come their milk, their eggs and their meats? I am not a dietician but it sure seems suspicious.

My husband has a friend who has not one, but two kids developing autism. She feeds them a diet of fast food, sugary snacks and processed goods loaded with artificial flavors, colors and preservatives. Am I crazy to believe that MSG is playing a major role in the direction her kid’s health is taking?

I believe in the ALWAYS, SOMETIMES, NEVER adjudication to all the foods my son could eat.
In the ALWAYS category, we have things like:

• Organic green vegetables
• Organic beans and rice
• Organic Almond butter
• Organic goat’s milk
• Organic fresh fruits
• Organic eggs
• Organic Flax seeds
• Organic meats (chicken, steak, lamb)
• Organic 100% whole grain bread
• Organic avocados (available year round!)

photo credit: blmurch

SOMETIMES:

• Anything from the above list but non-organic
• Natural cheese crunchies
• Lara Bars (natural but still high in sugars)
• White flour bread in a restaurant
• Regular pasta noodles

NEVER:

• Fast food
• Anything with MSG (or any of the hidden names for MSG-for more information on this, see http://www.msgmyth.com/hidename.htm or just google “MSG hidden names”)
• Anything with high fructose corn syrup
• Cakes, cookies, hard candy and junk food of this sort
• Deep fried food
• Anything with synthetic sweeteners i.e. aspertame, splenda, saccharine, etc.
• To sum it up, the “NEVER” list is made up of pretty much ANYTHING that is advertised on TV

There are probably lots more I could add to all three lists, but this is the general idea.

Again, I ask you, am I wrong?

My parent’s generation doesn’t always understand. They raised their kids on a relaxed diet that included foods from all three above groups and we all seemed to come out fine. (Granted, most of the foods on my “NEVER” list didn’t even EXIST when we were growing up!) But the foods we ate as kids were generally healthier than today’s modern-day counterparts. The same can of soup that we ate did not have the long list of added ingredients that today’s soups have. Manufacturers who desire a longer shelf life for their foods, who need to compete with newer and tastier products and who want to get the same flavor for a fraction of their cost are adding things to the foods we may have grown up on that were not previously there.

Someone once told me that a good rule of thumb is that if your grandma wouldn’t know what it is, don’t eat it.

In addition, the parents of today need also take into consideration the environment in which we live: the smog, the chemicals in today’s water supply, the fragrances in our toiletries and our cleaning supplies…these things add up to a highly toxic environment that slowly deposits small residual amounts of “everyday poisons” into our bodies every day simply by waking up and going through our day. The bodies of our past generations did not have to endure these factors in the way that ours do.
We live in a chemical-oriented society.

Are you aware that the Environmental Protection Agency reports that the average American consumes four pounds of pesticides each year and has residues from over 400 toxic substances in his body?! More than 3,000 chemical additives are found in the food we eat.

photo credit: Axel Buhrmann

In a conventionally grown (non-organic) strawberry, one can find up to 30 different kinds of pesticides!

How many of you know or have known of someone who has fought cancer? I’d be surprised to find a single person who has not known at least one person first-hand. These chemicals do create their effect.

If I can compensate in any way for all these negative environmental influences by giving my toddler a diet that is organic, high in vitamins, minerals, anti-oxidants, good fats and protein, then I am sorry, but I am proud to be Food-Snobby Alpha-Mom!

As my child is not even two yet, he is growing to love the fresh, whole foods that I prepare for him. And I make sure that he doesn’t feel left out of social events where other kids are eating Chuck E Cheese pizza by simply arriving a little late to a party or diverting his attention to another activity for the 15 minutes or so that they are chowing down. It has not been difficult to prevent him from feeling separated from the group as far as his diet is concerned. I am sure my tactics will have to evolve as he gets older and starts to become more cognizant of what the other kids are eating but we will work that out along the way. But up until now, it has never been an issue.

Another tool that has been a huge help to me in rounding out his diet from day one is a book that someone gave to me: “Super Baby Food” by Ruth Yaron. This book was written by a mom who figured out herself how to make it easy to give your baby a SUPER healthy diet right from the start. She has so many helpful tools such as pureeing organic veges in advance and freezing single servings in ice cube trays to use days later! This is genius! This book really helped me to understand everything I needed to introduce solid food to my child and believe it or not, her ways are VERY inexpensive and time saving. The only tool you need is a $20.00 coffee grinder in which you will grind fresh seeds, grains and beans. I highly recommend this book to get you moving in the right direction!

And I promise you, you won’t ever get a lecture from me (unless you ask), but you also won’t see me joining you at McDonald’s for lunch.