Dear Dr. Oz, I am NOT a snob

Dear Dr. Oz, I am NOT an elitist!  Your recent article in the Dec. 3, 2012 edition of TIME magazine is appalling in so many ways that I'm going to expand on why my passion for supporting the organic/local food movement does not equal snobbishness.

First, I'll provide a link to the Dr. Oz article.  I truly believe that you cannot fully defend your own position until you have done due diligence in understanding your opponent.   Read up!  (Note: I did have to pay $4.99 for a week's subscription to TIME to get the privelege of reading it.)

http://www.time.com/time/subscriber/article/0,33009,2129811-1,00.html

Now read this article I found on the Dr. Oz website this morning, titled “Why Going Organic Matters for Your Family.”  I’ll be honest, I didn’t read this one infull – but the first page alone contradicts so many of the things he says in the TIME article that my head spins!  And definitely reiterates why I am going to so much trouble to change my family’s diet to strictly organic.

http://www.doctoroz.com/videos/why-going-organic-matters-your-family?page=4#copy

 

So - make up your mind, Dr. Oz! Your TIME article sure sounds all scientific, but I’ve got a sneaky feeling someone bought you out or threatened you to change your position on organics.  Here’s my reasoning on supporting organics and real food.

 

#1: LISTEN TO YOUR TASTEBUDS

The title of Dr. Oz’s TIME article is “Give Frozen Peas a Chance (and Carrots Too).”  And he goes on to claim that 99% of us should be happy to eat frozen peas and carrots instead of local, or as he calls it, "boutique" food.

Ok, Dr. Oz.  Frozen peas are pretty good, even frozen corn kernels (organic only, thanks, I’ll pass on the GMO’s). Frozen carrots, broccoli, and pretty much any other vegetable I can think of are slimy and mushy and disgusting.  Canned vegetables, save beans and tomatoes, also taste yucky/mushy to me.  Plus they are not necessarily "cheap" as compared to farmer's market produce (when in season, you can buy many produce items for less than canned!)

Have you tasted a fresh bell pepper lately?  Like not even an organic pepper from the grocery store, I mean one grown in your town.  The flavor difference is SHOCKING.  I wouldn't buy a bell pepper at the grocery store again if you paid me!  Plus they are still in season down here in Texas, and they are less expensive at the market than at the grocery.  The same goes for many other vegetables and fruits - produce simply just loses flavor the longer it's off the vine!

Moms and Dads, don’t you always want your kids to eat/try more veggies?  I can guarantee that if your food tastes good there's a better chance they will eat it.  Taking them to the farmer's market regularly will also increase your chances. The farmers laugh at my daughter every week because she runs around eating peppers and cherry tomatoes out of their bins, and my picky eater son chose dinosaur kale and an eggplant this weekend at our market!

Dr. Oz also claims that it’s not necessary to seek out local meat sources for nutritional purposes.  But he did not consider the difference in FLAVOR between local, pastured animals and commercially farmed animals.  I almost cried the first time I cooked with local grass-fed beef… it tasted like REAL BEEF!  I couldn’t believe it!  And what’s funny is, I can get a serving of local meat to feed my family for two completely different meals almost always.  With ground meat, I just use less and add more vegetables to all my old recipes.  With meat on the bone, I can boil the leftover bones for 24 hours and get stock – to make soups, rice, pasta, etc.with. You can also buy in bulk (a side of beef, half a pig, etc.) and keep in a deepfreeze to save even more $.  You really CAN get your dollar’s worth!

Back to Dr. Oz and his “store meat is the same nutritionally as pastured meat” claim - he is being very misleading in this claim because he’s not considering all forms of nutrition. He is most likely just considering the overall fat, protein, carb profile. 

If you’re looking at nutrition from a whole perspective, you would also want to consider what the animal ate during its life (GMO corn andsoy – or grass).  Here’s a link to an article about why grain-fed animal meat IS nutritionally different than grass-fed:

http://www.mercola.com/beef/health_benefits.htm  

Basically, grass-fed beef has an omega 6 to omega 3 rationthat is in line with a healthy human body, 3:1. Grain-fed beef, on the other hand, has a 20:1 ratio.  More health problems are found in people with a ratio higher than 4:1.

Hmm, Dr. Oz.

 

#2 LISTEN TO YOUR HEART

For me, switching my family to all organic and mostly local foods was originally due to strictly health concerns.  I wanted to protect my kids and heal myself.

However, once I started shopping locally, I realized that I am supporting another form of economy by supporting these farmers and ranchers.  These people with a FACE that I can put on my food.  These people who are risking it all – their comfort, their paycheck, their family’s future - to keep our food sources clean and diverse. 

I started realizing that this is the way I want to make my political statement.   A way to opt out of supporting all the many grocery store brands that recently spent millions to deny me the right to know if my food’s been genetically modified.   A way I can grow the economy in my own city.  The money stays right here!

Almost a spiritual good vs. evil thing, for me.

 

#3  LISTEN TO YOUR BODY

Without delving too deeply into this, let’s just say Western medicine has let my family down.  I gave up on it and turned to real food.   In only the three months since I’ve really made it top priority to avoid all GMOs and only eat organic, my husband and I have witnessed huge, positive changes in our family’s health. 

We have both lost weight.  My son (who was exhibiting poor behavior) has made a complete turnaround and is now eating all kinds of meat and vegetables that he wouldn’t touch before!  I have been able to get off the one prescription drug I was taking.  Our cravings for processed food are dwindling.  We are finding healthy alternatives that actually taste just as good or better.  We feel more hopeful, all around.

I’ve read countless stories from the real food world that document REAL people that have made REAL changes in their life that are sincerely PASSIONATE about the topic of real, organic food because it has made a POSITIVE difference in their world.

I don’t recall reading any stories from people eating the Standard American Diet and popping pills that are achieving health and conquering these debilitations.  Maybe masking the symptoms but not curing themselves.

Let’s just say I’m sold on real food.  Let’s just say I’m gonna listen to my body versus some talking head on television when it comes to my health!

 

In conclusion, Dr. Oz, I am NOT a snob and take high offense at your calling me that.  I also take offense at your attempt to pull the wool over my friends and family’seyes.  You didn’t even mention genetically modified organisms in your tirade against organic food, but this is another topic that needs to be considered NOW when determining if a food is healthy or not.  If you haven’t read about or seen the rats that were fed GMO’s their whole life, check it out:

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-2205509/Cancer-row-GM-foods-French-study-claims-did-THIS-rats--cause-organ-damage-early-death-humans.html

China, Russia, the EU all require GMO products to be labeled as such.  Several countries have banned GMOs completely until further research can be completed to assure of its safety.  No studies were done by the U.S. before approving GMOs for our consumption. GMOs have been added to processed foods for at least the last 10 years.

 

I’m going to leave it at that, Dr. Oz.  Sadly, I don’t think you had right motives when you wrote that article.  And I’m going to keep spreading the real food word because it’s the right thing to do,and I know it.