Waste Not, Want More

A food challenge:

My friend Sara and I often find ourselves discussing health, sustainability, "going green," living off the grid, and the like during our lunch break. After watching the movie, "Garbage," Sara started thinking about how much trash people produce just during their lunch hour. She thought that we should try to challenge ourselves to be better to our bodies and to our environment.

The Plan:
Objective: To eat foods that do not contribute to excess waste and that are healthy for our bodies. To make a conscious decision to change the way we think and consume. To have a positive impact on our planet, community, and over all well being.

Rules:

1. No individually packaged items
2. No high fructose corn syrup
3. No MSG
4. No hydrogenated oil or trans fat
5. No artificial sweeteners
6. No artificial coloring
7. No artificial flavors
8. No parabens

Some things to think about when shopping:

1. Can you pronounce all of the ingredients? Do you know what they are?
2. Are there more than 5 ingredients? (the more ingredients, the more likely the food is over processed)
3. Is there a less wasteful or healthier alternative?
4. Is the packaging recyclable?

We will try to follow this outline for a minimum of 28 days, as that is how long it supposedly takes to make or break a habit. We are allowed to finish any products that are already in our homes. I can think of a few examples that I have in my house right now; individually packed chips (also full of delicious MSG), individually wrapped string cheese, microwave dinners (however, we are making an exception for Amy's Mac and Cheese, obviously we are consumer, addict whores). Sara has admitted to having mini wrapped cheeses and one serving yogurt.

The real goal here is to become more conscious of what we are buying and where it ends up, to eat better, and to learn about ourselves and our nature to consume that which is put in front of us without much thought. We will report what we learn and how it turns out through our blogs. You can link to Sara's blog from this page. Also, feel free to let us know if you have any thoughts or suggestions.

Here we go....