Eco-Chic Lifestyle Change 2: Weekly Update

As I stated in part one, my SMART goal is: I will eat three servings of organic fruits/vegetables each day for the next three weeks.  To this point I have only fallen short one day by one serving.  I have accomplished this by substituting some of the foods I eat and when I eat them.

One thing that helped me be successful is keeping better track of times I eat.  Instead of making a meal whenever I am hungry or going for the quickest thing, I have substituted having a piece of fruit in these spots.  I used to crab a couple cookies, make a bowl of cereal or chicken fingers, now I am having an apple, orange, or banana.

The biggest challenges I am seeing with this aside from maintaining a new lifestyle to me would be making sure I always have the food in the house, and economical issues.  It may be the season that I am doing this challenge that makes the food more expensive, but I have noticed that organic is even more expensive than I remember during my time working at a grocery store.

My feelings towards this experiment changed before it started.  I am somewhat indifferent towards the corporations that overwhelm the food industry.  But by making this switch, supporting what I feel like is a more natural way of life, and supporting local industry, I feel like I have a more clear conscience.  Is that worth the extra price I pay?  I think so, as long as I have the means to pay for it.

One other thing I learned during this is how to prepare vegetables for meals.  I learned how to core lettuce, which I had never been done before.  I also noticed while at Whole-Foods that they have organic milk, and it comes in glass!  I am considering trying this too, but I think the milk comes in half gallons and it is nearly as expensive as a gallon produced by Kemps or Arrowhead.  Still, I would like to try it.

For the next week, I will keep the same goal as I have now to be certain that I am able to maintain the change.  At that point I will re-consider to modify my goal.  One thing I would like to try this week is the organic milk mentioned above.

"Blogged for the Eco-Chic Lifestyle Change Week 2 hosted by Amy@Amy in the Rain."

Advocacy Project: Healthy People/THOMAS

Goal: Promote health for all through a healthy environment.

Objectives: Improving water quality monitoring and surveillance will reduce exposure to contaminants in drinking water, fish, and shellfish, and recreational waters.

Track the Nation's success in reducing exposures to toxic substances and hazardous waste, thus minimizing their effects on the populations health.

Progress: Water quality in the U.S./Mexico border region met/exceeded target.  (I am assuming this is before the BP oil spill crisis)

Disparities: No data for water quality available.

Opportunities and challenges: The passing of the Beaches Environmental Assessment and Coastal Health (BEACH) Act in October 2000 amended the Clean Water Act to (1) establish a national grants program to improve consistency of water quality standards, beach monitoring, and public notification approaches and also strengthen national information collection.

Emerging issues: Beach monitoring programs are typically run by local health agencies and vary by location. Monitoring results are inconsistent because agencies use indicator organisms and varying monitoring frequencies.  As part of its beach grand program, EPA has set performance criteria that States and other governments must meet to receive beach grants.  These criteria are expected to improve the reporting of beach advisory data.

Proposed bill: H.CON.RES.309


Title: Expressing the sense of Congress regarding the need for a $500 million recover fund cofusing exclusively on travel and tourism to be administered by he Gulf Coast Claims Facility in the wake of the BP oil spill.

Sponsor: Rep Rush, Bobby L. [IL-1] (introduced 7/29/2010) Co-sponsor: Rep Castor, Kathy [FL-11]- 9/15/10

Latest Major Action: 7/29/10 Referred to House committee.  Status: Referred to the House Committee on Energy and Commerce.

My Recommendation: Vote "Yes" for H.CON.RES.309 Referred to House.

My Political Representative: Congresswoman Amy Klobuchar