When I first read about organic food 12 years ago I was really excited.  As a lifelong lover of all things natural and healthy, I eagerly ran out to the stores in search of this super clean food.  At the time there was much, much less available than there is now but nonetheless I quickly became a regular, avid consumer.

As time went on I bought more and more of this healthier alternative to the convention but even though it was very important to me, I never quite hit the exclusive mark.  Reasons such as cost, lack of availability and the desire to eat out at restaurants are what kept me from doing this and at the time I was fine with that.

Then 2015 showed up.  I started having a whole new myriad of crippling health issues.  I will save most of that for later posts but one thing that I was struck with is called Multiple Chemical Sensitivity (MCS).  This is a debilitating illness where one becomes allergic to nearly anything chemical and many of us, including myself, end up struggling with even finding a safe place to live because we are so sensitive to even the mildest levels of chemicals.  And by chemicals, I mean every single kind, including those sprayed onto all non-organic food.

When I first started having these problems, the naturopath I sought out for help told me that I needed to stop eating anything that wasn’t 100% organic immediately.  And believe it or not, the rebel inside of me actually refused at first.  Despite the fact that I am sometimes seem as an “extreme” person for the very passionate and sometimes “different” choices that I make in life, I actually hate feeling restricted and do not like to do anything unless I am at complete and total peace with it.  So yeah, I walked away from that appointment thinking that I would up my already high consumption of organic even more but determined that I would not make it a completely absolute thing.

Not a week later, I started having bad allergic reactions every time I ate a piece of conventional (non-organic) fruit.  And folks, this was NOT in my head.  I actually fought it the other way.  But eventually I had to give in and I started to eat 100% organic.

Over two years later, I still eat 100% organic.  My health issues are not gone but there has been some improvement in my MCS.  It is possible that I could now eat non-organic food on occasion without having an immediate problem.  I honestly don’t know but the thing is I don’t actually care anymore.

After going through what I have and knowing everything that I do about the damaging effects of these specific chemicals, the ones that are used on our FOOD, I know that it is just something I can’t have anything to do with anymore.

These chemicals are highly toxic specifically to our neurological system which is where a lot of my issues stem.  And ingesting them isn’t even the only problem.  So pointing out things like the “dirty dozen” and the “clean 15” will do nothing to change me on any of this.  Eating conventional produce from the “clean 15” list will not prevent these toxins from being sprayed into our AIR and onto our EARTH; the only home that we have.  I just cannot support this AT ALL.

This is not an angry rant.  This is just my passion.  And it is for you, for me and for every single atom on this planet.

Please make your own choices and as always I love you just the same. Our best choices come from a self-loving place and they are not about forcing perfection on ourselves or about guilt.   Please be where you are and honor yourself and your own beautiful journey.

I love you

Tanni