Overload

I'm having information overload this week. I have read so many things that either make me angry or just plain sad. I do have actual topics that I want to write about, but I keep getting mired down with all the new information available. I've gotten to where I sorta panic when I'm confronted with the idea of eating at a restaurant or even shopping at the grocery store. You have to be so careful. Sometimes, it's really hard to tell the difference between something real/whole and something not. I mean, come on, even Grapples look like apples. The only thing that tips you off is the packaging and the weird taste. And yes, yes I have tried them. And then on top of my angst regarding food, Wesley got a nasty fungal infection, so he's now wearing disposables really for the first time and I spent about 4 hours on Saturday boiling anything that has come in contact with his rear end. The fungus/rash is nearly gone, but I'm not putting any of the cloth diapers back on him until he is totally cleared up. The little guy has been so good through all of this that I can't bear to have it come back. But now I have guilt about having him in disposables. At least they're chlorine-free. That's something, right?

Anyway, here are some things that I've come across the last few days:

From the Heal Thyself! Facebook page:
If the food you're eating was made by one of these companies, then there is an excellent chance that what you're eating is NOT food.

Does looking at this make you as depressed as it does me?

I also found this on the Heal Thyself! Facebook page, but it actually comes from Natural Society:
Photos of what families in different countries eat. It's good that most other countries eat more fruits & veggies than we do, but it is horrifically apparent that the "western diet" has totally invaded the other industrialized countries. Natural Society is a new website to me, and it has some pretty interesting articles on the front page.

It's been discussed in this household that we actively avoid Montsano products (think Roundup) because of their questionable business practices. So I was not really surprised to see this article on Consumerist a few days ago: Montsano Blamed for Bee Population Collapse, So It Buys Bee Research Firm. REALLY?!?! I can't say that I'm shocked by this, but I am so categorically offended by it that I can barely wrap my head around it. No words. SMH.

But to end on a happy note, I absolutely love Crunchy Betty and her web site. And her squee-filled article about hearing Joel Salatin speak in Colorado Springs was absolutely darling. She was so excited that it really came through in the article she wrote about it. I'm not quite sure as to why it made me feel like some progress was being made or that there is hope out there, but the timing of the article was absolutely perfect for me. In my opinion, Crunchy Betty and Joel Salatin are both rock stars.