Responsibilty...

It's yours. We have responsibility for so many things in our life. We have a responsibility to ourselves and to our families to take care of ourselves. I was pondering this while listening to Paula Dean talk about a hamburger patty in between two jelly filled donuts.
Would you take year old medicine, drive into on coming traffic (don't answer that Amber), walk in dark dangerous allies alone unarmed... would you drink kitchen cleaner if it tasted like chocolate or would you eat those dishwasher jet balls if it made you feel good? Of course not. Then why on a daily basis would you buy and eat things that contain ingredients that knowingly cause: cancer, diabetes, hyperthyroidism, heart disease, depression, headaches... should I go on?
I think maybe we feel like food and medical issues aren't related and those things just "happen" or come with age. This world is fully of literature both anecdotal and medical that prove otherwise.
Don't freak out. I too like to get white shells pasta-roni, Sam's choice frozen pizzas (the real big ones that cost as much as the little puny ones in the frozen aisle) and cheesecake from the cheesecake factory periodically. But that's the key, periodically. If you can make responsible choices throughout your week then you can partake in some things that are out of that relm without much (if any) impact on your health.
Now I'm sure I'm not telling you anything you don't already know so here is the kicker. Most of today's eaters make choices under the assumtion that they are responible choices but further research would prove otherwise. For example... if yogurt is sweet in any way out of that container it has a sweetener in it... sugar, aspertame or splenda. (by the way these links where the first to come up on google search). Cream of mushroom soup... are you serious??!! Low fat or not I think I'll steer clear of it's monosodium glutamate and modified food starch among other things. Okay how about gelatin. Gelatin comes from animal skin and bones - this is not a hidden fact: Wikipedia and How Stuff Works. Just because some people in labs can extract it, add it to other chemical ingredients and shape it as a gummi bear, marshmallow, jello, ice-cream, pudding, ham and fruit snacks makes it unharmful and less nasty to EAT. I've even heard it said that doctors reccommend jello after surgerys and such because it is a healthy alternative to ice-cream. Let's think about this water, sugar, food coloring and animal skin/bones.... sounds like something my body would not recognize as food... ah edible non-food.
How about I end with a recipe that sounds kind gross (because I hate cabbage and apple cider vinegar) but is actually delicous. We like to put some avocado, sprouts and tomato on a sandwich and them pile this mixture on... my 2 year old can't get enough of it, we eat it almost every day. (Source: raw-licious cookbook).

Sweet Cabbage Delight
1 medium head of cabbage (grated)
3 carrots (grated)
1 small onion (finely chopped)
1/2 cup water
1/2 cup apple cider vinegar
1 tsp oregano
3 TBSP agave nectar (raw) or use honey
1/8 tsp sea salt
1/8 tsp pepper

Put the cabbage, water and salt in a bowl and let set for about 20 minutes. Drain the cabbage (I have skipped this step before and it came out just fine). Mix the remaining ingredients and chill in the fridge overnight.