G M Oh my gracious, I am overwhelmed....

Shopping used to be fun....I have talked about this before... but now I need a therapist and half a day set aside for reading labels.... There is so much crap in our food that you have an impossible time trying to find things TO eat...and then there is affording it. HERE I COME TO SAVE THE DAY!!! I will make you a list of how I shop: What I avoid, why, what is it in, and what alternative is available.... Check it out.

1. High fructose corn syrup or HFCS. 
While some scientists like to tell you that it's "just corn syrup", more scientists are saying that this extra fructose doesn't process in our bodies well. It's making us fat (and causing diabetes and such)... I don't know about you, but I don't need it's help. It's also almost exclusively GMO...(we'll talk about that in a minute)

Where is it hiding?
 In soft drinks, in candy, and hiding so randomly in products you wouldn't imagine...like bread.

Alternatives:
 There are natural sugar sodas available. (I like Blue Sky brand soda! They have a Dr. Pepper knock off that is akin to Mr. Pibb...yum) Candy is tricky...I buy Yummy Earth suckers and gummy worms, I buy True North for chocolate nutty things, and there is a brand at Target called Unreal....For bread, the best alternative is to buy organic or make your own. I am both too poor and too lazy to do this.... (honesty) I buy the lesser of evils...Mrs. Baird's or Nature's Own has no HFCS right on the label.

2. Partially Hydrogenated Oil aka Trans Fat.
It's always GMO oils, too... Partially hydrogenated means that it has been put through a process that causes hydrogen to attach itself to the molecules...It makes the oil solid at room temperature and is a cheap butter substitute. So they basically alter the makeup of this oil...that has been proven to clog arteries...(It is banned in many countries) to save a few dollars...

Where is it hiding?
In almost everything...From oreos to chips to mayo... it's there...read the labels...

Alternatives.
Look for organic mayo..(or at least one labeled non-GMO) I use Hain's. It tastes like Hellmans... Oreos? Check out Newman-O's. Chips? Look for Kettle brand chips or Barbara's makes cheetos... My kids are very excited about this discovery.

3. Artificial colors.
Some of these are downright toxic...From lowering sperm count to being linked to ADD/ADHD in children, these you should avoid.

Where is it hiding?
Cereals (especially kids'), drinks,fruit snacks,  and Places you wouldn't think ..(like pickles)

Alternatives:
I buy Barbara's, Envirokids (by Nature's Path), and Cascadian Farms Cereal. ( Think peanut butter crunch, captain crunch, and cinnamon toast crunch....apparently...we like the crunch...lol) Fruit snacks? we just found some organic called Sharkies...They are picky kid approved. For pickles, I have only found the Vlasic Farmer's Garden Pickles....(they have carrots in them...the carrots are actually decent) that are reasnably priced...

4. GMOs or genetically Modified Organisms.
These are plants that were taken into a lab, its DNA altered by adding genes from a different organism, and then grown and fed to you. There are no long term studies done on GMOs and many scientists suggest that they cause cancer among a long list of other ailments. Corn, for example, Produces its own insecticide now. So when you eat GMO corn, you are eating that insecticide. Only a handful of tests have "proven" them safe, and those all have ties to the companies that make the GMOs... Can you say CONFLICT OF INTEREST?! I knew you could... The fact is, Many countries have banned some or all GMO products, Countries like China now refuse to buy our products that contain them, so they are selling them to you instead. Here is the majority of things that are GMO:

• Alfalfa (first planting 2011)
• Canola (approx. 90% of U.S. crop)
• Corn (approx. 88% of U.S. crop in 2011)
• Cotton (approx. 90% of U.S. crop in 2011)
• Papaya (most of Hawaiian crop; approximately 988 acres)
• Soy (approx. 94% of U.S. crop in 2011)
• Sugar Beets (approx. 95% of U.S. crop in 2010)
• Zucchini and Yellow Summer Squash (approx. 25,000 acres)

Coming soon to the table: Arctic apples, and Wheat (they just planted 1000 acres...)

Is This SCARY?! Yes.....yes it is... It's killing the bees and butterflies...now it's harming state birds... How will we tell our children about the birds and the bees if they no longer exist?! "Hey kids! Watch those dogs in the yard..." It will be bad...

Here is the short of it...If all else fails, look for these symbols...

Think about this for a minute....These foods may be more expensive, but you can either pay for the right food now or give that money to the doctor later.

The Domino effect...and How the pizza industry is trying to kill us...

When I was a child, my family played games regularly. We weren't a board game family like my husband's...Instead, we played mostly cards and dominoes. We actually had age limits where you grew into playing certain games... In my family, when you turned 16, you got your driver's license, your dating privileges, and the right to take your place at the 42 table. (For those that do not know, 42 is a domino game from the south...it's complicated...and we take it very seriously...like our tea)... 

No one plays these games anymore... I do not know of any people under 40 who actively play domino games...or card games, even...except poker (one of the least complex games I've ever played...It's playing psych out for grown ups...)

****flashback sequence****

Here in the great state of Arkansas, gambling is illegal....except we have casinos...and a dog track...and we are part of the triple crown of horse racing... But otherwise...it's a no go..The rich people get away with having casino nights anyway by hosting "charity" functions put together by companies which set up a travelling casino. Lifestyles of the rich and richer pay a huge sum of money ...which is exchanged for a set amount of chips... they play, and their winnings are used to "bid on prizes"...like trips to Hawaii  and new golf clubs...

As a 16 year old, I worked for one of these companies as a side job. It didn't take long before I was dealing Blackjack. I sometimes made 100 dollars in an evening in tips...Not bad money for a 16 year old..(It certainly beat my day job slinging fast food...) My friend and I (he was also 16) were once unquestioned when we visited the open bar at a function...We were obviously workers...and it was 21 and up at the door.  We were finished with our shift, and ordered a long string of margaritas.....okay...we knew they were dirty...but it was fun!... We had to have my parents drive us home.... There really isn't a point to the story except that.... thanks to my early exposure to cards and dominoes.... by the time I was 16, I could be the stick man at the craps table....and it was lucrative...

****end flashback****

 I feel like I learned so much from playing these games growing up...Like there were some cognitive processes that escape this generation because they were never taught to reason.... I believe there is a  pressing need to revive the classics and reverse the trend of brain numbness...

To this day, I can look at a game of dominoes and count the dots almost instantly. I can tell you which dominoes will make you points and how to get the most out of a hand. Thanks to the grandparents' influence, I know where to interject appropriate curse words for proper emphasis...I can whip anyone in a game of spades or gin....and I can show off when I shuffle the deck. 

Still, I believe it is more than that. I think I learned to process information linearly...I learned strategy... I learned how to be a good winner...and a good loser... 

So... Here is my proposal...We bring it all back. We play and teach our children to play a spectrum of card games and dominoes. Start with dominoes. It's counting...They can play with help by 5 years old. We can save the education system from common core math by teaching our children linear processing through games. We can do this... I call it the domino effect.... and it just might be the answer. Peace...

P.S. Do not confuse this with the Domino's effect...