girlfiend

While I’m not completely yuppie/hippie/organic, I am particular about food. All of our milk is organic and our eggs and meat are organic, grass fed, and raised locally. None of our meat comes from a supermarket. In the late spring, summer and fall 95% of our fruits and vegetables are locally grown and organic, either from our CSA, our garden or the farmer’s market.

With other foods I’m not too choosy. I buy potato chips and snack crackers and breakfast cereals based on what’s on sale, and unless it’s a good sale I don’t bother buying any processed organic foods, because, really, what’s the point? Have you compared the ingredients of Annie’s Macaroni and Cheese to a regular box of macaroni cheese? It’s the same thing, only pricier. When it comes to breakfast cereal I prefer the non-organic brands because they tend to be fortified.  I know that it’s not really necessary, or even preferable to get one’s vitamins and minerals from breakfast cereal, but with a kid who barely eats I’ll take nutrition where I can get it. My one rule about the foods in the middle aisles of the grocery store is that I won’t buy any packaged, processed foods that contain food coloring or high fructose corn syrup.

F has gotten used to the routine. He knows that I read the circulars, cut coupons and make lists before going to the grocery store. He also knows that if he asks for something, chances are I’ll say no unless it’s on sale and I have a coupon. I have to. Buying grass fed, locally raised, organic meat is expensive. He’s not getting a four dollar box of yogurt burst cheerios when the plain kind are on sale for two dollars and I have a coupon that will get me the box for fifty cents. He also knows that he’s not getting candy, fruit snacks or popsicles with food coloring. (Keep in mind these food coloring rules went out the window when I was bribing him with treats for the potty. Airheads were a big incentive in convincing him that the toilet was his friend, not his enemy.) I don’t mind spending a little extra for the popsicles that are made with fruit, and unfortunately the kid just doesn’t get fruit snacks unless he’s at someone else’s house. And the poor kid loves fruit snacks. He begs for fruit snacks. He ogles vending machines and stalks other children at the playground, hoping they’ll share.

Today I went to BJs to stock up on flour, coffee, and impulse buys. We passed the fruit snack aisle, and lo and behold I saw a box of BJs brand fruit snacks that were advertised as having no artificial flavors or colors. Sure enough, upon closer inspection the fruit snacks fit the bill. They were made with regular corn syrup, not the high fructose kind, fruit juice, a few other random, inoffensive ingredients, and they had no food coloring. I bought the box. When we got home, F noticed the giant box of fruit snacks and asked if they were okay. I told him they were, and assured him that they didn’t have any food coloring. He ran to B and said, “Dada! I have fruit snacks without artificial colors!” Later in the afternoon he batted his eyes at me, tilted his head toward the floor, looked up through his eyelashes at me and asked, “Mommy, what can I have for a snack? Maybe something without artificial colors?” Sometimes three-year-olds aren’t that bad.