Over the Top

Maybe it's the hippie-granola-Vancouver air, or the influence of those whom I read via blogs, but I think I'm much more toxin-aware and eco-conscious (as far as it pertains to Little L's health) than I would have imagined myself to be.

I mean, she uses BPA-free stuff, her cleansers are all free of SLS/parabens/phtalates, and I try to feed her more organic stuff than we would usually eat.  I use special laundry detergent to wash her clothes and she gets her face washed in Norwex microfiber cloths.  We hired "green" housekeepers to ensure that our home is cleaned with non-toxic products and I always diligently wash the wax and stuff off her fruit.

However, at what point does caution become paranoia? When is it over the top?

I mean, I saw a FB link today from Moms Across Canada talking about the 10 facts about food that we, as moms, *have* to know.  Upon reading the article, I realized it was a rather lengthy piece warning about all of these things in food that allegedly have potentially-toxic results.  When I was finished reading, I basically concluded these things:

1) if I followed this author's suggestions, all that Little L would be able to eat would be raw or steamed organic non-GMO, pesticide-free veggies, and grass-fed, non-GMO, hormone/antibiotic-free meat prepared with no sauce
2) my grocery bill would be $500/week, unless I had my own garden to grow my own vegetables in chemical-free soil watered with purified (but not demineralised) water
3) I would need to cook my meals every day, and forget about eating out ever again
4) I would need to spend a full day in the grocery store analyzing each ingredient list, only to decide that since Canada is so lax about food labeling, I can't even trust what's written on there

This was totally an extreme article, and to follow it would probably be impractical at the minimum, and more than likely a massively difficult, and paranoid, feat.

Do I agree that there are a lot of contaminants in today's food? Yes.  And should we take as many precautions as we can to avoid these toxins? Probably.  But a reasonable measure of precaution is way different than, y'know, boycotting all juice.

So maybe I am damning my dear Little L to a life of ruin because I let her eat store-bought whole-wheat bread (probably baked with processed flour that was milled from wheat that was grown from genetically-modified origins).  But I refuse to buy into every single scare-tactic that comes my way, and I want Little L to be able to enjoy an ice cream cone and a grape popsicle one day without the anxiety of thinking that she will die at age 8 because she swallowed some artificial colouring or glucose-fructose from her Haagen-Daaz.

What about you? How far do you go with all this?