It’s a brand new year! I’m so grateful for the ways in which my life has changed over the past year as the president of Dallas Urban Farms. I took about a year off from putting up new content in order to focus on the inner workings of the business. I have learned a lot of great new skills in the sales and marketing arenas. I’m excited to get started on using the website to speak to our community. I have also recently started utilizing social media as a way to get my message of clean eating and sustainable growing practices out to the masses; it’s so amazing to connect with people from all over the world who share some of the same passions as me simply through the internet. If you’re a first time visitor to the site, or if you’ve been a loyal follower, I welcome you back and look forward to where this year will lead us.

Now that I’ve laid out the welcome mat, I want to get into the nitty-gritty of today’s post. What exactly does “survival in 2015” mean? For me, the two basics that are most vital for the survival of the human race are easy: clean water and clean food. Sounds so simple, but in reality, we are living in a world that is systematically poisoning our bodies.

Let’s start with water. One only has to look at your local city government website and check out the water department. Do some digging, and you’ll find shocking revelations. In the vast majority of American cities and towns, the city actually pays for chemical wastes to be added to your water supply. I was shocked at how easy it is to find this information. If you think you’re drinking water with naturally occurring fluoride that “experts” say is beneficial, you’re probably going to be blown away. It’s an outrage that these huge chemical companies are able to dispose of harmful chemical production wastes by SELLING it to municipalities and in turn to the population through our water bills. If you would like a good starting point for your research into water, why not start with this well researched article? http://healthwyze.org/index.php/component/content/article/69-the-dangers-of-tap-water.html

Unfortunately the only way around drinking tap water that is filled with impurities and harmful chemicals, is to buy your water (in GLASS containers), utilize a rain catchment and filtration system or possibly dig a well. None of your options here are free. I find it deplorable that we cannot trust the water that comes to our homes to be safe for human consumption. The positive side of this would be that by changing the way you get the water that you need, you will send a message to the water department simply by using less of their tainted water. By supporting clean water initiatives and companies, you are taking a stand for your right to clean water. You need clean water, and if that means a new cost in your budget, it’s worth it to find something you can take out, like that cable bill, maybe ;)

This brings me to food. As many of you know, I am a fanatic when it comes to dirty and poisoned foods and all those food like substances being peddled about everywhere you turn. There has been a systematic and greed driven movement whose main goal is feeding corporate bank accounts rather than feeding humans real, unadulterated food. In the last couple of years I have dedicated hundreds of hours to researching food, and where it comes from. There is simply no excuse for humans anywhere to be hungry and in need of wholesome, nutritious food. Our planet, our home has provided us with exactly what we need. We’ve dyed it, sprayed it, killed it and changed its DNA. We’ve ruined entire natural ecosystems, practically bankrupted organic farmers and made saving seed a crime by actually patenting seeds. Wait, what?!? You cannot patent life! How dare anyone try to force people across the globe to use seed that they cannot trust nor save for the next planting season?

In America especially, where health concerns are constantly getting worse, we must be even more vigilant! If your food was made in a plant, it’s probably not food. Simply Google “Organic Restaurants” and your zip code right now. I’ll wait. Now if you would please, either comment on this post, or on either Instagram, Twitter or Facebook about what you found. Should be pretty interesting. I live in Dallas, a huge metro area, and there are a whole two organic eateries. TWO. And as a savvy consumer, I checked them out before I chose to eat there. One of the places actually had Borden Whole Milk in the glass front fridge. Um, no thanks. So that leaves me with one option if I want to eat out with friends or family. It’s amazing, I love the place, and if you’re ever in Dallas, hit up The Company Cafe on Lower Greenville. Great food and atmosphere, and adult beverages to boot. ORGANIC BOOZE for the win, folks.

Outside of this one place, I can’t go out to eat anymore. I know too much about what I would be paying for. It’s so disheartening to see 5000 fast food joints selling tacos, when they all use GMO corn and meat fed by GMO grains. They don’t offer organic veggies on those tacos either. A life without tacos sounded way to bleak for me. So my family decided to go 100% organic and to prepare our own delicious, safe foods. I am not going to lie and say it was an easy transition. There were challenges for sure, but the trade off has been truly amazing. Our health has improved to the point where we don’t use medicines anymore. We eat like kings, or better yet, like our great-grand parents did!

But isn’t it too expensive to eat only organic? I hear this all the time If you spend your food dollars wisely, it is NOT too expensive to be organic. I understand the challenge here. I really do. I hate to knock a “natural food” store, but I know from personal experience and interviews with several people, that a lot of folks think Whole Foods or Central Market are the only places to shop for clean organic foods. The sad reality here is that more that 80% of the food items at Whole Foods and CM are processed and contain GMOs. Here’s where knowledge becomes power. You must learn where in your community you can find sources for clean foods. If you can make the decision to eat only organic, you’ll actually SAVE money. It’s true. Think of every trip to the convenience store for soda and snacks, think of the highway robbery at the movie concession stand. Coffee retailers, vending machines, overpriced food at sporting events, liquor out at bars; the list goes on and on.

There’s a lot of money being spent within those different little “budgets” that are rarely taken into account when you look at where you spend money on food. Now think about shopping like a chef would shop. You want the freshest and best quality ingredients for your creations. If you’re into pizza, make your own organic pizza, and you’ll never pay for another pizza delivery again. This holds true for pretty much anything you could possibly want to eat. Natural Grocer is a great place to start in your search for organic food to prepare at home. The point here is that you must care enough to try. You’ll quickly see how eating at home and putting thought into what you prepare will help you afford better ingredients and quality time making the food that you eat.

As I move forward this year, I hope to offer better food production solutions to gardeners, farmers, restaurants, moms and dads, college students and corporations all around the world. I have honed my skills this last year, and I am ready to take on the world. If you are local to Dallas and would like to discuss collaborative efforts to bring awareness and activism to those in our local community, please reach out. I am always looking for ways that I can make a difference and take part in a larger movement.

Great news for Dallas Urban Farms! More and more people are seeing the amazing results you get by growing up! This holiday season both Jessica Alba and Reese Witherspoon posted on instagram about their towers, how cool is that? They were also featured in Better Homes and Gardens this past May! And last but not least, the SF Giants included towers in their new stadium design to offer food grown on-site.  We are serious in our mission to bring locally grown, beyond organic produce to everyone. I feel so blessed and thankful for what owing this business has done for my inner peace. Knowing scary problems is just horrible, having a sustainable solution makes me feel so much better, every day.

Peace and plenty!