This blog will remain anonymous until I am married at which time I will begin using my own name and being less impersonal about situations that happen to me.
I've decided to stop writing early in the morning when I get to work. I'm not as good with words until I'm fully awake.
~~~
Last night my roommate and I cooked a delicious dish with (mostly) organic veggies/sauce. We had previously gone to King Soopers (City Market/Kroger) to procure some edibles for my pathetically empty refrigerator and 'pantry.' We were in the organic produce section - which is fairly large; this particular store has a very decent organic and 'exotic' food selection - and there were some things that were so expensive that I refused to pick them up there, preferring Sprouts' prices. So we purchased said things in the un-organic variety as there was, generally, a more than $2 difference between them. The whole trip took a little under an hour as we meandered through the store trying to think of things we may have forgotten (we had no list, because we're geniuses).
Something occurred to me (or, more accurately reoccurred) this morning; we - the consumer - are at the mercy of the companies. How much do we really know about what happens on the farms? What fertilizers the plants are getting, or what pesticides? What legally qualifies as organic, and what are the labeling criteria? Is something that says "organic" necessarily going to be bona-fide organic?
These are questions to which there is no readily available response. If you're that interested in it, you usually have to go online to find out, and even then the information can be hard to find. So, in a world where produce is available in massive quantities, what can the consumer do to make sure their food is not being mishandled?
Sorry, I shouldn't even say "world," I should say country.
Another thing that occurred to me is what I see capitalism doing to Christmas every year. Slowly, we're leeching the meaning from this great holiday. Not Christian? That's okay, but it should also be okay to be Christian and express our love for God publicly, just as you express your distaste publicly. I'm not angry that the above linked tree has only one ornament relating to Christianity, but I would say it should be called a 'holiday tree' rather than a 'Christmas tree.'
On a related note: Those of you angry about the cross at the WTC site should find a more productive use of your energy.
Christmas is not about gift giving. Christmas is about Christ:
"The word "Christmas" originated as a compound meaning "Christ's mass". It is derived from the Middle English Cristemasse, which is from Old English Crīstesmæsse, a phrase first recorded in 1038 Crīst (genitive Crīstes) is from Greek Khrīstos (Χριστός), a translation of HebrewMāšîaḥ (מָשִׁיחַ), "Messiah"; and mæsse is from Latin missa, the celebration of the Eucharist. The form "Christenmas" was also historically used, but is now considered archaic and dialectal;Cristenmasse, literally "Christian mass". "Xmas" is an abbreviation of Christmas found particularly in print, based on the initial letter chi (Χ) in Greek Khrīstos (Χριστός), "Christ", though numerous style guides discourage its use; it has precedent in Middle English Χρ̄es masse (where "Χρ̄" is an abbreviation for Χριστός). it derives from Middle English"This holiday should be a celebration of faith and family, not a celebration of capitalism. There are countries that don't have enough food or readily available clean water. How has it become so important to buy people things they don't even need, and extravagantly so?
I hear on the radio quite often during the holiday season that someone has "ruined Christmas" by not getting a child what they want (like a puppy) to put under the tree. This is more upsetting to me than the Capitol's holiday tree. We've lost sight of what's truly important.
Quote found here.
No comments:
Post a Comment