Finding my organic herd.

I have become an organic evangelist. It is a revelation because I just thought I was an artistic type who was picky about what he eats. I didn't realize I had been grazing with the wrong herds.

I have had a healthy paranoia about the products on the shelves for at least twenty years. But after my colonoscopy I decided to cut down on red meat, particularly livestock that ate feeds that weren’t organic. I avoided farm-raised fish, or those that were caught in polluted rivers, for the same reason.

I accepted the fact that I enjoyed an occasional chicken enchilada, or filet of Alaskan salmon. I didn’t quit eating free-range buffalo burgers. I just cut down my intake, and made sure about the sources. One day I may try being a vegetarian, but probably not. I love a good organic salad, but I doubt I'll ever be a convert to tofu.

I habitually read the ingredients list on packaged foods, and on cosmetic and personal care items, to the disdain of my family. Their logic is that poison taken in small doses won’t kill a person. But if I don’t like what I read on a label, I don’t buy the product. This watchdog mentality includes the paints, household cleaners, and laundry soap I purchase.  When I am at a traffic light I make sure the vents are closed so I don’t breathe the pollutants coming from the tailpipes of the cars around me. When I buy a shirt or pair of pants I make sure it has natural fibers that aren’t derived from petroleum.

I don’t want to compromise anymore. The world is a polluted place and I don’t want to lower my standards to assist companies that don’t care about living things, to prosper, by buying their products.

I don’t know exactly when I became more aware of these things, but I think I had my epiphany in the mid-1980s. It really hit home when my parents died. My father regularly worked with toxic solvents and paints in his auto-body work, and my mother thought eating red meat seven days a week was fine. Dad died of Alzheimer’s and mom died of colon and liver cancer. I grew up in an agricultural area, in Hood River, Oregon, where most of the orchard owners died early, due to the pesticides they sprayed on their trees. I was elated when I saw a line of organic fruit juices are being produced in Hood River.

Lately, (I do wonder why it took me so long), I have decided that if I ever get a regular job again it will be with a company that cares about the health of the planet, and about the health of all living things. If it is a food company, they must make only organic products and donate to causes I believe in.

It’s not so easy being an organic evangelist. You have to be careful about who you hang out with. You can’t lower your standards and hang out with people who eat heavily processed foods. You will offend those who drink mainstream carbonated beverages, the hot dog lovers, white bread eaters, and polyester clothing devotees. People will hurl insults about tofu at you, and if they learn that you secretly eat Twinkies at midnight they will tell everyone of your hypocrisy. Being an organic evangelist requires constant vigilance. It is not for the weak willed who will capitulate to fit in with their friends.

Being human is all about finding your niche. I have found mine, and I’m letting my freak flag fly. I don’t know where the organic people congregate, but I suppose it is in small enclaves where the air is pure and the way of life is mellow. I hear the siren call to live off the land and grow my own vegetables. Why has it taken me this long to realize this is who I am? Because I have spent much of my life trying to fit in and it has made me unhappy. I am simply seeking my bliss.

Human beings are mostly herd oriented. We want to fit in; we want to be appreciated. We don’t want people talking behind our backs. If I weren’t into organics it would be something else that people wouldn’t like about me. We all do things and have viewpoints that run contrary to what some people expect. This is why some people get along well with some people and hate others. Our task is to join the herd that likes us. I am looking for my organic herd.