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I have had a number of emails asking me how I got on to this journey of living Additive Free…so here goes…..
I remember watching Oprah many years back and seeing women being interviewed who had created their business from scratch. This was intriguing to me, as I too could cook cupcakes like that though would I be truly happy in doing so every day?…….. The answer was no! It sparked something in me and I wanted to know what my passion was. I tossed the idea around in my head. Yes I was a mother, while I loved that, I was not sure that being a loving mother was all that I was good at.
Years later I just happened to stumbled across my passion while having a cuppa at a friend house. This changed my world forever. My middle child, Kade was diagnosed with asthma once we moved to the Hunter valley when he was two years old. Holding a book in my hands and reading that what he was consuming was harmful to him as a child and an asthmatic, horrified and disgusted me. After reading books like The Chemical Maze and becoming informed, I knew it was my passion to stand up, say enough is enough and help other parents understand the dangers of what is really lying in our foods. Being that I lived here in Australia, also known as the lucky country I assumed that our foods were safe.
Over months of learning, Additive Free Pantry was created. I wanted and needed parents to see what was going on. Starting out, I would talk to a group of mothers in their homes and discuss what was in foods within their pantries. Most were shocked and a little disgusted. Some felt bad for buying and feeding these products to their children; the people they loved the most. I too had done the same thing. You can’t change what you don’t acknowledge and when we know better we can do better.
Seeing a difference in my children’s behaviour and health since eliminating all harmful food additives is evidence that I am on the right track. We have been additive free for over 4 years now and my children have not seen a doctor in that time frame. I’m passionate about that. I love that the foods that I feed them fuel their growing bodies. Their bodies are not wasting time eliminating unnecessary chemicals and preservatives.
Over time I conducted pantry audits locally as people wanted to know what foods were bad and what a much safer food brand option was. I was learning what people needed and wanted as I went along. I had the passion and drive to want to make a difference, so I ended up coming up with ways to help people sat on track.
From there I created a little booklet that had many brand names listed from well known national supermarkets to purchase without any harmful food additives. This was printed, cut, laminated, recut, hole punched and packaged on my lounge room floor most evenings. This became time consuming and draining on my passion levels to say the least. So I hunted down a local printing company that now prints, cuts and packages them for me and the rest is history as they say.
Now I speak to the public at venues like universities, primary schools, play groups, P&F meetings and high school childcare classes. See what happens when you follow your passion, life can deliver some wonderful outcomes that give me a feeling of joy and satisfaction. I wake with a smile knowing that today I get to work on my passion.
It surprises me what a woman (or man) is capable of when they are driven from the heart. Passion is what feeds your soul. The purpose for what we were born to do. The thing that makes your heart sing and your face smile. Passion is your joy, your happiness, no matter what it is for you.
Passion is why people stand up and make a difference. Passion is why we love our children with all that we have. Passion is what makes someone dance in the street, sing in the shower and laugh out loud. It makes no difference if you are passionate about politics or puppies, it is your passion and so be it. Choose to live your passion, for if you are following in someone else’s passion that will not give you the pure joy that you seek. Live your passion and love how that makes you feel, every single day.
Passion drives me, passion gives me purpose and passion feeds my soul.
So what I am passionate about?
- Seeing children learning, growing and developing just as nature intended.
- Educating and empowering parents, carers, teachers and children to make informed choices when consuming foods.
- Inspiring change for the benefit of our children.
- Creating and claiming National Additive Free Day last November to spread some much needed awareness on harmful food additives.
- Watching my children grow up with an understanding of what goes into foods today and how they can affect our moods, behaviour, health and wellbeing.
- Creating my business that is dedicated to providing services and support that allow families to make important and life changing choices.
I am also passionate about the colour red, my husband, affirmations, Michael Buble and life.
