We Still Eat Ice Cream on our Eco-Concious, Minimally Processed Diet

This shop has been compensated by Inmar Intelligence and its advertiser. All opinions are mine alone. #tillamookicecreamatpublix

I’m not a regular foodie, I’m a foodie who wants to eat ethically produced, minimally processed, real food that tastes delicious. Is that too much to ask?

It’s actually not when you know what to look for in a food product.

I’m happy to share with you that Tillamook Ice Cream checks all the boxes on my crazy sounding list of things a food must be. I’m particularly impressed by these three Tillamook flavors: Oregon Strawberry, Tillamook Mudslide, and Old-Fashioned Vanilla. I’m even happier to tell you that you can save $1.50 on your next purchase of Tillamook Ice Cream at Publix  until 9/30/20!

This post is really important to me because I’m finally able to put into words how my obsession with soil health has impacted the foods that I eat. I’m an environmentalist and community composter who loves good food. I understand the importance of soil health on all our foods, even ice cream! Simply put- happy farmers raise happy cows that eat grass grown from healthy soil. Without healthy soil, we wouldn’t have any food. I love that Tillamook makes soil health a priority.

Here is a screen shot from their website:

We all need to work harder to be conscious consumers. When you really pay attention to who is making your food, you can find farmer owned producers like Tillamook Creamery that practice sound environmental practices that make real food without artificial flavors or coloring.

Here are a few reasons why I feel comfortable with Tillamook Ice Cream in my freezer even though I tout that our family is an eco-conscious, minimally processed family:

I want to be a fun mom

As much as I want my kids to eat healthy foods, I still want them to experience the joy of ice cream on a hot summer day. I also want them to know how to handle treats. Depriving them of ice cream just seems cruel.

I also want our kids to enjoy having friends over. I’m the mom who provides apples, oranges and stove popped popcorn for kids. I don’t do a lot of the cute individually packed processed snacks because I don’t like the waste or the artificial flavors and colors.

When the kids have friends over, I like to go big. I give the kids ice cream! I love that with Tillamook Ice Cream, I can provide a fun snack that makes my kids proud to host, while also not making me compromise my environmental and foodie beliefs.

Here we are with our little homeschooling buddies!

I only buy food with real ingredients, no added hormones, and safe additives

I skip high fructose corn syrup, and prefer not to eat ice cream with carrageenan, an all natural additive that may cause inflammation.

I love that Tillamook Ice Cream uses tara gum and guar gum instead of carrageenan to keep the ice cream a nice creamy consistency. Our family has a problem with inflammation. We’ve noticed that carrageenan free ice cream is easier for us to handle.

I also appreciate that Tillamook has high quality milk standards with milk from cows not treated with rBST.

To top it off, Tillamook uses no artificial colors or flavors. This is a big deal in our household. Robert has a sensitivity to food dye. The rest of the family can eat it, but when Robert has it, he suffers from awful inflammation and joint pain. Robert’s reaction to food dye was actually the catalyst for us to cut out processed foods. I love that with Tillamook, I don’t have to read ingredients. I can trust that every flavor is something that Robert can eat.

I only buy foods that have a low impact on the environment

As an eco-friendly foodie who cares deeply about the origins of my food, it is imperative that my food choices are low impact on the environment.

Yes, I understand that animal products of any kind are not low impact on the environment, however I’m the type of environmentalist who thinks animal products in moderation is completely okay. Even still, there is that eco-guilt that comes with eating dairy and meat.

With Tillamook I don’t have to feel guilty. This company understands the immense responsibility they have as dairy farmers. Instead of degrading the environment, they work hard to create sustainable practices. They even do the dirty work of using cow poop as fertilizer to make new cow feed. This isn’t the future or some new fangled way to run a farm, this is how nature has always worked. Tillamook is an example of how all farmers should operate.

As an environmentalist, I understand the importance of sustainable farming. My love for compost has led me on a journey to understand the importance of soil health. Sustainable farm methods allow for better soil health. Without healthy soil, life as we know it would cease to exist. I could geek out all day about soil health. When I realized that Tillamook shares my passion, I knew I’d be a lifelong customer.

Isn’t ice cream an ultra-processed food?

Is your mind blown to find out that we eat ice cream even though we “eat minimally processed foods”? Yeah, me too! But hang on a minute and hear me out.

Yes, ice cream has been processed. But in my own personal opinion, store bought ice cream that is made with real ingredients isn’t too far off from making your own from scratch.

All food is processed in the process of cooking. Heck, even putting food in a blender is “processing” it. What we need to focus on as consumers is cutting out the fake additives in processed foods. Let’s be 100% real, all ice cream is processed. However, when you have an option to eat ice cream, it’s best to find one that is as natural as possible.

I refuse to put Tillamook Ice Cream in the category of “fake food”. When it comes to supermarket ice cream, this is the best you can get in the most natural form that you will find ice cream. The Old-Fashioned Vanilla flavor only has 8 ingredients! Eight.

It only takes one spoonful to notice the difference. The rich, smooth creaminess. Tillamook Ice Cream tastes creamier because it’s made with more fresh cream and less air, just like ice cream should be.

Get it on Insta-cart

I’m obsessed with Insta-cart. I ordered Old-Fashioned Vanilla, Mudslide, and Oregon Strawberry through Insta-cart and you can too! You can even save $1.50 on 1 Tillamook Ice Cream Product from until 9/30/20.

Share my foodie thoughts on social

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