Book Reviews

Book Review: Really Very Crunchy (Emily Morrow)

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3 Comments on Book Review: Really Very Crunchy (Emily Morrow)
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If you’ve read my blog enough, you might see this review and think: what in the world is this doing on here? A book about being crunchy? What does that have to do with theology? Emily Morrow, creator of Really Very Crunchy, believes that we should steward both our bodies and God’s creation well. It’s always a good idea to expose yourself to opinions that challenge you to think through how you steward what you have been given—whether it is your health, your children, or your finances.Thanks to my lovely wife, I have been introduced to the many crunchy reels by Emily and Jason Morrow about their crunchy side of life. Emily began making videos about the crunchy life style from a humorous standpoint. She often plays the role of two moms on “opposing” sides: one is crunchy—super healthy and aiming to rid her and her family’s life of toxins, and one who is “silky” and just takes life as it comes—birthday candy, food coloring, pizza rolls. Whatever else you can come up with.Mari and I found the videos to be really funny. I assumed that Emily was crunchy and was merely making some fun at how crunchy people either can be perceived or how they actually are. Apparently, there were many watching these same videos who wondered if Emily was actually crunchy and judgy, or if she was “silky” (not crunchy) and making fun of crunchy judgy moms.  To help answer people’s questions, she wrote this book, giving it the humorous subtitle “A Beginner’s Guide to Removing Toxins from Your Life without Adding Them to Your Personality.” Even that should clear the air. Emily is crunchy, but she doesn’t want people to feel judged for not being crunchy nor that the crunchy will be judging toward the “silkies” and “scrunchies” of the world. 

Silky: into modern products. Scrunchy: the middle ground. Crunchy: into natural, holistic products. 

Throughout her book, Morrow writes that crunchy is a spectrum and that a crunchy lifestyle is about balance. There are numerous products (scented candles… scented anything, it seems) that have so much artificial toxic chemicals in them that are bad for us in the long (and short) term. This goes with some food (store-bought frozen pizza), toilet paper, polyester, acrylic, food with food dyes (we’re looking at you, delicious Cap’n Crunch), to deodorants (with aluminum in them), to inflammatory cooking oils, to nonstick cookware with “forever chemicals” (which stay in your body, well, forever).  Some reviews have said this book still comes off “judgy.” Sure, when you look at this book from one thousand angles, you could “find” (or, read in) superiority. Some have good points, but at the same time, this book is about living a crunchy lifestyle. Obviously Morrow is going to try to convince you to that end. And at the same time, she writes throughout the whole book that this is a lifestyle choice that doesn’t have one singular pathway. One could be scrunchy. You could breastfeed your kid (in public even) and still sleep train them. You can make it your aim to feed your family organic and healthy meals, but sometimes the day is crazy and you just need to throw something quick in the oven (pizza rolls, anyone?).  The aim here is to guide you toward a crunchy lifestyle if you want, and to know why you might want to consider it. There are many toxins in the things sold in stores (like scented aerosols). Do we really think all companies are upstanding companies seeking our welfare? No, most just want our money. How much food has loads of sugar in it? Just ask Nestlé about that one. How are chickens treated at chicken farms? Ask Tyson Foods about that one too. Disposable diapers? They are awesome. You can leave them on for longer than two hours (overnight even!), and when you’re finished with them you don’t need to stuff a whole bag of ammonia-laden diapers into a washing machine, hoping you’re able to open the bathroom window before you choke to death. No, instead, you can just: throw them away. The down side? These one-time diapers also take roughly 450 years to decompose. When so many people worldwide use them, how much trash is that creating? We have only one planet after all (as Sandra Richter and Doug and Jonathan Moo reminds us in their books).

Recommended?                                                                                                                       

For some people this information might be basic. For others like myself, much of this will be new. I don’t have time to look up all of this information, and I actually enjoyed seeing what kind of things we could avoid buying because of the toxins that are in them. Still, it’s hard to avoid buying all things that are supposedly dangerous unless you want to live in a cabin in the woods. I might wish to be a hermit, but I like living in a house (so do the Morrows).  In her book, Emily is funny. Her husband Jason shows up at the end of every chapter with some related thoughts and in his own humorous style. This is a fun, informational book that is easy to read and may challenge you to see what toxins you can rid your life of (although I understand pizza rolls are hard to let go of).  So, how crunchy is our family? I married a Norwegian. That was the first step—cooking from scratch, baking our own bread, Essential Oils, and foraging local herbs. Now we’ve added cloth diapers, reusable paper towels, the infamous “family cloth” (aka reusable toilet paper), and homeschooling (Charlotte Mason-style). Here I stand. I can do no other.

Lagniappe

  • Author: Emily Morrow
  • Paperback: 240 pages
  • Publisher: Zondervan (March 12, 2024)

Buy it from Amazon or Zondervan!

Review Disclosure: I received this book free from Zondervan. The opinions I have expressed are my own, and I was not required to write a positive review. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255 http://www.access.gpo.gov/nara/cfr/waisidx_03/16cfr255_03.html.

Amazon Affiliate Disclosure: As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.

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