Three green words on the side of the eighteen wheeled truck said "Tree of Life". Every month it arrived with the pre orders of twenty Floridian families like ours. We were part of a coop back in the early eighties, the kind where there is no store front. Just a living room full of people who cared about the food they ate and a dial telephone. Words like organic and GMO had not been invented yet, but we knew that lists of unpronounceable ingredients were not in the best interests of our precious children. Or ourselves, though that may not have been enough of a motivation to put up with the hassle. There were admittedly nice folks to chat with, but the reality is that belonging to a food coop entailed work. Plus if you did not want an entire case of your favorite juice you had to find someone who would split it with you. We were young and the possibility of tempting death by the choices we made at dinner seemed remote, but still something kept us from the buying Sugar Smacks.

The boss was named Bunny, and she not only spent higher prices for her vegetables and granola, she sprung for all natural shampoo. I wondered what the difference was, considering you don't even eat it. But she was convinced. 

"If I put it on my head, it matters." I did not add body products to my list back then, but I remembered. Now I do read labels and choose accordingly. 

I wonder what the culture will think in forty years when they look back at the entertainment we consume now. Will we have upped our resolve not to gulp down images of violence and casual sex? Woken up to the effects of slathering ourselves in themes that erode marriage? Sometimes people are careful for their children but not themselves. What are the long term effects?

The tree of life in the book of Genesis was unique in its ability to change places. At first it was planted front and center in the Garden of Eden. But as the story unravels, it is edged out by the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil.