As a pet lover with a long history of living with cats and dogs I have a pretty strong stance on what I’m about to say. All living creatures deserve “REAL” food. That being said, this installment of “Where the Foodies Go” is dedicated to all of our pets. I’d like you to think about something for a second. Have you been brainwashed by the decades of commercials and the billions of dollars of marketing invested on making you think that what you feed your pets is healthy? (You already know where I’m going with this.) First, the truth about pet food off the shelf, and remember, this article honors what Ruben has going on at his unique store. He sells the same “off the shelf” crappy pet food that every grocery store in America sells and this article will kill those sales. But he opened my eyes to an undeniable truth. That being said, the food in the cans and bags we feed our pets is simply awful. Take a moment and read the label’s ingredients. The commercials you see would have you think your dog is getting a sirloin steak straight from the butcher’s stash of his best steaks. Contrary to what the dog food companies show you on TV commercials, your dog doesn’t get sirloin from a healthy cow who spent its life nibbling on fresh tall grass, nor does he get white chicken breast from a hen who spent its life pecking happily around the sunny barnyard. In fact, meat used in pet food comes from what the pet industry calls the Four Ds. The Four Ds stands for meat from livestock that was either Diseased, Disabled, Dying or Dead when it arrived at the slaughter house. It won’t pass the USDA inspection so in the pet food bin it goes. What goes into the pet food bin is deemed unfit for human consumption because of mold, rancidity, or contaminants – yuck! They boil the poison out of it and pulverize it so it can be mixed with other empty calories and either squirted in a can or dried into nasty little kibbles. I have the answer, but first I need to be sure you buy in to this idea. Dogs have been domesticated for about 15,000 years (that’s amazing, isn’t it?) and up until the 1930s, they were NEVER fed “kibble” or “canned” brands from a store. Dogs were fed real meat and vegetables, and a little homemade bread. On this diet they thrived, frequently living into their late teens. How old was your last pet that passed on? 12? 13? These pet food companies are cutting our pets’ lives by 30%, (and we are allowing them). As humans, we constantly hear about our processed food cutting years off our lives and ruining our quality of life with diabetes, obesity and all kinds of ailments caused from a weakened immune system from all the nasty things they put in our processed food. Here’s my question to you. Totally rhetorical. Would you spend an extra 50 cents a day to assure your child lives to the ripe old age of 90 rather that 55? We have that answer for your children already. Feed them an intelligent diet of fresh fruit, vegetables and smart proteins, right? Well, a few weeks ago I got to sit in on a meeting at Ruben’s where this man came in with a recipe that looked like he was making a nutritious stew for a camping trip. It had wonderful ingredients bought right off the shelves at Ruben’s. Blueberries, fresh kale, whole turkeys straight from the butcher’s block and everything else you’d feed your 5-year-old little girl to ensure a smart and balanced diet. But he knew that he did not want to feed him the aforementioned “crappy pet food,” so he researched what he believed to be the smartest diet for his pet and created a homemade blend of the healthiest ingredients. Already being a Ruben’s customer he knew that those ingredients would be found there. His only dilemma now would be to find the equipment to process the food. To his great surprise and relief, he discovered that Ruben’s has been processing very special pet food for about 5 years now. Ruben’s invites you to stop in and see how simple it is to make a couple weeks of truly nutritional food for your pets. You pick the ingredients and Ruben does the rest. It’s simple and we are all doing it. Is it more expensive? Yes it is, about 20 cents more per meal. Do you have 20 cents today? LIKE Ruben’s on Facebook to keep up with all the interesting things he has going on. Those DEADLIEST CATCH crabs are right around the corner, so you want to be on that list!