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I first ran into the term crunchy while talking with online friends in a forum. They mentioned it in regards to someone’s lifestyle choice (the person was babywearing and home birthing). I was clueless that there was a term for doing things like that. If you also have no clue what being crunchy is, here’s a definition I found in the online urban dictionary:
Crunchy Adjective. Used to describe persons who have adjusted or altered their lifestyle for environmental reasons. These persons tend to be politically and strongly left-leaning and may be additionally, but not exclusively, categorized as vegetarians, vegans, eco-tarians, conservationists, environmentalists, neo-hippies, tree huggers, nature enthusiasts, etc. Also used to describe establishments where alternative foods and products are sold, i.e. natural food stores. Modified derivative of granola.
Granola An adjective used to describe people who are environmentally aware (flower child, tree-hugger), open-minded, left-winged, socially aware and active, queer or queer-positive, anti-oppressive/discriminatory (racial, sexual, gender, class, age, etc.) with an organic and natural emphasis on living, who will usually refrain from consuming or using anything containing animals and animal by-products (for health and/or environmental reasons), as well as limit consumption of what he or she does consume, as granola people are usually concerned about wasting resources. Usually buy only fair-trade goods and refrain from buying from large corporations, as most exploit the environment as well as their workers, which goes against granola core values. The choice of not removing body hair (see amazon) and drug use are not characteristics that define granola people, and people, regardless of granola status, may or may not partake in said activities. This definition is sometimes confused with hippy.
Now, while those two definitions are by far the longest I've ever read on this topic, they're still missing something. I know of many Mamas who wouldn't consider themselves liberal or tree huggers and not every crunchy Mama eats granola. So, how can you tell if you're a TRUE crunchy Mama?
