So I've started reading the book "Animal, Vegetable, Miracle" by Barbara Kingsolver. It's about food. It's pretty fascinating to me. I have to refrain myself from talking too much about it to my husband because I think he's annoyed by it, well he just doesn't find the subject matter as interesting. (That's what blogs are for right!) The book is a true story about a family that moves from Tuscon Arizona to a farm somewhere in West Virginia. Tuscon, in the dessert where NOTHING is grown locally. Their plan is for all their food to be grown by themselves or bought from somebody they know - for one year. No processed anything meaning no oranges from California or fish from the coast. Only whole, local food. The first chapter Barbara explains all her motives for the move and gives some history about agriculture in America.
So far what I've found to be though-provoking:
-It's amazing how much fossil fuel the food industry consumes. All the fuel to power the farm equipment (including all the things needed to spray pesticides) and all the fuel needed to ship produce across country.
-I never realized that 70% of farmland is corn or soybeans because they are processed and modified to make many other ingredients in our foods. Obviously things like High Fructose Corn Syrup but also a lot of the words you don't recognize on labels. While reading this I was eating some chocolate and ther it was - soybeans in my chocolate!
-How LITTLE we know about gardening and farming and how much we SHOULD know. Eventually we or our children will have to produce some or all of own food becaues the environment demands it. She gave some examples of city kids that thought potatoes grew on trees, that sort of thing.
-How bizarre it is that when we buy items from the grocery store we have no idea where they've come from.
-Organic is better you but also ALOT better for the environment.
-We should all try to shop at Farmer's Markets more often. Support local farmer's that are competing against commercialized industries.
- I long for a way of life that would allow for abundant gardening.
ANYWAY, the authour goes on about how wonderful local produce is and how extremely different and better it is from what you find in the grocery store. Last weekend while in Edmond I went to the Farmer's Market with my sister-in-law and bought some peaches. They were incredibly yummy, soft, sweet. Wilder practically ate two in a row. We bought some peaches from WalMart recently that didn't even seem real compared to the others. A foamy, grainy texture, really kind of fake in comparison.
How is it possible to really change the way we eat? Who has the time and money to eat local and whole food? I guess we just do the best we can. When I do have the chance to go to the farmer's market I usually am surprised how affordable they are. This week we got the new Kraft magazine in the mail. I have a love/hate relationship with this magazine. I love it because the recipes are easy and affordable but the meals always start to taste the same because there are bout 10 ingredients that are used in different combinations over and over again. Tonight's dinner consisited of canned tomatoes, stovetop, cheese, and chicken. Nothing fresh...well, we did have a little salad from lettuce that may have been in the fridge a little too long. I would have loved to go buy some fresh produce today at a market but we were out of cash really until I get payed again. The point here, it's not always easy to eat the way you want. It's not easy because I'm not organized enough! And I'm not the best at meal planning. Tongiht I also threw out a TON of leftovers from this past week. I usually think in my mind that we can't afford the healthier food I'd like to buy...but I waste so much, why not buy less higher quality food, wouldn't that amount to the same? Then the second thing that gets me is time. Stovetop is easy. I know there are quick ways to make healthy meals, I just need the right cookbook and a little more motivation!
Well this has turned out to be long. Don't really know if I've been very clear but it feels good to share! Read the book!
Next up, my review on "Bringing Up Boys" by James Dobson.
5 comments:
Go Shelly! Thanks for the inspiration. I know what you mean about the Kraft magazine. I get it too and was recently reading through and I totally noticed the same thing, that it's all the same things mixed and matched. I do love the desert section though! I love finding new cute & fun desserts to make. Looking forward to hearing about "Bringing up Boys".
I'd like to read this...sounds interesting. Holly and I watched a movie (can't remember the name) at HMN meeting, which documented the amount of waste we, Americans, produce in a lifetime. I, too, did not realize the tremendous amount of resources used to transport foods to us. I would love to eat only locally and seasonally, but it seems to be such an arduous task to provide a balanced meal for a finicky toddler, much less trying to do so with seasonal, local products. Any advice? Does the book offer any? I would love to read it, sounds great. Good luck on your quest!
You sound so much like me when I was your age. I worried constantly on how to feed Jennifer. I have a book called "Please Feed Me" on how to feed toddlers; of course this was in the late 70's. I wish Great-ma was still alive and could help me garden and can or freeze my own things; like you time and energy interferes with what I would like to do. I do have my own mill so I can buy different grains and mill them and make bread. All that is in it is grain (I usually mix the hard red and white) water, yeast, honey (local when I can find it) and grapeseed oil. It is amazing how much better my and Joe's digestive systems work when we eat the bread regularly and eat fresh or frozen fruits and vegetables. I want to find a place to buy meat that is antibiotic and steriod free. Neal and Lita are wanting to raise cows and split one for the freezer.
Didn't mean to write a book; but like you, I am very interested in natural and fresh.
Aunt Janet
Have you checked out organictulsa.com yet? MCA has a deal with them, where they waived the "membership fee" and for $35 per bag (veg or meat) you get a week's worth of food - depending on how you prepare and how you eat, of course. Anyway, point is that they do share bags, which you reserve on a weekly basis and they include all organic, free range, local produce and meats. A friend of mine did a yearly friut share with some co - op and received seasonal organic fruit year - round. There are some convenient ways to go about supporting local growers, it's just a lot of word - of - mouth, trying to find the most convenient and cost-effective, from what I've learned.
This weekend I was introduced to "Sprouts," a market in the Dallas area with whole foods and mostly locally grown produce. I told my friend that if we had one here, I could not only be a better cook, but much more healthy. One thing I have started doing (which is difficult with little ones) is to make more frequent trips to the store so that I can buy fresh instead of frozen or canned. I also accept any and all that I'm offered from my in-laws' garden!!! When we get cows, we'll sell you some steroid free beef!
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