Beginning again ...
“Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful committed citizens can change the world; indeed, it's the only thing that ever has.” – Margaret Mead, American anthropologist
In college, I made the first real nutritional decision of my life. I was overweight and out of shape. I knew I should do something. I was living on 99 cent Burger King Whoppers and 12-packs of Natural Light. I knew my health would continue to deteriorate so I made a decision based on the information I had at the time. I stopped eating beef (No self respecting college kid would dump the beer). That was eight years ago.
When I got married, I was forced to give up Wonder white bread. Sally taught me there was really very little in it. I remember one time when she went out of town; I went to the store, bought a loaf of white bread and a pack of Oscar Meyer bologna and had a feast.
Several years ago, Sally gave me a book that she read. The Omnivore’s Dilemma, by Michael Pollan is a look at where our food comes from. There is no point in me rehashing what he spent years researching and writing. Read it yourself. It was life changing. I have told many people since that there are a couple of choices after you read it. You can say, “Screw it, I don’t care,” and carry on as you are or you can change your life. Essentially, it discusses the effects our food and eating habits have on the quality of our lives. He discusses social, economic and even emotional benefits of eating food produced locally. Again, I’m no social scientist. Plenty of writers have done a great job documenting why eating locally is not only important, but eventually will be necessary. Check out the booklist on the sidebar if you want to read.
We have spent the last few years trying to figure out how we can eat locally. We have started a garden, learned to can and freeze and found local farmers to buy from. By my non-mathematical estimates, I would figure we are about 80% effective.
But in addition to the benefits to our community, we have found even more benefits to our family. Sally and I are having a blast trying to figure out how to eat with what is available. We try to do a lot of it together.
I joke with Sally that she wants to save the world. I just want to save my family. Either way, one is a by product of the other.
We are by no means experts. Most of our information is gained from people we talk to and books we read. We are learning as we go. If nothing else, we are resourceful and persistent. We are also not purists. We still eat at restaurants and at our friend’s homes. For now our kids still eat boxed cereal and macaroni and cheese some days. The goal of the blog is to document our progress and provide a starting point for others who may want to do the same things. We will try and share some of the trials and tribulations of everything from cheese and bread making to maybe someday raising and slaughtering some animals. We will try to include recipes and maybe some musings about how it affects our lives. Stay tuned and live well.
In college, I made the first real nutritional decision of my life. I was overweight and out of shape. I knew I should do something. I was living on 99 cent Burger King Whoppers and 12-packs of Natural Light. I knew my health would continue to deteriorate so I made a decision based on the information I had at the time. I stopped eating beef (No self respecting college kid would dump the beer). That was eight years ago.
When I got married, I was forced to give up Wonder white bread. Sally taught me there was really very little in it. I remember one time when she went out of town; I went to the store, bought a loaf of white bread and a pack of Oscar Meyer bologna and had a feast.
Several years ago, Sally gave me a book that she read. The Omnivore’s Dilemma, by Michael Pollan is a look at where our food comes from. There is no point in me rehashing what he spent years researching and writing. Read it yourself. It was life changing. I have told many people since that there are a couple of choices after you read it. You can say, “Screw it, I don’t care,” and carry on as you are or you can change your life. Essentially, it discusses the effects our food and eating habits have on the quality of our lives. He discusses social, economic and even emotional benefits of eating food produced locally. Again, I’m no social scientist. Plenty of writers have done a great job documenting why eating locally is not only important, but eventually will be necessary. Check out the booklist on the sidebar if you want to read.
We have spent the last few years trying to figure out how we can eat locally. We have started a garden, learned to can and freeze and found local farmers to buy from. By my non-mathematical estimates, I would figure we are about 80% effective.
But in addition to the benefits to our community, we have found even more benefits to our family. Sally and I are having a blast trying to figure out how to eat with what is available. We try to do a lot of it together.
I joke with Sally that she wants to save the world. I just want to save my family. Either way, one is a by product of the other.
We are by no means experts. Most of our information is gained from people we talk to and books we read. We are learning as we go. If nothing else, we are resourceful and persistent. We are also not purists. We still eat at restaurants and at our friend’s homes. For now our kids still eat boxed cereal and macaroni and cheese some days. The goal of the blog is to document our progress and provide a starting point for others who may want to do the same things. We will try and share some of the trials and tribulations of everything from cheese and bread making to maybe someday raising and slaughtering some animals. We will try to include recipes and maybe some musings about how it affects our lives. Stay tuned and live well.
posted by Randolph Four at 2:10 PM
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