Going Local

OK. So.. now and then I sit down and watch Oprah..I just happened to sit down when she had Michael Pollan on the show (and featured clips from the documentary Food, Inc.I've decided he is a genius-a true food guru. Of course, it took me watching Oprah, of all people, to open my eyes. There are some things you just don't really think about or really want to think about. There are things you push to the back of your mind--like the saying goes, "out of sight, out of mind." So when I watched Oprah that day I had this epiphany...or something like that. :) For the longest time, I have been all about being on a budget, trying to save as much money as I can. (with Tom's school loans you would want to save too--ha!) But, I never really realized where some of our food comes from or how it is produced. I was rather disgusted by some of it. I never really thought about the antibiotics and hormones that are being pumped into chickens and cows and how, in turn, my family is ingesting them. I never knew that cows and chickens are fed things they wouldn't typically eat to grow them bigger, faster, and meatier. I haven't really thought about what types of pesticides, chemicals, highly processed "food-like substances" I am ingesting and even more importantly, what I am feeding my child. For a while, I took pride in myself for the fact that I was making Owen's baby food, how he ate very few treats (that has changed since he has gotten older!) and how he is a major fruit eater. But, who really knows what chemicals, pesticides etc I have been feeding him and how they will affect his health (or maybe they won't affect his health at all?). I just want our family to be healthy. Overall, I would say we are pretty healthy but I have decided to take that extra step, to spend that extra buck (or two,or three) and do my part to become more mindful of what I am putting in my mouth and Owen's mouth. (and Tom too!) It will make me feel better knowing that we are doing our part to help the environment in some way, supporting local farms, and it will make me feel better knowing where our food came from and how those animals were treated. You know those commercials about the cows from California? How happy cows make great cheese and milk--maybe there is some truth to that?! :)
Anyways, we will see how this goes! I'm still trying to find a place where we can buy some grass fed beef and buy 1/4 of a cow. (I never thought I would say that--Tom and I used to joke about buying halves of cows. Or rather, I used to tease Tom because he was a country boy-ha) I plan to start going to the co-op more frequently and I also cannot wait until the farmer's market starts up again! That became a family ritual last summer and it was a lot of fun! Finally, we will have to make our veggie garden bigger and better this year. I will have to work on perfecting my green thumb! (somehow I only managed to grow 1 zucchini last year--you know that's bad because zucchini usually grows like weeds!) So...I will have to keep you posted on this new adventure, as I like to call it. :)
Check out Michael Pollan's Food Rules--a very quick, interesting read with some good tips. I don't know if I'll be able to follow all of them quite yet but maybe in time....