Wed 8 Aug 2007
Lots of great suggestions coming my way about my recent thoughts about health and nutrition… even my bro chimed in. Thanks!
It is comforting to know that others struggle with this. I don’t feel like the only idiot who has difficulty thinking clearly about nutrition. My thoughts to this point are still forming, but I have a few ideas of which direction to head in.
I was SHOCKED to read in “Animal, Vegetable, Miracle” that part of the energy crisis we are headed for is caused by food. I never thought about that before. Meaning… if your food is not local, well, it has to get to you somehow. I guess I didn’t think about the big refrigerated trucks that our grocery stores run, the planes that the food fly on, etc. I mean.. I am pretty smart if I pay attention… and the last time I checked I did not live in Chile where my sea bass comes from. The book points out that the use of fossil fuels for food transport would be dramatically decreased if we ate ONE MEAL per week from all local sources.
More than that, Barbara Kingslover talks about the generational gap between the elders that know about farming and agricultural rituals and the folks of this generation that don’t know summer breaks from school were designed for children to be able to help with the harvest. She also makes the point it is a much bigger disconnect that contributes to us not knowing about our food sources and the mass production of multiple syllable “icky ingredients” (my words, not hers) that have infiltrated the American diet.
That was chapter 1.
So, after much thought… I am trying to make this information make sense to me.
I have decided a few things….
- I will eat “whole foods” whenever I can. Meaning, bye bye fast food. So long King, Ron, the cow that begs us to eat chicken. Adios to the 5 Amigos of Burger fame.. (just saying farewells….*sigh*)
- I will drink water. And iced-tea (green when possible)
- I will cook more. (PLEEEASE send good whole food recipes!) One meal every week will come from a local source
That is where I am now. I have my friend CAM… who eerily came to the same health conclusions at the same time that I did… is joining in the effort to eat better and exercise more. Who else is in?
Edited to add:
If anyone *knows* me.. I can tend to be slightly obsessive when I find something that I am interested in.
I have been sent some great resources and have found some through the powers of the internets…
The Eat Local challenge:
http://eatlocalchallenge.com/
Thanks Bev!
FoodRoutes.org
http://www.foodroutes.org/
This is a killer resource that lists CSA’s, farms, and markets in YOUR area!
August 8th, 2007 at 9:10 pm
I am in, down 22 pounds and buying groceries from the farmers market every week!
August 8th, 2007 at 9:16 pm
You know I am in for treating my body better. I need to be healthy for many reasons.
As for whole foods books. I really learned a lot from “Whole foods for babies and toddlers” or “Whole foods for the whole family”. Simple books with simple ideas but good knowledge.
Jolene
August 8th, 2007 at 10:11 pm
i have a garden, with tomatoes , eggplants & peppers. i also buy a lot of my veggies from a local grower, or the farmer’s market. i can’t quite get myself to buy the meat down there, cuz i have teenage boys, and it costs so much more to feed them the “good” stuff.
i try to keep away from fast food for the same reason. while i can feed myself for $4-4.50, but those monsters require meals that cost me $6-7 EACH (i have 2 boys). i can feed all 3 of us lunch for $2. seriously. they love salmon patties, so one can of pink salmon, one package of soda crackers, and 2 eggs (locally grown). they also eat hominy, so we have that sauteed in butter. and muskmelon for dessert (again, locally grown). oy!
August 8th, 2007 at 10:40 pm
I’m in. I’ve been pretty lax in with my dietary standards lately… which might explain why I’m sick and have gained 10 pounds in 2 months! I have made a vow that next year we will have a BIG garden. We moved here this year and the previous owners grew lots of grass. Establishing raised beds will take a bit of time and effort. Cheers! (raising a glass of water to you)
August 9th, 2007 at 8:05 am
me! me! between joining the CSA in June(for lack of any farmers markets in the area) and joining the gym this week, i’m ready for a turnaround! luckily i don’t really ever eat fast food (though hubby does!) but it’s just nutrition in general i need to look out for….
August 9th, 2007 at 8:33 am
I’m in! I gave up fast food for Lent (I’m no longer R.C., but I still observe Lent!) years ago, and it really improved my life. I’ve got high hopes for my garden for next year as a source of local food, and I’ve been trying to go to the farmers markets…they’re pricier, but when Neal complains, I bring up the energy crises caused, in part, by food transportation. Here’s a great site to peruse: http://eatlocalchallenge.com/
August 9th, 2007 at 8:41 am
Recently I had the same thoughts - definitely have been cooking more. I subscribe to Simply Receipe (http://www.elise.com/recipes/), a great food blog that provides awesome simple receipes! I also subscribe to a few gluten free blogs since my hubby is allergic to gluten, and I found that cooking gluten free had changed our diet to use less processed ingredients as well. If you like the few food blogs that I follow, just email me!
August 9th, 2007 at 8:41 am
::waves:: new poster, actually followed a link from the Sea Socks site. Nice timing on the topics, whole foods (and vegan/vegetarian whole foods) is one of my interests.
I have hundreds of rants on related topics, just ask if you want any (I wasn’t going to show up on your blog for the first time and just unload!)
And here’s some of my favorite food reading -
She’s got awesome recipes.
Fat Free Vegan Blog don’t be intimidated, there’s no vegan police which will prevent you from serving her tasty food alongside whatever else you want to eat.
Bryanna Clark Grogan has lots of interesting stuff. She’s always experimenting.
Disease Proof isn’t as much about recipes as it is nutritional information. It’s a cool resource for disease specific ideas though.
Ok, that’s probably enough for a random post.
Keep telling us about the book! I so need to get it soon.
Andrea
August 9th, 2007 at 9:22 am
This whole thing makes me sigh. One of the things that families used to have, when they ate local, was a mom who spent a large proportion of her time working on the food supply. Gardening, harvesting, canning, preserving, salting, yaddayadda. How can I feed my kid local when I am at the office 40 hours a week and can’t make anything grow in my yard and need vegetables at times other than June through September? It’s all right, but it isn’t just our food supply system that works against local eating, it’s the entire organization of our way of getting a living.
August 9th, 2007 at 11:25 am
Count me in!! Maybe if I try this with the support of others - I’ll actually stick to it!
August 9th, 2007 at 2:57 pm
I discovered that when I cook for myself, I tend to eat healthier. I spent the last year commuting to Westminister for class right after work and picking up dinner at that cow place that tells you to eat chicken. And the weight that I had lost came back. I am trying to eat either vegan or at least veg at home as much as possible. Plus when I go out, I try to pick what I eat carefully. And throw in exercising and the weight is slowly coming back off. So I am in too.
August 9th, 2007 at 7:09 pm
Getting away from fast food is a biggie.
I eat meat, I eat carbs, but I try to keep an eye on the ingredients. Preservatives, scary artificial sweeteners, high fructose corn syrup… those are the three things that I do my best to stay away from. It’s made a huge (positive) difference in the way I feel.
August 10th, 2007 at 10:24 am
Try green tea with mint - make sure the tea isn’t decaffeinated. Just regular green tea with lemongrass, or spearmint, or peppermint. It’s really quite lovely, including iced.
August 13th, 2007 at 11:34 pm
You might enjoy reading the 10 Signs Like This blog, http://10signslikethis.blogspot.com/. Jamie, the author, talks about eating local very often, with at least one meal a week all local. She is a contributor to the eat local challenge blog too. Plus, she’s funny!