First, my fledgling garden. What does it take to make it grow? What choices will I make in bringing it to life? Chemical fertilizers? Chemical pesticides? Store-bought organic solutions? I’m going to go the hardest, but least expensive route. I’m going “organic.” I want to use common household products to treat for insects and to promote growth. I’m going to use compost. (At this moment in time I will have to find or buy compost, since the fermentation process of compost might be too much, space and time-wise for my garden in our rental house’s backyard.) I’m going to attempt as much as possible from seed, so I’m involved as much as possible, and my son will join me.
Second, listening to The Omnivore’s Dilemma by Michael Pollan. Corn-fed cows sound like the most disgusting thing in the world. I’m horrified by the process. Next on my list by Michael Pollan is In Defense of Food. Check them out.
Third, some videos that I’ve been watching—seeing all of the attention this topic is getting, it makes me think that this is a big problem that needs attention now!
Click to hear about why Dan fell in love with a fish.
Click to hear about Jamie Oliver's wish, to teach every child about food
Who wouldn’t want to be on board for rewinding the last 50 years (culinarily speaking)? What was so wrong with expensive meat, if it was good meat that wasn't slowly killing us and rendering our antibiotics useless and pumping us full of estrogen! And don’t tell me that mass-commercialization is solving world hunger. It’s not true. Take a look at this.
Dumpster Diving (be sure to listen to what Allison Burtch is saying: Americans throw away 45-50% of what they harvest. And keep in mind that Dumpster Diving is illegal, which means that it's illegal to eat food that's been thrown out. It's illegal to save food from the landfill to feed the hungry. These stores don't donate the food, they throw it away!
This is insane people. It's wasteful and terrible. I cannot fathom a country that has too much food...and then they throw it away.
This is not the world we want to pass down to our children. Think of The Jungle. The careless industrialization depicted in The Jungle reminds me of the heartless commercialization of our food. Food companies are pushing as much crap down our throats as possible, and are getting fat off it. Neither consumer nor producer is better off in this relationship. Unfortunately, I don’t have a fix-all solution. But I know this is not right. It is not right to be separating us from our senses. I feel like the world is trying to ignore our instincts, it's trying to push away the natural abilities that God gave us to save a buck, to manipulate people. The thing I can do right now is change my family tree. We are cooking more meals at home, carefully selecting what we put in our bodies. I am going to grow a garden, so I know exactly where my food comes from. I’m going to buy locally, beef and produce, from my farmers’ market. I’m going to have a relationship with my food. I’m going to know where it comes from before it comes in my house. I’m going to attempt to change my life and my family’s life one meal at a time. I…am a foodie.
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