Tuesday, May 5, 2009

I *heart* our earth

My first iddy biddy step towards inner peace is to take back control, in a positive way, of the food I make available for my family and I to eat.  Our food nourishes, comforts and cures our bodies.  The way it's grown and processed and distributed does the same for the earth-if done right.  
Some years ago, when I learned I was incubating a tiny, human life inside, I did what any rational woman does- I freaked.  I became so over-consumed with the "right" things to do, that I became a quasi-terrorist in my home.  All the food had to be organic, all the cleaners natural and medicines herbal.  Sounds healthy, right?  It wasn't.  It was so severely extremist that it was unsustainable.  And then I didn't know what to do.  Enter despair.  Slowly, things have balanced out but very likely at a cost to my relationship with my partner who, quite honestly, was drug through the mud (more likely compost) while I yo-yoed up and down and all around on my way to finding balance.  For the most part, I have found a balance although it has not been steady, and lately I realize I've almost given up.  Just thrown my hands up, or less dramatically, shrugged.
And it doesn't feel right.  So I'm starting again by taking a little part of that radical ideology and nurturing it into a teacher rather than a dictator.  We still eat organics, especially the leafy veggies, roots, meats and oils.  My baby who loved quinoa and kale and veggie sandwiches has grown into a child who still loves salmon and beets, but whose favorite foods are now pizza, chicken nuggets and macaroni and cheese and hot dogs (a big thank you to public school lunches...) You get the picture.  I still cure minor ills and ailments with herbs and I still garden organically.  Right now, I'm growing tomato seedlings from seeds collected from my heirloom plants last year--you can only imagine how proud I am!! 
So, my first iddy biddy step towards inner peace is a conscious effort to eat food grown locally.  I'm starting with a bit of a hefty goal of eating 2/3 of each plate local.  But it's either overachieve or lay on the couch for me so... I started yesterday.  Here's how i fared:
Breakfast: pancakes with walnuts, maple syrup: FAILED
Lunch: pasta, spaghetti sauce (local), free-range ground turkey (local): 2/3 LOCAL SUCCESS!
Dinner: spinach (organic local), steak: 1/2 LOCAL SUCCESS!
Breakfast: boca burger, fresh salsa (local): 1/2 LOCAL SUCCESS!
Not bad.  But here's the thing, the salsa is made local and the spaghetti sauce bottled locally, but where are the veggies REALLY coming from?  I have to do a bit of research.
Wish me luck.  I'll keep you posted and if you feel inspired, join me and let me know how it's going!!
Inhale love, exhale fear...and live a happy life!!! 

1 comment:

  1. Hi I know what you mean. I lived in Vermont for a long while. Everything there was healty with a big H. Then I come home to Texas to chorizo and Big Red and oh my!!!!!
    Jo Ann Hernandez
    http://BronzeWord.Wordpress.com

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