I have had some thoughts, milling around in my brain for a while. Being a mother of a demon two-year old I have not had too much time to really think these thoughts through.
Thought one: We eat like crap
Thought two: We need to be more self-sustained
Thought three: I need to say goodbye to Wal Mart for good
Thought four: I wish we could afford a hybrid car
Thought five: People are more important than things
Thought six: I cannot believe that I am thinking these things
All of these have come to a head this week, partly from a nudge from NieNie's glorious vegetarian family, and partly because I finished reading my new book to be passionate about:
Pop Quiz:
Did you know that the majority of corn grown in America is for non-corn-on-the-cob needs? It is mainly grown in America to make chemicals, high-fructose corn syrup, and feed corporate-grown cattle (who do not naturally eat corn). Oh yes, they also feed cattle ground up cattle. And ground up chicken. And not grass.
Did you know that title one of the Farm Bill, currently under consideration in Washington, mainly subsidizes commodity crops (like corn and soybeans) which are NOT generally produced by family farmers, but by big Fortune 500s? So the majority of corn, which is not for feeding America, which is grown on land that is stripped of nutrients because it is not grown in a sustainable fashion, is essentially sponsored by the US government--who wants us to eat "5 a Day" (but not more than 5 because we won't have room for things that contain high-fructose corn syrup) And did you know that our HFCS intake has increased 1000% since 1975? (So in a way, the subsidies really are going to soda pop and Oreos.)
Do you know how much fossil fuel has been used to fill your refrigerator? In mine I have a bag of Pine Nuts. ( I heart pine nuts, by the way. They come from pine trees.) MY bag of Costco Pine Nuts came from CHINA. So in order for me to get a conveniently packaged bag of pine nuts (which grow wild, in New Mexico) I had to have them shipped, on an airplane, boat, and truck, from the other side of the world. So before the next snotty celebrity tries to make you feel bad about driving an SUV, see if they have pine nuts in their refrigerator. Or bananas. Or pineapple. What about watermelon in December? FYI, watermelon is not a winter fruit. Probably shipped from California. On a vehicle that puts more emissions in the air than a SUV.
So we are going to change. Slowly, but surely. I will keep you posted on my findings, but we are going to change. Here are our new goals:
We eat nothing from farther than 250 miles away
We only eat organic, grass-fed meats
We grow as much as we can (I already have two squash poking out of the patch!)
The downsides to this are many (like the fact that IZZE comes from Colorado, which is too far, and bananas come from even farther away) but I think that the benefits of living and eating with integrity will be better. I have already found a ranch nearby that sells grass-fed Angus, and I am going to the farmer's market tomorrow.
Wish us luck!
Update: This is crap. I want a Route 44 Limeade with Extra Lime. And I don't care. I am shaving my legs, getting some Sonic, and calling it a day. Screw the earth, screw the cattle, and screw trying to find local produce. If you live in Washington or Northern California, please eat doubly healthy to make up for me.
Did you know that the majority of corn grown in America is for non-corn-on-the-cob needs? It is mainly grown in America to make chemicals, high-fructose corn syrup, and feed corporate-grown cattle (who do not naturally eat corn). Oh yes, they also feed cattle ground up cattle. And ground up chicken. And not grass.
Did you know that title one of the Farm Bill, currently under consideration in Washington, mainly subsidizes commodity crops (like corn and soybeans) which are NOT generally produced by family farmers, but by big Fortune 500s? So the majority of corn, which is not for feeding America, which is grown on land that is stripped of nutrients because it is not grown in a sustainable fashion, is essentially sponsored by the US government--who wants us to eat "5 a Day" (but not more than 5 because we won't have room for things that contain high-fructose corn syrup) And did you know that our HFCS intake has increased 1000% since 1975? (So in a way, the subsidies really are going to soda pop and Oreos.)
Do you know how much fossil fuel has been used to fill your refrigerator? In mine I have a bag of Pine Nuts. ( I heart pine nuts, by the way. They come from pine trees.) MY bag of Costco Pine Nuts came from CHINA. So in order for me to get a conveniently packaged bag of pine nuts (which grow wild, in New Mexico) I had to have them shipped, on an airplane, boat, and truck, from the other side of the world. So before the next snotty celebrity tries to make you feel bad about driving an SUV, see if they have pine nuts in their refrigerator. Or bananas. Or pineapple. What about watermelon in December? FYI, watermelon is not a winter fruit. Probably shipped from California. On a vehicle that puts more emissions in the air than a SUV.
So we are going to change. Slowly, but surely. I will keep you posted on my findings, but we are going to change. Here are our new goals:
We eat nothing from farther than 250 miles away
We only eat organic, grass-fed meats
We grow as much as we can (I already have two squash poking out of the patch!)
The downsides to this are many (like the fact that IZZE comes from Colorado, which is too far, and bananas come from even farther away) but I think that the benefits of living and eating with integrity will be better. I have already found a ranch nearby that sells grass-fed Angus, and I am going to the farmer's market tomorrow.
Wish us luck!
Update: This is crap. I want a Route 44 Limeade with Extra Lime. And I don't care. I am shaving my legs, getting some Sonic, and calling it a day. Screw the earth, screw the cattle, and screw trying to find local produce. If you live in Washington or Northern California, please eat doubly healthy to make up for me.
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12 comments:
Good luck on your quest oh noble one. I saw the book and was highly tempted, but I was afraid it would make me mad as hell and powerless to stop the insanity so I walked right past it.
However. With the except of passing on the IZZE's (and really, Colorado is practically next door!), I could probably do better.
Now excuse me, I'm going to go out and water my patio tomatoes.
p.s. I'm really with you on #2 and 5.
See, if we move to Fort whatever in Colorado, IZZEs are perfectly fine.
And as soon as I posted that I went to make dinner (homemade pizza) and realized no onions. And my first thought was "we'll just hit the store" and then "OH NO!" So we are not having onions on our pizzas today.
We live rural enough that there are all sorts of farmers markets nearby. That said we never shop at them. If only they'd take card!
Why I will never move from Calif. Nice post... especially like your labels.
YES! A bra burning. You KNOW I'm in.
And yes, I knew that stuff about corn, animals, and don't even get me started on the subsidies. However no, I don't know the carbon content of my fridge.
(I almost said don't even get me 'tarted' on subsidies, and that's entirely different.)
Snags galore, for day one. The majority of organic things are not grown locally, which poses a dilemma--which is more important to us? Because 250 miles is absolutely nothing from El Paso. It is not even to Tucson! Dallas and San Antonio grow amazing produce, but are just as far as Southern California--so we might as well be eating out of season nectarines as "local" greens. Sigh.
So we will stick with organic and hope that the farmer's market has better stuff next week!
Also, I asked the butcher where the meat was from and he said "a cow." Thanks.
I'm impressed, and a bit concerned. Are you going to start wearing hippie skirts and voting for Ralph Nader like my assistant?
Not that there's anything wrong with that. But next thing I know, you will be throwing out the TV...then I know all will be lost!
To me organic always just meant "unwashed"
Location does make a difference. It is easy to eat that way out here where Queen and I are, b/c everything is grown here. So, you might have to give yourself exeptions to the rule.
We go to the farmers market every Saturday and always shop at a place called "the milk pail market" which is like a year round farmer's market in an old 7-11. It is like a european produce/cheese market. It is not very clean and eveyrthing is out, but it is fresh, fresh, fresh. I couldn't live without it.
Check out Slow Food (website and magazine). It is great....
OK, so I inadvertantly sent you an email instead! Here in Dubai, everything is imported, and organic is SOOOO much more expensive! Definitely worth watching what you put in your body---in the long run, it turns out to be a bargain!
UPDATE:
I have bitten off much more than I can chew. And I can't chew ANYTHING because NOTHING other than highly-processed crap is made here.
So here is our new goal:
I will eat whatever I want and I will be happy about it. And I will go to the farmer's market more and I will be much less sanctimonious. And I will just hope that we move to a more fertile area in a few years! And next year I will plant more veggies.
La Yen... oh how much we are alike! I find out things like this (say, the blood diamonds that kill people - I said no more diamonds but then I realized I cannot make that statement stick and have decided any diamonds will be certified conflict-free at least) then want to go whole-hog (pun intended) then realize that I, too, bit off more than I can chew.
I think that being AWARE is the most important thing you can start with. The next time you reach for a bag of processed foods you might look around for an alternative... or buy less.
The middle of Utah isn't a place for finding much that's straight from the farm but I do get Winder Dairy milk delivered (no hormones and healthy cows). When we moved back to Seattle in August I'll frequent the Saturday Market type stuff as much as possible. However, they don't run during the winter so what's a girl to do?
Oh, and Izze is practically health food so I don't think that counts (clemantine all the way, baby).
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