Well, this blog might evolve to include a variety of things. Since I commute an hour each day to work, I listen to a large variety of audio books. My newest selection is Animal, Vegetable, Miracle by Barbara Kingsolver. I have listened to a few of her fiction books and was excited to find this one hanging out near the recipe books at my library. The book describes the Kingsolver family deciding only to eat locally grown foods. This means no fruit in February, mainly dark green leafy's and asparagus in the spring, and waiting patiently for their foods to come into "season". What?! Foods have a seasons! Yes they do, though you would never know it by going to the grocery store. Being able to buy any food anytime also involves a great deal of travel by that food. Like the Mexican asparagus we had for super last night. My husband seemed unphased by the fact that this tender little early spring vege had traveled thousands of miles to get to our table. And the bitter taste proved it. While it might be difficult to eat only in season or get boring, it seems the Kingsolver family is doing it well. And man do the recipes they mention sound fabulous and fresh. How was this great feat accomplished?
The Kingsolvers live on a small farm in Southern Virginia. They have chickens and turkeys and what sounds like a rather impressive garden plot and a variety of fruit trees. Along with their own crops, they also got to know their local farmers and attended the farmers market. This last bit can be done by anyone. Might it take some work? Yes. Is it worth it? You bet! The food doesn't have to travel eons to reach your mouth and you are supporting local business. Some might think it's expensive, but think how many of our taxes subsidise the commercial farms, the petroleum industry, and the seed "makers" that have nearly eradicated heirloom plant varieties. Another way to support local business is to join a CSA or Community Supported Agriculture. CSA's offer food deliver during the growing season. For a certain dollar amount, you get one box every week (or what ever delivery option you choose) filled with fruits, veges, and sometimes meat. Some CSA's also make their farms available for pick all you can events for freezing and canning. The upfront cost seems large, but when broken down by week, very reasonable. Some insurance companies also offer incentives to join CSA's. For more info visit Localharvest.org.
Nutrition and eating well can be a confusing ocean of information. Standing in the cereal aisle for 20 minutes trying to decide on a new cereal, then just going back to oatmeal, can take a lot of extra time. Companies "lie" about the nutritional information in their foods or make it look healthy with advertising. A new system called NuVal is coming out that gives a score to foods. The higher the score, the more nutritionally complete it is. I just saw a Webinar on it today, and will post more on it once I am able to get my multitude of questions answered. So how does one eat well with all this information bombarding you? Good question. Personally, I think the more whole, unprocessed choices we make, the better it will be for us. Does your supper contain 30 ingredients, 3/4 of which you can't identify or pronounce? Or does it contain 10 ingredients, half of which are seasonings and all of which you can pronounce and know how it grew. Excellent things to think about next time you are planning your weekly meals. Or should I say, "Here's some food for thought."
i also loved that book and included it in my top ten food books. One thing that I really enjoyed was the format of the writing; Barbara's documentation of their activities, her husband throwing in the research business about how far food does travel and how much fossil fuel is burned to do so and her daughter's recipes.
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