Image courtesy of http://www.foodincmovie.com/index.php
I became interested in issues related to “sustainability” about ten years ago when I decided I needed to get off of the trajectory I was on and lead a more simple life. Living simply has been very rewarding and has led to a great deal of personal and spiritual development as I try to balance leaving a small footprint and being mindful in the face of social pressures and realities. As part of this endeavor, we strive to only eat “real food” and avoid packaged and processed foods.
For much of our 30-year relationship, my husband and I have lived in rural towns or in the exurbs where we were in “farm country” within minutes of leaving our house. I’ve taught children of migrant farm workers in California and farmers’ wives (truly co-farmers) in Indiana. Because of this, we have a greater understanding of where our food comes from and try to buy locally grown food as much as possible.
And now, My Honey and I are taking another leap in our eating habits. Last week, I watched the documentary Food, Inc. Much of what was in the movie was not new to us because of our interest in sustainability but it gave us much food for thought (pun intended). As a result, we’ve decided that buying locally is not enough. We have decided to buy organically raised food as much as possible. Additionally, we’re going to try to eat only food that was available before 1960 (Which effectively eliminates 98% of the “food” in my local grocery store). Now, we’re not going to turn into food police because of this. I recognize that living in Southern California provides options for us that aren’t available in other parts of the country. This is a choice that is right for us. I always assume that others will make the right choices for themselves.
The other day, I was hit with a dose of reality when I went grocery shopping at my favorite store. This is going to be a lot harder than anticipated…kind of like when we decided to give up things with high-fructose corn syrup in them and discovered that HFCS is in almost everything! I figured if even WalMart was offering organics that my local store surely would have a nice selection. I was wrong. And those things that I found cost substantially more than the factory produced goods.
During World War II, women had to deal with food rationing and learned how to make do. In order to keep our food budget from skyrocketing out of control when I start shopping at Whole Paycheck, I mean Whole Foods, I have decided to adopt a quasi-rationing mentality and learn how to make do on less “premium foods” such as meat. I view this as a good thing and not one of deprivation. It is nudge in the direction of taking smaller servings.
Fortunately for me, I have all of those cookbooks written by Betty and her colleagues written before 1960. They use real food. They contain mid-century sensibility about food before factory farming became the norm and their serving sizes are designed to keep us trim and healthy.
I guess “my share” just became more realistic in size, eh!
It’s fun to share these concepts. Your commitment to organic eating is admirable and is made easier by your location. It seems to me we only know what we’re told about our food, unless we grow it ourselves, of course, and even then there’s guesswork. I remember when locally grown produce was a treat and we watched for it. Now so much of that has gone away with rising labor costs, producer insurance, etc. For instance, we used to have local strawberry fields. No more. Our strawberries are now shipped in from California. Grow my own? I am a very mediocre gardener. I have success by accident. Nevertheless, I keep trying.
I’m so excited to see this blog! I’ve been following your modern retro housewife and am really impressed with your insights. I, too, just saw Food, Inc. and want to go more organic, but am concerned about the cost. Can’t wait to see what retro recipes you find that marry good nutrition with reasonable prices!