Oh you know the old saw "People never really change" and all that. Well, I am here to report that there are a few who do. And maybe more than a few.
About 9 months ago my husband and I decided to change the way we eat. We decided to do a few simple things:
1. Eat at home.
2. Eat freshly prepared food.
3. When we're done, write down what we eat.
We had studied some basic food plans and "diets" and weren't too thrilled about prospects, but we did want to go into our later years with a few less pounds and a little more energy.
And so we began. At first I was intimidated. I'm not much of a cook - or so I thought. I don't like cookbooks. I'm very sensitive about the food I make and so I hate it if someone critiques me.
But these things ended up not being such a big deal. I bought some fresh vegetables, some fish, some rice and some whole grain bread. I am a painter and so I decided to just make the most colorful meals I could.
After the first week I was kind of amazed that it was fun. I was getting into it, and getting intrigued. We had actually talked about things, laughed over the meals, and the days somehow felt longer. Go figure.
After the first month we had both lost 8 pounds and we felt great and I felt energized like I was on a mission. Who knew?
Then I picked up a book that I had started in the Fall, but set aside for various reasons. "Animal, Vegetable, Miracle: A year in the life of food" by Barbara Kingsolver. I read it avidly now ... and felt pulled into her family's attempt to eat consciously.
By this time it was just a subtle shift for me to move from homemade to healthy to local. It happened over the course of the next few months.
(Disclaimer: I've read all of Barbara Kingsolver's novels and loved every one so I already thought she rocked. This book though makes me wish I was related by blood, and I am wondering if I can gerry-rig Geneaology.com to make it happen.)
Fortunately for me Spring was coming to my home, and being in the South that meant fresh fruits and vegetables were plentiful. We are so lucky - we have strawberries, blueberries and peaches in our yard. As well as lettuce until the first days of 90 degree weather. We also have broccoli, snap peas, cucumbers and peppers galore. I can't grow a tomato to save my freaking life.
I wasn't as religious about it as the Kingsolver Hoppe family. And that's okay. I still bought some food at the grocery store, but I felt myself looking at labels and wondering about the packaging and choosing the organics way more often than not.
And then I just trusted the mystery of it all. I didn't try to figure out how to make a switch, or whether or not we could sustain this. Nor did I try to convert my family or preach a new way of life. I just began making some changes. I piled the fresh stuff directly into my canvas bags, and stopped buying bottled water. "We're out of water!" my husband would holler and I'd look at him like he was crazy and fill up a beautiful cobalt blue glass with sparkling water and ice and hand it to him. With a kiss. He doesn't miss the plastic bottles now.
I've found some friends who bake bread and now I'm thinking maybe I could do that. I bought Rikki Carroll's book on making cheese at home. My husband fainted but he revived in about an hour and is very much looking forward to that possibility. I think cheese is his totally favorite food.
I haven't had a diet coke in weeks. And I didn't even realize that til just now.
It is mysterious, this change. I used to eat out about 80 or even 90 % of the time. I always skipped breakfast. I struggled with weight and felt about 10 years older than I am -- and I"m old!! I turned 50 last year!
Now, after nine months of keeping it simple, keeping it real and keeping it full of color I've lost 37 pounds! My husband has lost over 50! We had no idea it could be that easy. I mean, it never felt like we were on a diet! Ever.
I even eat chocolate still!
So, I wonder what other old saws are ready to fall. But never let it be said that people can't change. They can. And I only know this because I did. In an area of my life that I had no idea I could, would or would WANT to change!
Yesterday my friend who gardens came out to the house and she is going to help me set up a mushroom growing contraption. And put in some rows of winter veggies. And she told me about a local dairy. And she has a friend who raises lambs and goats ..... and, well, I see some new horizon dawning.
And it is going to be pretty darn tasty.
Good news. I think more and more people are going to do what you guys are doing.
ReplyDeleteOne thing that Kingsolver and Michael Pollan note is not only the importance of the family meal itself, but also the importance of the preparation of the family meal as a family. If eating healthy/seasonaly/locally is a religion (in the best sense), then the preparation of a meal together, for me, is its High Mass.
If you haven't read them already, may I suggest some other books.
In Defense Of Food, Pollan
Omnivore's Dilemma, ibid
Second Nature, ibid
A Place On Earth, Wendell Berry
Jayber Crow, ibid
Hannah Coulter, ibid
Keep the faith. Don't buy "food" your grandmother wouldn't have recognized. Sort of.
I totally agree, and wish I had done this more often when my kids were little. But now, what we do is when they come home for holidays or visits we spend a lot of time in the kitchen together. So, I'm working on having fewer regrets, and enjoying the process.
ReplyDeleteI have Pollan's books on my Kindle, and have read Omnivore's Dilemma. I'll look into Wendell Berry. Thanks for the recommendations!
Have you ever thought about keeping bees? I'm curious about it. Not sure if I'll move in that direction or not, but was just wondering.
Bees? No. Chickens, goats, milk cows. And horses. A daydream my brothers and I have is to work the land using no fossil fuels -- not because of the environment, but because of the elegance of that kind of system. Break the land with horses and a plow. Grow oats for the horses, which, along with the chickens, cows and goats, feed the land.
ReplyDeleteRemember the scene when the little girl doesn't want the farmer to pick off the corn worms from the produce because she could feed the worms to her chicks? That's the way I've become about compost. Weird? Yep. But kind of... fun.
Yes, I remember that about Lily and the corn worm. What a neat moment. And, I remember your post about the compostables at the Winn Dixie. Times change slowly.
ReplyDeleteWe're in agreement about the elegance of working the land...and the cycle of care that it engenders. There is an essence to it that can be carried to all walks of life. There is a respect for the cycle that makes it sustainable.
It seems to be an embodiment of the kind of compassion that is important. To me anyway.