One of my recent "hobbies," if you can call it that, has been putting more focus on the foods we eat and how they are sourced. For the last year or so I have been educating myself on the food industry in the United States and frankly I've been pretty appalled at what is allowed to go on the shelves in the supermarket. I won't go on and on here about Monsanto, growth hormones, artificial dyes, GMOs, and the dairy and meat industries. There are many people who are more knowledgeable and eloquent on these topics than I. If you're interested in doing some reading/research here are a few resources that may be helpful:
This TED talk
100 Days of Real Food
This article on growth hormones in the dairy industry
2 documentaries: Food Inc. (also their website) and Farmageddon
That said, I am convinced that it is super important to know where your food comes from and to source it locally, organically when possible, and humanely. What we eat makes SUCH a difference in our health and well-being. Nothing could have convinced Jeremy and I more of this than when we tried going gluten-free for a month to see if it might help all of Jeremy's health issues (migraines, IBS, depression, among others that would probably be TMI and he wouldn't appreciate having published for the world). Jeremy has never been particularly disciplined about food choices so I was SHOCKED after that month when he said he would never eat gluten again and he STUCK TO IT! His migraines were reduced from about 2 a week to maybe twice a month. Irritable bowel? Not so irritated! Depression? Basically gone (no more meds!)- though there are some other lifestyle factors that undoubtedly contribute to this as well. It bears saying that going gluten free is not the answer for everyone but if you have a sensitivity to it, WOW it's like a miracle. I don't have a sensitivity so I will still eat sandwich bread and other gluten-y things when he's not around. That experiment provided such clear evidence to us that the food we put in our bodies can truly heal us or make us sick.
So, we've started making other changes as well. We're not perfect at this and are working on implementing small changes little by little. One of those changes is reducing our meat intake pretty severely. We're not vegetarians by any means but we do have several meatless meals a week and when we do eat meat we try to do so in moderation. From time to time we are able to afford organic chicken (with coupons!) or get some pastured meat (meaning it has been fed grass in a pasture rather than corn in a feed lot) but it's pretty pricey stuff (the flavor is AMAZING though). It's really awesome when we can get meat from a farm that is family run and has been raised only a few hours from where we live! But again, we're on a budget (a REALLY tight budget). So how can we afford to eat healthfully with high quality ingredients on a salary that puts us below the poverty line? (Yeah, it's true.)
1. Like I said, we reduced our meat intake. So even if the meat we eat is a bit more expensive we consume way less of it and at least break even with what we were spending on meat before (and sometimes it comes out less). I admit though, that if I see meat at the supermarket that has been dramatically reduced in price I still pick it up (even though I know that it isn't really what I want to support). For example, I have a roast in my fridge right now that I will cook up (it was reduced to half price) but that single roast will top multiple salads and get sliced thinly into stir fries and fritatas and round out several lunches/suppers for the next week. I highly recommend the cookbook Almost Meatless for some great recipes that involves less meat but still loads of yumminess.
2. We don't eat out (unfortunately, like NEVER). I can cook way more servings for the price of a restaurant meal than we would get to enjoy sitting down once for the same price.
3. We don't eat premade/processed foods. Not even the "healthier" versions like Kashi or Amy's because they're expensive and even if they are organic and healthy (though Kashi is now owned by Kellogg so that's basicially a moot point) I'd have to buy at least 3 meals to feed my family (and Jeremy would probably end up snacking on cereal after dinner anyway since he works up such an appetite at work and I might join him since at this point in my pregnancy I'm basically hungry most of the time). At $4-6 a pop I can cook healthier and cheaper meals myself.
4. This one is my favorite. Several weeks ago Jeremy and I signed up to receive a share of the crops from a local SC farm. We figured out that most of our grocery money goes toward produce. We decided that rather than spend "x" amount on produce that we don't know where it came from or how it was grown every week/month we'd rather bite the bullet (and use some of our tax refund) to put down a large upfront investment in a local farm. I did a lot of research on what CSAs (CSA= community supported agriculture) are available in our area and which one seemed like the best deal for us. I narrowed it down to Pinckney's Produce and Gruber Farms. I ended up choosing Gruber because for the size share we wanted it was $11 cheaper and there were no delivery fees to have it dropped off at a site just a few blocks from my home (Pinckney had a $20 delivery fee). So, for a medium share, which is 3/4 of a bushel (which, if you're like me, you have no idea how big a bushel is; picture a standard banker-size box just a few inches shorter) we spent $385 to have fresh, local produce delivered to us for 12 weeks. I still pick up bananas, apples, onions, and garlic at the supermarket but other than that I rely on my box to dictate what kinds of foods I'll be cooking each week. We figured out that the average weekly cost was about $32 for the produce which I'll happily spend for something as healthy and tasty as local produce (I was probably spending close to that already on lower quality foods). Because we used some tax refund money and we're not spending $32 every week out of our paycheck we have a little bit more money available each month (to pay bills).
A few benefits of getting involved in a CSA:
1. Locally grown food is tastier and healthier than food picked well before it was ripe and shipped in trucks cross country. If I wanted to I could hop in the car and drive 2-3 hours and walk around the farm where my food is grown. I kind of love that there is still dirt clinging to the roots of my veggies! I know that the produce I bring into my house was probably picked within a day or two of my receiving it.
2. You support local economy and traditional farming.
3. Gruber isn't certified organic but they use way less pesticides on their food that large corporations that are shipping nationwide/worldwide. It's kind of nice to know that the farmers didn't need to wear hazmat suits while they grew your food because of the poisons they were spraying all over it. I'm not kidding!
4. It has pushed me to taste and cook vegetables that I wouldn't usually try. Like beets. My mom made beets occasionally when we were growing up but when I got beets in my first box I realized that I had never actually cooked them myself! Well, I have now, and they were delicious!
This TED talk
100 Days of Real Food
This article on growth hormones in the dairy industry
2 documentaries: Food Inc. (also their website) and Farmageddon
That said, I am convinced that it is super important to know where your food comes from and to source it locally, organically when possible, and humanely. What we eat makes SUCH a difference in our health and well-being. Nothing could have convinced Jeremy and I more of this than when we tried going gluten-free for a month to see if it might help all of Jeremy's health issues (migraines, IBS, depression, among others that would probably be TMI and he wouldn't appreciate having published for the world). Jeremy has never been particularly disciplined about food choices so I was SHOCKED after that month when he said he would never eat gluten again and he STUCK TO IT! His migraines were reduced from about 2 a week to maybe twice a month. Irritable bowel? Not so irritated! Depression? Basically gone (no more meds!)- though there are some other lifestyle factors that undoubtedly contribute to this as well. It bears saying that going gluten free is not the answer for everyone but if you have a sensitivity to it, WOW it's like a miracle. I don't have a sensitivity so I will still eat sandwich bread and other gluten-y things when he's not around. That experiment provided such clear evidence to us that the food we put in our bodies can truly heal us or make us sick.
So, we've started making other changes as well. We're not perfect at this and are working on implementing small changes little by little. One of those changes is reducing our meat intake pretty severely. We're not vegetarians by any means but we do have several meatless meals a week and when we do eat meat we try to do so in moderation. From time to time we are able to afford organic chicken (with coupons!) or get some pastured meat (meaning it has been fed grass in a pasture rather than corn in a feed lot) but it's pretty pricey stuff (the flavor is AMAZING though). It's really awesome when we can get meat from a farm that is family run and has been raised only a few hours from where we live! But again, we're on a budget (a REALLY tight budget). So how can we afford to eat healthfully with high quality ingredients on a salary that puts us below the poverty line? (Yeah, it's true.)
1. Like I said, we reduced our meat intake. So even if the meat we eat is a bit more expensive we consume way less of it and at least break even with what we were spending on meat before (and sometimes it comes out less). I admit though, that if I see meat at the supermarket that has been dramatically reduced in price I still pick it up (even though I know that it isn't really what I want to support). For example, I have a roast in my fridge right now that I will cook up (it was reduced to half price) but that single roast will top multiple salads and get sliced thinly into stir fries and fritatas and round out several lunches/suppers for the next week. I highly recommend the cookbook Almost Meatless for some great recipes that involves less meat but still loads of yumminess.
2. We don't eat out (unfortunately, like NEVER). I can cook way more servings for the price of a restaurant meal than we would get to enjoy sitting down once for the same price.
3. We don't eat premade/processed foods. Not even the "healthier" versions like Kashi or Amy's because they're expensive and even if they are organic and healthy (though Kashi is now owned by Kellogg so that's basicially a moot point) I'd have to buy at least 3 meals to feed my family (and Jeremy would probably end up snacking on cereal after dinner anyway since he works up such an appetite at work and I might join him since at this point in my pregnancy I'm basically hungry most of the time). At $4-6 a pop I can cook healthier and cheaper meals myself.
4. This one is my favorite. Several weeks ago Jeremy and I signed up to receive a share of the crops from a local SC farm. We figured out that most of our grocery money goes toward produce. We decided that rather than spend "x" amount on produce that we don't know where it came from or how it was grown every week/month we'd rather bite the bullet (and use some of our tax refund) to put down a large upfront investment in a local farm. I did a lot of research on what CSAs (CSA= community supported agriculture) are available in our area and which one seemed like the best deal for us. I narrowed it down to Pinckney's Produce and Gruber Farms. I ended up choosing Gruber because for the size share we wanted it was $11 cheaper and there were no delivery fees to have it dropped off at a site just a few blocks from my home (Pinckney had a $20 delivery fee). So, for a medium share, which is 3/4 of a bushel (which, if you're like me, you have no idea how big a bushel is; picture a standard banker-size box just a few inches shorter) we spent $385 to have fresh, local produce delivered to us for 12 weeks. I still pick up bananas, apples, onions, and garlic at the supermarket but other than that I rely on my box to dictate what kinds of foods I'll be cooking each week. We figured out that the average weekly cost was about $32 for the produce which I'll happily spend for something as healthy and tasty as local produce (I was probably spending close to that already on lower quality foods). Because we used some tax refund money and we're not spending $32 every week out of our paycheck we have a little bit more money available each month (to pay bills).
A few benefits of getting involved in a CSA:
1. Locally grown food is tastier and healthier than food picked well before it was ripe and shipped in trucks cross country. If I wanted to I could hop in the car and drive 2-3 hours and walk around the farm where my food is grown. I kind of love that there is still dirt clinging to the roots of my veggies! I know that the produce I bring into my house was probably picked within a day or two of my receiving it.
2. You support local economy and traditional farming.
3. Gruber isn't certified organic but they use way less pesticides on their food that large corporations that are shipping nationwide/worldwide. It's kind of nice to know that the farmers didn't need to wear hazmat suits while they grew your food because of the poisons they were spraying all over it. I'm not kidding!
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| 14 Foods You Should Never Eat |
I am hoping to post about what I received in my produce box each week as well as link to recipes that I found or created to use that produce during the course of the week.
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