the last few days i have been listening to books on cd when i work around the farm, one in particular is animal, vegetable, miracle. I have for the most part been a healthy eater, my mother cooked from scratch. at the age of eleven i decide that i would no longer eat any animal flesh and shortly after any animal bi product, although as of late that has changed since a new found love for cheese and eggs. if i am going to raise animals i must no exactly who i am when it comes too what i will put in my mouth, admitting that i will raise chickens for eggs and goats for cheese was and is very hard for me to say with conviction. visiting farms around us i also realize that i must start to form a thicker skin when it comes to animals and living things. although i will never kill any animal for food there was a time i would say " but aren't eggs animals" again as you can see a struggle inside of me.
I am learning a lot, like did you know that in all the countries in the world americans spend less of their paychecks on food in fact no time in american history have we spend less. I thought about this and traveled back into my memory in all the countries i have lived and yes on all the tables of my childhood and travels there was bountiful of fresh ingredients, cheeses, meats, oils, nuts. that if we simply started allowing for more of our funds to go to the purchase of food we would fill our baskets with free range meats, cheese, variety of vegetable and fruits. we would see the difference immediately and it would all translate to healthier society, we end up paying many times over what we try to save at the grocery store in medical bills, medicine, sick days and so on. ironically k and i in the last year have had a very small budget for food, living in the country allows me to buy straight from the farmer and fill my bags with vegetables that i would probably pass up in the grocery store for financial reasons. although we do not all live where farm stands and markets surround us, what we can do is maybe trim our budget in other areas because truthfully i can not think what is more satisfying than preparing and sitting down at table for something that is ethical, healthy and in season.
*dearest friends i am writing all of this to put it in perspective for myself, in no way do i want to preach but what i would love to do is share what ia m learning along the way..
11 comments:
What an important post. I think about these issues a lot, too. I haven't eaten any meat in fifteen years, but I do eat eggs and cheese. This is something I wrestle with on a regular basis. I buy only organic free range eggs (and hope to raise my own chickens for eggs when we have the space for it in the near future), and I love how many small farms are making cheeses these days. We have such bounty to choose from our local farms! I am thankful for this every single day, especially as I chop all these jewel-toned vegetables to put into a soup or saute.
Thanks for "thinking out loud" about these things.
xo Gigi
Thank you for sharing. I have that same book, and 'The Omnivore's dilemma' on my to read list. it is SO important to pay attention to what we eat, and how we eat. it shapes our health and our lives in ways we struggle to grasp sometimes. thank you for the reminder.
Hi, it´s very good that you eat healthy food...but what I want to say really is that I love your pictures, you make a visual poem of anything!!! I have a lot to learn from you.
Cariños
i'll be thinking of this for the rest of the week, i am sure nadia. thank you for sharing your thoughts...i always know where to come to get my mind working ;)
The current debate about food, where it comes from, what we pay for it and how we use it is fascinating. We're not vegetarians but I try to make sure we eat non-meat dinners a couple of times a week. I try to do all the right things, buy free-range (and funds permitting) organic produce, we eat together at the table and avoid all thinks junky/fast food. It's true that the choices we make as individuals can make a huge difference. Your photos look magnificent!
I adore you for writing this post. I feel exactly the same way, and in fact I was also animal flesh and bi-product free for many years until recently. It was after I read Michael Pollan's recent book, In Defense of Food, that I began to think that maybe the trick to eating and living well is as simple as eating "real" food. A rule of thumb that I've taken from the book and now apply to my diet is, "don't eat anything that your grandmother or great-grandmother wouldn't recognize." So, local dairy and fruit and veg it is! Thank you for writing about this :)
This is a great reflection on Life,,, I'm not a vegan, but I do love to buy fresh food, and I eat less meat, less red meat, thanks Nadia!!
This are beautiful photos !
love , Rini
wonderfully said! and beautiful pictures. i love the old shovel too!! :)
I couldn't agree more with your thoughts on food. I just finished reading Michael Pollan's The Omnivore's Dilemma, which was incredibly eye-opening and life-altering. It really puts into perspective the type of things we spend our money on. What's more important than nourishing ourselves with the right food? Words to live by!
Its one of my treasured reads. I contracted a virus back in 2004 that wrecked my digestion systems.
Already a foodie I had to take it one step further & now regard the hellish months as a blessing. I no longer buy what I can make that way I avoid the chemicals & additives not needed. I do find the slow food movement a bit ironic..I still call it my mothers veggie garden. :)
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