What I Eat (and Don't Eat)

Every once in a while, I read a book that scares me into doing something about the food I eat.  A long time ago, I read something that convinced me to start drinking organic milk (and I've been doing that for a long, long time).  I think it had something to do with hormones.  In the last few years, I've read things that have convinced me to eat organic vegetables and meats as often as I can.  Michael Pollan's Omnivore's Dilemma convinced me that S and I have to stop eating foods with high fructose corn syrup and hydrogenated oils.  (Last night, I rejected our barbecue sauce on the basis of high fructose corn syrup, and it hurt me to do so, because I really wanted barbecue sauce.)  And now, I'm reading Barbara Kingsolver's Animal, Vegetable, Miracle, and it's making me think I should do a CSA.

To be fair, I've been wanting to do a CSA (Community Supported Agriculture) for ages.  I even once asked my mom to go in for a summer with me, but she couldn't figure out what she could do with all those vegetables.  It's expensive, so I've always held off (and of course, now all the shares are sold out for 2007, so 2008 will be my first chance, I think).  But now I'm thinking--expenses be damned.  I SHOULD eat more vegetables, because I basically like them.  And even if I received a share one week with a whole bunch of stuff in it that I'd never eaten or cooked, I'm fairly certain that I could figure out how to cook them with little or no fuss.  Most veggies, after all, can be sauteed in a little oil with some garlic and be eaten happily.  I guess I'll have to make do with Green Market purchases all summer, only be more adventurous and work hard to work these foods into my diet.  (I'm also planning on trying eggs and meat from the green market this year, since I won't eat supermarket meat anymore anyway.  I like to eat chicken breasts, but I don't like to make the trip to WF once a week to get them.  Maybe this'll be a way to work some nice chicken into my diet.)

I keep reading these books, and I keep thinking that we need to do our primary shopping in places where it's harder to acquire foods with so much chemically crap in them, but by doing that, I know I'm also raising the cost of living for us, something we can little afford to do.  It's as if we need to start buying fewer items and eating less just so that we can put actual good food in our bodies.  (Although, and I won't go into it here, it's going to be hard to eliminate fillers, preservatives and chemicals from S's diet.  He eats just about nothing, after all.)  And then there's the issue of restaurants, which I want to eat at, and which I love to eat at.  It's pretty hard to find cheap restaurants that serve the good-for-you stuff.  I think it's this big balancing act, where you try to eat as much organic and chemical-free as you can (you just try taking Diet Coke away from me; I'm not ready for that yet!), and still eat some of the things you love and know aren't good for you. 

All the same, I think I will do a CSA next year.  I think it'll be a fun experiment, and I think that I'll enjoy having so much fresh in my life.  I'm already super-excited about the Green Market, as it is.  And I'm not going to stop reading books that incite me to further food foibles.  It's probably better for me in the long run.

Comments

[comebacknikki]

You should check out Newleaf Grocery (http://www.newleafnatural.net/). It's in Rogers Park, which isn't too far from you. I really like them b/c they have a CSA program, but you don't have to commit to any length of time - it's a week by week program and it's really affordable. They also have fruit only or veggie only options.