If any of you are still out there, I’m back! And I have SO much to write about that I have decided to break it into various posts. Here’s the first, enjoy!
Over the Christmas break we took a lengthy car trip to visit family and decided to check out a book on cd to entertain us along the way. Our first selection (Hot, Flat, and Crowded) wasn’t available so our substitute pick was Animal, Vegetable, Miracle. It’s a very enlightening look at a family who decided they would, for one year, eat only what they grew or raised themselves, or what they could find locally that others had grown or raised. I tell you what, that family was impressive. After listening to their story I was almost motivated to move to farm house and start a garden and build a chicken coop in the backyard and milk a cow! Now I didn’t really do any of those things, but it was very inspiring to hear what is possible. The only thing they were able to do that I am afraid I could not do is slaughter turkeys. I would rather someone else kill it or just go without the meat.
Eating locally (aka a locavore) is something we really wanted to do as much as possible after listening to the reasoning explained in the book. For us, this means we hit our farmer’s market and make sure to buy from the certified “local” tent. (The Dallas Farmer’s Market is huge and sometimes vendors get their produce from other states.) So, we are purchasing local fruits, veggies, honey and eggs. [It has come to our attention that the nice brown cartons of FREE RANGE eggs at the grocery store are not all they are cracked up to be. In order to farmer's to mark their eggs FREE RANGE all they have to do is have one door in a large chicken house that is open during certain hours so the chickens have the opportunity to go outside. Research shows that chickens will try the door once and if it's not open they won't try it again. So they don't even try going out of the door during the few hours it's unlocked.] At our farmer’s market we have found a couple booths that sell pasture raise chickens. The chickens range freely on a pasture and the eggs are collected daily. They sell here for $4 a dozen. We also have six booths dedicated to pasteurized meat. These animals (cows, pigs, chickens, lambs, rabbits) are not treated with hormones or antibiotics and are fed grass, alfalfa, clover, etc. They eat what is on that land and are also given hay rations. The animals are not killed until they have lived out their life and have reproduced and so on…. These animals live a different life than most of the animals that now lay in your grocers’ freezer. *We haven’t’ ventured out into the world of meat yet. We are still vegetarian. The thought actually makes me a little queasy now. (It’s weird, I know!)
Another resource you might have in your area is the local co-op or CSA. CSA stands for Community Supported Agriculture. In our local area, there is a 15 week CSA where you pay to the farmer a set amount of money up front (amount varies depending on the amount of food you need, i.e. individual or family). And for the next 15 weeks you receive fresh vegetables and breads from local farms and a local bakery. Directly from the farm to you. We haven’t tried this yet, but would love to give it a try.
Items we can’t find at our local farmer’s market we pick up at a local grocery store. If we had a true local grocery store then I would try shopping there, but we don’t (not that I know of at least), so I shop at our local neighborhood Kroger (plus, it’s in walking distance of the house). When purchasing dairy and produce items I now look at where the item came from. I now purchase milk based on which one was produced closest to our home. Hoping it is fresher and lacking extra preservatives, turns out that Borden’s is produced right here in Dallas.
We haven’t done this yet, but are considering making our own cheese. With a gallon of milk and two cheese making cultures we can make mozzarella in just 30 minutes. We weren’t able to find the cultures locally, but have found them online. There is a lady known as the Cheese Queen who has the 30 minute mozzarella recipe and sells the cultures along with other cheese making items. If we purchase this I will report back with our story, success or failure.
Some items we purchase are purchased simply because they are the only fair trade flour on the shelf or because they are the only organic option. When those options aren’t available and buying local isn’t an option, then best price usually wins. We’re still on a budget and counting every penny. But we have allowed ourselves more money for buying healthier food choices. We believe that eating healthier foods will serve our general health better and our attitudes better.
If you get the opportunity to read or listen to this book, it will make you think twice about what you are putting into your body and the effect it has on the world (especially the amount of American tax dollars spent to produce a cheaper product).
