Deep Thoughts on a Sunday Morning

It's Sunday morning. 10:30 am. Kids are still sleeping. (As I have mentioned, they are teenagers). One load of laundry in the washer, one in the dryer. A pot of coffee in my system. Ok, I'm going to admit, I drink half caf. If not, my insides would try to crawl outside, and that is just no bueno. I used to make fun of decaf. Getting old is just wonderful. Ugh.  I do love coffee, though. I drink it black, so I can actually taste the coffee. Ok, enough about coffee. Here's what I was thinking about this morning.

I was thinking about how unaware most people are about what they consume; how it was raised, how it was "prepared" (read:killed), and why they should even care. I shall now begin to give my opinion as to why you should care. I hope you don't start to glaze over (as my students occasionally did when I was teaching), but give a little thought to what you read. This comes from my soul. I believe this, and TRY to live it every day. If I had a bigger platform (television) I would have a show about it. Well, maybe just a big part of it...
Anyway.....

I had a man with gluten intolerance ask me the other day why I thought so many people were developing allergies or intolerance (very different things, people) to foods. Did I think it was all the genetic modifications, the processing, the chemical changes we have done to food? YES. That is my answer. The human body was designed pretty perfectly, if you ask me.Yes, there are little glitches in the system, but as with anything produced on such a mass scale, there are bound to be inconsistencies. I am in constant awe of how we exist: that our hearts just never stop beating, that our brains tell us to inhale and exhale, that we have survival mechanisms built in. We are supposed to live WITHIN our environment, not change and bend it to our will. But there are just too many of us, and not enough space left to raise food products the way they were meant to be raised. Plus, it seems that human nature is to try to improve on everything, as if everything NEEDS to be better, just because we say so. Just because we got the opposable thumbs, we think we can do whatever we want. My point is, we got so busy mass producing things, we changed their molecular nature. Our bodies can't keep up with it, and so begin to reject it. And we're surprised. That always gets me. But yet, we want cheaper and bigger and more available foodstuffs. When I lived in Paris briefly, I found such joy in the fact that I could walk down a street and buy things that were made THAT day, every day. Americans are the only ones who feel the need to have their food in little plastic trays, stacked endlessly on shelves, cut 32 different ways, with 14 day shelf lives. Now, I haven't been to Europe in a decade, so things may have changed. And I do believe that SOME Americans have had a food epiphany. The produce sections of markets has changed. The meat counter at Whole Foods is so beautiful it makes me want to weep. But as a whole, the food we put on our tables is still mass produced. The animals are raised on the wrong feed, filled with antibiotics and growth hormones, killed in unimaginable ways, processed by people who don't care about safety and health. Sorry if you don't want to hear it. But it's true. And we wonder why it: a) doesn't have any flavor and b) doesn't go through our systems properly. Sigh. I wish people cared more.

Do me a favor. Do yourself a favor. Go buy two books by Michael Pollan: In Defense of Food
and most importantly The Omnivore's Dilemma. What you will learn will change your lives, and the way you look at food. It all came as no surprise to me. As I have mentioned, I really do believe in the fact that humans were meant to exist within nature, not above it. Just because I have a cell phone or thumbs to text with, I don't think I'm better than my dog, or the cows I moo at as I drive by them, or elephants or....
There isn't anything wrong with us using nature to survive. To farm, to hunt, to consume. It ain't one giant Peaceable Kingdom. We need to raise crops, farm animals, hunt and gather. I will never be a vegetarian, or vegan. I like meat. I think pigs are adorable, and brilliant. Anyone who has been to my house knows how much I like pigs. But I also believe they are some GOOOOOOD eating. Thank you, Wilbur for the bacon I am about to consume. Barbecue is a religious experience for me. I love me some meat. But I hate the idea of the CAFO- the concentrated animal feeding operation. The mass farm. That's why we all need to support small farming in our communities, whenever possible. It's good for people, it's good for animals. It keeps us in touch with our roots. I went to Vermont a few years ago, and fell in love with the vibe. There is such a sense of connection to the earth up there. People are locavores-they eat what they make. The farmers, the wine makers, the ice cream makers, even the beer makers (Thank you Ben and Jerry and Magic Hat and Cabot and everyone else) exist in conjunction with the land, the animals, the people. It is SO COOL. If I can just come to terms with how damn cold it gets in winter, I will move there. One of my dreams is to become a goat farmer, and make artisan goat cheeses and other goat milk products. So, anyone who feels like investing in a goat farm, give me a call in about 4 years when Nicole leaves for college and I get to start over..
I'm a tree hugger in case you haven't noticed. I'm not materialistic. I like people, and animals, and relationships much more than things. I recycle. I don't buy prepacked snacks. I don't have a pod coffee maker because I can't justify throwing a little plastic cup of used coffee grounds in the trash every time I want a cuppa. I try to keep my footprint small. I think we were all put here to make some sort of mark on the world, no matter how insignificant it may seem to us. Myself, I would love a bigger audience. But for now (unless any of you know a way to get my face on the tube) I have this blog, and the ear of anyone who gets close enough to hear me.
I would love to hear your comments and input on this diatribe you have just read. This blog is a two way street. Post on here, or on the facebook page. I promise, the witty Jen will be back with pictures and recipes and dinners this coming week. But now, those of you who didn't already know what makes this girl tick now do. All we can do as humans is to try to live right every day. That applies to everything: raising your kids, working, playing, eating...
To paraphrase the Hippocratic Oath: FIRST, DO NO HARM.
Have a great day, folks. Hug your kids, pet your dog (mine is getting a bath today), watch some football. And if you eat wings, try not to think about all those chickens we raise to lop off their little flying parts and douse them in hot sauce...OK SORRY I'LL STOP NOW. :-)