One Girl's Food Evolution

I was talking with my train buddies the other morning about Jamie Oliver's Food Revolution on ABC.  I have started watching it after it was suggested that I would enjoy it.  It's quite a task to take on and painfully eye-opening for some to expose the truth about our country's food supply, and Jamie faces a tough adversary in the LAUSD. My thoughts drifted to my own food "revolution,"  but really I think it has been more of an "evolution," a changing perspective and relationship with food.

Photo Source: www.earthspringfoods.com

My evolution really began in 2008 when I first made the switch from your regular big box grocery stores to Trader Joe's and Whole Foods.  After reading Skinny Bitch, which was hilariously written by some smart ladies, I took a serious look at the food I was buying and since then have tried to cut out fast food, eliminate trans fats from my foods and only buy my meat from Whole Foods, which we all know is a bit pricey, but for a single girl shopping for one, it's only a small difference in the wallet.  Flash forward to the beginning of this year and my new year's resolution to really make the switch to local, organic, unprocessed foodstuff--to remove the bar code from my food.  As much as possible, I wanted to stock my house only with ingredients that were raised or grown locally, humanely, and as close to chemical-free as possible.  And where I could, bake or cook my own snacks and breads since I don't need a lot of this stuff in the house anyway!  With my foodie nerd flag flying high in January, I was so excited when I picked up my very first meat CSA share of good old-fashioned locally farm raised chicken, pork, beef and lamb that I posted pictures on Facebook of the meals I had prepared...and, I guess you could say, the rest is food blog history.

I am still pleasantly surprised, thrilled really, at how many of my friends and family members are actually reading this little food journal of mine.  More importantly, I love how it has opened up the discussion about what we are eating and enjoying at home with our families and loved ones.  Back to the core values that hold us together through the lean and plentiful years, food always brings us to the table together as a family.  We eat, we pray, we share stories and knit together our lives over the simplest nourishment around: love. 

Norman Rockwell's "Freedom From Want"

While this whole process is still indeed a personal evolution for me, I am so proud of my own little revolution I seem to be creating in my tiny corner of the world. I have colleagues, friends, family, book clubbers, friends of friends, cousins of friends, friends of family and complete strangers in corners of the world I only dream of traveling to that are talking, reading, sharing and spreading the word of their food story.  Sound silly?  Maybe you're right.  But think about the last time you had a meal.  Chances are you shared that meal, whether it was a salad on your lunch hour with a colleague or sushi with the one you love.  We share our lives over food.  We create memories, go on first dates, fall in love, celebrate our faith, and mourn losses over meals.  It really isn't so strange after all,  is it?

From talking with you all, I have learned that this crazy idea of a blog that I backed into has inspired some friends to plant gardens, a few to change their habits with buying meat and produce locally, and others to go the distance and sign up for a vegetable CSA of their own. 

Keep talking about food, share recipes and feed your belly, but also feed your soul.  If you won't no one else will!