Monday, March 29, 2010

Still Here, Still Trying

Wow, it's been a while since I've posted here or even logged in to follow other blogs. I have been crazy busy with school, pounding out project after project and exam after exam. It's been overwhelming. And it has had an effect on our eating habits.

There have been good days, less-good days, and old life days. There haven't been too many old life days, though, so I haven't totally regressed. But I do know why it happened. I've been too busy. Avoiding processed foods means taking on a lot of food prep, which takes time. I have managed to find some all-real-ingredient shortcut foods at the grocery store. But not many- and who wants to eat the same three things all the time? I've also found myself making some compromises.

For the most part, I can live with a few compromises. Or, more truthfully, I'm just too busy right now to spend much time thinking about them. But it still irks me that the food offerings in this country are so out of whack that it is even necessary to wonder "would it be worse to pick up grocery store ground beef that's ethically bad or use that prepared stir fry sauce that's probably all kinds of bad for our health, so I don't go through the drive-thru which is definitely bad for our health?"

As a student of history, I recognize that the past is filled with multitudes of politicians who collected paychecks for  bending with the wind, as well as a handful of individuals who stood their ground and had significant effects on history as a result. I am hoping that I will see, in my lifetime, an American politician take a stand for food safety, nutrition, and transparency- and win. Until then, I'll continue waging the daily battles in my kitchen, one meal at a time.

6 comments:

  1. Sarah Craighead DedmonMarch 29, 2010 at 11:25 PM

    Amen, sistah. :) I feel the same way. Enjoying the blog!

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  2. I was just talking yesterday to Ang, from Maple Valley Farm, and we both agreed how difficult this "lifestyle" would be if there were outside commitments that kept one away from home. Most definitely it would require some major planning and prep work. Eating right takes some serious forethought and that is a tough row to hoe when you are doing all that you are! For now, just do what you can. There will come a time when it won't be this hard, but meanwhile, you are definitely getting someplace! Remember...baby steps!

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  3. Thanks ladies. I've been too busy to post much, but reading your comments makes me feel at least a little better about dealing with the hassle.

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  4. Just dropped in to all the real food bloggers for the first time in a while-- I so get what you're talking about. The main reason I was able to do this was because I got my job cut in half. So the choice society seems to give us, is work enough to bring home a salary and feed your family garbage, or be struggling financially and have time to make good foods. It's a huge dilemma.

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  5. Xan, you have laid out the problem very succinctly. I've started thinking of our food system as "the great American tragedy."

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  6. It is all about making small changes to you diet and doing it a little at a time. Adjusting yourself to your new diet as well as allowing yourself time to adjust to a way of sticking to it. It is difficult especially when the food industry makes it hard to find "real food" almost everything has some form of processing.
    Check out my site at FoodMythsBusted.com we go into a lot more detail on this as well as more on food and it's Cancer and disease causing effects it has on you.
    Keep it up it is worth it in the end :-)

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