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.

Real Food Challenge Week 2 Recap

Well, this week has been difficult. I have had project deadlines out the wazoo and a touch of some sort of spring yuck. It never developed to a full-blown flu like I get each spring; but it was enough to slow me down. The combination of deadlines and yuck knocked me off my game a little bit. I did really well at sticking with the program for dinners. And I did a pretty good job of planning ahead for them as well. But lunches kicked my butt this week. We ate out several times because there either wasn't anything to prepare quickly for lunch in the kitchen,or because we were out when we were overcome by hunger. The Boy was loving it. But I was not. Yesterday I picked up stuff for lunches, so hopefully week 3 will not be as disappointing in this regard.

There is good news too. I picked up my first order from the new buying club. I am happy with the quality of the food. The eggs are better than those I have been buying a little more locally, and the chicken is half the price with a higher confidence level on my part with regard to the way it was raised.

Also, I finally got my seed starting shelf set up in the basement with the help of The Boy. I have to hide it in the basement because otherwise the naughty kitties who live here will curl up on top of my seedlings. Apparently, seedlings are tres comfy.

And last, but certainly not least, I lost four pounds since cutting back on processed foods. This is a minor miracle considering that the last several years have been filled with me doing exactly what the doctors said to do and steadily continuing to gain weight. Huh.

My goals for the coming week include continuing to work on meal planning and continuing the garden prep work if the rain lets up. I'd really like to get some seeds in the ground! I'll also start more seeds inside to transplant later. I'd like to try something new in the kitchen, but with so many deadlines looming it isn't likely to happen.

GAO Spanks FDA

AOL News is reporting on a new General Accountability Office report that finds the Food and Drug Administration has "failed to ensure the safety of thousands of additives manufacturers put in what we eat." The GAO points to an exception to FDA rules, in place since 1958, that allows food companies to bypass FDA analysis by having the companies' own scientific panels designate their additives as "generally regarded as safe (GRAS)." You can read the rest of the story here.

Obesogens: Scary Stuff

MSNBC is carrying a Men's Health article today that discusses "obesogens," a class of endocrine-disrupting chemicals. The so-called obesogens disrupt the function of hormonal systems and are believed by many researchers to lead to weight gain. Sources of these endocrine disruptors include "soy products, hormones administered to animals, plastics in some food and drink packaging, ingredients added to processed foods, and pesticides sprayed on produce." The article is an interesting, albeit scary, read. Check it out!

Real Food Challenge Week 1 Recap

I've gotten off to a slow start in the Real Food Challenge running this month at Not Dabbling In Normal. I find myself missing a few aspects of last month's challenge at Nourished Kitchen. One of the things I find myself missing is the structure. So I've decided to adopt some of last month's structure for my personal challenge this month. Among the things I'll incorporate is the Monday Recap post. I thought I would enjoy the flexibility of NDIN's challenge more than I actually do. I think the reason for this is simply that, at any given moment, I am trying to juggle too many responsibilities. It gets overwhelming. I am serious about making changes in my family's diet. But I am also seriously time-restricted. It was nice to get a daily assignment last month, and know that every Monday I would have to fess up how I did during the week. NDIN is doing a "link party" today. But they also did a Friday recap. I'm not really sure if there is a regular check-in planned or not, so unless I figure out otherwise, I'll just plan to post a recap on Mondays.

That being said, I slacked more than I'm happy about this week. I also had tons and tons of schoolwork to turn in (I'm taking 15 credits this semester). On the upside, I did a better job about planning meals ahead of time and the meals I did plan were in line with our new diet. There were no disasters in the kitchen this week (woot!) and I'm getting into the swing of things with my new way of shopping. On the downside, the meals I didn't plan ended up not being great choices. They could have been worse; but they could have been a lot better.

In one respect, however, I got a "kitchen bonus" of sorts. This week was bulk trash week in my neighborhood. I scored an old-school 12 inch cast iron dutch oven that a neighbor was tossing. I'll post a picture when I've finished cleaning it up. I'm looking forward to trying sourdough bread in it.

I think my big lesson this week was my personal need for kitchen structure in order to stick to a healthy plan. I do a lot of winging it in life, with generally decent results. But the kitchen does not seem to be an area in which I can afford to wing it. That's useful information that, hopefully, I can translate into more success next week.

Also, FYI, the folks at Not Dabbling In Normal have posted a bunch of recipes this week, as well as some awesome photos. Go check them out. It's worth the click.

Speak Up. They're Listening.

So, recently, I sounded off in a post here about my frustration with Safeway over a telephone survey I participated in, purportedly to improve my local store. I was so annoyed after the survey that I fired off an email to Safeway with my list of suggestions, none of which were covered by the survey. Among my complaints were things such as not being able to buy fresh, wild-caught salmon and the unavailability of unprocessed staples like beans and rice in bulk, or at least in sizes larger than a single meal. I complained that while regular milk got several cases that were always full, organic milk got only one case that was always near empty. And I mentioned that it would be nice to have the option of buying the "most sprayed" produce items in organic instead. In addition, I told them that my family tries to eat a "real foods" diet and that we have some food sensitivity issues that make buying groceries challenging in a store filled with processed foods.

This morning, I went to my local Safeway. The produce section is right by the entrance, so I always start there. The produce section at this store generally looks pretty good. But when I got to the little organics section in the middle, I was surprised to see it fully stocked. Usually it looks pretty picked over, with the middle pretty much empty.

Now, there are lots of aisles I generally skip and today was no exception. But there were still a bunch of changes that jumped out at me. In all the aisles I shopped, organic products were front and center. In some cases, the selection of organic products had increased. I brought home a couple new things to try and I'm so thankful they were available. I was stunned, however, in the aisle where I used to frown at the puny bags of dry beans. Not only are the dry beans now available in larger quantities, but also in a much wider variety! (Rice too, I think, although I was so amazed by the bean selection that I sort of drooled over them until it became awkward and then I scurried away to finish my shopping.)

For the first time that I can recall, I was able to buy fresh, wild-caught salmon in exactly the amount I needed. And while I didn't need milk today, I did notice that the organic milk case was fully stocked.

I can't claim that my one little email brought about these changes at my local store. And it probably didn't hurt that CNN linked to my blog a week after I posted my rant. But people, somebody is listening. So when you can't find real foods to feed your family at your local store, fire off an email and let them know. Post about it on your blog because these corporations employ software that pours through social media searching for what people are saying about them. I know they do because they trolled my blog after my rant.

Speak up. They're listening.

This post is a part of Fight Back Friday hosted by Food Renegade.

Putting The CNN Article In Perspective

I had to give a lot of thought to whether or not I wanted to post on the CNN article for which I was interviewed. I was interviewed by Madison Park via phone regarding my participation in Nourished Kitchen's 28-Day Real Food Challenge. We talked for a long time about a range of subjects. So I was a little surprised to see that what she took from that conversation was essentially a Homeresque "Doh!" moment. Only a little surprised, though, because I knew going in that I was talking to The Media and that meant the rules were: 1) The Media can write whatever it wants, and 2)... well, no, maybe there's just that one rule.

Maybe it's because my training is in the Social Sciences, but I was disappointed that Park's article didn't delve a little further into why people were willing to go to the trouble to attempt this challenge. While it is true that the participants didn't know, going in, the depth to which we would be challenged (toss everything processed the first day?), it is interesting that so many signed on. And it's telling how many dropped out over time. Further, I would be willing to wager that nearly everyone, and quite possibly everyone, who finished the challenge "cheated" in some way. But why did they sign up in the first place?

I can only answer specifically for myself. But I suspect that many of the participants had become suspicious of the American food system. Movies like Food Inc. and authors such as Michael Pollan and Barbara Kingsolver influenced more than a few participants. Some people were hoping for better health through better eating. And some people were motivated by a combination of factors. I fall into the last category.

For me, there are a number of factors. But one of them is my quest to see if I can manage rheumatoid arthritis with diet instead of drugs. It's only been a month, so I don't have an answer to that question yet. But so far, so good. And even if I ultimately go back on the RA meds, I have already learned a few things. I have learned that I have sensitivities to certain common food additives. And that one of the symptoms I experience when I eat "tainted" foods is an RA flare. I've also learned that cutting out processed foods for the past month improved my breathing, which is particularly interesting to me because I was not previously aware I was experiencing breathing trouble.

I'm all about moderation in life. I don't see myself ever completely giving up all processed foods. I might try making homemade pasta sometime; but I'll keep the whole wheat stuff in the cabinet. I don't grind my own flour. I would love to try that, but a grinder is not in my budget. So I buy whole grain flour. I didn't give up my morning coffee, although I did give up the sugar I added to it (most days).

For me, the shift to a new way of eating is a permanent commitment I have made, but the 28-Day Real Food Challenge wasn't. It was a challenge. It was an opportunity for participants to test themselves. No long-term commitment required. This seems to be an idea lost on some of those who entered comments at the CNN site. I suppose I studied the social sciences because it is the study of that which I least understand: why people do the goofy things they do. I can rationalize in my mind trying out a different way of eating for a month. But I can't rationalize anonymously entering biting criticisms of strangers on a website read worldwide, especially regarding matters of personal diet. How sad a life it must be to fill one's time with that. Let me suggest a different activity: take a good hard look at your own life, determine where improvement can be made, and take a step in that direction. Consider it a challenge.