It should be simple but in today's society food has become a complex issue.
A trip to the grocery store is filled with guilt ridden decision making. It can be a battlefield of affordability versus certified organic product choices. A mother of three with limited income can, and often will, leave the grocery store feeling proud on one hand for all the food she managed to purchase on a budget, but remorseful on the other for the possibility of pesticides.
I'm sure there was a time when standing in front of the apples in the produce department the decision was based more on cooking apple or snacking apple. Today I stand staring at the beautiful yellow apples from New Zealand but will ultimately settle for the small, sour Macintosh from Ontario because I am to buy locally grown right? Better yet, I should cut out the middle man and drive up the road to the apple stand and purchase my apples from my local farmer. Or am I to support international trade and encourage the export/import business? I realize New Zealand is a first world nation but what of countries that rely on the export of their products to support their economy? See, complicated.
All this without mentioning the challenge of getting a box of Lucky Charms through the checkout and into my cloth shopping bag before the other parents see and judge me. I usually mix it up with the organic quinoa flour and large bag of whole oats. I may even toss a package of bok choy on top for good measure. Because, yes, I let my kids have marshmallow cereal for breakfast sometimes, but I also make their muffins with quinoa and apple sauce.
In this overproduced market of fatty, salty food I try very hard to eat the right stuff. I will have a sandwich loaded with veggies on whole grain bread, but I may have a side of All Dressed chips with it, and dare I say....a Coca-Cola!
I certainly do not have the answers to save our society from this giant hole of terrible, dangerous food. And by no means do I want to return to the "good ol' days" of food preparation involving me with an apron and probably some sort of jellied meat.
I wish I had something really insightful and inspiring to write on the topic but sadly I do not. We have become a culture so deeply immersed in the capital world of profit that our food has changed. There is a lot of conversation these days about our food, where it comes from, what's in it. I'm glad. These are conversations that need to be had and I certainly hope it is not too little too late.
For now I will continue reading labels and buying food that is real. I will buy produce locally while in season but chances are I will still buy grapes from Chile in January. I will learn how to prepare more vegetarian meals because it is good for us and so that I can afford the ethical beef instead of the guilt-ridden beef. I will allow my kids marshmallows for breakfast and feed them raw veggies for lunch. I will continue to support local farmers and visit produce stands and farmer's markets whenever I can.
I'm trying to keep food simple at my house without ignoring the real issues facing our food industry today. No easy task. Right now I'm off to finish my daughter's uneaten peanut butter sandwich and apple slices. Our food is simple at our house but I didn't say anything about glamorous.
