EAT FOOD swap

Here is a swapbot journal for a swap called "Eat Food," suggested by Michael Pollan's line "Eat food, not too much, mostly plants."


Tuesday, June 3, 2008

I decided to start this project with my pets. For almost all their lives my cats and dog have eaten commercial pet food. Now I can do differently, and sustainably, because our farm produces protein that we do not eat, in the form of pork liver, hearts, tongues & other organ meat. Instead of composting that meat, I am slow-cooking some of it with macaroni and oatmeal. In the morning when it is cooled I will chop some up and feed the animals with that. Not the pigs or chickens but the cats & dog.

The liver smells surprisingly delicious. I was afraid it would stink, but it is very nice. One of our cats snuggles on my lap as I type here, not knowing that the delicious smell will be in her belly at breakfast.

Why are you doing this challenge?

Because I live on a farm that my spouse and I started and we grow a lot of our own food. I feel like I am one of the good-guys and yet I still crave processed food and unwittingly consume stuff that I know must harm the earth. This is just a way to measure how I really eat.

Wednesday, June 4

Slow-cooked some dried beans with a handful of bacon ends from our hogs. I plan to make refried beans that I can freeze in small packets to be vegetarian protein for my meals. I can cook meat for John and we can share the vegetables and whatever else – pilaf, pasta, salad. We pretty much only buy meat from fellow small farmers in the Adirondacks. By now we are so used to the natural stuff that supermarket meat has little appeal.

What was it like to shop for food? Did it increase or decrease your food spending?

Earlier today I did a big shop and spent far more than I wish I needed to. Our most costly items are not even edible: laundry detergent, cat litter. I bought salad in a bag because I cannot resist it, although I have read Barbara Kingsolver’s book and I understand that I don’t have a right to salad that is not blooming in my own yard. I bought lots of fresh fruit and vegetables because I love them, but I feel guilty about it for the same reason – nothing like that is blooming in the Adirondacks now. Citrus and bananas certainly don’t even grow here at any time of year. I bought chocolate because there is no need to explain why.

Thursday, June 5 -- For dinner tonight I ate at a girlfriends’ potluck. I brought food that I had made from scratch: bacon-wrapped water chestnuts with peanut butter, apple hash with potatoes, and shredded pork. The pork was my own, naturally. The hash had organic apple, local asparagus & squash, imported rice and west coast organic blue potatoes. The water chestnuts came out of a can and I have no idea where they came from other than the grocery store. Girlfriends brought 1980s salad (spinach and strawberries,) store-bought turkey and quinoa with oranges, and various dips, nibbles & treats. Good wines that crossed an ocean. Chocolate cake made from scratch. Coffee from who knows where.

I cleaned out the leftovers making apple hash so tomorrow will be new cooking.

Friday, June 6

Processed food report: this morning since we were out of half-and-half I consumed some artificial flavored coffee creamer that is based on a corn by-product. It was delicious and guilt-inducing. I can’t believe I like this stuff.

In this summer heat I have been drinking lots of ice tea and juice. Although I do make my juice from frozen concentrate, it is just store brand and probably is not organic. Lunch was cherries & banana salad sweetened with refined sugar. I think the fruit must be imported, but no artificial ingredients in this meal.

Saturday, June 7

This morning for breakfast I will eat yogurt (store bought) with flax seeds, wheat germ & home-canned fruit, maybe marmalade made by my friend Nancy or grape jelly made by me. The oranges were not local but the grapes are.

How did "eating food" make you feel; did you notice any changes in your digestion, your skin, your mood?

Actually I feel like I haven’t really changed how I eat this week! I did intend to make my own yogurt and eat that for breakfast rather than the store-bought kind, and I haven’t yet. We ate some refried beans that I made from scratch and you can guess how that affected my digestion. My skin has been clearer than usual but that is most likely due to where I am in my cycle and the fact that I am getting more sun now that the days are warmer. My mood is happy, but things are generally going very well in our lives right now, so happy makes sense.

Sunday, June 8

Today was the first farmer’s market of the summer season. Last year we were the only regular meat vendor; this year there are four! We think we started a trend, or maybe we just got in on the ground floor. At any rate, we already have lots of regular customers, so the other meat vendors just watched as we sold our wares. Everyone was very cordial. I hope that they build up their clientele soon. We only sell at the one market and there are perhaps a dozen more at different locations, so we certainly do not have a monopoly.

Monday, June 9

We have very little box food left. I have not been replenishing those formerly-staples as we use them. Today I went grocery shopping and bought a gallon of whole milk to make my own yogurt with. Also a lot of fruit. The line, “eat food, not too much, mostly plants” rings in my head, but I must have my dairy.

Got bitten badly by the evil little North Country blackflies and I have huge sore red bumps on my neck and scalp. So much for clear skin.

Tuesday, June 10

Ate yogurt with blueberries and grains this morning. The blueberries came from Florida. I am ashamed to say that for lunch-on-the-go I succumbed to an old favorite and got a baloney sandwich from a deli, with chips on the side. It was so yummy… Ate tuna salad later, recognizing that this stuff from a can probably harms the environment. I did not make the pickles that flavored the salad, but I did make the bread.

Wednesday, June 11

Feeling very pressured with work today. Couldn’t eat breakfast; felt too stressed. Around eleven I got massively hungry and ate a whole bag of red seedless grapes. (Forgive me, Cesar Chavez. Oh wait, that strife is over with now, isn’t it?) Then ate great swathes of St André cheese on my homemade (slightly stale) bread later in the afternoon. Took my hubbin out for dinner and ate a lovely Ceasar salad and an even lovelier burger. I am not doing so well with this “mostly plants” idea, even though I think of myself as a mostly a veg and fruit-eater. Isn’t it odd that I haven’t eaten any eggs during the time of this swap? Every day twice a day I collect eggs from under the warm hens, and wash the eggs in well water, and store them in recycled cartons in the fridge. Must eat some of my own delicious free range eggs! Good thing this swap is not about eating local or I would have only eggs, maple syrup and meat for every meal!

Thursday, June 12

Well, here is the end of my swap journey. I realized that I eat a lot more junk and processed food than I think I do. My kitchen triumphs were the pet food and refried beans. I ate way too much junk food. My husband eats what I put in front of him, so yes, he did participate. He said YUM.