Saturday, July 23, 2011

Food

I've been thinking a lot about food these days. Thinking and trying earnestly to not also be annoying in sharing my thoughts or what I learn. This is why it's been on my mind:

1. This month I'm working with a lot of kids who have diabetes. They have to know exactly what they eat. And keep track of it. Always. And then, they have to give themselves a shot every time they eat based on some math that they do every time.

(So: I'm grateful for my health. And, I sometimes pretend to calculate hypothetical insulin doses for different meals, just to see what it's like. It's simply made me a lot more conscious of what I'm putting in my body)

2. A few weeks ago, I bought some boneless skinless chicken breasts for $1.67 per pound. From Albertson's, not some sketchy grocery. They were also "cage free" labeled and, frankly, evolved into a pretty tasty meal or two. But $1.67? It blew my mind. I started reading about chicken farms and processing and what cage free means. (How can they sell it so cheaply?) This is when I think I started getting annoying. It's super interesting (to me).

3. Then I read Jonathan Safran Foer's book, "Eating Animals." My goodness! I do recommend it, even if it is a little overwhelming at times. He makes a good point (many). And, to cut to the chase, I haven't eaten any processed or grocery store meat since reading it. It really really really doesn't seem worth it. On two levels: One, the treatment-of-animals level (especially chickens, pork, and turkey), and secondly on the health level (chickens, especially the nastiness of chicken factory farms). My favorite message of the book, the one that made sense to me, someone who is not a vegetarian, is that if I want an animal treated properly before I eat it, I should be willing to pay for it. Such meat is available, if slightly more cumbersome to find.

4. I discussed this a bit with A, who did not grow up in the US. He remembers as a kid being served chicken at a family friend's house, and it being a Big Deal. Meat was not an every day thing. It was for special occasions. Then he pointed out that in our current lives, he and I are not responsible for feeding an army. It's really just ourselves, and thankfully we can afford to eat pretty much whatever we want, so why not make seemingly-extravagant* choices at this point in our lives?

* conscious

5. Last week (a week of vacation), there were a lot of awesome, exquisite meals. Meals were an event, and it was fun. Satisfying.

As a head's up, there will be more on the topic of food. I'm holding back now ;)

2 comments:

  1. i'm glad you wrote about food. and that you're thinking about food. and admitting it. have you seen Food, Inc.? Documentary...good one. I recommend. I <3 food.

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  2. I have seen Food, Inc. It was interesting. I've been reading and watching more about food than I have about medicine. Hmmmmm.

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