It's time for One Small Change. Every month until Earth Day my family will be making One Small Change that will have a positive impact on the planet. Last month I started bringing my very own bags to the grocery store. This has become a habit which has had a positive effect because I no longer have the dreaded hanging bags on my kitchen cupboards. This week I'll be sewing bags for my children so they can leave them in their cars to use when they go to the store.
I had planned something totally different for this month's small change and then friday night happened. Something so out of the ordinary that I knew I had to jump on and stay for the ride. Friday it started snowing. Little brother went to spend the night at a friends, dad was working late with surgeries,and that left my 17 year old Mimi and I alone. In our solitude emerged and incredible game of Yahtzee and the most incredible conversation. Mimi, it seems, is very inspired by her college Biology teacher. Last week they watched the movie Food Inc and the rose colored glasses came off of Mimi who asked me this question, "Mom, do you know where the food we eat comes from ?" "Yes Mimi , I do." Don't just say "Yes" mom. "Most people are eating plastic, anti-biotics, genetically engineered food etc. Mom don't just say "Yes". Really answer the question, "Do you know where our food comes from?" and again I answered "Yes, Mimi, I do."
After this simple answer the interrogation lamp came out and I was grilled about our dairy,eggs, meat, poultry, vegetables,fruits, jams, peanut butter, grain, and then it hit me that I assumed our children knew that we eat sustainable and local. I thought the huge garden would have been a significant clue. The pantry stocked with jams,jellies,pickles of all varieties, the freezer stocked with tomatoes and blueberries would have been a dead give away but I guess that alluded her. I put my shock at her not knowing where our food came from under the table and completely embraced her moment of discovery as if I had never done all of those above mentioned things.I'm trying to see it from her side and rediscover why I love living this way.
It's the way I was raised. We didn't have any grand discussions about it we just lived and ate local. My husband was also raised that way in Lebanon, so when our daughter started asking these questions it was such a shock to discover that she didn't know. Can you tell I'm in shock? She has never questioned where her food came from and how we eat consciously local. Mimi is having a bit of a paradigm shift and that's when I realized this month's small change is going to be to introduce my children to their food source.
I invite you friends to come along with my family and I as we meet the people that consciously make our food, the places we buy or exchange it , and the choice to pass on the idea of conscious sustainable living to my little family. This month's small change is "Meet what you Eat."
If you know your food you are more likely to eat food that has been raised ethically and uses less resources such as water. There are many other reasons as well which I will take one at a time as we journey into our food source.Over the weekend I went through my book stacks and pulled out the Michael Pollan books "The Omnivore's Dilemma, "In Defense of Food" and "Food Rules". Michael has a new Young Reader's edition out of Omnivore's Dilemma . So Mimi is off with her arm load of books. More later…….carrot anyone?
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