Thoughts on Food

Slow Food Movement and Gift
While I was in Wichita, Kansas last week, my siblings and I exchanged Christmas gifts. My brother and sister-in-law gave my family and I a variety of Analon cooking utensils which I am totally excited about!!! (Sad when your family realizes the bad shape of your cooking utensils.) Not being familiar with this brand, I looked it up this morning and was happy to see that Analon is a partner of Slow Food. How cool is that? I have been familiar with Slow Food for several years but when I read "How to Go Slow" on Analon's site, I was pleased to see how far I have come with food.

How To Go Slow
Plant a garden and grow your own food. - This is a goal I will attempt as soon as my knee allows me to crouch down.
Get cooking. When Steve and I were first married and in college we ate tons of frozen meals. I remember telling my dad that cutting veggies took too much time. Now, after a busy day away from home I actually find cutting veggies to be relaxing and somewhat meditative.
Eat seasonally. In the last five years or so we have participated in CSA's and frequented farmer's markets whenever possible.
Buy local. We have definitely made improvements here but have much work to do in this area. The greatest improvement in this area is buying all of our meat, honey, milk, eggs, maple syrup and more from local farmers. I love knowing who is growing our food and can ask questions that are enthusiastically answered.
Avoid genetically modified food. Doing fairly well here.
Buy organic. An elderly woman at Whole Foods the other day told me she doesn't believe organic food is any better for us. I disagree. Not only are more vitamins packed into organic food but pesticides that are used on non-organic food is terrifying. We have to look at the whole picture of what is happening.
Pack a bag lunch. I 100% have this one down. I take a lunch bag with me almost every time I leave the house. Also, we bought this cool reusable sandwich bags or use reusable containers.
Conserve, compost and recycle. I need to do more research on recycling because I am hearing some talk that the process of recycling is actually using a lot of resources. Conserving and reusing I love.
Eat together. My family likes to eat together. We aren't always good about eating at the table but eating together in a spot that works for everyone is fairly important, I think.
Talk food politics. Homeschoolers tend to think a lot about food and politics come up frequently. I am glad to hear a variety of thoughts and opinions on the subject.
Drink from the tap. We had a reverse osmosis put in a few years ago.
Try making things from scratch. When we went gluten free I was forced to start making almost everything from scratch and the Body Ecology Diet has made me even better. I feel like the nutritious food I make from scratch is my gift to myself and my family and I feel good about putting in the time for us.

Body Ecology Diet and How I Feel
We just returned from a trip to visit our family in Wichita, Kansas. Before leaving I prepared several quarts of soup, cut veggies to saute when I arrived, and had prepared salad for several days. This helped tremendously with sticking to the diet. However, during the last few days I started running out of food and found myself in a few situations where I was starving and ended up getting off the diet. I am better off staying on the diet because once I get off, I give myself permission to eat whatever I want which isn't good at all. But, I am back on today and feeling better.

Several times I was asked, "So, will you feel it?" People wanted to know if I will feel the difference in my body by going off the diet for two days. The answer is YES. My joints don't always feel it right away but after eating gluten my face starts itching, after eating sugar my nose twitches, and after eating preservatives, I just feel awful. My digestion gets totally out of whack. When I eat whatever I want on a regular basis, like I did before starting elimination diets, I didn't realize these were the side effects. I have had eczema since I was little. As a child it showed up on my arms and as a teenage up until going gluten free I had it on my face. So, yes, eating off the diet is enjoyable as I am eating the food, but quickly takes over my body and makes me regret getting off and oh so happy to return to good foods that nourish my body.

I am happy with the relationships I am building with food.