I've had the opportunity to have a number of conversations recently with people who care passionately about the food they eat and how it was raised. Interestingly, these are people who came to these positions (and in two cases, to producing their own foods at least in part) by somewhat different routes, but they share a conviction of not going back to "the way things were." They have made conscious choices and are committed to standing by them.
Food and food choices are important for a number of reasons - but none more succinct than one that occurred to me a while ago. And that is: eating isn't optional. We all have to do it. We need nourishment every day or certainly quite regularly if we are to live. Nothing is much more basic than that unless it's air and water. Food can be tasty or bland, nutritious or junk. It can be fresh or stale, prepared or raw (at least in some cases...), local or from a foreign country. And for all the choices we seem to have about the foods we eat in this country, we actually don't have too many unless we grow our own food.
With the limited varieties of produce that is grown to withstand shipping and the incorporation of corn and soy in products of all kinds we limit ourselves. By eating prepared foods rather than cooking from scratch, we limit ourselves. By choosing the familiar and not taking a chance on a new vegetable, we limit ourselves. And by buying food based primarily on price in the big markets we further limit our choices because we miss out on what smaller growers and producers may be offering. No question it is a challenge in these times to stretch budgets for food as well as everything else. But although you don't have an option of whether or not to eat, if you have the option to choose healthier, tastier, more nutritious food, why not?
