Here’s another one from Joe Baker, who has yet to fall off the veggie wagon (except for that lard biscuit early on).
A few days ago, I was stressed out and was carried some negative energy to work. Luckily, a coworker called me out on it and taught me a few helpful techniques for calming myself, like listening to my breathing and the sounds around me. Focusing on my walking, making each step as controlled and purposeful as possible. Strengthening my awareness of myself in my surroundings.
Sounds weird, right? Well, it worked.
Awareness. Gaining it re-establishes control. And isn’t that a guiding principle of a sustainable diet, whether it’s vegetarian or not? I want to know what I eat. How each ingredient was grown and delivered to me. I’m not wealthy, so each dollar I spend says something about me and what I value. Do I choose to look for and spend my money on sustainable, wholesome food, or do I choose to buy cheap, convenient food in colorful packaging?
Yesterday, I chose the latter. Looking to relieve my hunger, I grabbed a bag of chips all of us probably have had before. Hint: think triangles. Immediately after eating the last chip, I was aware of two things: 1) my fingers were an unnatural shade of orange and 2) I was still hungry. We’ve all looked at the ingredient lists of our favorite junk foods. It’s a little scary, right? I don’t keep track of my daily percentages (that’s a full-time job), so I try to recognize the ingredients in what I eat and file them into rough categories. Have I eaten my carbs, my fiber, my protein? How would you file disodium guanylate? Fiber? Hmmm… even my computer’s spell-checking tool doesn’t recognize that one.
I want my food to sustain me, to deliver the nutrients my body needs. As a newbie vegetarian I have to think about my meals more than ever before. I want to take back control of my diet. It’s a little embarrassing to admit that this way of thinking is new to me. But I’m excited too. Multi-dimensional foods! Yes.
And why is it important to know how my food arrives to me? That’s a huge question with too many answers for this vegetarian to write about in one day, but the answer begins with awareness. Awareness of the chemicals and fertilizers (or lack thereof) used to grow the vegetables that will end up in my body. Awareness of the quality of life of the people that have touched what I eat and energy that was used to transport my food from the field to me. Did my food know a processing plant, or did it know a farmers’ market or neighborhood co-op?
I am a selfish eater. I want it all. I want food that tastes good, nourishes my body, contains no added chemicals, keeps the earth clean, and doesn’t abuse her natural resources. Is that so wrong?
3 responses so far ↓
1 Greg W // Feb 7, 2009 at 9:08 pm
I don’t think it is wrong at all. In fact I think everybody should demand all of those things you mention in your last paragraph. We should not settle for any food that includes chemicals while claiming to be nutritious.
I’m a 50 something male, I bring this up only as a means of letting you know that I have been around since the early days of the environmental movement, so I have been aware of the ethics and health dangers of eating animals and processed foods for a very long time. I believe that as a society we are becoming more aware of how our animal husbandry and farming practices are harming this planet. But you have to ask yourself why is it that non-nutritious “cheap, convenient food in colorful packaging” can still be found? I think you’ll agree that it is because it is cheap and convenient.
We have become conditioned to have our food right now and for it to be knock-your-socks-off-delicious. Overly sweetened and chemically enhanced foods are desensitizing our taste buds to the point that natural foods no longer please most people. And corporations are willing to continue down this road as long as we keep encouraging them by buying the crap they peddle.
Designing and using chemicals to preserve our food or to convince our taste buds that the food is delicious or looks good is neither sustainable nor natural. And it is definitely is not healthy.
You are correct that awareness re-establishes control. The next step is the commitment to stay away from unhealthy convenience foods.
Unless we get that commitment we will never rid ourselves of obesity, high blood-pressure and heart attacks.
2 theoddbod // Feb 7, 2009 at 11:29 pm
you ask for too much, haha.
3 Elizabeth // Feb 10, 2009 at 12:18 pm
First – I’ve been a vegetarian for 20 plus years, I eat a mostly organic, sustainable, and local diet, and I can assure you that the day will come when the artificially orange do-dads and their kindred spirits will not be a temptation at all. It only gets easier to avoid the “easy foods”.
Second – It is not selfish nor too much to ask, it’s the opposite in fact. It is a responsible, aware, and conscientious person who desires good, clean food that is friendly to our earth.
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