I have been in a food rut as of late. I have seen so many movies, and read so many articles on the state of our agricultural system, that I am pretty much doomed if I eat anything. This winter we don't have a CSA, so I am destined for the grocery store. We do have a farmers' market twice a month, but getting there is just not happening. Either Emma is sleeping, or it is snowing, or there is something else happening. I guess I can't keep making excuses though. It's not good for me or my family.
But what can I buy in February in Maine? Well, I think potatoes and winter squash are about the only options. And even those may not be available at this point. This year was not a good year in Maine for potatoes because of the blight issue that ran rampant through the state...
I used to be able to buy canned tomatoes and canned beans and make a lot of meals with that, but now with BPA being front and center in every canned food, I can't even do that. Can I just say that I miss chilli? I do buy dry beans for beans and rice. Black beans, pinto beans and navy beans...I probably have 15 pounds of them in my dry goods drawer. Now if I can just figure out how to make refried beans I would be all set. The tomatoes...well I am hopefully going to remedy the tomato issue by planting 20 tomato plants this summer, and crossing my fingers to get enough to can all of our tomato needs for the next year.
I do buy organic at the grocery store, it isn't an option anymore to buy conventionally farmed veggies or fruit, especially with Emma eating it. The problems that I have? It is super expensive, and most of it comes from other countries. So I try and buy only in the US, which limits what I can buy each week. There are a lot of local root veggies/winter squash sold at the grocery store, but it isn't organic, I guess I need to research those farms and see if they spray.
Everyday I am consumed by this. Does anyone else have this problem? How do you justify eating non-organic foods and meats? Sometimes I wish that I was blind to the issues of our food system, of course I know better than that. Do people in other countries have the same problems as we do? I'm not entirely sure. I think that in other countries it is typical to buy mainly local ingredients, cook from scratch everyday, pay more for their food.
It's frustrating to try and find foods that my whole family will eat. I think I could be happy as a vegetarian, in fact I pretty much am one. The wee one still doesn't have enough teeth to chew up a lot of the veggies that we buy, and she doesn't like potatoes (how that is possible I have no idea). So she eats squash, peas, corn, and carrots...hmmm...not entirely balanced. The hubs, well he would be in heaven just eating processed crap all day every day. He agrees that we need to eat organic, but if he has to prepare something it doesn't get eaten and "we have no food to eat." The helplessness of men...
So, needless to say, I am back to green smoothies. It is something that Emma will drink, and they help me feel a lot better too. Spinach isn't necessarily in season in February, but we have organic baby spinach from Mass, so that is justified I guess. I think I am just ready for summer, for fresh summer produce, and hopefully to be able to have enough stored up for us next winter, so I am not worried as much as I have been these past few months about what the heck we can eat.
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About Me
- Heather
- a wife, a mama, a child of God, a coffee lover, in want of pygmy goats and chickens, wannabe gardener, attempting to lessen my impact, use fewer resources, and building a life my children will be proud of, hopefully giving them the tools they need to succeed in this uncertain future that faces us all, welcome!
What I like to read
Book List 2010
- All New Square Foot Gardening
- Apollyon
- Back to Basics: A Complete Guide to Tradional Skills
- Christian Unschooling: Growing Your Children in the Freedom of Christ
- Growing Your Own Vegetables
- Independence Days
- Left Behind: A Novel of the Earth's Last Days
- Nicolae
- No Impact Man
- Plain Promise
- Plain Pursuit
- Soul Harvest
- Spring Cleaning for Normal People
- Steady Days: A Journey Toward Intentioanl, Professional Motherhood
- Stitch 'n Bitch: The Knitter's Handbook
- The Creative Family
- The Duggars: 20 and Counting!
- The Encyclopedia of Country Living
- Tribulation Force
2 comments:
Hey gal,
I just checked in w/ one of my old friends back home from my MPH program who is a total foodie, so this post seems entirely relevant. It was the first time I'd shared with her the almost non-existence of Farmer's Markets here (there is one I've found of decent size but it only runs April-July) and of the lack of produce and pretty much non-existence of organic produce. There are also no CSAs. We CAN buy organic processed items and/or canned items, but there is incredibly limited (think 10 items) organic produce in the 2 local grocery stores (1 of which is Wal-Mart). SO w/ no organic produce we just make do and to be honest, I try not to think about it...which is difficult at times. However....I also don't have a growing child....and if I did I'm not sure how I would approach it all.
We can plant only in one flower bed....which gets sprayed by the housing company every year for bugs and floods every time it rains. We're only allowed container gardening on the back patio (which the dogs access and eat....) as the lawn care company doesn't want to move anything when they come to the houses....so it's sort of a catch 22.
I'm hopeful that I can find some sort of local produce this year and we can do some canning/freezing..... however the term organic doesn't seem to really exist anywhere near us. Local, yes, organic, no.
SO all that being said, I'm lately of the mentality of just having to try to make do with what's available and hope for improved options. Its so great that you've already been able to plan your garden and that you have that local CSA in summer. I think if I was you, I'd keep looking for what organic options do exist and try to make a variety of meals out of those options. There are so many different recipes out there! And then I think you've got a good start on trying to can and produce more too during this coming year. Utilize what you can and plan for more options for the future...that's all we can do at times....
You are so much better than I am! The thought of green smoothies this time of year is not my favorite. I can eat green guacamole though and plenty of chips! ;)
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