As of today, I have nearly reached the one month mark since I did any kind of exercise. Heck, it's almost one month since I even walked from my vehicle to the front door of a store! It's been 21 days since I got my crutches, but aside from having to budget a little extra time to get from A to B, these weeks have been like any other.
I can't say that I am experiencing a lot of improvement in my symptoms, but I am definitely making the best of this experience and enjoying the extra time I now have to devote to other projects (ahem, grad school applications) and to my home life.
Speaking of home life, finding a sense of home in Calgary has been a slow and at times difficult process. I have a great partner and a sense of home that I carry within me, but
discovering what I love most about this place has had a lot to do with learning about the agrarian culture that is the bedrock of this province.
I don't speak much about my food ethics on this blog, but suffice it to say that my ideas about what constitutes "healthy" food have seen some fairly dramatic changes over the past few years. Where I used to eat only egg whites, I know value the worth of the whole egg. Where I used to use protein powder, I now find my nourishment in real foods and am much happier without artificial sweeteners in my life. Where I used to eat meat from the grocery store, I now consume far less and far better quality meat that I buy directly from the farmer. Where I used to read labels for nutrition information, I now trust in my inner nutrition guide to make decisions for me.
In short, Manski and I chose local foods as often as we can. For us, this higher cost of food does not represent strike one for local (and mostly but not always organic) food, but rather, strike one for the industrial food chain. All of those shortcuts that lead to inexpensive food mean that most often, the growers (and consumers) lose out.
Food, as it was meant to be is astonishing. The heirloom varieties of vegetables are spectacularly beautiful, the flavors of local produce are more vivid and unforgettable and the relationship you share with those who tend to and harvest your food is a sacred one.
Being able to learn about the methods and philosophy of a farmer allows you to (cliche but true) cast a vote for the politics and economy that you believe in, each time you buy or eat food.
The natural consequence (for us) of eating this way is that we consume a lesser volume of food. Sure, we love to drink Perrier and eat Liberte Yogurt (that is essentially a bit sweet bowl of cream!) and do pick up some staples from the local store, but we have inadvertently begun to eat in a more ecologically sustainable way. Is it sustainable for local farmers to grow enough chicken (using natural and organic methods) for everyone to eat chicken every night? Probably not! However, if everyone ate just a little less chicken, I think we'd
realize just how much the prevailing sense about how much animal protein a person requires has been perpetuated by "big food" and its influence on health and food legislation in North America.
We aren't just being fed low-quality "food", but we are being fed the information on what and how much we should be eating; information that is connected to the profit margins and pockets of massive food conglomerates.
Having said this, I still have a complicated relationship with the
commodification of the term "organic". I don't buy products in the store simply because they are organic. My participation in the organic food sector (as a consumer) is not without some trepidation, as
I can definitely recognize that many brands cater to the upper-class appeal of organic branding. Organic branding is like sex-appeal for the privileged buyer! What can I say, I'm a healthy skeptic and I've read Marx in SIX courses across Political Science and Sociology!
The sad fact is that
we actually need a discourse on food because it has ceased to be something natural in society. Food movements and food politics, in general, are evidence that we have landed in such a distant place from our food origins, that we actually require concerted efforts and advents such as "organic", where (what we now call)
organic is simply the default method and condition of old school agriculture and is the norm in many developing countries.
For anyone who is interested in learning some more about these topics, here is a list of some great resources.
FilmsFrankensteer
Food Inc
SuperSize Me
Seeds of Change
Life and Debt
Death on a Factory Farm
BooksWhat to Eat by Marion Nestle
Stuffed and Starved by Raj Patel
The Omnivore's Dilemma by Micheal Pollan
Fast Food Nation by Eric Schlosser
In Defense of Food by Micheal Pollan
Food Matters by Mark Bittman
Confessions of a Sneaky Organic Cook by Jane Kinderlehrer
Hungry Planet: What the World Eats by Peter Mentzel
Food Politics by Marion Nestle
The Yoga of Eating by Charles Eisenstein
Please feel free to ask if you are seeking academic material in these areas. I have a lonnnnnnnnnng list of great articles by scholars across the social sciences spectrum who write to the tune of some very hot debates happening right now. The books and films cited above are all very accessible and mostly written by academics, but very user-friendly.
So, if you ever feel far from home or wonder where you can find the real culture of your surroundings, look no further than your local farmer's market. You are sure to meet people whose families have inhabited the area for generations! Eating well is as much about the relationships between those who share the land, as those who share a table.
These are just some of my views, and while I can't resist the urge to toss a dollop of persuasion overtop the information, I certainly respect every perspective on this issue. There are endless ways to regard food and I would love to hear your views, as well. Have you visited your local market? What are your favorite things to buy locally?
