Cheater, cheater, pumpkin eater

Also known as: how and why I cheat.

My last post was all about why I choose to eat the way I do.  Mostly organic, always local when possible, and always with intention.  But, just so my friends won't stop asking me to dinner (!), I'd like to share my philosophy on cheating.  I encourage my kids to do it.  I tell my friends they should do it.  My husband and I do it (probably my husband a wee bit more than me!).  I just don't think that sticking 100% rigid to a system that can keep you from socializing, alienate you from friendly gatherings, or limit options to the point of stress is healthy.

I follow a good number of writers who have many of the same passions that I do.  Most of the time, they have great ideas, research or experience to back up their opinions, and advice worth taking.  Sometimes, though, I shudder when I read things like "I hope you never eat at places like that" and "you should never buy xyz from anyone but xyz."  Although I've spent a good decade and a half coming to grips with my own personal belief on why food should be sourced locally and seasonally when possible, I know that sometimes I'll be faced with a situation that puts me right in the path of a food that doesn't fit into one of my pre-thought out categories.  What I've come to discover is that I feel comfortable with stepping outside of my food bubble when I have carefully weighed the benefits of eating a given food and decided that this food at this time in this situation is right for me.  This may change at a given event, for a holiday, or during a weekly shopping trip.  Here's a quick wrap up of how it usually goes.

Kira (age 4) picking berries.

Most of my family loves bananas.  Except my 5 year old.  She says they make her mouth open (meaning they make her gag!), but that's for another blog.  In upstate NY, we do not typically grow banana trees.  So, when I buy the weekly supply of produce, do I skip the bananas?  No!  I make the best choice from the options I have.  I don't always pick the organic banana either, since most of the toxins would be on the peel. I am not a monkey.  I do not eat the peel.  However, when my daughter requests strawberries in the middle of winter, I always tell her no.  Upstate NY has some of the best tasting spring bearing strawberry plants I've ever picked from.  We wait until they are ready for picking.  And then we pick, and pick, and pick, and pick.  And freeze.  When we want strawberries in winter, we thaw some of the gallons I have in the deep freeze and put them over pancakes or mix them in our yogurt.  We also try to only buy local apples in the fall, peaches in mid summer, and limit ourselves as much as possible to the spring and summer veggies we grow or get in our weekly CSA box.

What about meat, you ask?  Well, I am not a vegan, as I could never give up my dairy.  We also eat a moderate amount of locally raised, humanely treated meats.  I have visited most of the farms where our meat comes from and met the farmers.  I buy eggs and dairy from local farmers, too.

But, there are some nights when I just can't raise the energy to cook a homecooked meal.  What then?  Well, lucky for me, there are a few local places that serve foods prepared with local meats and produce.  If you are local and want to know where those are, let me know and I'll share my tips!  Really, though, going out to eat for us has turned into more of a treat.  And treats are meant to be experienced.  Not every night, but when we do, I don't always want to worry about every bite I take.  So, I look at the menu and decide what is the healthiest, least likely to clash with my beliefs.  I have found it easier now, because I try to order something that I can share with the baby.  If I wouldn't feed it to her, I won't order it (more about how we feed her to come!).  You can find horrible reviews on just about any restaurant out there on some of these food blogs.  Even Panara Bread and Chipotle, widely recognized for health and moral values, use questionable ingredients or don't publish their ingredients at all!  But, there are times when it just isn't possible for me to lug 3 kids out in 2 feet of snow to trudge through the grocery store just to take it home and try to cook with at least one of them hanging onto my legs while I try to throw something together...So, sometimes I hit the drive through.  Yes, me.  I have been known to cruise through a fast food drive through to get my kids a quick meal.  But, it is a treat.  Not for everyday.  And I hope that it's teaching them to make better choices too.

Then there are the church potlucks, the dinner invitations, and the times we go on vacation or celebrate an occasion.  Those are the times to relax a little.  I eat what I want.  I let my kids have treats.  I still consider the food that is put in front of me, but I don't ask where it came from or who raised it.  I eat every lovingly made bite.  And I enjoy it.  The way I look at it, I am spending more than 90% of my meals eating foods that are local and toxin free.  If the other 10% of the foods I eat are not completely void of chemicals and their source can't be traced in a straight line, I am doing A-OK.

Is there anything I absolutely won't cheat on?  Yup.  But, it's more of a personal health choice.  I found in my adult life that artificial sweeteners give me headaches, aching joints, and other ailments.  So, even if a well-meaning friend gives me sugar free foods, I thank them and then pass them over to my husband.  He does not have the same reaction, and with his diabetes, these are often his "treat cheats."

My advice to anyone embarking on a food journey is to take it one step at a time.  Don't jump in all the way until you look at all the angles.  Know why you choose to eat the way you do.  Is it just the nutritional value you are looking to gain?  The chemicals you wish to avoid?  Or is it the environmental impact of getting a food from point A to point B?  Even then, you may not know if an animal has been treated well or a plant has been sprayed.  Find the points that matter more to you and take it from there.  You just might find yourself eating your way to a more healthy you.