Food Goals

My last post began, "One of my goals in eating is to try and eat as many unprocessed foods as reasonable."  It was suggested to me that I talk about those goals.  I think the thought of viewing food as something to have a goal about is an interesting topic in and of itself.  It is of course one of the base needs in Maslow's hierarchy of needs.  In that sense we all have the goal of to eat.  But for me eating is a much more dense subject.  So, here are my goals in eating.

1.) Enjoy what I eat - food is one of life's greatest pleasures, I eat fresh, tasty, beautiful meals as much as possible
2.) Eat with little waste - I compost what I can, pay attention to how my food is package, buy as local as possible, plan my meals out so as not to buy something I do not end up eating
3.) Eat food that is healthy for me - I try and eat food that is unprocessed, will go bad if I dont eat it soon, uses as little fat as possible, and eat balanced meals
4.) Eat food that is part of a better social, moral, and economic system by my judgment (each food purchase is a vote for the system you want), I garden as much as I can, buy local milk (Wright Dairy - the best milk I have ever tasted), buy from farmer's markets, buy organically produced food that is in season as much as possible.  Much more on this subject to come.
5.) Do all of the above on as frugal of a budget as is realistic. I spend about $250 a month of food including eating out occasionally.  I eat breakfast, lunch, dinner, and usually a snack or two out of my kitchen for that.  If nothing, else you will at least be able to that from reading this blog after a while.

Earlier in my life I was strongly moved by the movement for preventing climate change specifically by focusing on renewable energy.  A good friend pointed out how much what we eat collectively play into that calculation.  Agriculture, the shipping of food products, and the waste produced from uneaten food has a substantial impact on the environment and the quality of life of us all.  Here is a good article from world watch and a study from the EPA if you want to read further.  Anybody with much familiarity on the trend of food issues is familiar with Michael Pollen's book The Omnivore's Dilemma.  I think this a great start for someone that does not have a good appreciation of the subject.

For me the social, economic, and moral implications of what and how I eat are important.
I am most certainly not perfect in my pursuit to be a better human being and I do not strive to be.  I just want to have a more honest appreciation of what I am eating and, as a result, generally make better decisions.

Of equal importance for me are the health effects of the food I eat.  It is easy to find articles telling you that any food is good, bad, or doesn't really matter. I read a lot about health through eating and follow what makes sense to me or seems to be best supported. An example of one I follow is Dr Li's Ted talk entitled, "Can we eat to starve cancer?"  This is one of the things I am doing to counter act the carcinogens I am exposing myself to by grilling a lot.

Eating like this takes time, learning, and habit. That is one of them main purposes of this blog.  When I have friends over to eat, I find that most think it is a special meal.  For me I try and make each meal special.  I want everyone to at least know how to make great food for themselves every day.  It is one of the nicest things you can do for yourself and it is cheaper in terms of actual money spent to buy the food(usually) and in terms of the money you spend at the doctor.