Food Could Change The World (of humans)

When I was 19 years old my girlfriend Alli and I stood in the grocery store produce section debating whether or not it was worth the extra cash to buy organic grapes vs. the cheaper non-organic. She was pro organic and challenged me to a taste test. The non-organic grape had a bitter skin and a bland juiciness about it. The organic grape? was divine, sweet, flavorful, it tasted more like a grape than any other grape I had ever encountered in my life. Since that day I strive to buy organic at all costs whenever possible. I have also learned that that are so many more reasons to spend the extra cash other than it is a superior product....(though isn't that reason enough?)

That moment was a turning point for me. I was at the time working a minimum wage job and I really had no business getting extravagant at the grocery store. But I was beginning to realize some truths that hit me in that spot. You know that one, that spot in the core of your being called truth. The biggest truth was...

I love this gorgeous earth, and I am lucky enough to be apart of the generation that learned at an early age that the way that humans are inhabiting this earth is destroying it. We must change the way we live.

This moment at the grocery store was one of my first glimpses into seeing what I could do to make a difference. Pesticides are toxic, linked to neurological disorders, almost completely unregulated (YES THAT'S TRUE!!!) they are demolishing our ecosystems, devastating the populations of thousands of species. They are toxic chemicals that are leaching into our groundwater. And that's not even the bad news. Conventional farming is a whole lot more expensive than organic. So why would organic food be more expensive at the grocery store? The large agriculture companies have great friends in Washington who are subsidising their large polluting, non sustainable agricultural projects. That means our taxes being spent to pollute and destroy our beautiful earth for low quality food. Yuck.

I am so blessed to live in a area where there are an abundance of local organic farms. By buying produce locally (and organically) I am saving thousand of gallons of fuel from being spent on shipping products all over the place. By buying local I am supporting so many people in my community to enjoy sparkling green moments outside in fresh air everyday, working for their dreams of a peaceful life close to the ground, contributing rich colorful healthy, sustainable food. By buying local the food I eat was picked ripe, and is packed with the flavors and spirit that the earth intended for them.

We still do not make a ton of money by most peoples standards, but buying high quality food is one value I our family is just not willing to sacrifice. It has challenged me to seek out different ways of cooking, and different ways of eating in general. I think that two of the most inspirational books on the subject of cooking and eating simply are:

The Art of Simple Cooking by Alice Waters
and
Tassajara Cooking by Edward Espe Brown

Life changing I tell you.

World changing. This is the great power that we all have. The power to live differently. The power to change the world.