My children are used to the local diet I am working hard to provide for them. They are willing to spend time with me in the garden picking beans or checking my tomato plants for any sign of color change. They have gotten used to the fact that we rarely go to the grocery store, and when we do, we can usually cart away all the purchases in one fabric bag. They both have a good definition of "healthy" when it comes to eating.
However, it is more difficult to overcome the marketing aimed right at those girls of mine. It is hard to explain to a 3 year old why we are passing up the yogurt with that silly rabbit on it for the Maple Hill local cream-on-top variety.
"But, mom, it says right on TV that it's healthy AND has a changing color stick to make frozen yogurt!"
It's hard to pass up convenience, too. Not just for my kids, but for myself.
I really do quite well when it comes to sticking to my local diet, but sometimes, life hits me hard from all sides and I cave. Most nights, I stop by North Star on the way home for anything I need to supplement the produce we have on hand. I come home, check out the garden for any new fresh growth that's ready to be picked, and head to the kitchen. Some days, though, when I've been stretched to the max at work and had two girls attached to my legs from the moment I hit the door at home, I just can't bring myself to do it. And what do I do when my family has to eat while I am at work?
Every season that I have progressed in my local goals, I have discovered a new obstacle to overcome, and this season I have to admit that convenience is at the top of the list. I am sure that my new schedule (which came with my new job title) has something to do with my struggles, but it is something I'd like to work on.
While eating fresh from the land tastes better, and is more nutritious, it does take more preparation and knowledge than opening a can of Chef Boyardee or peeling back the plastic on a frozen lasagna. Of course, I was aware that preparation was key, but before the season hit, I was working 12 hour shifts at night, giving me several days off during the week for planning. Now, I'm adjusting to a daytime, weekday schedule, which gives me more time with my family, but less large blocks of time. So, this summer has been a lot of preserving for the future, but sometimes a lot of eating out, too.
I try to still stick to the smaller, more local establishments: the places to eat that you don't find all across the country. I can remember going on vacation with my family as a kid, when, as a family, we chose to never eat anywhere we could eat at home. While I live here in upstate NY now, I still desire to eat at places I never had back in the Midwest.
The biggest problem then, is what to serve for lunch when I'm not really here to serve it at all. I like to have easy to serve things on hand for my husband or my dad, who are the primary care givers when I am working. Natural peanut butter with homemade bread, yogurt with fruit, local cheese and crackers, and an occasional Annie's natural shells and cheese. Sometimes, we even splurge on local, nitrite-free hotdogs. Yum!
But, before you think I'm all natural and nothing else, I beg you to remember that this is a process. I wish I could tell you that I jumped in with both feet and never looked back, but the truth is, I took it one step at a time. I'd recommend to anyone that this is the way to do it. Otherwise, it just gets too overwhelming. Yes, now I buy about 80-90% of our food from local sources, but it took about 3 years to find and use these sources. One by one. Nothing too stressful. It sort of snowballed, too. One farmer recommending another until we had a source for almost everything.
So, here is my confession. I still have a few processed foods around the house. Until I find good local products to replace them, or can convince my children (and my husband) that convenience and cool marketing ploys are not the best, we will still have a few straggler products hanging around. I mean, really, nothing beats that abnormally yellow cube of Velveeta for a party queso. My husband isn't quite ready to give up salad dressing from a bottle. And my kids love to have a few snacks around that come from a box.
Although I try to dish out bowls of fresh fruit, stove popped natural popcorn, or homemade ice cream, sometimes nothing beats a fistful of alphabet pretzels or a wrapped piece of chocolate.
So, when my 3 year old was asked what her favorite vegetable was the other day, I suppose I shouldn't be too surprised that she replied without hesitation "lunchables!" Although, truth be told, she loves to open it up, drink the novelty drink and ask me for a salad!
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