I’ve been working on reordering some of my categories this week, sort of a “spring cleaning” for the blog moment.  (My office got it too – no more iguanas hiding in piles, maybe?)  In the process, I discovered that I write about food.  A ton.  More, probably, than I write about any one other thing.

Instantly I jumped on myself, “You should write about food less.  I bet people are getting bored about reading about food.”  But I’m working on cultivating this radical self-kindness habit right now.  It’s not going super-amazingly, but I’m working on it anyways.  So instead of continuing to jump down my own throat, I thought about why so many of my posts seem to end up being about food.  I came up with a few good reasons.

Food Matters

I’ve said this before, and I’ll say it again – food really matters.  In terms of Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs, it’s right there on the first level.  (Some other things that start with F and aren’t on the first level: Furbies, felt, Facebook, forensic science.)  If things melted down, we’d be okay without Facebook.  We wouldn’t be okay without food.

From a societal standpoint, this means we need to figure out food production and food safety.  Of course, these aren’t necessarily easy issues.  But as the human population continues to increase, these issues are becoming more and more urgent.  In the wake of natural disasters, social or political upheaval, and economic difficulty food (and access to fresh water – big one!) is paramount.  Many other things can fall by the wayside, but we need to get food right.

Food = Health

Disease – food. Obesity, diabetes, cancer.  Hormonal imbalances, thyroid, early puberty.  Behavioral issues and developmental disabilities.  It seems like every week new studies are being released that show that what we eat (and how much of it) is the root of many of our “modern epidemics.”

Photo CC || http://www.flickr.com/photos/nexus_icon

And who would be surprised?  Why wouldn’t our diseases be a reflection of what we’re eating?  While my husband was deployed, I mixed motor oil in with the gasoline in our weed eater.  (I totally thought it was the same thing as whatever you’re supposed to put in there.)  That… did not go so well.  That kind of substitution doesn’t go so well for our bodies either.  We’re made to run on salads, not soda.

Photo CC || http://www.flickr.com/photos/stevendepolo

How can we think what we choose to put in our bodies won’t have a cost?  Personal, social, economic…cost.

Food = The Environment

In addition to affecting our health, food is one of the major ways in which we are connected to the health of the planet.  The more people there are, the more apparent this connection is becoming, as we are stretching the natural systems that we depend on to their limits.  If we (humans as a species) are going to make it, we need to find a way to produce our food that sustains and renews the world we all share.

Food is also a metric for where things stand.  When we moved into our house, we had a gorgeous tree called a madrona tree.  They’re fairly common up here.  Unfortunately, our madrona was in the process of dying as we were moving in.  We eventually had to call someone to remove it so it wouldn’t end up falling on our house.  When the tree guy came to remove it, he told me that the madronas are sensitive trees.  They are the first to succumb to environmental pressure, and are a canary in a coal mine for the ecosystem.  He’s been taking out a lot of dead madronas lately.  But most people don’t notice that these trees are slowly dying.

Food, however, is a metric we could notice, if the feedback loops were corrected so that price accurately reflected the state of supply.  If a can of tuna were more expensive now that we’ve decimated the tuna populations.  People can be responsive, but we have to be attuned to the metric and the metric has to be working.

Food = Your Life

All this being said, it’s ok if a) this is all too overwhelming or b) you’re left not really caring that much about the big picture issues.  For me, the me reasons actually ended up mattering more.

Initially I changed the way I eat to reduce packaging and tread more lightly on the planet.  But I don’t honestly know if I would have kept it up just for those reasons.  I don’t know because what I discovered was that changing the way I eat changed my life.

It’s like every teacher who ever told me “You get out what you put in” while I rolled my eyes at them held a reunion in my kitchen just to make their point.  With your body, you get out what you put in.  It needs fuel – good, clean, whole, healthy fuel – to get you through the day and keep you going.  And the difference between okay or just getting by and being truly nourished by your food was bigger than I ever imagined it could be.

Food connects you with community, with your family, with your body, with the planet, with your life.  This, I think, is why I really write so much about food.

Food matters.  (And, bonus, you get to eat it!)

Related posts:

1. Real Food Challenge Recap – Week 1
2. Five Real Food Failures

I’ve been slowly catching up on all my regular blogs over the last several weeks. Taking a break from the computer over the holidays will set you pretty far back, especially if one of those holidays is New Years. So many people blogging their resolutions! Apparently, I missed the “One Green Thing” moment, where we all committed to doing one green thing to help the planet in 2010. The commitments over at Current vary from trollish anti-commitments to ambitious and far-reaching goals. Hip Mountain Mama is also hosting a One Small Change event on her site – one small change a month, beginning in January and running through Earth Day. A quick survey of the web indicates that I pretty much missed the ball on making public my green resolutions for the New Year.

I have a bunch of goals this year that include growing some of my own food, eating more consciously, acquiring and utilizing a bike for transportation, and continuing to participate in local and national environmental advocacy and activist efforts. But I found myself lacking any “one green thing.” And sure, my goals collectively probably have a greater impact than this particular “light green” one green thing, but there is no reason I can’t do both.

Goodbye, Dishwasher

That’s right. No more dishwasher. Which is too bad, because I love dishwashers. They’re convenient and helpful and I really don’t like washing dishes. But there is no good reason for me to use a dishwasher. So last week I went out and got rid of my one excuse: my plastic dish drying rack. (And by mine, I mean my husband’s. And by got rid of, I mean stored safely. Hi, honey. Don’t worry – I’m not getting rid of your stuff.) A trip to the thrift store and $1.03 later, I now have this cool new thing. Rad and frugal, huh?

I felt instantly inspired to wash dishes. Sort of. Not really, but I did it anyways.

My Caveats

I know, terrible. But here they are. [insert something here about the uncompromising strength of your convictions.]

• Big groups of guests. I have a hard enough time being social. The last thing I need is a disincentive for inviting people over. If I have a huge group of guests and end up with tons of dishes, I may use my dishwasher.
• Sickness or injury. I’m not talking about, *whine* I’m just so tired and can’t possibly wash my dishes *whine.* But if I have a killer fever or am puking my guts out, I may use my dishwasher. I also will not balance on crutches and try to wash dishes. If I break something, I’ll use my dishwasher.
• My husband. Readjusting to marriage post-deployment is hard enough. My marriage is an important part of my personal balance and I’m not going to engage in any unnecessary battles about dishwasher use.

So there you have it: one green thing + caveats. I ran the dishwasher for the last time on January 17th, but better late than never, right? To be honest, it seems like a pretty small change to me. But I also know that the little things do add up.

Related posts:

1. The Thing About Climate Change