Q&A Part V: My Food Philosophy

Question: From the looks of your blog, it seems that you eat very heathy all the time.  Do eat all organic?  Do you ever just call for pizza?  


Ahhh...my favorite topic.  I love food.  I love shopping for food.  I love cooking food.  I love eating food.  I love reading about food.  I love watching other people cook food on television.  On my list of hobbies and passions, food is pretty high on the list.  Not everyone enjoys the process of obtaining and preparing good food, so I consider it a blessing that I naturally enjoy something that is a basic need for all of us.

Here's what is funny about my relationship with food.  On one hand, I can be a bit of a food snob.  On the other hand, I have a penchant for the lowest of the low on the food totem pole.  For example, I actually like Ramen noodles, and I think pork rinds are awesome.  It's kind of like how I can be all Emily Post one minute and belching the next.  I am a paradoxical woman.  And just in case you don't believe me, I am eating a ball of frozen cookie dough at this very instant.  So if this post comes across as pretentious, believe me, it's all in moderation!

See?  We eat cake!

Pork rinds and cookie dough aside, I do have a few priorities when it comes to food, but I do hold them flexibly.  At the end of the day, I care more about my food being local and seasonal than I do about it being organic. A few books were influential in this viewpoint, especially Michael Pollan's The Omnivore's Dilemma and Barbara Kingsolver's Animal, Vegetable, Miracle.  In a nutshell, that asparagus you bought at Whole Foods in January might have been organic, but the fact that it was shipped from Chile does nothing for its taste or for the environment.

SEASONAL

You can find lists of what foods are in season online.  Once you start buying things when they were actually meant to be eaten, you will never be able to settle for tomatoes and strawberries in December ever again!  Don't be mad at your grocery's produce department when the asparagus is tough in November or the peaches are hard in February.  They were never intended to be eaten in the dead of winter!  Peaches were meant to dribble down your chin on a hot summer day, and when you've waited all year to do just that, it's even sweeter.

Last summer's blackberries and peaches, getting ready for a pie!

LOCAL

Obviously, the best way to get seasonal produce is from your local farmers market, roadside stand, or co-op.  This has the added benefit of supporting your local economy, and it reduces the consequences of shipping.  You might even make some new friends in the process!  As we like to say at the Memphis Farmers Market: know your farmer, know your food!

Farmers markets encourage trying new things!  Zucchini flowers stuffed with goat cheese, getting ready to take a dip in batter before being fried.  Looks crazy, but tastes incredible!

We also choose local restaurants over chains the majority of the time.  This has a lot to do with the economy, but more to do with the fact that they are usually just better!  Find me one Memphian who thinks a burger at Chili's is better than a burger at Huey's and I'll eat my Edible Memphis magazine!  And so many local restaurants are now buying local foods from local farmers and producers, and it all comes together to make some really tasty stuff!

WHOLE

Now.  Organics.  I do buy organic dairy as often as I can afford to do so.  There are also some organic products that I enjoy simply because many organic packaged foods tend to be more natural in general, which is always my preference.  Which leads me to my second point: I like my food as close to its natural state as possible.  I try to shop the outer edge of my grocery store: produce, protein, dairy.  I avoid packaged and processed foods, and when I do buy them I look for the most natural option possible (i.e. the fewest number of ingredients with names I cannot pronounce).  I also make the occasional run to Whole Foods to buy grains (brown rice, bulgar wheat, quinoa, steel cut oats, couscous) and dried beans/lentils in bulk.  It's extremely economical and there is an endless variety to what you can do with that stuff!

One of many bean-based concoctions that we enjoy!

And speaking of variety through basic ingredients, here's one area where I am admittedly a snob: I hardly buy mixes of any kind.  This comes down to economics more than anything.  Why buy a pancake/cake/brownie/cookie/cornbread/biscuit mix when you can make all of those things with some combination of the cheapest ingredients in your grocery store: flour, sugar, butter, eggs, milk, salt?  Your budget and your taste buds benefit when you make things from scratch, and most of the time it only takes a few more minutes of your time.

VEGETARIAN-ISH


Americans have come to the point where many of us don't see a meal as complete unless it contains meat.  For a variety of reasons (see the books mentioned above), I prefer to buy meat and seafood that is local and humanely raised or wild caught (if you live in Memphis, our market has some excellent options!).  Unfortunately, our budget does not allow for us to eat that quality every day.  Jonathan and I probably eat meat at dinner only two or three times a week, and we really don't miss it!  I do a lot with beans, lentils, and eggs, and we eat fish or shrimp at least once a week too.  As Pollan sums up, "Eat food.  Not too much.  Mostly plants."

KEEPING IT REAL


I have a baby.  And a life.  I don't have time to forage for mushrooms or hunt wild pheasant or even shop  at four different stores to get the best deal on basic groceries.  Most weeks, I shop at Super Target for basic groceries (I also buy produce there from November through March when the farmers market isn't open, and the few items that can't be found at the farmer's market, like citrus fruits and such).  They have a great selection of natural packaged products, organic dairy, and wild-caught frozen seafood too.  If you live in Memphis, Easy Way is my favorite source of off-season local produce and dairy.  We tend to shop at Target every-other week for basic groceries, then restock produce and dairy at Easy Way in-between.

An autumn treat, butterscotch pear pie!

I think we should care about where our food comes from, who it comes from, and what it does to and for our bodies.  When you think it's too expensive to shop at your farmer's market when you could shop at Wal-Mart, remember that even though you are saving a few bucks on the surface, you are paying for it.  You're paying for it at the gas pump.  You're paying for it in medical insurance.  You're paying for it in your taxes.  You're paying for it in the environment.  We all have a choice, and would rather pay at the source.

Like I said at the beginning, these rules aren't absolute in my home.  Right now there is Kroger brand mint chocolate chip ice cream in my freezer, non-organic milk in my fridge, and a bowl of candy in my pantry.  We went out for donuts last Saturday morning and I even let Riggins have a little bite.  I'm not perfect and my pantry isn't either.  But I do take pleasure in enjoying the best quality food I can afford the majority of the time.  And I think other people would too if they gave it a try!

If this topic is interesting to you, I can't recommend those books highly enough.  You might also enjoy Fast Food Nation and the films Food, Inc. and Super Size Me.  And feel free to leave any questions in the comment section!