happygreenfood:
a blog About Sustainable Living
I’m not sure what did it exactly. The stars must have aligned a certain way. Sometime about a year and a half ago, I started to become interested in Sustainable Living – or more precisely, Sustainable Food.
“Sustainable” is such an overused word nowadays. I think it means something like “Do the least amount of harm when you consume or use something…….so that you, your earth, your body and those around you can last (sustain) for a long, long time.”
I think it was something as simple as a conversation with a friend of mine, who mentioned that his kid was a vegetarian because it takes so much petroleum and energy to raise cattle, and the destruction to the environment is really enormous.
And so I began a journey to learn about my food.
I began asking important questions:
Where does food come from?
Who produces it?
How is it produced?
How does it get from where it is produced to my plate?
Don’t get me wrong. I’m not anywhere close to a Northern California-tree-hugging-birkenstock-wearing-shower-avoiding-trail-mix-munching-long-haired-liberal environmentalist. Okay, I’ll concede the California part - I grew up in Los Angeles. But for 5 years, I drove an expensive Audi, ate sushi for lunch every day, carried Kate Spade purses, and avoided exercise like the plague. To say that I was not an “outdoors” girl or environmentalist is the understatement of the century. My idea of camping is a hotel without room service. I had my weekly manicures, daily lattes, and carried my laptop around with me like a fifth appendage. I think it would be accurate to describe my existence as fairly clueless and self-centered. I mean, I wasn’t a bad person. I was thoughtful, warm, caring, hard working, funny……a generally good citizen. I was probably a lot like the rest of America. Maybe not the Kate Spade part…….but, you know, the American ideal – get up in the morning, work hard, rewarded for dedication and innovation. Just putting one foot in front of the other.
I have always prided myself on short-lived intense commitments to political causes: presidential races, civil rights, and building the Jewish community. But I daresay that nothing has chipped at the Me that was, and produced the Me that is now, more profoundly than the concept of Sustainable Living.
I started reading, listening, attending events, and thinking. Most of all, I was willing to think. I was willing to think, re-evaluate, and was willing to act differently – to navigate my life in a different direction.
So here’s the deal. Here’s the manifesto. Here’s what I’ve learned and what I try to do every day. Totally nowhere close to perfect. Life is about Progress, not Perfection. Feel free to take this journey with me. It is my hope that this blog provides resources, ideas, questions, and concepts which help illuminate the world we live in, and help to improve the lives of others.
Here are the fundamental principles of Sustainable Food:
Hold yourself accountable for what you consume. You vote with your fork. Three times a day.
Pesticides and antibiotics harm the earth and the food we eat and our bodies. They’re toxic. Causing us cancer and diabetes and all kinds of other things we probably don’t even know about yet.
Eating local food (produced within 100 miles of where you live) cuts down on gas and petroleum usage. Think about how many gallons of gas it takes to ship you that box of Cheerios, from Iowa!
Eat food that does not involve the harming of other creatures. Re-evaluate the meat you eat.
Eat simple food. Food without preservatives, chemicals, and stabilizers.
Eat food that doesn’t come in packages.
Eat food that is produced by people you respect. People who treat workers fairly. Know your producers. Everyone should see where their food comes from. Transparency is key.
Let’s follow the path…..to Sustainable Living. Welcome to happygreenfood!
