Thank You McDonald's!

While I am a big believer in positive change coming in all sizes, I can't help but get super-excited when big moves are made in the right direction. In reading Mark Bittman's Opinionator column from yesterday's New York Times I was overcome with glee over the great news about McDonald's change in policy.

McDonald's is going to join Whole Food and Chipotle in banning the use of gestation crates for the pregnant pigs (sows) from their pork suppliers. The crates represent some of the saddest animal situations I have seen - the sows are packed individually into the crates and cannot even turn around. 

You may wonder why they've been around, or why it has taken McDonald's so long to say they are not in support of them. Well, as with almost all cruelties imposed upon this planet, it has to do with convenience and economics.However, McDonald's executives are showing evidence that there might be more to business than those two classically capitalist ideals.

“McDonald’s believes gestation stalls are not a sustainable production system for the future. There are alternatives that we think are better for the welfare of sows,” said Dan Gorsky, senior vice president of McDonald’s North America Supply Chain Management. “McDonald’s wants to see the end of sow confinement in gestation stalls in our supply chain. We are beginning an assessment with our U.S. suppliers to determine how to build on the work already underway to reach that goal. In May, after receiving our suppliers’ plans, we’ll share results from the assessment and our next steps.”

 Here's hoping that those next steps take them back to the start, just like this wonderful video from Chipotle, because, as the fourth largest employer and the number one fast food chain in the world McDonald's is one company that has far-reaching influence!

Convenience

Today I had an opportunity to find and listen to a great podcast. While I am sure I will be discussing many of their topics from time to time, there was one that struck me as particularly poignant today. It was from the most recent podcast (episode #008) from Wellness Break Radio. The podcast itself seems relatively "new" with only 8 episodes so far, so it is not too late to jump on in and listen to them all to catch up while you await the next episode (I am definitely subscribing to this one). Episode #008 was their first to address listener feedback. The first call they had truly struck a nerve with me. It was simple enough, the caller was a fan of the podcast and the message of wellness they share, but he was wondering if there was a way to do it more conveniently.

I was struck by this comment because, at the time I was dragging my brand new old-lady shopping cart jammed full of groceries back home for a 2 mile drag on a warm October afternoon.

My new "old-lady shopping cart"

And I thought to myself, "The other day, when I blogged about 'My Well-Fed Life', I had convenience down as a criteria too." So, what is our obsession with convenience? And when did getting food become something that was supposed to be convenient? I am guilty of this thinking myself from time to time, so I have to stop and reflect when any moments of clarity strike.

Questions That Attacked Me In My Moment of Clarity

• WHY does our food have to be convenient? 
• When we look closely at our lives, at the world we have created for ourselves - with our family, our job, our social life, our extra-curricular activities - why is it that we choose our own nutrition to be the part of our life that is not worth our time and effort? 
• Why can't we (and, guys, when I say "we" I hope you realize most of this is coming from the first person perspective here) recognize that the time and effort that we spend on food and nutrition will enhance our entire livelihood, our health, our joy? 

Realization That Attacked Me In My Moment of Clarity

• Why can't we recognize that if we don't have time for this, than we are truly running out of time... a human life can not sustain itself on all the other "life stuff", but it can flourish with good food.

It was all clear to me as I heard the man request convenience; when I heard my own request outside myself. It was clear because today was not only a day when the words "convenience isn't a solution" sounded right, but the actions felt right, too. I had just spent about an hour in the produce section of my King Kullen (I mistakenly thought it was a shorter walk than the Stop N Shop) scrutinizing the labels of every single fruit or veggie I picked up (this is really quite ridiculous looking with my limited vision - I don't want to know what the other customers were thinking!) searching for where they came from, what was organic and what I needed to make it through until Saturday's Farmer's market. I had also walked to the store, getting in my exercise and spent a gorgeous day outside. I walked my groceries through the park on the way home and enjoyed the ducks and geese swimming in the pond that haven't left us just yet for southern shores.

I spent nearly three hours doing something that normally takes my husband and I a half hour, at most. If I did not, I would have had to order some take-out for my husband so he could eat in the brief 45 minutes he had at home tonight before he had to return to school for Parent Teacher's Night. The entire trip - the walking, the heat, the shopping on my own with my own silly, broken eyes, the cooking and preparation in time for my husband's arrival - looked at, in print, can be seen as really, really inconvenient, but in the end, it was worth every damn second.

...And I am pretty sure I'll be spending more of days on medical leave doing this same exact thing.

Washed Away Dreams...

After I wrote my last blog, I woke up the next morning with a plan: I was going shopping! I waited for my husband to eat his breakfast and wipe the sleep from his eyes before I engaged him in one of my food conversations. It was raining Tuesday morning, so I wasn't sure that it would be the best day for a farm visit (I really want to look around when I get there if I can!), so this conversation was going to require some extra finesse - I wanted to negotiate TWO days of food shopping: Tuesday for Whole Foods and the Farmer's Market at the ferry and Wednesday for the farm trip. It took some negotiating, a quick glance at our whole vacation spread before us (we had exactly seven days left), a sketch of all of things each of us wanted to accomplish in that time, but it was agreed - we would go out to the Whole Foods in New Jersey, right over the bridge.

I opened my MacBook to search for the exact address and get directions when I heard it... a splash. I leaped up, "That's water," my heart was in my throat - what pipe just burst?! My husband said, "No, something just fell. RELAX." Unfortunately, we were both right - I heard a splash because my laundry bag, full of clothes (of course) fell into brown, smelly water that was at least 5 inches deep in our entire basement. Needless to say, we didn't make it to go Whole Foods, the Farmer's Market, nor have we fulfilled any of our vacation/free time desires. I'm sorry to say that the time in between was filled with ordering in and not eating very healthy either, but after you have been cleaning a basement filled with sewage, or dealing with the wreckage from it, the last thing you want to do is cook (and one is left wondering - should you be cooking like this??) So we ate pizza, sandwiches, more pizza, ordered from Better (a "healthy" take out place by us), but very little home-cooked food (one meal at my mother-in-law's?).

So, it's Monday again... I didn't mean for it to be exactly a week since my last post (I thought I would have SO much more to write about in the interim!), and I am going to attempt to go food shopping again, but we are shooting for today, and we are going local. I am going to go check out our Stop n Shop - I used t go there all of the time because of their great organic selection, but it was getting very expensive. I have heard the prices have gotten better, I guess I'll find out today. I also plan to cook tonight and, hopefully, continue to make a dent in the meat in our house, but I have to be realistic here: our home is still sort of like a funhouse. There is not much we can do about it since we have to wait for the insurance adjuster on Wednesday to see it as is, but it is hard to ignore and it is difficult to focus on anything else besides CLEAN UP CLEAN UP CLEAN UP! So wish me luck, that I can focus on all aspects of personal health: my internal as well as my external!

Eating Through The Meat...

Slowly, but surely, we are getting through the meat in our house one meal at a time. I am trying to do the right thing in terms of waste and NOT throw away what we have already purchased. Since we are members at CostCo, this has been no small feat to get through restaurant-sized bags of boneless, skinless chicken breasts, scallops, Ahai Tuna Steaks, Salmon and what was left of some Flounder. I feel as though I can finally see the end of this and begin, once again, to look forward to a new path. However, this waiting period has given me time to think about our plans, come up with some pretty concrete steps in the right direction, and to give us things to think about in terms of possible issues for our future with this, IF we are successful.

1. PLANS - Start small. See if we can find 'healthier" meat while we figure out not-meat alternatives we actually like. Be realistic, not too idealistic; this is a life changer and we have to find a way to fit it into our reality, otherwise it will not last.

2. CONCRETE STEPS - This week my husband and I will be taking our first trip to one of our local farms to possibly buy chicken and eggs along with some produce. In addition, we agreed that we should also take a trip to a Whole Foods Market to see if we feel they have anything of value to us that may be worth a return visit. (I definitely need to restock my quinoa stash, I remember how difficult it was for me to find, and I am pretty sure they have it there.) Also, there is a year-long farmer's market pretty close by that I have not taken advantage of (I did not realize it was YEAR ROUND!), so I hope to swing by that this week as well.

About a week ago I purchased a book I have been wanting for over a month, at least: The Conscious Cook. It is an actual book (no .pdf or audio on this one...) so it is slow-going, but I think there is a lot of potential for me to learn from. In short, it is a vegan cookbook, but what I like is how is takes time to describe various grains, proteins, et cetera and gives little ignorant me a little synopsis on their cool-factors.

3. POSSIBLE ISSUES - Just one word sums it up fine I think: family. What happens if you make this commitment, you go over to your in-law's house and, based on your new lifestyle, you suddenly can not eat that which you have eaten for years? Or, the more terrifying prospect for my family: I cook BOTH Thanksgiving and Christmas dinners for everyone - do I still serve turkey on those nights of food celebration? In other words, do I expose those I love to my beliefs in a way that compromises their own food choices and/or selections, or do I compromise my own in their presence? And if I choose to compromise, am I not defeating the purpose of the entire act? ...Anyway, these are very big questions for a later blog, when I am steeped in my decision and confirmed in my resolutions about my meals.

For now, I am going to grab The Conscious Cook again and see how much I can learn before bedtime without making myself to hungry (is it wise to read a cookbook before bed??).