I've been reading some books lately (I know, I'm way behind the curve on this topic!) which are radically altering my "world-view" and mind-set. The first (just a random free-sample download on my Kindle, which hooked me) was Michael Pollan's _The Omnivore's Dilemna_. Pollan really opened my eyes to what was going on in our food supply––I had *no* idea. He also introduced me to the ideas behind sustainable farming as illustrated by Polyface Farm's Joel Salatin. I next bought Salatin's book, You Can Farm, which made me want to give up my NASA Science Center Management life and move out to the countryside. Probably not realistic for me as a single parent at my age (44), but I can start doing a bit of "sustainable gardening". At the least, I'll be able to grow some of our own (good) food, and at the best, it could be practice and learning for my next career as a farmer.
Have been successively buying better eggs: starting with the cheap eggs I was buying (less than $1 / dozen), to organic eggs ($2/dozen), "free-range" (I have doubts about how 'free-range' those eggs were) ($3/dozen), and the real deal from my local farmers market: very nice lady who is dying of leukemia whose chickens graze their yards for bugs, grubs, etc. I saw pictures, and the eggs are gorgeous: $6/dozen. This seems very high, on the other hand, it's 50 cents an egg. A good breakfast is two eggs, a buck. Is that really outrageous? I understand these eggs actually *lower* your cholesterol rather than raise it.
I've decided that I'm going to pay more money for better food, and cut back my family budget elsewhere. I'm not going to be "rabid" on the subject––will still eat "industrial food" if I don't have other options in the situation. (Like a group setting.) But where I have a choice, I will always choose the better food. Organic everything, etc.
Meanwhile, I've purchased an (energy-efficient) freezer for the basement, and am comparing different California sources for pasture-raised meat: beef, bison, lamb, even goat. I haven't found chicken or pork yet. I might list some of the ones that ship in a future post -- there's nothing I've found within a reasonable drive from South Pasadena.
I've noticed that Trader Joe's carries "grass-fed angus beef" under the "Trader Joe's Butcher" label with a footnote that claims that their cows are never "on a feedlot". This sounds like a big improvement over Vons steaks, I wonder if it really is? Don't really know how to find out. I'm trying to become more "personally aware" of my food sources. There doesn't seem to be anything corresponding to that at TJ's for pork.
The kids are very excited about this. I bought a couple of compost bins after scanning the web for plans to build them. Looks like for my situation, it would have been a significant lead time, and not much less expensive, to try to make something, rather than buying the county-subsidized composters I discovered. The advantage of those was that I was able to pick up some LA Zoo compost with it, to "prime" the compost. Also picked up a worm bin there, with a flyer showing worm suppliers in LA County. The nearest is:
Chris Jung
(818) 472-2593
Fax: (818) 899-2541
Email: majjj@aol.com
Glendale, CA 91202
Monday, November 17, 2008
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