Tracy Osborn at Limedaring.com

I just spent the weekend wrapping myself in indulgence and relaxation; wandering the streets of San Francisco and savoring the hours rather than spending my time on a computer. It was amazing, to say the least.

The highlight of the weekend concerned Slow Food Nation, a “broad and inclusive food movement to build an American food system that is sustainable, just, and delicious.” And really, this consisted of eating… and eating… and eating. The point was to enjoy food from sustainable and organic farms while meeting the farmers themselves; learning how the food was grown and how it came to your table. Essentially, slowing down the process of eating, and respecting this process rather than seeing it as a means to an end.

I further highlighted this fact for myself by reading Omnivore’s Dilemma, a book that explores, quite thoroughly and sometimes disturbingly, the process of most American meals to our table. This focuses primarily on corn, and it’s frankly disturbing to see how pervasive this ingredient has wormed it’s way into all of our food products, and what it does to our environment in the process.

It is with both Slow Food and Omnivore’s Dilemma in mind that I am resolving to change myself in small, but significant ways. I’ve already been headed towards the mentality of “organic good, cheap Safeway bad” but now it’s evolved more intelligently into both supporting local agriculture and farmers as well as making sure what goes into my mouth and body is healthful and supportive. More than anything does the food I eat have to be delicious; I don’t believe my love for cookies and sweets will ever be tempered. But now my cookie will be homemade (begone, HFCS), and using better ingredients.

The only problem with this proposition is cost; regardless, it should be easier to cut out the TV budget from my life than decrease the budget that directly impacts my self in a positive way. Cost be’damned!