I grew up the daughter of a butcher. As a consequence, I’ve always been a meat snob. So much so, that people often mistook me for a vegetarian because I wouldn’t eat whatever crappy shrink-wrapped meat they purchased at the grocery store.
But I was just picky. As a kid, if I didn’t want pork chops for dinner, my dad would shrug and make me a filet mignon. (Now that I’m a mom, I can see why that was easier than picking a fight.)
Fast forward to college and I was an Industrial Engineering major. (What is that, you ask?) It means that I love nerdy factory efficiencies; solving for X and finding the shortest possible route between several destinations. It also means that as an adult, I’ve become an avid meal planner, DVR user, and list-maker.
But, back in college, the lust for efficiency meant that I applauded the factory farming techniques that bring us industrial agriculture as progress.
My path away from factory farming has been slow and deliberate. It was my book club reading of Fast Food Nation that put me off my weekly McDonald’s burger and our subsequent reading of The Omnivore’s Dilemma that turned me into a label reader intent on avoiding ingredients that are not real food.
Oh yeah, and becoming a mom has changed everything too.
Earlier tonight, I caught wind of a corn syrup storm brewing on twitter as I was hustling to prepare a 30 minute dinner in about 47 minutes. Mom-101 was being accused of being a mindless borg (the other night it was a douchebag, she just can’t win!) for criticizing those who would defend the fake sugar people corn-processed artificial sweetener lobby.
Now, I wish that I could sit around the family dinner table with my dad (who died in 1998) and grandfather (also in the meat business his whole life, died in 2006) and really discuss factory farming, grass-fed meat, high fructose corn syrup, and the genius of Michael Pollan. Would they argue that “corn-finished really is better” or would they agree that chickens and cows are made to eat grass? Would they laugh off organic produce or embrace it? Would they tease me about being a chicken owner?
Since my extended family of die-hard Ohio republicans voted for Barack Obama in the last election, I suspect that they would see things my way.
But they would probably tease me about the chickens.
I know it’s not the same, but I’ll be a natural food convo proxy for you anytime. xoxo
My die-hard central Virginia republican extended family most definitely did not vote for Barak Obama, but they also now really believe it’s important to eat “real” food. It’s nice to have something we all can agree on at family gatherings!
Ah, I’m so jealous of people who had parents that taught them about real food. Growing up in poverty, we were lucky to have any food, and it usually came in the form of a box of Ho-Hos from the convenience store. There was rarely a dinner in my childhood that didn’t simply slide out of a can and get heated in the microwave. Suffice to say, as I’ve scraped myself up out of poverty, I’ve also tried to learn about this stuff that wealthier people call “real” food (and my wealthy, I just mean people who had a roof over their heads where they could cook, and enough money to buy groceries, because we rarely had that). My husband is cheap, so it’s still impossible to convince him that we need to spend money on whole food, but I have little tiny victories each time we hit the grocery store. Still – the world does NOT make it easy to eat real food. When a Mac N Cheese lunch costs 27 cents, it’s hard for poor people to justify spending $5 on real ingredients for the same lunch. I’m educated enough to know why it’s important not to make Mac N Cheese filled with corn products, but The Industry hopes that most people never get that educated. Looks like some Mom bloggers are helping them out.
Hey, we’re die hard Republicans in my house…and we eat REAL FOOD. I’m not a huge fan of the corn sugar people either and they have been known to find my blog and try to convince me otherwise…seriously people…you are not going to change MY mind.
Thanks for writing this, it was well written and thought out. I’ve added you to my reader!
Wonderful. I have a copy of Pollan’s book and I am chomping at the bits to read it.
I should probably mention that in addition to eating all that high quality meat at home, I also ate a steady diet of Twinkies, Oreos, and “hamburger happy meal with a diet coke” (or Tab when they had it).
Don’t get me started on school lunches because I would either get 10 sugar cookies (for 10 cents each) or give my money to boys.
That last comment cracked me up. I lived on reese’s cups for lunch for a whole year of junior high. And now? I’m pretty sure the me of even five years ago wouldn’t be my friend. Shopping the outer ring of the grocery store, not buying things my grandmother wouldn’t recognize, all the basic cliches. I haven’t quite given up poptarts or Dr. Pepper, but not much else of my old diet remains….nor would I feed either of the above to my kid.
In my quest to eat healthy and lose weight, I’ve seen “Food, Inc.,” “Food Matters,” and “Supersize Me” as well as reading a number of articles. Ignorance is not bliss! I refuse to eat fast food anymore, even though I know how yummy and convenient it can be. We can’t afford the best of the best, but I make the healthiest choices I can and try to make most food from scratch. It’s true that the unhealthier choices are cheaper, but some of the healthier foods ARE economical – think beans and brown rice. We love having quesadillas made with wheat tortillas, black beans, corn, shredded spinach, grated cheese, topped with homemade salsa.
Interesting… last week when we had dinner at Whitney’s house, we talked about the HFCS thing and the new commercials that the pro-corn syrup people put out. The ads are hilarious because Mom 1 disses Mom 2 for giving her kids things w/ HFCS in it. Then Mom 2 is like “oh REALLY? What exactly is the problem? It’s just fructose” and Mom 1 actually has no idea why she doesn’t like HFCS. I can relate to that because I do think a lot of people vilify HFCS without understanding why… or having their own reasons. Basically Whitney and I had different reasons for not loving HFCS which I thought was kinda interesting.
I loved this! I’m a vegetarian who grow up on an Iowa century farm. My grandpa told me it was my fault my dad couldn’t afford to farm it anymore. They both sure did vote for Obama, though.
I was born in 85 and grew up in the 90’s. Sadly I thought food came from a box, when I first lived on my own I cooked a lot of crap. But as I got older and had kids everything changed. I became educated and concerned.
@TheFeministBreeder Education is key, and poverty areas do not have good education institutions to begin with, and I will work anyway to change this anyway I can. And its all tied to politics and it’s funding…its shame. Lack of knowledge has its future consequences, like bad eating habits, and not even thinking of what is natural and what is not, and the real question of why food is even important. I know people who dont have the highest incomes, but they are still aware that there is a lot of bad stuff out there, and I always try to share information with anyone uninformed. It is sad, that the natural and organic foods are seen to be only attainable by wealthier people, but that is not the whole truth. As soon as more people want better foods, demand goes up along with supply, and eventually prices do go down. Prices on these foods have decreased greatly in the last several years at least here in Oregon, and selection is wide . Every store has some kind of organic or natural food selection, that is close to price as its processed and refined counter parts.
@Karen Its almost like the CRA assumes people are not that bright to know why they don’t like something. Then they are there to help us mindless fools. I dont like their ads, they try to make people who wont say “that HFCS is gods necter” (ok a little extreme, its a joke) look like idiots. I dont like HFCS and I have a list or reasons why. Not just a blank stare into space.
@RookieMom Heather Thanks for trying to explain to people that times have changed and food comes from farms and nature. Not created in a lab, then produced on an industrial farm factory, sent to a processing factory to be manufactured and packaged, then sent to distribution networks, then the stores. It is indeed important for people not to forget, which many do or never even had the knowledge to begin with that food can come from a real farm directly to your home. Or in your father’s case a farm, then a butcher, then home. We need butchers for the mess. Its good to see these days, local butchers offer classes and education on the history of meat and its importance. Meat has been consumed by us humans before the Corn Refiners Association, Food Drug Administration, American Industrial age, Ancient time of the Romans, and so on.