Thursday, June 07, 2007

If you down to the farm this weekend

Fear- Eleanor Roosevelt
Fear- Eleanor Roosevelt

This weekend I am hoping to visit the farm that produces meat locally. The boys and I are going on an educational visit to find out exactly where those sausages come from, how they are made, why the people chose to do this. It is part of open days at LEAF farms and is a fantastic opportunity not only to go finding local food sources but also to engage with the farmers and find out why exactly they do what they do. It is about knowing your food sources.The site shows you a simple way to find out who near you is opening their doors on Sunday the 10th June and well, we need no further invitation. Go and put your postcode in and hunt for your local food producers.

Food has been on my mind lately. I took part in the middleageshed podcast a few weeks ago and looked seriously at the amounts of food we consume. This was followed by a picture photo show showing what the world eats in a week........look at it and draw your own conclusions.

Voluntary simplicity to me therefore implies that I must try not to eat more than I need and that will be a biggie to crack. My scales dramatically show my body fat content and again, I wonder how it got to be to that amount. I know........I can make changes.....less is more. Just because it is on offer does not mean I need to have it. If consuming less in material terms is possible then consuming less in food is also necessary and possible. Desserts have been off the menu for the last month apart from Sundays and it has been little hardship to the family members. They have had fruit and yoghurt on offer and have been quite happy with that.

Downshifthing to me means finding a balance in my use of the earth's resources and it does not get closer than looking at my diet and what foods I eat, where they come from and who has messed with it before it gets to me, how many miles it has travelled. Its ludicrous when you look at that equasion. Can we change this? I know I can make a continious effort of small steps towards change. Will it be hard, you bet....this is really hitting at a sore point...I love my food and I believe that means I have to engage with its creation, manufacture and waste disposal.I have quite a bit of surplus waist and waste. Reducing that is quite an undertaking.......

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

Hello -

I enjoyed your posting today. I wonder if you have done any research on what is being reported about the benefits of a vegetarian/vegan diet versus a diet containing meat with regard to walking more gently on the earth and depletion of its resources.

Best to you, Barbara in Georgia USA

Mimi said...

Thanks for sharing the link to what the world eats. I found it really interesting.

Downshiftingpath said...

Yes I have. I agree that a vegetarian diet would be kinder and reduce my footprint. The land used to rear meat on and the gasses produced by the animals do little to add to the solution.
I am not that far on my journey there. One of the dificulties is that I need protein in my diet and my digestive system is not able as yet to go for the brown foods. I think it needs to be a gradual change. I have changed one meal per week to vegetarian and will continue to do that. Its a good question and I do not believe there are any quick answers.