food philosophy

I often get stuck in my head space and don’t feel a need to let people know what my norms are then get shocked when people want to know more about them. I grew up poor but my parents cooked with little processed foods, they got me to want to eat vegetables, they somehow managed to instill values in me about a green ethic, community stewardship, and valuing the abundance that we did have. I can only hope to to raise my child with those values.

As an adult much of my food philosophy has not changed. I think in most part I have felt inspired by Mark Bittman and his move from the New York Times Food Section as The Minimalist to their Topics section with his advocacy for consumers and food producers. In a nod to him, here it is out on the table… my food philosophy. **Please note, this is not complete but pretty darn steadfast.

I like food. It is an extension of the pride we have in ourselves and our communities. As far as the quality I like to have it local and then organic. There are trade-offs with the environmental costs associated with transporting organic food over long distances for the consumer, and not all small farms can be certified organic. I did a graduate paper using South Florida as a case study analyzing the trade-offs for the consumer to decide where their bottom dollar was so feel comfortable writing about this issue. I like taking the time to get to know my consumers to determine what I feel comfortable for my food health. We do eat non-local too – our Parmesan cheese is not from here, nor our olive oil. We have a few choice ingredients we are fine importing.

Local, fresh food can be expensive and much like most expenses I do not appreciate paying hefty bills. I choose to pick the few pieces I am willing to pay a good deal for and be more flexible on the rest. For my family we’ll pay a little more for our raw dairy products and meat products while picking choice produce for our meal planning. We are not personal gardening this year but I will be working with friends and a farm on their land as well as buying from local vendors. Our meat philosophy is that we are flexitarians – we do not need it with every meal but when we use meat it can be like a condiment (I read that in a Lynne Rosetto Kasper book once).

I have been cooking from scratch for years so it is not a tedious task for me and I am fortunate enough to have the skill set to whip up meals with ease. I am lucky and utilize these skills often. My family is fortunate that we get to shop the perimeter of the grocery store without having to dive into the processed food central core of most groceries.

In working with food I like to keep it simple, and keep it good. We do not have a lot of extraneous gadgetry in our kitchen. We don’t have a microwave or a stand mixer. Many of my utensils are wooden and my knives are sharp. We invested in cast iron and enamel coated cookware (mostly Le Creuset and some old school Descoware). Our storage containers are glass.

When preparing food I also like to keep it simple. You will not see fusion cuisine or overly-complicated dishes on our table. We pick centerpieces to highlight whether it is a veggie in season or a small cut of meat we are playing up. My pepper mill will crack for it, it will be cooked well and efficiently, and spiced with bulk spices or fresh herbs.

One of my huge pet peeves is people who buy great quality products and f*ck them up with poor execution or an inability to pull together a cohesive menu. For them I want to say KISS – Keep It Simple Stupid. Crafting great meals does not need to be over thought – meal planning is fun (see how I engage my husband to plan with me).

I have a lot of compassion for people who think they are economically trapped to eat in a less healthy way or who do not know how to get out of a processed food trap. I can state again I grew up POOR – my family was the working-class homeless at times when I was a kid. My parents would cut back on the meat, increase the grain and legumes, and find a way to give us veggies even in the most dire circumstances. It seems the processed food trap that sprang around us with the cascade of food lobbying from the 80s has a stronger hold on healthy eating than poverty in my opinion.

We use whole dairy. We use whole grain more often than more processed grain. We use high quality meats when we use them. We eat a good deal of grain and legume combinations. We typically shop in-season for produce (even though a little less with my pregnancy last winter and me blasting our infant with produce this winter).

However now that spring is here I am ready for the local harvest. Bring it on. Me and my kitchen knives are ready.