Isn't it Ironic...don't you think

It's like rain on your wedding day.  It's a free line when you've already paid. 

No I'll stop as I am not going to recite Alanic Morissette's "Ironic" for you instead I would like to relay a message of irony.

This past Sunday on the way to church my husband and I had a conversation about food.

We often talk about food, we love it and enjoy just about all aspects of it.

Since watching films such as:  Food, Inc., Fast Food Nation, and The Real Dirt on Farmer John we are quite a bit wiser about food.  We have made a point to learn where our food comes from and how it is treated.

I've become vegetarian since gaining my knowledge and my husband and three children now only consume organic meats and grass fed beef (that is when they eat those items). 

This past Sunday though my husband and I were lamenting that the knowledge we have gained is almost like a burden.  In the past we would have thought nothing about going through a drive through and picking up a biscuit for breakfast. 

Now we can't think about eating fast food, or conventional food for that matter, without feeling ill and guilty.  Having to take time and effort to research restaurants, if we want to go out to eat, or checking all of the ingredients on packages to make sure the dreaded high fructose corn syrup isn't present really takes an effort.

Now please don't stop reading at this point and think I am whining about having to spend extra time to eat healthy.  I gladly spend the time because I care about the food that we eat and I want to ensure, more then anything, that my children aren't filled with chemicals and that they know what various fruits and vegetables actually look like in their natural state (not in French fry form or strawberry milkshake).

Back to my story :)  My husband and I just lamented that ignorance seemed simpler.  On the flipside however we have felt that burning need to share our knowledge of food to educate others...we just haven't really figured out how (other then my blog). 

Now we agree that there is NO WAY we could revert back to the old ways.  Lucky for us a reinforcement, that eating the way we do is the right path, was waiting for us at church.  Steve Tate from Goat Lady Dairy came to speak to the adults of the church during the Sunday school hour. 

Goat Lady Dairy is a local organic farm that produces goat cheese (yeah obvious I know from the name) but they also have a thriving CSA that has 150 participants.  Goat Lady hosts dinners and weddings and at every available opportunity they share the passion for locally grown organic food saying "when you change a person's relationship with their food, you change them, and the world, forever."

Steve is an ordained minister who aptly connects the ideas of caring for the land and animals to leading a Christian life.  His point is why wouldn't you want to let animals express their chickeness (scratching the ground searching for worms) and cowness (eating grass and clover) when we are given the opportunity to express our humaness every day.  Why would you want to eat chicken that has been kept inside, in the dark, for its entire short life and fed a cocktail of drugs to keep it from getting too sick?  The better, more healthy and humane, approach would be to allow the chicken to run free (without stress of being cooped up) and enjoy life until the end has come.  In the end that produces a healthier meat that will more adequately nourish your body.

Steve left us with some pretty heavy information (pun fully intended) that a recent study stated 50% of the adult population of the U.S. would be obese by 2030.  Holy Cow!  That signals to me that we need to do something about our food and our habits.  When you hear a staggering figure like that you should feel compelled to make a lifestyle change.

My husband and I left realizing this was exactly what we needed to hear.  Irony or not we were affirmed in our dedication to eating from farm to fork.

So without sounding too preachy, and I am pretty sure it is too late for that, I leave you with this.  Take an interest in your food.  Find out where you food comes from and respect your body enough to care for it.  Nurture and nourish it as it is truly a gift given to us by a God (or whatever higher power you put your faith in).

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