This is our America...

Is this our America? When did you grow up? Where? What did you do for dinner? Did you eat out a lot or did mom/dad cook your meals regularly? How about breakfast? Was lunch an option at home? What about sickness'? Did you know anyone with any particularly unusual diseases? Where am I heading with this? What's my point?

I grew up just outside of Chicago, Il. I was raised, like many if not most people in the area, on meat and potatoes, generally speaking. For dinner, most nights, we'd eat some type of meat; beef or pork usually: a vegetable; mom loved string beans and french cut beans and we'd have potatoes with almost every dinner. There was almost always some type of ice cream in the freezer for later on when the A-team was on.
We would eat out maybe once a week and it was usually a semi-important occasion. It wasn't always marking a special date or celebrating an anniversary or anything but it was just...an occasion. Mom and Dad would wear decent clothes, they never over dressed nor under dressed and I'd wear whatever Mom thought was good for the family diner. Again, we'd eat the usual foods that we'd eat at home only now it was cool because someone else was preparing it AND cleaning up afterwards. AWESOME! I remember leaving those family restaurants and lying in the back seat of the Oldsmobile bravada digesting way too much food, listening to B96 or the oldies.

My mom was a consistent cook. She never tried to reinvent the wheel and she never disappointed, either. Tacos were the exotic dish we'd have once a month or so. It was like an event. Otherwise, steaks, pot roast, pork chops, meatloaf....all the while never even thinking once "where does all this come from?".
Maybe I never questioned the food because just beyond the limits of our backyard was a corn field. I could see the red barn on the hill on Old Bell Rd and never thought to meet the people living in that strange house. I was mostly scared of their domicile because of Friday the 13th movies. I wish, and this isn't a regret, I'd have at the very least, talked to them about what they do and why they do it.
This was well before Monsanto was granted permission to dominate the global foodscape. Hell, they were still busy making Round Up. Y'know, those chemicals that kill the bad carbon materials and leave the good carbon materials to grow and flourish. I never thought about my food because, innately, we all should have the ease of mind of assuming our food comes from wholesome places, developed/nurtured by wholesome people, sustaining the earth. That's how it
should be but we all know how it is today.

I can remember hearing about when the Marth boy got chicken pox...or when the cousin of our neighbor had contracted a nasty virus...today, it feels like our small family of four is the minority as both of our kids, knock on REAL wood, have been free of serious ailments. I have friends who have kids with very serious situations. Situations that arose not from the harsh reality of nature and it's, at times, cruel touch. No, these children and their families are caught in a suspended reality of sorts where the data says one thing and those with lined pockets say something contradictory. It's the same when you read about certain foods today like Raw Milk and, as I've recently read, Raw Almonds. When one reads about how and why pasteurization rose in milk production it becomes very evident that it was out of necessity. Horrid urban conditions created a filthy environment where cows needed antibiotics to stay alive and their product, milk, needed pasteurization to be consumed. The real important thing to know is that pasteurized milk and raw milk existed simultaneously because there were markets for both. Why is there so much opposition to raw milk? Why the misleading articles. Last month, 4 boys in Southern California were stricken with E. Coli. The headline stated "4 Boys contract E. Coli, Raw milk believed to be the cause." The reality was, the farm from which the raw milk came is tested twice a week and has NEVER tested positive for E. Coli. And, the milk that was found at the different residences were tested as well and....came back negative for E. Coli. So what's the deal? It's not in my interest to concoct new conspiracies to answer why some things happen when really you just need to familiarize yourself with two things; 1) occam's razor and 2) money. They go hand in hand, actually, and ironically is the only transparency that Obama's administration has kept their promises on. I digress.

So here we are. We have one hand full of information and one hand on the tv remote. This is our America. OUR America. It's not THEIRS. Take back what you can. We can't all be president and we can't all be the CEO of GOOGLE or whatever. That's fine. I urge people to get in touch with what they value, not based upon what the tv says is good or your neighbor says is right but you as an individual organism, feels is right. Don't be afraid of your instincts. This is our America.

the recent days and stuff

so far so good. today is january 12th and we're getting closer and closer to having clean cupboards, free of processed foods of any type. for k and I, first. the kids have a few snacks, dehydrated fruits, granola bars, that they still enjoy and until I or K can make something comparable, i'm ok with still buying those things for the taters.
i conducted a small scale experiment with my two sons last week with oranges. since, well, since the first time i ever asked KZ if he wanted an orange he's said "no". or "no thank you" when I'm lucky. however, like most kids he drinks a lot of orange juice and when i make smoothies i put oranges in those and tell them that I did while he's drinking it. I don't think it's unusual to have a distinction like this at all. i could eat bacon all day long but i found pork chops repugnant. anyway, SZ our younger dude loves fruits and nuts. he doesn't have much of a taste for meats, neither beef nor chicken, really. he picks the pepperoni of pizza.
I grabbed two cutie oranges and sat on the couch. the cuties are perfect for sizes for kids. i peeled one and without even asking, SZ's mini hand extended towards me and he asked for an orange. i gave him a tiny slice. and KZ, while playing with his trash cans, peeked over to me, on the sly.
after a few shared slices between SZ and I, KZ was on his feet and standing next to SZ. he wanted some oranges. I didn't offer any. "Can I have some or-range?" he said it that cutely.
"of course buddy. they're delicious. AND they make ya healthy, feel good and give ya lots of energy."
"so I can run run run and up down up down up down with my trashcans all day?"
"you got it."
he didn't just like the oranges, we ate 7, between the three of us in that sitting.

but the larger point is that, as we, K and I, transform our eating habits, they'll take notice. and as we enjoy the benefits, they'll come around eventually with a hand out, ready to try something new. it may take a few months, years, who knows but i'm sure it'll happen.

beyond that, all has gone pretty well so far. we'll be receiving our first delivery from Beechgreens tomorrow and i'll list all the delicious items we'll be receiving from our local farmers.

the other night, we had some left over manicotti pasta. wifey sauteed some spinach with garlic and onions and used the rest of her soy cheese to fill the shells and it was DELICIOUS. wifey played it down, as she always does but damn it was simple, perfect and delectable.

next post will be about what i do for lunch, currently and what i hope it will morph into.

Lunch Jan 7th

Saturday was fantastic. Went to the beach around 11a when k and the kids went and played on the playground and shoreline and i went and played touch rugby in the sand with Long Beach St Rugby.

Best sport in the world. It was proven in a laboratory. Ran around for a good hour and half then retreated home, full family, in time for one of the best lunches i've ever had.

Last week, k picked up a full chicken from New Frontier Family Farms. They're located in Chino, Ca and service a greater part of the Southern California region. here's a link to their website.

I had a braeburn apple and two cutie oranges for breakfast with some water and coffee.

this delight is a leg and wing from NFFF, red mashed potatoes from our farmers market and some black beans k made from a farmer's market in long beach she went to on friday.

it's one of the heaviest meals i've eaten in a long time and i must say, i didn't go into a food coma. in fact, i've eaten considerably less, in proportion and daily snacking, that i usually do and i find i have much more energy during the day. i said this to k and she brought up a good point. taking over a little bit of power in your life is, well, empowering and so with it is a feeling of exhilaration, i suppose.

i still notice every burger king commercial and pizza. especially pizza. i'm definitely going to make some pizza dough this week or next weekend.

So far ive eaten, as of 1-5

*- left over groceries from 2011
**- food provided at work free of charge

1-1 smoothie for breakfast. Strawberries, banana, grapes, pomegranate, kiwi. *
Cheese sandwich on wheat bread for lunch*
Spinach ricotta pasta for lunch*
1-2 cereal for breakfast with blueberries*
Cheese sandwich*
Homemade pizza on a buboli*
1-3 cereal for breakfast with blueberries**
Pizza for lunch**
Stir fry with endamame baked things from trader joes*
1-4 two pieces wheat toast **
Rice salad for lunch**
Potato, sweet potato, squash, onion medley stir fry for dinner*
1-5 cereal for breakfast **
Rice salad and a curried chicken for lunch **
Leftover lasagna pasta the boys didn't eat for dinner

NOW put your pitchforks away. Almost everything I ate at home was store bought. We're still in the process of eating what's left from grocery days. Mid weekend we'll be "on our own" so to speak. I hadn't realized until today that it's been a week since I ate meat. Thanks for the heads up c.

coincidence i think maybe

yesterday at work a good question was raised by a coworker.

c--al, so, you've mentioned a lot of vegetables with your csa and your garden, what will you do for your meats?

me--y'know, i'd thought of a few places that i'd like to buy from from but i haven't made any plans. i guess i hadn't thought of it to much lately.

c--so you'll be a vegetarian?

me--i suppose i will?

i later thought about that conversation during my drive home. c is my editor on a television show i work on. she and her man enjoy eating well. they are both vegetarian/vegan dieters. like myself, they love animals. i tend to eat them though. anyway, she's seen me devour burgers for lunch, sandwiches, most if not all of my lunches have included a meat portion, in short. she seemed a little surprised at my absent mindedness. made sense. when we have routines, they are often times deeply rooted. and most importantly, enjoyed to some degree on one level or another. it doesn't really make sense for me to just stop including meat. which, i'm not either.

one of the end goals of this excercise/experiment/reason to blog/ life pattern is to learn something new and/or teach myself something new. i want to unlearn all the patterns i've absorbed through my senses as i've been bombarded by billboards, commercials, radio jingles and every other type of advertisement, trying to buy my appetite and convince me to shuffle over to their factory produced robot food. i WISH it was robot food. because, in the end, we are what we eat.

i want to eat what's around. i don't want to plan on eating. i know i'll be hungry at some point in the day, so that is when i will consume something to satiate that hunger. i will differentiate between a temporary blip on my hunger radar and true, necessary vital consumption. up until now, if i felt a pang i threw a snickers at it. if i felt a slight hunger i'd grab some chips. maybe i'd have a dr pepper to wash it down. i can't lie, that sounds delicious right now. but, it's not in our house. and that's as far as i will hunt for my sustence tonight.

oh, i almost forgot, so today wifey texts and there's excitement. how can i tell an excited text from say, a sarcastic text? i can't. point being she was headed to a local CSA and there would be "a chicken guy" there. after checking it out on FARM LOT 59, a representative from a local chicken farm, i'll get the link, shows up on the first CSA of the month and he'll have chicken tonight. which means, i'll have chicken tonight.

coincidence? nope.

how to make a garden

take one of these

and some poop
and add these


and you get this:

home to future corn, squash and peas, probably, in about a month and a half.

day late and a dollar gained

so i wanted to get this thing off the ground yesterday. i mean, a week ago. really, like a month ago but isn't that the way of things? we put off what can be started today under the clouds for a chance to start tomorrow when it's sunny.

hi. my name is al and i'll be taking you on a small adventure of food consumption over the next year and hopefully beyond. you see, i'm a father, dad and food consumer. i'm really a product of an environment. i get hungry. i think of things i'd like to eat. and then i hunt for those items usually with a car and a wallet as my vehicle and weapon. i always day dream about living 200 years ago. usually those fantasies are interrupted by a text message, or an incoming email or some other pressing digital technology trying to establish itself as necessary...but i digress

my wife, kristen and i are attempting to wean ourselves from the grocery machine. she eats much better than i do. i'll blame my profession. there's gotta be a reason why i'm eating poorly and it surely can't be MY fault! i'm in a room for 10-12 hours a day, staring at a computer with an hour break to scurry into sunlight, eat a lunch, many times, with a few co workers, and then it's back to the dark edit bay. there's always a kitchen nearby stocked with almost every conceivable processed snack imaginable. so going hungry isn't really an option here, which is nice. but leaving here and hitting up an organic market isn't really an option, either.

as i read about companies such as monsanto attempting to dominate the global foodscape, i get defensive about my family. i do not want scientists creating zombie-foods for me or my children. i think it's a great theoretical experiment to attempt to make super foods but to create them and sell them and hope no one notices is downright evil. i have to also thank monsanto. after reading the book fast food nation several years ago, i started a small garden on the side of our house. and my life changed.

so this is the introduction to our YEAR WITHOUT GROCERIES campaign. for the next year, we are going to forego buying fruits and vegetables from any grocery chain and only from farmers direct and farmers markets. currently, we're enrolled in Beach City Greens, CSA, for our initial fruits and veggies. by june, i hope to have our garden producing enough vegetables so that we will only have to supplement our diet with fruits. we will also be abandoning convenient stores and restaurants. i have a feeling that maybe we'll treat ourselves once in a blue moon as we both love pizza. A LOT. but we'll see.

i hope to post in here daily, if not weekly. i'll post thoughts, questions, recipes, our diets, what we feed our kids, when i fall off the wagon and maybe a random animal video. they're my favorite. anyhow, welcome and thanks for reading.