Changing the Way You Eat

eggs from a local farm

If you're reading a food blog, you probably have some interest in the quality of your food. On the surface, this might mean that you want to make meals that taste good. You might also consider what is nutritious for you and your family. 

Does it go deeper than that? For quite some time, I have been learning more about the food industry and how it works. I am not going to gross out anyone but I will say it was very enlightening to learn about the way animals and crops are treated to get the "best" product. 

As I mentioned in my entry on food goals for 2010, one of my goals is to find local sources for more of my food. Since reading books like Animal, Vegetable, Miracle (Barbara Kingsolver) and Eating Animals (Jonathan Safran Foer) and seeing documentaries like Food, Inc., I have been working toward becoming more of a locavore - that is, eating more locally made and locally produced foods. My list below is based on my location ( Delaware / Chenango counties, southern tier of New York state)

Some changes in my food purchases:

• eating more locally raised meats, (through farmers' markets and Chenango Bounty's website). If not locally raised, then organic, hormone-free and antibiotic-free. (My new favorite at the grocery store is Meyer's angus beef.)

• our yogurt at home is now Chobani greek yogurt (produced in Norwich, NY without the use of rBST-treated milk) 

• anytime we need sour cream, we buy Friendship brand, to the delight of Dan the Man (produced in Friendship, NY, near his hometown, about three hours from us)

• our eggs now come from a local family farm (Guilford, NY) 

• I still make my own jams - 2010 jams are blackberry and concord grape. This year both fruits were grown locally. (I picked the blackberries myself!)

As winter sets in, it can be more difficult to find local fresh produce in New York. I hope to provide more recipes using winter produce, like potatoes, winter squashes, carrots, and apples.

Have you made any changes in your food habits, whether toward becoming more of a locavore, trying to eat more meals made at home, or purchasing less junk food?