Dilemmas

The necklace on top of the stone that I'd also like...

First, I have an actual dilemma.  There's a necklace I have fallen in love with.  But it's not an inexpensive piece (although it's by no means even a tenth of the cost of the aegean necklace I'm saving for), so I go and visit it in this local store.  With baby stuff to buy, bedroom furniture to buy, etc I just think, hmm, should I spend the money?  *sigh*  I suck at decisions.

And then I spent the morning at a coffee shop reading more of The Omnivore's Dilemma.  It's not an easy read for me.  It's the first book since college (and the only one not for a class) that I've spent time underlining things in.  I'm absolutely disgusted by the way our food system works here in the U.S. so I have to keep putting the book down and stepping away for a bit.  I wouldn't say it's been eye-opening for me yet (I'm only 1/4 of the way through), because I have researched this topic more than the average person, but it has confirmed that buying our food the way we do is a smart and healthy decision.

There is a line after he's gone to visit "his" cow at the feedlot that I underlined that states: "Eating industrial meat takes an almost heroic act of not knowing or, now, forgetting."  I really believe this is true.  Doing any sort of research into your animal products makes you have to really consider your choices of where it comes from, which may explain why most people seem to not want to know.  I'm happy we're omnivores, I enjoy meat tremendously.  But because of what I've learned the last several years, we eat less of it, because we've chosen to spend more on better quality.  I'm not saying we always know where our meat comes from (we eat out, and haven't been as good at researching cured meats around here), but we have chosen to only buy meat like chicken, beef, and generally pork that meets our standards. 

It's not easy when you take the time to learn about food, both vegetable and animal.  It makes purchasing food difficult, because I look at everything.  I read labels religiously as I try to avoid soy products (other than fermented like tofu) like the plague.  I don't like how much corn products we eat, so I have to check for all the names that goes under.  I check quality of produce and I check to see that our meat and animal products meet the standards we've set for our house.  We try to buy natural and local as much as possible, but for some things that isn't possible.  (Although I recently found a farm where we can collect our own eggs, which I am so dang excited about!)

So, I'm sure I'll do a review once I've finished the book!