Respect
Ok, please bear with me as I am going deep today. I first got the idea for this post following a conversation with my husband about the cost of ground beef. I was looking at changing our family over to only purchasing free-range, grassed, organic beef. The cost for this product in our typical grocery store is $4.50/lb for ground beef while the conventional ground beef runs around $3.99 lb but we purchased it only when it was on sale $3.49/lb. For comparison sake the Co-op in our area offers local, farm fresh, free-range, grass fed ground beef for about $10.99/lb. My husband wanted to know why I was even thinking about this and considering paying more for a similar product. He never outright says no to something but he likes to make sure that solid reasoning is backing the decisions that we make with our money. We often converse with each other when changing things up to make sure that we are both on the same page. It's a respect thing in our marriage. So anyway back to beef and why. I read an article a few months back that likened food purchasing to voting. With each purchase we make we essentially vote that we agree with how the company is run and what their standards are. I want my money to show respect for the fact that my beef come from a living, breathing animal. I want that animal to have a good life with good living conditions and I want it bad enough that I am willing to pay more for it. Currently we are using the grocery store version of the beef while we experiment with using less meat over all and tweaking our recipes to make purchasing a 1/2 cow worth the investment. A year ago our taco dinners would use a pound of ground beef for the four of us for two meals while tonights taco dinner will only use 1/2 lb. We'll get to the end goal eventually.
This thought has carried over into the foods that I make. The other day I was looking at one loaf of homemade bread that was left and starting to get harder that we like for sandwiches and such. I was absolutely not about the throw out the bread that took hours of my time to make from scratch. I respect my talents and time in bread making far too much to allow it to go to waste. So I spent some time cubing the bread and baking it to use as croutons or to throw into the food processor for bread crumbs. I feel satisfied each time I open the freezer and see the bread sitting in there ready to be used. It is so nice to feed myself and my family great foods made from scratch using quality ingredients without harsh additives and chemicals. Our bodies are thankful for finally being shown some respect. We adults are weighing less and feeling less tired. The kids are better behaved because they are not always half starved despite eating non-stop, they are now eating fresh foods that really nourish and satisfy their little bodies.
Knowing the added health benefits I also take pride in our garden and growing our food. I have more respect for the simplicity of fresh vegetables. In the stores there are piles of food and it seems so easy to come by. There is a huge disconnect. Gardening has shown me that a simple tomato takes hours of time in watering, weeding and staking. A tomato does not appear from nowhere ready to eat in vast quantities. At the risk of sounding extremely weird I cherish my vegetables and preserve them because of how much of my time and effort they require. We have great farm stand near our home that prides itself on carrying as much fresh produce s they can grown within 60 miles of the store by local farmers. This little store lists the name of the grower and farm and its local providing a great connection to our food. We have been depending on this store for our produce since the winter garden was a total flop. It is so nice to know that John Doe from Everlasting Farms 20 miles away is receiving a fair price for the parsnips that I purchased this morning. I am proud to use my money to vote yes to his sustainable agriculture and while they are not federally considered organic I got to support his organic farming practices.
That leads me to my last thoughts on the respect of food and people, my money. I have money in my pocket and it did not just appear there. I have yet to find a tree with leaves made of money. My money is symbolic to me. To earn that dollar I have to step out of my home and away from my family. The cost of that dollar includes someone else picking up my child from school and filling in for me to make sure that they are safe and secure until my husband gets home from work. Oh, the joys of working two different shifts. Yes, I do perform a job to earn that money and I feel that I am compensated fairly and I am grateful for that. At the end of the day I want my money to be spent proudly supporting those around me and showing my appreciation for the products I purchase. I also try to save as much of my money as I can as I hope to live on as little as possible so that one day we might be able to put a little more distance between ourselves and the madness of the modern world. A modern world where beef is an item rather than an animal, tomatoes are available 365 days a year, and I have no idea who manufactures my food.
Little by little living a simple life has lead me to see how complicated the simple things are and how little these common things are respected by those around me. There are so many things just taken for granted that require a lot of time and energy to do the right way. We are so far removed from this in our modern world and have lost respect for the craftsmanship in homemade products and have no idea the origins of the things that we ingest. I don't think that our decisions are the right ones for everyone but I wish that others could just stop for a moment and take a look around them and put some thought into the decisions that they make. Learn the repercussions of turning to superstores rather than local business and make educated decisions and maybe even talk it over with someone to see if solid reasoning can back up these decisions or if it's just done because everyone else is doing it.
Here is the original article I read:
http://www.motherearthnews.com/homesteading-and-livestock/organic-food-local-food.aspx
Here is a blogger that I love who made her stand on the topic:
http://down---to---earth.blogspot.com/2013/01/every-time-we-shop-we-vote-with-our.html
Shared here:
http://www.theprairiehomestead.com/2014/01/homestead-barn-hop-142.html
 |
| A Little More $ for Better Products |
This thought has carried over into the foods that I make. The other day I was looking at one loaf of homemade bread that was left and starting to get harder that we like for sandwiches and such. I was absolutely not about the throw out the bread that took hours of my time to make from scratch. I respect my talents and time in bread making far too much to allow it to go to waste. So I spent some time cubing the bread and baking it to use as croutons or to throw into the food processor for bread crumbs. I feel satisfied each time I open the freezer and see the bread sitting in there ready to be used. It is so nice to feed myself and my family great foods made from scratch using quality ingredients without harsh additives and chemicals. Our bodies are thankful for finally being shown some respect. We adults are weighing less and feeling less tired. The kids are better behaved because they are not always half starved despite eating non-stop, they are now eating fresh foods that really nourish and satisfy their little bodies.
 |
| Respecting my Time by Repurposing |
Knowing the added health benefits I also take pride in our garden and growing our food. I have more respect for the simplicity of fresh vegetables. In the stores there are piles of food and it seems so easy to come by. There is a huge disconnect. Gardening has shown me that a simple tomato takes hours of time in watering, weeding and staking. A tomato does not appear from nowhere ready to eat in vast quantities. At the risk of sounding extremely weird I cherish my vegetables and preserve them because of how much of my time and effort they require. We have great farm stand near our home that prides itself on carrying as much fresh produce s they can grown within 60 miles of the store by local farmers. This little store lists the name of the grower and farm and its local providing a great connection to our food. We have been depending on this store for our produce since the winter garden was a total flop. It is so nice to know that John Doe from Everlasting Farms 20 miles away is receiving a fair price for the parsnips that I purchased this morning. I am proud to use my money to vote yes to his sustainable agriculture and while they are not federally considered organic I got to support his organic farming practices.
 |
| Supporting Local Farmers One Dollar at a Time. |
That leads me to my last thoughts on the respect of food and people, my money. I have money in my pocket and it did not just appear there. I have yet to find a tree with leaves made of money. My money is symbolic to me. To earn that dollar I have to step out of my home and away from my family. The cost of that dollar includes someone else picking up my child from school and filling in for me to make sure that they are safe and secure until my husband gets home from work. Oh, the joys of working two different shifts. Yes, I do perform a job to earn that money and I feel that I am compensated fairly and I am grateful for that. At the end of the day I want my money to be spent proudly supporting those around me and showing my appreciation for the products I purchase. I also try to save as much of my money as I can as I hope to live on as little as possible so that one day we might be able to put a little more distance between ourselves and the madness of the modern world. A modern world where beef is an item rather than an animal, tomatoes are available 365 days a year, and I have no idea who manufactures my food.
 |
| My Ultimate Vote |
Here is the original article I read:
http://www.motherearthnews.com/homesteading-and-livestock/organic-food-local-food.aspx
Here is a blogger that I love who made her stand on the topic:
http://down---to---earth.blogspot.com/2013/01/every-time-we-shop-we-vote-with-our.html
Shared here:
http://www.theprairiehomestead.com/2014/01/homestead-barn-hop-142.html
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