Eating the best of the best

I have realised of late, that while the blog is called cooking up baby I simply haven’t been talking enough about food.

After reading Animal Vegetable Miracle late last year, I made a new year’s resolution that I plan to keep. For myself and my family, I will buy food that comes from local and organic sources wherever I can.

Now, I’ve been aware of the benefits of eating organic for years.  But when standing in the vegetable aisle looking at the non-organic produce and then at the organic options, based on the price, I would often go with the former. I bought some veggie wash. That would make it okay, wouldn’t it?

Silly me. I simply wasn’t thinking. You know the best way to clean up a contaminated field? Planting. The food we grow from the earth sucks up whatever it is in that soil — be it pesticides or petroleum. We are eating the gunk that supposedly protects our food from pests. The pesticides aren’t just on the surface of the veggies, they’re inside. I for one, would rather not eat chemicals that have caused deformities in children around the world, even in small quantities.

What about meat? The biggest obstacle in buying organic meat is the price. When a regular chicken in a Montreal supermarket costs about $8, a grain-fed one $12 and an organic chicken a whopping $20-something, it can be really difficult to swallow the extra expense. What is my solution? Eating it only once a week. North Americans, and most Westerners for that matter, eat far more animal protein than they should. Avoiding processed meats is an easy way to get away from some of the worst culprits in the obesity and ill-health battle. Simply cutting down on meat consumption in general is another great way.

I, for one, could never be a vegetarian. Legumes make me gassy, even when I soak them for ages.  Most soy products just make me feel ill. I also love meat. I love tearing apart a chicken carcass. Yesterday, when our groceries were delivered, Josh pulled out a package of marrow bones he’d bought for me.

“It must be true love,” I grinned at him.

Yes — I will bake them until the fat begins to run out, sprinkle coarse salt on them and eat the delicious marrow with a spoon. I’m sure my ancestors did this, and looking at the way April goes to town on a chicken bone, can project that my grandchildren will most likely do it too.

So that’s my resolution — to simply eat the best of the best. I’m not going to get mad at myself when I eat non-organic, nor will I berate anyone who chooses the cheaper option based on price. I just think that cutting down the meat from every day to once or twice a week can be a whole lot better for everyone.