Food – a necessary substance that you can’t live without, sometimes only needed as a necessity and yet can be one of the most enjoyable of Gods creation. We eat food to bond with others just as much as we do to feed our bodies. Unfortunately within the last century our food choices have taken a turn for the worst.
My mother started full time work when I was about 5 years old. Being a child of the 70s with a full time working mother and father, our family quickly learned the “value” of frozen pizza and TV dinners. Sandwiches were also a necessary staple in the home (and still is, for me). Not to badger my Mother, she needed to work and her career took a lot of after-hours work. My father, being a man raised by a woman who did all the cooking in his home, knew how to cook one thing…scrambled eggs. So TV dinners and frozen pizza it was. I didn’t mind, I was a picky eater and this way I could choose what I wanted. However, this entire era of ‘fast food’ that kicked in so hard in the 70s and 80s has changed all of us, whether it be from working parents, busy lives, or whatever the case may be for you personally. I honestly believe I’ve eaten more fast food and processed food than I have fresh food in the course of my life. Sad, but true.
As a child when I visited my Grandmother I was exposed to the old ways. My Grandmother and Papa were gardeners, and prided themselves on it as well. Why, my Papa could grow the largest cucumbers in Chilton County (or so he bragged), and Grandmother made THE best pickles from them . They would pick in the field, bringing in bags of peas and beans and the like, and I would sit with my family and shell peas and snap beans by the bagfull. I remember Grandmother canning her goods for later use, and she would always give us our own jar of jelly or preserves from Chilton County peaches, strawberrys, figs, or anything else she grew. I wish I had appreciated food more as a child, and I sure wish I had learned more about gardening from them while they were alive.
Now that I’m an adult I can see where these old ways were the best ways. Eating local, eating fresh. In the past few years I’ve paid more attention to what I’ve been feeding my family. Of course we’ve always had fast food but a real dinner at dinner time has always been important to me, however I thought it perfectly normal to open a can of vegetables to serve with the main course, not knowing that most of the nutrients are already cooked out. I started buying frozen or fresh from the grocery store. Then I started paying attention to the labels on the items I was purchasing. I think it was the cantaloupe that tipped me off one day. You know those cute little stickers on your produce that you loved as a kid, that you peel off when you’re washing it? It said “Venezuela” on it. I thought ‘Venezuela? Can’t we grow cantaloupe here in Alabama? Why am I buying crap from South America that I can grow in my back yard???’ And so my first attempt at gardening began. It was also my first failure at gardening, unfortunately. But it did raise an awareness within me that put me on a quest to buy local food from my local farmers. In the summer, I started buying each week from the local farmers market in Center Point or Trussville. Fresh squash, zucchini, cantaloupe, okra, tomatoes, all kinds of goodies to cook up. I talked to the farmers, knew they grew it and picked it themselves, even got tips on how to prepare or cook them. I would bring them home, clean up and bag them and freeze for the winter. It was my first year of doing this, and I do still have some of those wonderful pink eye purple hull peas and a few bags of squash, but I’ve had to substitute until Spring hits.
I think I’m going to try to start another garden this year, hopefully with a little success. It really is the best way to truly eat local. What’s better than eating food you grew yourself right in your back yard? The only next best thing is buying from the local farmers. Because if you’ve never had some fresh fried up okra that was picked a few hours prior, you’re missing out on a specialty in life. And, it helps our local economy, and the health of you and your family to boot.
