I just finished watching The Future of Food on my computer because that’s how I watch TV (get the link to watch it free on Hulu from our Facebook fan page) and, horrified of course at the harsh realizations of American food culture and its effect on its people and those in other countries, took some time to think about how much of that nonsense may or may not be in what I eat.  From 1990 to 2003, sales of organic food rose 1200% and has risen steadily since.  I’m neither hippie nor orthorexic, I buy organic when I can and don’t really sweat it when I can’t.  But that is an undeniably large increase in percentage.  You’d think we were protecting our health and well-being or something.  

I live in a city where processed and therefore potentially modified food is literally sold on every block that has a store.  It’s hard to see everyone eating stuff I used to love, Doritos, Coke, Snickers bars, McDonald’s - oh, those nuggets – before I interviewed filmmaker Robert Kenner for my review of 2009 Oscar-nominee Food, Inc.  The film didn’t turn me vegan or anything, it wasn’t gruesome and neither was The Future of Food, but if I was borderline health-conscious about my eating and buying habits before I saw the movie and spoke with Kenner, I certainly was after.  Now I don’t want that Diet Coke I was going to have.  There's too much evil corn in it.

One example is my tomato budget.  I’ve been spending $30-50 a month on farmers market tomatoes (those and air conditioning are my big summer expenses) because I need to enjoy them while they’re in season and freeze plenty of puree.  I’m not eating or serving those gross, waxy, stiff, colorless tomatoes all winter.  You can’t do anything with them.  Since my mom’s battle with breast cancer (she won), I’ve cut way down on canned food because I’m a little paranoid about BPA and dioxins.  But I need fresh, juicy real ones because I’ve eaten fresh, juicy real ones and I love them.  They’re really special.  I’ll cut down on my protein budget to have them.  It’s tofu-grilling season, anyway, and it’s been too hot to eat meat.  Plus when I drop a stockpot full of lobsters on my foot again, I’ll have bags of frozen tomato puree to ice it.    

I’ve made some other changes due to general suspicion of this whole corn genetically modified to project the image of Mother Theresa in a tortilla crisis.  Like swapping cream cheese for goat cheese. Why not just buy organic cream cheese?  Because I like that goat cheese comes from goats, which are a way, way smaller scale operation than cows, even well-kept free ranging ones, and therefore in my opinion have more integrity.  It’s one tiny difference I feel matters.  Call me crazy, but I want spreadable cheese with integrity and I feel like goats deserve the chance.  I buy goat brie, too.  Both are the same price as their cow counterparts at Trader Joe’s.   

I also gave up all big-name processed food, which is as easy as looking at the ingredients everyone can see.  It’s not a militant boycott, I just would rather not put my money towards that food anymore – like the end of Food, Inc. says, vote with your wallet.  If it comes in a plastic wrapper with a tear-off end, I probably won’t buy it.  I used to love that stuff, I craved it for a long time.  But I’ve learned to prefer eating foods as close as possible to the foods our ancestors 3-plus generations ago ate because that’s what human creatures ate and, as a completely non-scientifically-backed-up-theory, should probably keep eating.  Lentils, beans, buckwheat, kimchi, yogurt, cheese (fresh and aged), naturally raised meat, wild-caught fish, lots of herbs, spices, fruits and vegetables and lots and lots of BOOZE!  It’s not a boring food existence when you feel like you’re taking it back from the people who made it boring.  (And maybe a little scary). 

My brother is now learning how to cook before he goes back to college for his sophomore year because he wants to cut down on the amount of processed food he eats.  He saw Food, Inc. too.  He’s already texted me a couple of pictures of his creations, always making sure to get the mountains in the background.  At home in Ojai we have a coop of 6 or 7 chickens (coyotes happen) who lay stunning beige eggs every morning.  This new recipe of his stuck with me for days.

“Follow the chicken to the coop in the early morning, wait ‘til it lays an egg, grab it, run it up to the house while it’s still warm from the chicken’s butt, crack it and scramble it right in the pan with some goat cheese.”   

He didn’t even like eggs or goat cheese before we got those chickens.  Well done, brother.

Photo taken from The Future of Food