Has it really been that long since I've posted? Busy busy like a bee, I tell you! :) I wrote this earlier, just something I've been mulling over:

I've been dealing with food issues my whole adult existence. I grew up with a mom who is a wonderful cook, but the variety of foods we ate was fairly limited. You see, my mom is the sort of woman who, much like me, is a people-pleaser in the kitchen, and so she cooked things that my father would like first and foremost, and tried not to stir the waters when it came to the possibility of trying something new.

My boyfriend, in contrast, grew up with a mother who was a nutritionist, and who apparently places a high value on a diverse diet full of healthy foods, and who often encouraged her family to try new things (Hi Ann! *smiles*). I compare the two moms here only for the purpose of shedding light on two ways of thinking about food that I have struggled with. On the one hand, I like all of those old "home cooking" recipes that I learned from watching my mom cook.

On the other hand, the desire for some variety is precisely what led me to become a vegetarian in high school. My mother understood, of course, because she too enjoys more variety in her diet than mashed potatoes, fried meat, and canned veggies for dinner every night (don't forget the gravy). In fact, I think since my father passed, of all the meals I've eaten at my mother's only Thanksgiving has had gravy and we usually have oven-roasted root veggies with rosemary. Most vegetarians can't understand this take on it... why go veggie if all you want is more variety? Well... if I can't eat the main part of the meal that's served every evening, then I have to cook for myself... and if I cook for myself, then I get to eat whatever I like. (The deal my mom made with me was that I had to go grocery shopping with her regularly so that she knew what to buy me--it worked out well, I still miss those shopping trips with my mom.)

I didn't stay veggie forever, but I did find myself questioning the politics and ethics of food quite a lot in college and have since continued to mull it over, if passively. I live in the "land of fruits and nuts" as my mom so aptly puts in now, so I am in a place where I'm sure I can find the venues needed to eat responsibility and ethically. But the discussion is still going on in my head... to eat meat, or not to eat meat?

The article that started all this up again for me today:

http://www.jewcy.com/dialogue/2007-05-14/living_is_killing