My eating goals:
- More beans and whole gains. This is tough for me because I'm not a big fan of beans, and I, like many Americans, did not develop a pallet for whole grain as a child. Our food tastes are heavily influences through socialization. I am trying to "unlearn" the idea that I don't like certain foods, and instead, have taken the position that most people can eat any food they "don't like"--they just need to find a way to prepare it to their liking.
- Learn to eat more of what I "don't like." This is obviously related to the above. My mom wasn't a very good cook, and there's a lot of foods I "don't like" and this is largely due to that they weren't cooked well. I have already had foods that I thought I didn't like, but cooked differently, quite enjoyed. So I am taking deliberate steps to figure out ways to eat them. My list includes squash, eggplant, zucchini, brussel sprouts, avacado (which I can at least put into salads OK), and various greens (such as kale and collards). Why is this important? So I can eat more seasonally.
- Eat meat from grass-fed farms. I recently purchased in bulk from a local grass-fed beef farm, since I didn't have enough room to buy a whole side. Why? Because animals were not designed to eat the corn-based feed we give them. It screws up their digestive system and often involves needing to give them antibiotics, which we risk eating when we eat the meat. They end up walking around in their feces, which can sometimes get mixed up in the beef when slaughtered. Those feces can also runoff into the water supply or into vegetable farms (ever wonder how e-coli, an animal disease ended up in our spinach a few years back?). There's so much more; Food, Inc. is essential viewing (and it will be on PBS in April). The bottom line? Know where your food comes from.
- Eat at least one non-meat dinner each week. This is in attempt to eat more plants and less animals, but also for nutritional balance (I'm eating more non-animal proteins) and cost (vegetables are cheaper).
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