-The local food movement. I listened to this author on NPR last week. Now of course, I want to read the book. Just in her brief interview, my mind started turning over all kinds of things. This is one of those tension areas for me- She basically took a year or something close to that and only ate food that was locally grown or in her back yard. She advocates that it is a matter of responsibility to know where our food comes from, support local economies, that kind of thing. She really speaks about this in a convicting kind of way. Since I am a first born, I immediately take this in the wrong direction, start feeling overwhelming guilt because I don't live this way entirely (probably not even close), and then I just feel bad about myself:) But then I think- is there not some kind of balance? I mean, I am not going to stop drinking coffee because I live in Tulsa- where they don't GROW coffee. I could, however, support a local roasting company, right? And what about buying wine from California- isn't there something to be said for sharing what we do best. California- I buy your wine, and you buy my Georgia Peaches. Anyway, I'll write more when I read more, as I am sure I have plenty to learn on the subject.
And if that were not enough, there is the whole small farm/organic issue. And I'll be honest, as long as I am choosing to stay home with my child, that is just not an option for us. We just can't afford to buy organic fruits, veggies, and meat.
Anyway, some thoughts to chew on. hee hee.
-Simplicity.
I am really, really wanting to be committed to this. Scale down, de-clutter. I have a long way to go, but I am very serious about this. I am just overwhelmed by the amount of CRAP we have. I have started in the closet, and scaled down measurably- but I still want to purge more.
I think there are some spiritual elements here, too, and I really want to dig into that some more.
Anybody have any ways you have simplified, or how you went about it. I mean, I really don't know where to start!
Bring it on. please.
5 comments :
Hi Brooke! I've been lurking for a long while but I'll come out of lurkdom for these issues (some of my favorites)! On local food, a biggie for me: if you can find a CSA (community supported agriculture) it generally becomes tons more accessible/affordable (around here it was cheaper to do an organic CSA then it was to buy conventionally grown produce at Shop N Save). Same is true for our beef which we buy directly from the farmer and breaks down to $2.85/lb for organic grass-finished beef. So it can be much cheaper to do local than, say, the Whole Foods version of organic. All that said, one needs to have the funds up front and that is it's own challenge (we lucked out the first year we did this and have since saved up the rest of the year in order to continue doing it).
Thoughts on simplicity: freecycle!! :) No, seriously, I have found doing challenges very helpful for this. In the past I'll set the goal of getting rid of X# items/month. But mostly it's just a struggle. If I'm not acquiring too much then I'm doing too much.
Sorry to write a book in your comments! -sylwinn from G&P
thanks sylwinn-great to hear from you! thanks for the advice, that helps a lot...take care
Oh, I know of a great coffee made in Mexico, marketed by the farmers who make it and who get all the profits. It's called Just Coffee. I've read the book was totally challenged by it. Nat and I are looking into a small garden. I think the main thing I got out of the book rather than guilt was the idea that we can take joy in the incredible diversity of food. Plus, Kingsolver in the beginning of the book moved from Tucson so I loved the first chapter...and all the recipes. But I live in Tucson so there is no way we can go local if we don't want to wither away. I am glad you read it; it's good to think about our food.
Didn't you love the story about the mating hens? That was a great story.
hey b - good topics! Love the idea of eating locally. Don't love how much it costs. We, too, are learning that balance and what that looks like for our family.
Simplicity - 2 books I recommend on the subject that address simplicity both spiritually and practically are "Intimacy With the Almighty" by Charles Swindoll and "Celebration of Discipline" by Richard Foster. We read intimacy w/the almighty and that's what got us started on living simply. Celebration of discipline has a chapter on simplicity that is great and give you some framework as to what it looks like "fleshing it out.". Richard Foster also has a book "Freedom of Simplicity" that mitch is reading for the second time. He says it's great.Hopefully I can steal it from him soon! Simplicity is a big deal for us. We took 3 months this past summer and took one room at a time. We divided things into keep, trash, give. It was great to do it over time b/c I created a "think about it" pile and could evaluate over a few days whether I needed it or not. Since we have simplified, it's SO much easier to keep things clean and we feel so much freedom from it. We also worked to incorporate simplicity in our schedules as well. It's definitely not the norm these day!
Love seeing your pics of annie. keep 'em coming!
I guess it was a hen and a rooster that mated.
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