Slow it down

As Nathaniel grows and learns, I find myself in the same mental space. My own learning and growing parallels a lot of what he's going through and at the moment, it is largely centered around food. I wrote a previous post about my take on the book The Omnivore's Dilemma by Michael Pollan. Since reading that book, I have taken steps, both large and small, to eat on a more local scale. Being summer in sunny California, this prospect has been quite easy. There were full weeks this past month during which a large portion of our food was coming from 10 feet away in our little plot of earth. I still get a box of produce every two weeks from the Be Wise CSA and I still check the produce and vegetables that I buy at the grocery store to make sure that, at the very least, they're coming from California (of course, being such a large state, that can still become very un-local very quickly).

A few weeks ago I finished reading Plenty: One Man, One Woman and a Raucous Year of Eating Locally. Quick synopsis: Couple in Vancouver decides to eat only that which is grown/caught within 100 miles of their home.

I have become more and more entranced with the Slow Food movement and the idea that:

Living the slow life with food as the focus is as rewarding as it is easy, and it can be done daily by each one of us. Ultimately, it is about pleasure and taste, knowledge and choice. Once we begin to take an interest in the enjoyment of food, and in finding out where our food comes from, we can begin to see the effects of these choices. When we shorten the distance—both literal and figurative—that our food travels to get to us, we are participating in the Slow Food movement. Slow Food is about coming together as a food community—connecting producers and co-producers, coming together on the farm, in the market, and at the table—to create and enjoy food that is good, clean and fair.

Slow Food is also simply about taking the time to slow down and to enjoy life with family and friends. Every day can be enriched by doing something slow - making pasta from scratch one night, seductively squeezing your own orange juice from the fresh fruit, lingering over a glass of wine and a slice of cheese - even deciding to eat lunch sitting down instead of standing up.

Sometimes I'll step back from myself and marvel at my ability to fall into the latest of "movements." Yet, with this one, I have no shame at being part of a "fad" as I don't really think it's that at all. This is a way of defining community, family, and being human. This is a way to connect with those around us who are helping to meet our needs and the needs of our friends and families. It's one of the most basic ways of reconnecting with ourselves and those around us, through a medium, food, that is a universal need. It is recognizing that eating is more than nutrition and sustenance, it's about relationships as well. To both the food and the people we share that food and time with. And eating locally grown food is tasty!

Coming full circle, I suppose one of the main reasons why I'm so drawn to this movement and eating local is that I have become acutely aware lately I am directly responsible for the sustenance of another human life. As my sister said the other day while looking at how big Nathaniel has gotten, "That's all breastmilk!" It truly is and as he begins the journey into eating other foods, I want to make sure that it's not only a healthy, exciting journey but also one that helps him form connections to both food and people. I want him to recognize those relationships that sustain us, at both the human and food level. I want him to be just as nourished by the food he eats as he is by the time spent eating it...as he is during breastfeeding now. I want that connection that he feels now to continue as he expands his eating horizons. To remember that comfort and love that he received during his "meals" as a young infant...for those feelings to continue and grow as he himself matures and ages.