Friday, May 7, 2010

Healthier Living

Okay, so we have been going to Creekside Co-op Vender's Market for a couple of weeks now. We are buying the meat from M&B Farview Farms out in Hamburg.  The goals are to be be free of any chemicals and to not support the inhumane treatment of animals at factory farms. We did not throw out everything in our freezers.  I didn't see the need for some big, pointless gesture.  After all, the money was already spent so we are moving forward from where we are now.
Shopping at the Vendor's Market is not easy.  First of all, I had this idea that I would be able to do most of my grocery shopping there.  I don't know why, because in retrospect it seems stupid even to me.  Maybe I am not attending to what I am reading.  Maybe it was because it was billed as a farmer's market, but then really local farms aren't exactly producing right now are they?  So really it is a meat truck, a vegetable stand, which by the time I get there basically has lettuce, the honey guy and some bakeries.  Well, there is a coffee guy and my son found some great kettle-corn, but other than that you are pretty much not getting your grocery list there. Still, it is pleasant and the whole family seems to really enjoy going each week.  And they are adding more every week. We stand in front of the meat truck and sort of ponder how we are going to be able to afford to live this lifestyle. Then, we get the meat home.  I avoided it for the first few days.  I simply didn't know how to approach it.  I know that sounds silly, but really I'm not the least bit earthy so anything that looks too close to the living thing is turning my stomach. For instance, I took out the half chicken, which was slim by any one's standards (no worry about steroids here) and the neck was very much still there.  Yuck. That went right into the trash as soon as I hacked it off. That in and of itself was a process. Then I cooked it and fed it to the kids. Last night we sort of ruined the ribs.  We both worked late and they were still frozen by the time we got home so my husband thought we should boil them.  I am no fan of boiled meat in any form, but since we were going to put them on the grill it seemed okay to get them started.  Besides, it was getting close to seven and the Flyers were coming on.  The smell coming from the pot of water was nauseating.  The taste, in my opinion, could not be hidden by the barbecue sauce.  However, the rest of my family thought they were fine.  My son even declared himself a happy carnivore.  My husband said they tasted very piggish.  I flashed back to the part of the Farm website where the owners talk about the pigs and their bunny like ears on the farm with their little pig ears just bouncing away. I don't know if this was the pig I was eating but I just could not eat it. Just broccoli for me tonight, thanks.
But we are soldiering on, especially since I - the one who sort of got this whole thing rolling - seem to be the only person unnerved by the meat experience.  We have also moved on to free range organic eggs and organic milk.  At six dollars a gallon I am making sure that my children finish it.  If they don't (or can't as they claim) I put the extra in Tupperware containers and give it to them in their cereal the next day or put it in our tea or coffee. We are loving the granola cereal and they do love Vann's waffles which I can get at Giant. Trader Joe's has the best price that I've seen for the milk.  And the eggs are coming from the same place we are getting our meats.  The meats I can't bring myself to eat.