Re-Thinking Christmas Gifts

Christmas Day is 19 days from today.

This year, things are different.  My "have" and "have not" columns are flip-flopped.  In years past, I have had (some) disposable income, but I was working so much that I didn't have time to even think about gifts on more than a material level, much less go out and acquire them.
So most of my shopping was done online, depending on Fed-X and UPS to deliver.  I usually have money, but no time.
This year, my disposable income level has significantly diminished but I have time.  That actually makes me happy.
I have also been able to slow down enough to listen to people around me about what is becoming more important in a more cultural way due to the tough economy.  Lately, that voice has been telling me that I need to pay more attention to my closer neighbors; to help the economy by buying things that are produced and manufactured locally and sustainably; to respect the earth and people, and animals.

This makes sense, because in my heart I have always wanted to be  steward of the land, and a good neighbor, but in practice I have fallen short--'way short.

To that end, I have finally come to a place in my life where I can start practicing some of what I know is the right way to live, and by doing so I will help others (by buying local), be a better steward of the land (by making sure that I buy organic, seasonal, sustainable practice goods as much as possible), and help my family and friends by gifting things that are less materialistic and more appreciated (I hope) than the next, latest electronic gadget.

I also have been preaching to my own family about organic, sustainable, local, seasonal, blah, blah, blah.  We have discussions about it whenever we get together.  My family agrees with me that those practices are admirable, and ideally they would like to adopt these philosophies, but there are downsides, of course.  The biggest roadblocks my family has to this (and I am sure they are not the only ones), are the following:

1. Locally grown (and especially organic) products are from small farmers in our area, and they cost more than the grocery stores.  My family knows the reason, but at the end of the day cost is cost.
2. Sourcing the locally-grown products is more time and/or labor intensive for the consumer, and face it, if we are going to have any money with which to eat, we generally don't have time to go track it down.
3. It is more difficult to find a variety of fresh foods/vegetables all year long, and most of us don't have the time, let alone know how to preserve foods by canning/freezing, drying, etc.

So here is my Christmas gift to my family (there are 3 household represented in total, besides mine)

I will deliver a certain dollar amount of organic, local, sustainable-practice, seasonable groceries to their homes each month.  I will include recipes that I have tried myself that will vary each month according to the product selection and personal tastes (I will also try to pick products that they will like and use).  This way, we will be sure to spend some family time together each month throughout the year, they will have a useful gift that is replenished throughout the year, they don't have to take the time to source all the different aspects of the products, they get to support the local farmers and sustainable practices, and they (and I) get to support the "Buy American" movement that is the "call to arms" this holiday season.

Some of the products I can include seasonally will be:

*Seasonal vegetables of all kinds grown locally from our farmers markets and private gardens (from the barter system)
*Local honey
*Goat's milk products like milk, cheese, skin products, etc.
*Humanely raised, sustainable practice, free range, hormone and antibiotic-free, pasture finished (in some cases, organic) proteins such as beef, lamb, goat, wild and domestic pork, venison, fish and seafood, poultry, and eggs
*Seasonal Organic Fruits, (especially local citrus here and when I go to Alabama, all kinds of fruits and berries, both wild and from our local markets up there--hey, that counts as local if I live there part of the time!)
*I am sure that this list will grow as I spend the time developing a list of dependable sources of products that appeal to me and my family.

I think the only limitations will be how much I can afford, and how much time I can devote to sourcing things, but that is also dependent on how resourceful I am!

My family is a pretty adventurous bunch of eaters, like me, so I can source cuts of meats that a lot of people would leave at the processor's, odd vegetables that farmers may not be able to sell as easily in the farmer's markets, etc.  I am lucky in that way.

I know that this won't work (or be appreciated) by every family in America, but my I know my family will like this type of gift.  Will it work for yours?

The slogan this season is "Buy American--Are You In?"

I am in.

My answer to Momma T's comment

I started writing this post in response to the comment Momma T. made on the blog post “Not Quite a Recipe…”, but it got kind of long, and I also thought that our readers might see it more esily if we morphed into making our major comments into individual blog posts here….what do you think about that, Momma T?

In response--Kudos to you Momma T; a lot people that have a childhood that didn't offer good nutritional choices don’t seem to try to make the adjustment to eating healthier.  My early exposure to good quality food was kind of accidental.  We were really poor, but since we lived “in the country” (in a foreign country, at that) and poor people HAD to live sustainably, we actually ate healthier by default than a lot of our more affluent friends.  Go figure! 

Our early experiences are usually the foundation of our choices as we become adults.  I know people who won't even try vegetables...they think dinner means a hamburger from a fast food joint; that to eat healthy means to order the grilled chicken filet sandwich at the drive thru, and that french fries are a vegetable! One leaf of iceburg lettuce on their hamburger is the only green they get (and that is if they don’t order it without!).

I absolutely agree with you about the corporations, too!  For years, I have wondered what was going into our store-bought food because it just didn’t taste like the food I grew up on, but only lately has there been enough of an increased awareness (and research and news sources) for me to get educated enough, and angry enough about it to work at making changes in my own life to grow, shop and eat more healthy (and more sustainably, and support the small, local farmer). 

The corporations have so much power over everything from what and how our food is produced (scary), from legislation on what they grow (scarier), to what they are allowed to do to it (even scarier!), to controlling our politicians on every level of government to driving out any competition from the small farmer!  You would be astounded at the ways that corporations prevent competition from the local farmers!  For instance, a small farmer produces a steer that he wants to sell.  If he is not a USDA-inspected facility (which means paying big bucks to the government), he has to sell that cow to no more than three people.  That means each person has to buy at least 1/3 of a whole cow at a time.  Most people do not have enough freezer space for that much meat at one time, and have trouble using that much meat, and have to buy cuts that they may not really want (although we should teach ourselves to use ALL parts of the animals).  It is also difficult to butcher a cow into thirds fairly.  And buying half the cow is even more expensive.  And a whole host of other problems that I won't go into. 

Bottom line, the big corporations and the US government have become so entangled that we can't prove who is controlling whom, and the food production, distribution and handling laws are so perverse, that the small farmer's overhead is artificially high.  So to make a living, he has to find customers that can accommodate the way the government dictates that he has to sell, and he has to charge more per pound (unless you take all the parts of the animal) than the grocery store.  The good news is that there are small farmers who are so passionate about what they do, and honestly care about their neighbors (you know, the ones that they sell their products to, that their kids are friends with, that live in the same city, county, state that they do).  This gives them accountability.  And accountability is the one thing that corporations and our government fear most.

Government also hasn't yet been able to prevent the home gardener from planting (almost) whatever they want.  Growing a garden is something I am looking forward to when we move up to Mentone permanently!  You are lucky to have one, Momma T.  Of course it is difficult to grow a good and diverse garden, too.  I don't think that people who don't have gardens appreciate just how hard it is!  And you can have the garden all year long if you ‘can’ your produce.  Canning tomatoes, green beans, okra, etc. is pretty straightforward, but you can ‘can’ lots of other stuff as well!  And with practice and learning some techniques, the veggies taste almost as good as straight from the garden!  Freezing also works very well, and will maintain the texture of some kinds of veggies better (providing you have freezer space left after you buy that 1/3 cow. LOL). 

I have an idea for you, Momma T.  Since you grow a garden (and I assume that you don't use ALL that you grow), why don't you ask around as to who else plants a garden, what they are planning on producing, how much they expect their yield to be, and maybe you can start your own local Farmer's Market! 

You can even make a little money from the vendors if you are willing to do the organizing and procure a busy street-corner (lots of businesses will allow you to do it free in their parking lot), or park, or other site (make sure you check with your city/county government for any permits needed). And charge the vendors a fee.  Our farmer's market organizer makes a salary at it.  Of course, it is a lot of work to organize everything, but as I remember, Momma T., you are a good organizer and not at all afraid of hard work!

I believe that more and more Americans are going to be willing to make the effort to live sustainably, and turn away from the big corporation method of buying.  At first, it will take effort on the part of both our local producers and our consumers, but with hard work, awareness, and spreading the word, it will get easier. 

I think there are lots of opportunities for people as soon as they quit thinking that they have to be rich to be happy. That is one of the ways that the big corporations seduce us into unquestioning obedience and reliance on them.  Big corporations are the reason the economy is in the mess it is in.  Think about it.  Let's not let them get away with it.  I know this is a cooking blog, but we also have to be socially conscious.  We are all intertwined.

Not Quite a Recipe, But...

I just got back from a trip to our northern home in Alabama.  We had a White Christmas.  It was the first white Christmas in Mentone, AL in recorded history.  That made it all the more special for us.
Pictured at the right is our house.  We have 66 acres on top of Lookout Mountain.  We love it there!
Anyhow, I know this is a cooking blog, but in the first days of this New Year, I wanted to say a few words about how I eat, rather than what I eat in this post.  I hope it will stir up a discussion about a topic I am rather passionate about.
I grew up as an Air Force brat, and lived in Europe as well as several states in this country.  In Europe, people shop much differently than we do in this country.  Refrigerators were scarce, and people went to the market daily.  Small agriculture was the way of life, and you bought your groceries from the people that grew and raised them.  You bought meat from the guy that raised it....you bought vegetables in open markets from the people that grew them.  It was the standard way of life.  We were enlisted (not officers), so by American standards, our family was poor, but the people that we came in contact with daily were the salt of the earth.  They could not have been nicer, or more welcoming, or treated us more fairly.
So I grew up appreciating food.  Nothing was foreign to omy tastebuds, and I was very adventurous.  At six years old, I would walk through the woods, and at lunchtime, someone would invite me into their home to eat the midday meal with them.  They would kill a chicken from their yard, and prepare it right there, or they would have me accompany them into the woods to look for wild asparagus, or mushrooms, or snails (free escargot!! LOL) Then we would prepare what we caught or gathered together, eat lunch, and they would siesta, and I would be on my way.  I met many wonderful people.
I tell this story to give you an understanding of how I came to understand that there are a lot more edible things than most Americans are aware of, and there is very little in this world that will actually kill you.  However, I always was taught what to gather, and what to leave (for instance, mushrooms come to mind--there are some that WILL kill you, so I never collected mushrooms unless an adult was with me to confirm that they were good 'shrooms).
I also gained respect for using the entire animal.  Almost every part of an animal is edible, and most of the parts that Americans discard (heart, kidneys, liver, feet, sweetbreads, membranes, bones, etc.) are quite delicious when properly prepared!
Which brings me to my point.
Americans are starting (through either education or necessity) to question our current "mega-producers"; I think the recent ecoli and salmonella recalls have pricked the collective nerves of our people.
People are also becoming more willing to spend the time to shop at Farmer's Markets, and local butchers, and are taking a little more interest in how their food is produced.
I am thrilled!  I have always been aware of the difference in how we produce our food in America, and have often commplained about lack of taste, or an off-taste to our meats and vegetables, but never could pinpoint it.  Food, Inc. (the movie) should be required watching for every American.  It is available through Amazon.com.  There are also some other movies which are similar in nature to this one, educating us about how our government and the big corporations "feed America and the world".  It is a balanced documentary, in my opinion, although the big corporations have called it a scare tactic.  Watch it and decide for yourself.  You don't even have to buy the DVD.....you can rent it or check it out of most libraries.
I wish people would buy exclusively from Farmer's Markets (or your next door neighbor, or plant your own garden, or buy into a co-op, or a CSA).  And find a local farmer who practices sustainability, humane raising of meats, hormone and antibiotic-free raising of proteins.  And the local small fisherman who practices sustainable fishing.  There are SO many sources out there.  You never have to want for anything. 
I found my sources online, and through networking.  I buy vegetables, eggs, cheese and some proteins (free-range chicken and turkey, some goat meat) at Farmer's Markets.  And I have found two sources of pasture-raised/finished, antibiotic and hormone-free, humanely treated beef, pork, lamb, goat, buffalo, elk, rabbit, pheasant, quail, chicken, and turkey where I can visit the farm, and make sure with my own eyes that what they promise, they deliver. 
It takes a bit of work to find these growers, and to make sure that they are really practicing what they say they are, and you will pay more (per pound) than at the grocery store.  But the payoff is tremendous.  You are eating healthier food across the board.  That food tastes better.  And it takes less to fill you up.  I know this because I live this way.  I didn't always, but I do now, so I know both ways.  I like this one better.  So does the earth.
I hope people will post their own opinions about this!  Momma T--any thoughts?
Here are some links to the places I buy my food:

http://www.southerncomforteventing.com/wrightfamilyfarms.html
This is Wright Family Farm in Rome, GA, which is about 30 minutes from my home in Mentone--

http://www.laurelcreekmeat.com/
This is Laurel Creek Meats, in Maryville, TN.  I buy from them when I am visiting my friends in Tellico Plains. They have a very established farm which offers a wide variety of animals!

http://www.pickyourown.org/gafpfm.php
This is the biggest Atlanta Farmer's Market, right off I-75 just south of Atlanta (exit 237).  I also shop at a ton of small farmer's market in AL, GA, TN and FL.  I love farmer's markets....the open-air ones, not the glorified grocery stores that are high-priced.  Just do a google search for "farmer's market <insert city>".

Also, if anyone has their own favorite spots, feel free to leave a link in the comment page!!