Food: Use Your Brain

Given the complexity of the relationship Americans have with food, I would like to offer a simple solution to the ongoing controversy. And when I mean simple, I mean everyone could do this. I don't know much about diets or counting calories, but I do know what makes sense to me, and a lot of other conscious eaters out there. So here is my list for the day.

• Eat fresh, local produce. (Grow your own!)
• If you don't know what an ingredient is, don't eat it.

Yup. That's it. Yes, it's highly simplified, but I strongly believe in it. Processed foods make my brain go just as haywire as it does when I try to wrap my head around waste. Yes, I do like my cookies, but I would much rather make them, and know what and how much of it is going in them, than buy them from the store. (Also, mine are better. Fact.)

So I found this lovely website where you can learn what grows when wherever you are in the US or Canada (I'm sure something like it exists for other parts of the world as well). So here's what is in season during what time period in Illinois.

For the rest of the year, you can use the canned and preserved versions of these. Preferably canned and preserved by yourself. I also found something called The Meatrix on this website. Being a fan of The Matrix, I had to watch it, and it repeats what I've seen in more than one documentary. And the names are hilarious if you get the reference. The first movie: 

If you would like to read more about how intricate our animal-food relationship is, I highly recommend Some We Love, Some We Hate, Some We Eat, by Hal Herzog.


TL;DR: Processed food bad, fresh food good. *grunt grunt* Tarzan. Actually yes, eat like Tarzan.

P.S. My favorite cookie recipe so far is this one. Yummyyyyyy.