Food for Thought

So the concentration on blogging about eating local food has come to an end. And since we like to talk about feelings, well here they are.

Sarah: Today I ate a locally grown concord grape. Alright I ate more than one. They are divine. I don't think people know how grapes can taste until you have one. It brought me right back to being at my grandparent's farm picking grapes off the vine in the hot sunshine and pretending that's all I had to live off of as a self-proclaimed explorer of the land. One of my many imagination-filled adventures in this humble and beautiful property. Honestly,  I was most nervous about eating only local food when it came to the idea of the Indian Summer. And to be frank, I'm very much appeased on the matter. Seriously, it really isn't that hard. You spend the extra time preparing yourself by buying fresh food and making it. And it just feels right. I  was scared I was going to be hungry all the time, or wouldn't be able to live without chocolate or cereal or sugar, etc. But I'm not.  I'm sure as time goes by, there might be some small problems, but I think we can handle it. We eat exactly what we buy. We don't waste anything that's for sure. And no junk food. I feel better. I just feel like it is real food. From the earth. Everything is so much more tasty. And I'm even learning to cook things I didn't know how to prepare! Arley's the real cook, but I'm learning. And I'm learning more and more about how eating locally is just so much better for the world and for yourself. Like our previous post on the theory of this practice mentions, I feel better about putting local food in my body for health, energy saving,  and so many more reasons. Being involved with the UVA garden also brings me to form a physical close relationship with the earth. And I love it. Seeing how small a seed is brings a sense of mysterious wonder to my thoughts on the magic of growing and creation. And the cost of it all? Well yes it's more expensive, but if there's one thing to spend money on, shouldn't be what is going into your body rather than on top of it or on whatever we spend high dollar amounts on?

Arley: COFFEE COFFEE COFFEE. I've been drinking coffee, to varying degrees but definitely regularly, since I was 11 or so. No good for my body.  And I'll be completely honest--not drinking coffee all of a sudden is very hard.  Its one of those things that I could justify--what's wrong with getting fair-trade, locally roasted coffee from Shenandoah Joe's? Nothing, really.  But the Indian Summer is all about cutting excess out of our lives, and getting down to the basics. And basically, my body doesn't need coffee. I just made it think that it does.  I don't want to "justify" all the little things I sometimes want to do--borrow milk from our other roommates, use another roommate's left over cheese; I'm just excited to explore what it means to really live radically-even if it's just for 80 days.  Echoing what Sarah said, eating locally really is great.  I'm pretty sure we make our roommates jealous over our dinners pretty regularly.  My favorite dish to cook is homemade pasta + noodles! It's just a classic, and absolutely delicious when everything is so fresh.  And it's way more filling too! My favorite times are when people say, "Wait. Where did you get that?".  Another awesome thing is how helpful people in Charlottesville are.  Its amazing the time and effort people are willing to offer us, even when they know they won't get anything in return. In places like Albemarle Baking and Integral Yoga, even after it was pretty clear that I would necessarily be able to buy their products (like with flour), managers were still willing to talk to me for a good 10 or 15 minutes on where I should go to find things I need for our diet.  That has probably been the most awesome thing for me--getting to connect with different people around town who are selflessly interested in supporting us.


So there you have it. Feelings. Share yours. Maybe go to the market and prepare yourself a gourmet tasty fresh meal. Invite friends. We guarantee you'll enjoy it.

next topic: recycling and composting and trying not to make trash. pretty interesting stuff. check it out in the days to come.