How it all started...

As with all enthusiasms, this one for eating locally/sustainably/etc. has been building for awhile. It first started to appear as a serious endeavor when I read an excerpt of "Omnivore's Dilemma" by Michael Pollen in the New York Times. He was writing about what we owe the animals that provide our meat, and this resonated with me--being a sort of guilty meat-eater (but not so guilty that I can give it up). I liked the idea of trying to provide a happy, carefree life to livestock so that they come to the butcher's unstressed and healthy. No matter what, they are dying so that we can eat, but it is a pleasant life up until that point (and it's a pretty quick point).

I was also pregnant with my first son, Eamonn, so all of my food choices become loaded with implication. Every choice was not only for me but for him, too, and this responsibility also made me consider the source of most of my food.

The double whammy of Pollan and Preg to my diet continued once I gave birth and began feeding this little person. How were his sweet potatoes fertilized? What lurked in the ground beef of his taco? What was injected into the cow who gave his milk (and I'm not talking about me)? I became a much pickier consumer, as much as I could be, and a faithful reader of labels. Even so, there's only so much driving around I could do to assemble groceries from approved sources; I had to compromise on some of my purchases (cereal, crackers) and not on others (meat, eggs, veggies).

For a year I helped coordinate events at a local grocery store that specializes in locally-produced organic food, Bushel&Peck's Local Market (many of these happenings are chronicled on this blog). I learned a lot, met many of my local producers and ate some delicious meals. But, you can't do everything, and I decided I would rather focus my energies elsewhere.

Writing this blog is one of those energies, and cooking is another...so, here I am, with a Pig and a Cornfield and a lot to say. Let's Eat!