First Things First and Say Goodbye to the Snake Room!

Raising a fair portion of my food and supporting local agriculture has been something I've wanted to do for some time. Even before eating local became the new organic I was attracted to these ideals. Perhaps this goes back to my Baltimore childhood where both my grandfathers offered examples of food self-sufficiency. Pop Pop was an Italian immigrant who converted every available space of his back yard into a highly productive garden. He was composting when composting wasn't cool and turned yard waste into fruits and vegetables for his table. I remember his pickled green tomatoes being the best thing I ever tasted. Sadly his recipe for these has been lost. My maternal Grandfather operated a snow ball and produce stand in the MD countryside, which supplied local residents with summer refreshments and fresh produce. Sweet corn and garden fresh tomatoes were always in excess and these, along with steamed local blue crabs from the Chesapeake Bay, brought family together helping forge some of my fondest childhood memories.

My first moves towards food independence are focusing on making the time for such an effort and learning to cook and prepare whole foods that are already available to me. Time is the hardest element to control. My wife and I both work, our children attend private school and participate in varied activities. These basics alone don't allow for a lot of down time so a little "side interest" of mine, keeping pet snakes had to go. Yep you read that right! I kept snakes as pets for the better part of 30 years! I loved caring for learning about their natural history and could talk abou them for hours but I honestly don't think I'm going to miss my involvement in the hobby. The best part of any endeavor is the people you meet and they will still be around.

The Late Snake Room
Learning to cook and prepare whole foods is not hard but I was concerned that my children wouldn't adapt to it. I love to cook and prepare food. My motivation however is other's appreciation of the effort. I knew if the family wouldn't eat such foods I'd not have the stamina to stay with the program. I needn't have worried. For the last couple of months I've been selecting whole foods from the corporate grocer. Their offerings are limited and not locally produced but they served to prove that my family would indeed eat braised greens and roasted root vegetables. Both of my children (ages 6 and 8) eat them just fine if not relish them. They may only eat small portions (subject for another post) but what they do eat is nutritious and I think more satisfying. Perhaps I just want to see this but diner time is already more fun and they seem to look forward to trying new things.

Over the last month I've started planning what type of diet we would like to eat that can also be largely supported via home gardening and local agriculture. By first envisioning where I want to end up I hope to more effectively plan this years garden.

The goal here however is not complete food independence; that would likely be just as damaging as the industrial process to which we are currently simple end users. I also want to be cognizant that decisions about what I eat effects not only how I enjoy and benefit from my food but also has far reaching consequences from impacts on our environment and agricultural heritage to our dangerous dependence on foreign oil.