You make such a great point about how the foods we grew up eating can carry on an influence for decades if we're not consciously trying to expand our repertoire. Kudos for making intentional choices around what you choose to eat and having the nuance to request thoughtfulness rather than a specific formulaic diet!
Oh great post Alex! I, too, watched the Netflix series 'You Are What You Eat' and another, 'Poisoned', which is equally appalling.
I've hung on (too long) to the idyllic image of 'food animals' frolicking in the fields, baby animals free to stay with their mothers, fish being wild caught... etcetera. Nothing could be further from the truth. Animal welfare aside, the antibiotics and food handling issues are stomach-churning.
You raise so many good points about intentionality and a transition to a more sustainable diet. Our grocery stores and cookbooks are better equipped to support those choices, I simply have to embrace them. Thank you.
I grew up eating vegetables that my dad grew, until he became too ill to garden. I was, of course, at the age of 6, only in love with tinned peas, but the culture of lots of vegetables was in the home. My mum, would eke out meat so that actually very little went into eg a stew, but there would be dumplings, carrots, turnip and so on, and of course there was the dreaded rissole. I think we almost have too much choice now in some ways, though the days of the green pepper/capsicum as being highly exotic are long gone at least!
Great post. The British way of eating and ours in Aus was very similar in the 70's and 80s. I grew up in country towns so we had very little that was ready-made or mass-produced although don't have the food memories you do - my mother has never enjoyed cooking and I can't recall a meal prepared by grandparents, although Pa and my mum have always had good veggie gardens. I think this is something we should all think about - not just out of respect for our bodies, but the animals we eat and the environment. We're eating less meat these days but buying better. Free-range wherever possible, grass-finished beef, sow-stall-free pork. We're also choosing to have more veg on the plate of a wider variety. It expands our tastebuds and (I hope) makes a (small) difference.
You make such a great point about how the foods we grew up eating can carry on an influence for decades if we're not consciously trying to expand our repertoire. Kudos for making intentional choices around what you choose to eat and having the nuance to request thoughtfulness rather than a specific formulaic diet!
Oh great post Alex! I, too, watched the Netflix series 'You Are What You Eat' and another, 'Poisoned', which is equally appalling.
I've hung on (too long) to the idyllic image of 'food animals' frolicking in the fields, baby animals free to stay with their mothers, fish being wild caught... etcetera. Nothing could be further from the truth. Animal welfare aside, the antibiotics and food handling issues are stomach-churning.
You raise so many good points about intentionality and a transition to a more sustainable diet. Our grocery stores and cookbooks are better equipped to support those choices, I simply have to embrace them. Thank you.
I grew up eating vegetables that my dad grew, until he became too ill to garden. I was, of course, at the age of 6, only in love with tinned peas, but the culture of lots of vegetables was in the home. My mum, would eke out meat so that actually very little went into eg a stew, but there would be dumplings, carrots, turnip and so on, and of course there was the dreaded rissole. I think we almost have too much choice now in some ways, though the days of the green pepper/capsicum as being highly exotic are long gone at least!
Great post. The British way of eating and ours in Aus was very similar in the 70's and 80s. I grew up in country towns so we had very little that was ready-made or mass-produced although don't have the food memories you do - my mother has never enjoyed cooking and I can't recall a meal prepared by grandparents, although Pa and my mum have always had good veggie gardens. I think this is something we should all think about - not just out of respect for our bodies, but the animals we eat and the environment. We're eating less meat these days but buying better. Free-range wherever possible, grass-finished beef, sow-stall-free pork. We're also choosing to have more veg on the plate of a wider variety. It expands our tastebuds and (I hope) makes a (small) difference.