Simplicity: Food

The idea of living a life of intentional simplicity has been on my mind lately. I don't have it anywhere close to figured out (and I'm sure I won't ever have it all figured out), but I have been thinking about how Michael and I can live more simply. It begins with the following, in regards to food:

For the first time Michael and I have chosen real New Year's Resolutions. The purposes behind them are many.

The first Resolution is to not eat meat. While in in Philadelphia last year we began to toy with the idea of becoming vegetarian. Now, I could go into the multiple reasons and thoughts behind this with all the statistics to back it up, but I won't. I will give an overly simplistic reason, and that's that a lot of resources go into feeding cattle, specifically and especially in the United States beef industry, and these resources could spread a lot further to feed a lot more people if they weren't used on cattle. As we began looking at this idea, I also began to read about the meat industry in general, and the slaughterhouses, chicken farms, and even pig farms, and I was, frankly, disgusted. Again, I'll spare you meat-lovers the details (for now), but I am just not convinced that eating meat from these places is being a good steward of resources, let alone the issue of treating not only animals humane (which is a big argument for many vegetarians, but truthfully is not something I'm as convicted about), but the people who are working for minimum wages in absolutely horrific conditions in places like American slaughterhouses.

Because of the way meat is raised here in Rwanda, and the low levels of meat that are used, we have chosen to eat meat when it is presented to us and not be legalistic about this personal choice. We do plan to stick to this no-meat regimen when we return to the States.

Our second Resolution is to not eat desserts...all year. Yes, we are crazy. Actually, there are specific reasons behind this choice as well. I am a sweet tooth. A HUGE sweet tooth. And, I have realized that when it comes to most foods, but especially sweets/desserts, I have virtually no self-control. I just can't stop eating them and daily, sometimes hourly, crave sweets. In the past few years I've attempted to give up sugar and/or sweets at various times, but have always failed. I usually give up after a few days, deciding it's not necessary or that I can just try to limit my consumption, or that I can't do it when my husband is eating Tillamook ice cream in front of me while I'm watching and drooling and trying to abstain. This inability to give up sweets began to convict me that maybe I really do have an issue with self-control, almost as a spiritual issue. I began to see it as more like a fast, where I give it up to practice a spiritual discipline. So, this time, Michael has agreed to join me on this quest for self-control. We have made it almost three months without eating a single dessert, though the opportunity has presented itself to us many times. Of course, the health aspect is an added bonus, but not the main purpose for this fast.

So, as we have been processing what it's been like to not eat meat or sweets, I have also started to be convinced that there are many issues revolving around the types of food we eat and how to be better stewards of food. I recently came across a cookbook put out by the Mennonites, called "Less is More." It has many articles about the over-consumption of food, especially processed food and sugar, and how it is really poor stewardship to be hooked on convenient packaging and quick "easy" meals that cost a fortune compared to buying in bulk, planning, and preparing meals that are healthy and don't require a lot of ingredients. I even thought recently that something as simple as not taking seconds or eating appropriate portions of food is not only healthier, but better stewardship of food resources as well as money (having enough leftovers for another entire meal saves money, food, and time).

I'm still working out some of these issues, but I'm thinking about them. And, I am looking forward to buying this cookbook when I get home. If you're interested in any of this, I definitely recommend this cookbook. Besides recipes, 1/3 of the 1976 cookbook is devoted to explaining these issues and the Christian responsibilities of eating simply. As the website says, the book was, "written to challenge North Americans to consume less so others could eat enough."