Healthy soil and sustainable growing

[Liz <liz@allslash.org>]

At 01:04 PM 5/27/2008, you wrote:

> This woman is obviously trying to do what she can with her 
> disability, but it's not enough. Maybe more cash-strapped people 
> would be hitting the farmers market if they knew how to cook from 
> scratch and bake - and realized how much cheaper they could feed the 
> family. Shredded cheese? Bagels? Yogurt? Crackers? Salad dressing? 
> Potato chips? People think these things are cheap but they're all 
> processed and packaged, and they pay for the processing and 
> packaging. And get plenty of empty calories and little nutrition.

Yes, I noticed that too. But I have to point out that it is sometimes 
very difficult to balance a job, raising children, figuring out a 
budget on an ever decreasing amount of money, and dealing with a 
medical condition, and still make all the meals from scratch, or even 
nearly so. There's a reason that "convenience" foods were so 
enthusiastically received, and it's not because people are too lazy 
to use anything else. In many cases, it's because there just isn't 
the mental energy to take on one more task.

Speaking from personal experience, I have a stressful and strenuous 
job, plus I'm the only caretaker for this property, responsible for 
everything that must be done, and the sole caregiver for a disabled 
relative. I feel sometimes as though I'm living two people's lives, 
because I have to do everything I would do for myself, and everything 
he would do for himself if he were able. It's like having an adult 
toddler that has to be bathed, dressed, fed and led. And medicated. 
There are times when I yearn for my dryer, when I've come home with a 
week's worth of two people's laundry, exhausted from a week on the 
road, with a huge pile of paperwork to do before the work is actually 
finished, and it's raining so I can't hang the laundry outside. 
That's one reason I just gave the dryer away, because I know there 
are times when I'd say the hell with the energy usage and run it all 
through the dryer.

Same thing for some of the other things that I usually do the "hard" 
way, making bread, pasta, mayonnaise, cheese and yoghurt, etc. There 
are times when I don't have the mental energy to take it on, much 
less the physical energy. So I know how this woman feels, and I don't 
even really have money problems. I have to work hard for what I get, 
but it's a relatively secure job, and my housemate has a good pension.

Convenience foods and today's stress are a vicious circle. One just 
reinforces the other. You come home from work too tired to make a 
nutritious meal, so you grab whatever can be prepared in the 
microwave (I gave that away too), and the next day you're even more 
tired and stressed out. The whole system has to change.

Sorry, didn't mean to carry on about myself. Just wanted to point out 
that it can be really difficult for a person who grew up with 
processed junk food to break away from that, especially if their 
lives are stressful in other ways. I grew up with good, home-prepared 
real food, and I know how to make it myself, and I'll admit that 
there are times when I just stop and get my housemate a burger so I 
won't have to cook a meal when we get home.

But the whole system is on the verge of change, anyway.

Liz in SW VA
http://life-as-a-spectator-sport.com