Dairy and Eggs and Meat (oh my!)

One of my new favorite tools to aid with sustainable choices is the Internet.  I love researching and learning of new events or people or subjects that regard sustainability but not everyone has the interest of the time or the resources to spend of such learning.... so I'll do some of the work for you and get you started...

Dairy, Eggs, Meat

• www.theforagers.com
• great list of foraged foods (esp meat)
• www.eatwild.com  
• love this cite as it is informative regarding education on ranch products 
• www.backyardchickens.com
• kinda' inspiring if you want to start your own
• also informative regarding reason's why you want to buy farm fresh eggs!

But lets be practical, this probably isn't the place to start if you are just now considering the transition to better/more sustainable/more local/more ethical dairy, egg and meat sources...

So here are some baby steps:

1) read the label on your dairy, eggs, and meat

• Dairy
• Where does your dairy come from? Some labels only post generic headquarters from where the milk or even grocery business is run.  If so, try this... to what temperature is your milk pasteurized? First, why is your milk pasteurized?  
• Milk is pasteurized for the purpose of killing potentially harmful bacteria and other potentially threatening organisms that corporations do not want to be blamed for in the event of illness.  So, to cover their bases, by law, milk is required to be pasteurized.  In some states one can purchase un-pasturized milk but most of the time it requires the purchase of a "share" of a cow or purchase through a certified third party.  
• Pasteurizing basically consists of heating the milk hot enough to kill harmful particles (and, unfortunately, to denature various enzymes and proteins, and kill helpful organisms).
• Naturally, milks that are "ultra-pasturized" are heated to high temperatures and have less nutritional value than those that are just "pasteurized." 
• So, to start, stop buying "ultra-pasturized" milk... rarely is it even a cost difference and as you look, you will find that both "pasteurized" and "ultra-pasteurized" milks are often sold side by side. 
• One of my favorite benefits in kicking "ultra-pasteurized" milk out of the grocery cart is that milk that is only "pasteurized" generally does not travel from as far.  "Ultra-pasteurization" only came about with the advent of long distance milk sales and such milk would never need to be produced/sold if milk was purchase within a couple hundred miles of production... or even better, if milk was traded through a milk share coop between neighbors. 

Meals

One of my favorite ways to live holistically and intentionally is through simple daily tasks... such as preparing meals!

Meals are intended to be shared.  The first time I truly learned this lesson was during my time in Western Samoa.  The Samoans wouldn't even think of eating while standing or working or while walking or while doing any task.  Eating was something to be enjoyed and shared... not just something to be "accomplished."

Back in the USA, meal time and food in general now have become somewhat like a drug.  Similar to the way we  use pills, people in the US eat to accomplish the task of feeling better, loosing weight, gaining weight, gaining muscle, or even just to control something.

Anthropologically, food and meals have such a deeper value.  When one has the opportunity to be a part of the process, eating is far more valuable than accomplishing something as isolated as accomplishing a desired calorie intake.

This process is beautiful when experienced in full--from the complex bacteria and interconnected fungi systems that create organic soil, all the way to the carpenter who thoughtfully designs wooden ladles, and further on to the family that laughs while preparing dinner after a long day of hard work apart.

One simple way that I like to add value to my input of sustenance is by going to farmers' markets.  Truly, that seems the simplest way to start.  I hardly go to farmer's markets on a regular basis, but what an inspirational event in-which to partake!  The cool part about farmer's markets (FM) is that it's easily a family even, a cheap date, a nice Saturday morning walk, a break from work, etc.

Below are a couple web sites with some information on how to find and participate in farmers' markets (FM) by you.  On your next FM adventure, try to find one farmer, artisan, musician, vintner, crafter, florist, botanist, herbalist, rancher, butcher, chef, or baker in whom you might want to invest some more interest.  Then visit them at their "location of operation," come back the next week and try another one of their products, ask for the recipe,  try to raise their product on your own/with a friend, talk with the venter, or commit to only buying  their specialty product from them rather than from the supermarket.

Mostly, enjoy!

• http://www.localharvest.org/
• http://www.ams.usda.gov/AMSv1.0/farmersmarkets

The heart of revolution must be restoration

I'm all about revolution, but change for the sake of change is worthless at best. Traditions have roots and purpose. Real revolutionaries feel the weight of those roots.

So with the inspiration of tradition, this blog seeks to encourage everyday revolutionaries to live intentionally in a manner that promotes full and wholistic life as it was mention to b lived.

The idea...

In my opinion, some of the most amazing women that I have met are what I would call "sustainable feminists." And with that statement, those same women would exit this blog and go on to read something grounded in truth. I desire to be a sustainable feminist... Grounded in truth, valuing my roots and seeking a revival of culture... And that is why I seek to be an ever more informed consumer, adventurer, wife, friend, sister, daughter, granddaughter, etc. I desire to live out my roles intentionally and to first cherish and then add value to my place in this planet. That's what the original feminist movement was about. And that's what the present sustainability movement is about.