Where _does_ it all come from and what does it all mean? My trip to the grocery this evening.

*This is something of a precursor post to my still coming (and currently drafted but still cleaning up) post on nutrition and what I've learned throughout the year.

After a weekend in Seattle with some good friends and evenings and talks filled with the hot topic of food sourcing, quality, transportation and it's connection to our athletic performance I arrived home to an empty fridge. So with a day of work behind me I begin to head home but need to fill up on my necessities.

I think I walked around in the store for 45 minutes to an hour. And it's not even that large a store. Suddenly my head is now filled with all sorts of dilemmas.

So why the consternation. I have been reading (and re-reading) several of Michael Pollan's works over the last few months (holistic, properly sourced sustainable practices...summed up with healthy earth, healthy body). I have supplemented this with some of Taubes (no carbs) and then capped it off with viewing "Food Inc." while in Seattle. The movie hardly touches upon what they could have shown but i guess when you are walking around a sketchy organization with cameras and microphones and a journalistic attitude you likely are not going to be granted much access. Also whilst in Seattle I had many a debate (on all areas expressed here) with my friend Chris, with whom I was staying and also who jump started me on my own research in this area. Finally wrap it all up with what I have been learning from Bob (low carb but w/a sports angle to it) with regard to metabolic efficiency in aerobic activity and you've got one world of a storm swirling around in my head!

So now that I've prefaced my mindset as I was getting out of the car....let's go shopping.

First I set foot into the prepared foods section. As this stuff tends to be pricey over raw product I skip it without a thought 19 times out of 20. But since I've been feeling more saited on meat and fat alone and feel no need for carbs i thought that just maybe the turkey and pork carnitas would be calling my name. Darn...they were there (top right of pic). As I reach for them I begin to think....how was the pig/turkey raised? What did it eat? What did it live in? How far did it come to reach my store? Whatever... toss a couple in the basket... it tastes good.

Next... produce. Fruit....oh so lovely fruit. Hmmmm wait... you are filled with sugar and carbs and right now while in the midst of minimal activity i am trying to teach my body (by way of what i eat) that sourcing fat is the way to go. So nope...you aren't a part of the game plan...for now...i'll visit you again come training season. Now onto the veggies... mushrooms.... well... they are from the awesomeness of Colorado so they haven't traveled too far but man do we gotta put them in a styrofoam tub? Adds three to basket. Greens... bulk spring and bagged spinach. I know where this is going. When in California it blows my mind how much cheaper any salad green is there. I come home and boom...double the price. So i can only think that that price increase comes in the form of petroleum. Grrrrrreat. Hey "i need my greens" so toss them in.

Meats....since reading the Pollan chapter on the life cycle of a beef cow and what it eats, how it lives, etc. I have not touched beef save for some grass fed, organic, free range that I got in Kona for the whopping price of 2.09 a pound. Now I can't look at any meat product without the images from the book and elsewhere floating through my head. You really have to read the books/see the movie to get this. Needless to say no meat went into the bin here. Wild fish from the freezer it would be.

Onto Eggs: I think I spent 8-10 minutes staring at the eggs alone. All this talk about veggie fed, organic, free range, blah blah blah. The mind begins to spin. Then you stop and think... "why the hell are birds eating veggies?" Last I checked birds eat things like bugs and worms and grubs and scavenge for food. Not veggies. Oh well.... so i gambled and went with the nearest egg producer since they all basically said the same thing. The packing plant is 30 miles away....done.

Dairy.... this about falls in line with the industrial meat production. The industrial organic is not much different except for the cows maaaaybe getting a hair more room to move around and the consumption of organic corn. My patience with the store and all the thoughts rolling though my head was wearing thin, I hedge my bets and go with what i feel might be okay. I can only imagine what grass fed milk tastes like. As for the almond milk.... i have no idea... i just like it's taste. (note: normally i dont eat dairy (what mammal continues to consume dairy once weaned from mother's milk?) but have been persuaded by the docs that it's a good idea for the busted bones)

In the end I can't dwell on it all too much or my head would just explode. I'll do my part to try and be a local-vore and promote sustainable practices as best I can. I'm a realist and know that I'll continue to buy my (relatively) cheap salad greens from California rather than close by (economies of scale). I'll still eat the organic corn fed dairy products (but really do desire to taste some grass fed butter) and try not to think about the fuel going into transporting organic produce from China or Chile.

Funny.... time for some more T.Roosevelt.... "do what you can, with what you have, where you are"

....and dark chocolate ALWAYS has it's place.