you are what you eat

tips for tuesday
notes from maggie's farm

Seen in one of our favorite Austin vegetable-friendly spots, Casa De Luz, "Nature is Our Menu Planner".

Tell me what you eat and I'll tell you who you are.

-Anthelme Brillat-Savarin

Literally.

The animal kingdom is divided by diet. Carnivore, Herbivore, and Omnivore. And there's us, the peoples of the kingdom. We're gluten-free, low-carb, low-fat, plant-based, paleo, macrobiotic, fruitarian, locavore, vegan, vegetarian, macrobiotic, lacto, ovo, lacto-ovo...the list is endless. We're a world homogeneous in our uniqueness.

Whether for health or philosophical reasons, food choices are one way we express our values.  Occasionally, and sadly, we even judge others by those choices.  Meat eaters think vegetarians to be tree-huggers. Vegetarians think meat eaters to be predatory. Vegans think vegetarians to be spineless.  

Judgements.  We're just full of them aren't we?

"..The one who eats everything must not treat with contempt the one who does not, and the one who does not eat everything must not judge the one who does...." Romans 14:3

Word.

Here on this little farm of ours, it is never our intent to be divisive or preachy,  only informative, about the dietary lifestyles out there.  We're certainly not teetotalers.  Will you ever see us in the local McD's?  Occasionally.  Rarely, but not never, though we tend to pull on big shades and a hat, when we're down to our last dollar and only a McDouble will suffice.  Hey, we're not proud.  But we are honest. We're not perfect but we're approaching pretty good.  

Our own diet is plant-based, primarily. We eat the vegetables from our gardens, freely. Eggs, milk, and cheese frequently. We use meat to complement our meals, thoughtfully. And our love of shellfish is well-documented. We try to eat locally; as locally as our own property, and then we branch out from here. Since we rely heavily on our own organically-grown production, most of our meals are based on seasonal availability.  It tastes best and it feels right. Like relying on the inherent cycles of nature to provide what's best for us. You may prefer ways of eating like this because it supports local farmers, or it reduces your carbon footprint. Good for you. I love to see people committed to their values when it comes to their plate. We strive to include organically grown food almost exclusively in our diets, but admit that in our rural area, establishments that use organic food exclusively are not available, so occasionally we opt for community over purity and enjoy a meal provided by local businesses. We raise our own animals on organic feed when grass isn't available, and we treat them with care and respect because we love them.  They nourish us and bring us joy. We believe in sustainability because it's smart and frugal and how our ancestors lived and couldn't we all use a little more of THAT in our life?

No matter what diet we choose, we're lucky in today's age to have choices. Our ancestors were limited to the little food available to them, so during, say, a drought and heatwave like much of the United States is currently experiencing, choosing to be vegan was likely a death sentence. Few plants survived without rain.  Irrigation systems were few and far between. And without feed and water, animal would soon perish, as well. There was little choice for survival other than the few animals one hunted, or owned. Raising chickens was not a hobby.  It was a means for survival. It's hard to even imagine isn't it?

Today, we cover just the basics. First, animals. Animals fall into three categories:

• Carnivores are predators. they have to catch meat to eat. They don't mess with plants.
• Herbivores are vegetarians. They eat only grasses, some grains and wood. Not much into fruit, either.
• Omnivores eat both. They'll eat an apple from time to time, too.

Then there's peoples. Some peoples eat anything. Some peoples eat everything. Some peoples are:

dietary style	eats	doesn't eat
vegetarian  (aka lacto ovo vegetarian)	plants,  eggs and dairy	animal flesh
lacto vegetarian	plants and dairy products	animal flesh, gelatin, animal broths or stocks, and eggs
ovo vegetarian	plants and eggs	animal flesh or dairy products
pescetarian (aka pescatarian)	plants, fish, eggs and dairy	'land animals'  --red meat, poultry, fowl
pollotarian	plants, poultry, fowl, eggs, and dairy	red meat or seafood
vegan	plants	animal flesh, or any animal by-product such as honey.

and there are some that are even more specialized than all this--fruitarian, paleo, macrobiotic, raw foodists, gluten-free, and more... We'll cover those choices another time. (We'd be here all day if we get started on all that!)

To help put this all into perspective, yesterday's two types of Grilled Summer Vegetable Pizza, were all-organic, gluten-free, local, mostly, one was lacto-vegetarian, and one, vegan. Both, most importantly, tasty!

Luckily, there's room enough at the table for us ALL.

We'd love to know.  What kind of dietary habits do you observe?