One cashier asked me recently whether I have gone vegetarian and whether I have taken to drinking juice exclusively. I was surprised by this question, because in addition to the bags of apples and pears I was getting, I was also buying pork chops. How could she think I was vegetarian? And if you saw that someone was buying large quantities of fruit, why would you assume they would make it all into juice?
It turns out that there are people who are on some kind of health kick where they drink fruit juices exclusively, and that is probably why she thought that.
At my house, we are not on a health kick. We just eat healthy. And most of the time, we eat things as close to their natural form as possible. Take avocado. I don't turn it into guacamole. I wait till it is soft and ripe. Then I slice it in two and eat with a spoon. In Bow's case, he dispenses with the spoon. He just doesn't need it!
Is Bow a vegetarian? Hardly. He eats meat, too. But he does enjoy his fruits and vegetables in their natural form. You don't have to be a vegetarian or on a health kick, to eat healthy. You can just enjoy the feast before you!
Actually people who eat meat also eat fruit and vegetables. Not sure why people ever thought it was different. I think so many people just eat pre-packaged foods, they are looking for some explanation when people eat fruit or vegetables. One girl used to be bothered by me buying it.
ReplyDeleteJulia, I think you are right: so many people buy pre-processed foods that it seems odd to them when anyone buys fresh fruit and vegetables.
DeleteThe guy who is in charge of the produce section of one of the supermarkets where I shop said to me this Wednesday: "You sure do buy a lot of produce! I want to thank you for that." Sometimes the produce just rots, because nobody buys it.
Wow, really? He said that? That's fascinating to me. I grew up eating the way I guess you do. I was really shocked to see what American friends of mine ate. Cans and boxes... of everything. If there was a bowl of fruit on the table, it was for decoration and sometimes not real at all.
DeleteHow much food does Bow eat every day? He would eat more than a person would eat, right? So maybe he thinks it's just you who would be eating all the fruits and vegetables? That's the only other thing I could possibly think of.
Bows eyes when he's eating that avocado are so sweet.
Frieda, maybe the children of immigrants just get a better start in life. It is not so much a concern with health, I think, but just frugal habits of making the most of our resources that led to this lifestyle of ours.
DeleteBow does not eat more than anybody else, but more of what he eats is fruits and vegetables. He eats meat, too, but in moderation. In the wild, chimpanzees have meat when they can get it, but they don't manage to get it that often.
I don't know why the people in the grocery store would think I am the only one who is eating the food I buy. I am shopping for three: my daughter, Bow and me. I think most people who shop are not just buying for themselves.
Bow always eagerly watches me unload the groceries and gets excited about the new foods I get. He has a good view of the kitchen from the pens.
Ah, okay. I always wondered how much they desired to eat (chimpanzees I mean). Glad to know. This may be a silly question, but, have you ever let him put away groceries too? Or does he have a little place in his pen where he can store some, like for if he wants a snack or something?
DeleteSaving some for later is the one skill Bow is not so good at. It's not that he would eat more than he needed -- it's that he would play with and make a mess with the excess. So that's why I run the pantry, but Bow can always ask for a snack.
DeleteBow's finesse with the avocado is just amazing. I love how he held onto the first half all the time he was eating the second, and then went back to the first. I think his quiet concentration is the epitome of how food is enjoyed to the fullest.
ReplyDeleteThanks, Sherri. He does take eating very seriously, and I do think he gets maximal pleasure out of every food.
DeleteI do not necessarily think only children of immigrants eat well. A lot of Americans have very healthful eating habits, and it just depends on family values and such. For instance, I live in Loma Linda now, which is one of the blue zones of the world known for longer life expectancy because families eat healthful diets, but it is also because a lot of the people here are Seventh Day Adventists and this is a faith based community where people have strong social interactions. These people are so passionate about keeping their small town healtful ways they did not even want McDonald's to come in, and when it did it had to bend to them. I am not part of that faith, but I have always admired how the Seventh Day Adventists have such a passion for their university hospital, which is renowned worldwide for the care they provide. They are also very experimental, and cutting edge.
ReplyDeleteA lot of them are vegetarians, but not all Adventists are. I think in mainstream America people have begun to eat lots of processed foods because culturally that is the way things are now, but a few generations back it was not that way. However, out here in Southern California I do see a push away from that, and it is a good direction. Even when my mom was growing up in the Kansas out in the countryside they had to be resourceful and eat what they had.
Julia, I'm sure you are right about the Seventh Day Adventists and what they eat. While they may not be immigrants, they do have a culture of their own, and that's really what I was thinking about: people who don't belong to the mainstream American culture. It's probably true of the Amish who live in this area as well.
DeleteThe problem with the moves toward "healthier" living that mainstream Americans sometimes make is that there is always some kind of theory behind it that favors one kind of food over another. Vegetarianism is an example of that. But real healthy living usually comes naturally when people are being frugal and do not have a health goal in mind.
Really healthy people don't think about health. It's only people who are unwell that start to obsess about it.
Well I grew up vegetarian we only ate chicken and turkey sometimes, and I really only eat meat occasionally now, but I can understand why people like meat. I knew people who eat meat with vegetables and fruit, which is why I originally said it is silly anyone assumed you were vegetarian or on a health kick just because you bought this stuff.
DeleteI suppose I will diverge here and say I do not think people who think about health are necessarily obsessive or unhealthy, and if you grew up eating processed foods, sometimes you need that push into the right direction. In general I think the push to eat healthier is not so bad as people in the mainstream have seen ads with frozen dinners over the years, so maybe they need a bit more exposure simple diagrams on fruits and vegetables. The food pyramid is silly, so I do not mean that.
Some people enjoy being vegetarian, or are so for their own ethical reasons. I personally do not feel sad if people eat a chicken, but part of the reason my mom did become a vegetarian was because their family raised chickens, and their step mom was actually one of those ones you read about in stories, not kidding. She made them cut off the heads of the chickens and defeather chickens to sell to other people. She just got so sick of every meal revolving around meat, and wanted to do her own thing.
So I guess my final analysis is if people want to eat meat that is their choice, and if people want to eat vegetarian, that is fine as well. When I was growing up I hated people making snarky comments about the fact I was not eating hamburgers with them. I literally had a friend tell me she loved her meat when I ordered a garden burger, and how did this impact her? I even eat chicken sometimes, I all the little back handed comments about how people were better than me because they ate meat hurt my feelings back in the days, and it just got to the point I did not even want to eat around certain friends. I was not commenting on how they ate steak, and I do not agree with the rabid vegetarians who lecture people on how they eat.
I guess my mantra is everyone has to do what is best for them. It is interesting to see how everyone approaches food.
Julia, I completely agree: everyone should eat what they want, and no one should tell any other person what to eat.
DeleteI got confused and posted a longer answer about this in the comments section of "Savoring the moment."
I really think I put way too much into my previous comment, and should have made it a blog post. But I just thought about a few friends used to say to me, and it was always sort of this insidious comments about food. I never thought food could be such a heated topic, but apparently it can be. And people think cooking has no passion to it.
DeleteI look forward to reading more of your thoughts about cooking, eating and food, both here and on your own blog.
DeleteActually, nutrition has become a somewhat contentious and even political topic. I will try to keep it light here, though. I have other places where I write about politics. :)