Simplifying the Skeltons! Month One/Day Three

Posted by Grant

   Growing up, I don't recall my family giving much thought to what exactly was in our food or where it came from. My Dad was the predominant chef in the family, as Mom would always insist that the family didn't eat what she cooked (I disagree with this statement because her fried chicken recipe is culinary perfection.). We had a few family staples (beef stew, Dad spaghetti, hamburgers) but we ate out frequently and fast food was routine. Doritos stole my heart at a young age. I was a skinny kid, so I ate whatever whenever. Those eating patterns carried over into my preteen and teen years.
   My senior year of high school, I got a job working at Sherwin-Williams. That was 2002 and if you ask any member of my immediate family, they will tell you that year was the year that changed everything for us. This blog isn't the place for all of the gory details, but if you're still curious feel free to join me for a beer sometime (AFTER this month, mind you) and we'll talk. The abridged version, essentially, is that it was stressful to the point of pain for the entire family and my income was no longer residual - it was necessary. School let out at 2:15 and I had to be at work at 3. If you do the math, you can see that doesn't leave a person time to prepare an adequate and healthy meal. I'd go home, change clothes in about 3.5 seconds and then speed off to McDonald's, Taco Bell, Burger King, or the like. I gained my freshman 15 my senior year of high school.
   Of course I did manage to rectify my eating habits in college...if by rectify you mean destroy, desolate, obliterate, or any other number of fun vocabulary words. The college student diet consists of such nutritious ingredients as Ramen Noodles (or Pasta Roni if it's payday), stale store brand soda, Jack-In-The-Box, Krystal, Totino's Pizza, and frozen meat patties that barely pass as hamburgers. I developed an on-again-off-again relationship with the gym, and every now and then attempted to eat "healthy," but one unforeseen life circumstance after another seemed to make that impossible. The changes never stuck. Working security at night for the year or so before I got my current job didn't help matters much either. When the bread, meat, and cheese on your $1.50 microwavable "sandwich" have three separate lists of ingredients, it's time to start asking some questions.
   As a man, I don't really think much about my food. I want it, I order it. I crave it, I go get it. I've always thought about it in those terms. Oh sure, when I was on a "diet" I'd count calories, carbohydrates, protein. But I still never considered what was IN the food. Now, I won't attempt to proselytize anyone with PETA-approved horror stories. But after I took some time and looked into what I had been eating all these years, I must say I was astounded. The factory/warehouse model works great if you're building a car, or a computer. But food? By the time it was getting to me, whether from McDonald's or AppleBee's, it was no longer food.
   In the month before we started this fast, Michelle and I have done a few things differently. We've made it a point to eat local. In Memphis there are plenty of local eateries that serve delicious food that came from the ground, or from an animal that wasn't injected with so much growth hormone it looked like some kind of deformed grotesque offspring of Cthulu (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cthulu). I'll recommend 2 at the end of this post. We also cut out soda completely. We don't buy it, you won't find it in our fridge. We each have a reusable water bottle (complete with freezer stick) that we take with us every day.
    As the head of this household, I will be held accountable for the decisions I make. The habits and patterns that a man develops in his single life will impact his marriage. For most of my life I have seen food as something utilitarian, something to consume and usurp. Not something to savor, to enjoy, relish. Food was best when it was expedient, convenient, and cheap. And yet I would become frustrated when the 17 year old behind the counter who was probably paid less than minimum wage got my order wrong. Think for a moment about that irony.
   On the other hand, my wife is a culinary MacGyver. I love her meals, both the innovative and the ordinary, the run-of-the-mill and the experimental. We take time to prepare our meals, we set the table, and we eat together. We are creating a pattern that we want to pass on to our children. Remember what Jesus was doing when the Temple guard came for him? Eating. He was eating. Seated at a table with his closest friends. Jesus liked to eat. In fact, a good many of the gospel accounts of Him either involve food directly or at least mention it. Ask yourself some questions the next time you're at the grocery store, or waiting in line. What's in this? Read the list of ingredients. Can you pronounce any of them?

   2 local Memphis eateries you must try:
   1. Trolley Stop Market 704 Madison Ave (http://trolleystopmarket.com/)
   2. Caritas Village 2509 Harvard Ave (http://www.caritasvillage.org/)