Day 4: I eat because I care.

What a beautiful day it was today! Sorry, I'm an inconsiderate blogger and didn't take a photo to place here but just imagine a Saturday with the perfect temperature and the clearest skies. Not only that, but I managed to end up having dinner at a restaurant that had items on the menu I could order without being one of those annoying customers who has to spell out to the server what exactly they want or don't want in their food. (See video for example.)



I didn't want to embarrass my friend and whip out my camera to take pictures of my food, but I had a lovely vegetarian tamale and avocado and mango salad. Afterwards, I went to a bar and even the bartender was attentive to my plastic cup of water, giving me plenty of refills. I tipped him for not giving me grief for not having real drinks at his bar.

In all honesty, a few years back I could've cared less about where my food came from or what I was eating. As long as it was delicious, I'll take it. To this day, my favorite food is the chili cheese hot dog from Bud's Broiler. It's basically the antithesis of this cleanse. Sure my balsamic marinated tofu is good, but there's just something about meats of unknown origin on a white burger bun with a sprinkle of sweaty cheese that makes my mouth water.

I guess after living in California, all those alfalfa sprouts that came on my turkey avocado sandwich got to my head. Of course, there's also Al Gore and that Invconvenient Truth he invented, like the Internet. Now I've turned into this environmentally aware concerned citizen of the earth.

Beyond just caring for what I am putting into my own body, we are now learning more and more about where our food comes from and who, besides the cute barista, is actually making it possible for me to have my grande nonfat latte. Instead of blindly eating and consuming, we need to open our eyes before we open our mouths.

"A part of the cleanse process is about considering the whole picture: how the food serves our body, how it affects the environment, and the process by whch it gets to our plate. It means that we scrutinize the methods of production from beginning to end, making sure that what we eat is not only good for us, but also good for everyone involved."

-kathy freston

I know that some people think that it's futile for one person to change their eating and living habits for the sake of the entire world. I admit that the small steps I take to be "green" probably doesn't register in the grand scheme of things. But at least I care. 

I beg you to watch this short video from the Miniature Earth Project.

I have done nothing to be one of the 25 people who have clothes, a bed, a safe home, and the luxury to choose what I want and don't want to eat. I agree with Shane Claiborne when he wrote, "I'm convinced that God did not mess up and make too many people and not enough stuff. Poverty was created not by God but by you and me, because we have not learned to love our neighbors as ourselves."

For someone who has a blog and is constantly updating my Facebook and Twitter with mundane and asinine details of my life, it's obvious how self-absorbed I can be. So if I can be intentional about being kind to my body and provide for my own needs, how can I not make an effort to do the same for others?