Feeding Ourselves

Here's a link to one of the truest and most entertaining things that I've read on line in a while. It's written by Michael Ruhlman over at Megnut and it's a very accurate description of how frustrating the recent hysteria over supposedly inhumane food products can be. Now I am not ready to start an argument on what people should and shouldn't be eating. I don't have enough information and frankly I think it should be a matter of personal choice. In food as with anything else in life, you must pick your battles. The fact that more and more people are researching the food we eat and sharing that information is a step in the right direction. We should understand what we are putting in our mouths. We just shouldn't be dictating what anyone else puts in their mouth. Let's not forget that eating is something that we do to nourish ourselves. It can simply be fuel for the body or it can be sustenance for body and spirit.  We should dine consciously, thoughtfully and with pleasure. Each meal is an opportunity to do something wonderful for yourself whether that means sinking your teeth into a chunky lobster roll on a grilled hot dog bun with french fries and cold beer or savoring a rich, creamy slice of foie gras terrine with pickled mustard seeds, micro basil and peeled peaches or pulling apart hunks of a whole grain baguette and devouring it with organic butter, juicy locally grown tomatoes and thinly sliced Prosciutto San Daniele. There are pros and cons to every meal we can create.  We choose to make the best decisions that we can for each meal and then set our baggage aside until it's time to prepare the next one. We can't always be vigilant and well fed.  I'm not saying that we should be careless or narrow minded about our choices just that occasionally it's okay to indulge ourselves. Sometimes a meal is about more than what's on our plates or how it ended up there. Sometimes it's just about the fulfillment of different kinds of hunger.