Food Frenzy

by Alyssa Pandolfi, Second Nature Intern

Today's challenge is transportation, but it hasn't been too difficult for me.  I've been walking to work as much as possible and taking the T at all other opportunities **Note:  low carbon transportation works great when you don't have a car :)

I am a little nervous for the food activities tomorrow.  I recently gave up veganism because I found that I was relying way too much on foods that had little nutritional value (bread, candy, pre-packaged meals).  I love vegan food and the vegan lifestyle, but I no longer have the time or financial resources to keep up.  So, rather than eating crappy pre-packaged things, I'm cutting myself some slack and eating cheese and eggs...Mainly indulging in the delicious cheese I've been forgoing for the past several months.

One of the problems I have with all of the food related lifestyles out there is the extreme variety of feedback.  I always buy organic and locally when it is possible and within my budget, but then there's the added worry of buying vegetarian and vegan food.  Then you have the group of Raw foodists telling you to eat only raw food.  On top of that are freegans who go around and get wasted food from businesses at the closing of each day.  Don't forget the 1600 calories/day diet.  Eat only foods that aren't packaged to minimize waste.  Low carb.  Low fat.  No fat.  No sugar.  Low sugar.  Cool Cuisine--The global warming diet.  Eat foods or meals with only 6 or less ingredients.  Seriously?

Taking all of these perspectives into account, it's hard to decide what choices to make when it comes to food.  It gets even more complicated when you take into account people's cultures, medical conditions, socioeconomic statuses, and face-paced lifestyles.  Sometimes, I step back, just to remind myself that the purpose of food is to nourish us so that we can live.  All of the options and perspectives out there make food more complicated than it really is.  So, my strategy is to keep it simple, eat what my body wants, and keep in mind the environmental impact of my meal.