the dramatic

I’ve been thinking a lot about food lately.

A few weeks ago, as we headed into Lent, I decided that for the first 10 days, I wanted to do the master cleanse.

This is not my first go-round with the master cleanse (quickly, if you are not familiar, it involves fasting except for drinking a homemade lemonade - the purpose is to cleanse your system - for 10 or more days). While it’s not something I would want to do all the time, there are certain times that I find myself feeling as though I need it, in a way. The thought will cross my mind, and instead of disappearing for good a few moments later, as so many thoughts do, it will circle and tug at me.

I tried to write about the experience while I was still doing it - in fact, I’ve tried to write about it before during the process as well - and I was as unsuccessful this time as the others.  It seems as though, while I’m in it, I get caught up - either feeling like I’m bragging somehow, or trying to decide how much of the physical process to share, or being unable to describe the mental / emotional / spiritual aspects completely enough. Some people view this thing as a diet, others as a discipline, still others as a health regimen. The lines are blurrier to me, and although I lean toward viewing it through a spiritual lens, one of the things I really appreciate about this cleanse is how it affects all those aspects: my physical state of hunger affects my thoughts and feelings, my weaknesses in all of these places are quickly exposed, my need drives me again and again to God.

These things are not separate: I relate to God differently if I physically kneel before him or raise my hands to him (not that I must do either to talk to him); a warm mocha from Starbucks can comfort me emotionally. Doing yoga helps me listen.

I find that when I strip away something as major as food, it helps me to bring those other areas into focus - helps me to clearly see what I have been overlooking.

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Another benefit of not eating for an extended period of time is that when the time comes to begin eating again, there is a renewed carefulness about what you are willing to eat.  For me, at least, much of the time spent on the cleanse is reminding myself that I can’t eat that right now - really, it’s amazing how often I pick up food in a completely unconscious way, how I would have something halfway to my mouth before remembering. So then afterward, you have this extra thought picked up from the habit of fasting - wait - just time enough to be grateful that I am eating again and to have the thought - is that really what I want to put in my mouth?

Somewhere mid-cleanse, I picked up Animal, Vegetable, Miracle from the library.  I’m only part of the way through it now, but so far I am loving it. Partly because I can totally identify with challenging yourself with a decision and then writing about it (the author’s family pledged to live on local food only - that they or neighboring farms grew - for a year). I’m not sure about all the ways that this book will affect me - I think that definitely this movie is in my near future - but I did want to share one way that it has already, because it’s something almost anyone can do.

Here in central AR we are lucky enough to be able to buy good food - produced locally and often organically too - year round. For the last 2 weeks, I have ordered fresh eggs and milk, salad greens and sweet potatoes, from farms right here in Arkansas.  In the past I have also subscribed to the Basket-A-Month program - which I enjoyed - but I am liking this online market so much.  The main difference is that you pay for 3 months baskets up front and are guaranteed a certain amount of produce each month, but the contents are up to the suppliers. With the market, you can order exactly what you want (same farms supplying the food) and that’s all you pay for when you pick it up.

There are so many good reasons to do this - it’s better for you, for the world around you - and I’m sure I will revisit this subject in greater detail.  But for now, I don’t want to scare you to death by outlining the vast network of ways that food suppliers and producers are controlling what we eat - and not in ways that are designed to be healthy for us, but to make money for them - no, before I get all conspiracy theorist on you, I want to be positive.

And so I will say - this stuff is just better. Drinking fresh, organic milk (I know you’re drinking the organic stuff already, right? RIGHT?) from a glass jar for less than I can buy it for at Kroger - that’s just better. Cracking open an egg with a rich goldy orange yolk that stands up off the white because it’s not weeks old is just better. The taste of that same egg, produced by a chicken roaming and eating what a chicken is supposed to eat, rather than a processed feed - I can’t tell you how much better that is. I do love eggs, but these eggs? Oh. My. Goodness.

So far everything is this way - the lettuce tastes good enough to eat it alone, straight out of the bag. Elizabeth microwaves herself sweet potatoes and scrapes every bit out of the bare skin. Each week, I’m going to get a little braver, try more things new…

If you’re still with me after reading all this, go here and look around. The site is clear and easy to use. You can still order until tonight for pickup in Argenta this weekend. Try something - you will be helping yourself and a real farmer right here in your state. Because it’s a basket delivery week, the dairy isn’t up right now, so I would suggest starting with the eggs.  But that’s just me.

I’d love to tell you anything you’d like to know about the online market, basket program, or the cleanse - just ask!

this time last year: haiku tribute to the virus that has taken down our entire family, one by one (10. 03. 2009)