Where does your food come from?

Although I\’ve never done more than write a few letters with her over the years, Katherine Dunn is one of my favourite people and artists; her work (both with words and pictures) never ceases to give me thought. I tend to live vicarously through her blog about farm life.Her recent post about her first slaughter was incredibly personal and profound; it had me thinking about food and how often we are disconnected from it. Raising her lambs she knew exactly what they were fed and having them slaughtered for meat she knew where her food was coming from. Growing up on a farm myself we ate chickens and duck but I was too young to make the connection to why Billy wasn\’t around at Christmas.I always buy organic and I try my best to buy local and I try even harder to buy from farmers market. In Santa Monica I would go to the weekly market to buy my raw milk and knew the farmer so well that it actually transformed how I thought about this milk that for me, helped me feel better (pasteurized milk actually makes me sick).The past several falls I\’ve gone to an orchard an hour away and picked my own apples and made my own juice. I grow my own herbs and when I move back to the coast I plan on having a large garden in which to eat from. I don\’t have the inclination to raise live stock for meat but after reading Katherine\’s post I\’m much more inclined to really learn about my food. To take the time to invest in health is so important but so often overlooked; one always wants a quick fix to a problem instead of taking the time to prevent it.Like Katherine, I ask the question: when you eat tonight, do you know where you food comes from? And if perhaps you cannot answer that I then ask you do you know what is in your food at least? I assure you, you can have amazing food without the crap inside. If you\’re addicted to Coke try a similar drink from Whole Foods without everything in. Have respect for farmers, for the food and most importantly, for yourself.