Friday, April 23, 2010

Deep Thoughts

I've been thinking a lot lately about food, and stuff, and food some more. The way we shop and consume both are well ...wrong.

A dear friend of mine surprised me at a recent visit (long overdue too!) by saying she had stopped eating meat. She is not the vegetarian type, as much as she is the social justice type. And that is what a lot of our food and stuff dilemma break down to, social justice. Why is it that someone else should put their life into harms way, making minimum wage, just so we can buy ground beef for 1.50 a pound? She is voting with her dollar.

This subject is hard. I get it. It's hard for me. Consumption. I shudder at the thought of confronting the demons lurking there. Do I eat fast food? Yup. But only organic, grass fed meat? Not in the slightest. Do I get giddy in the prospect of a shopping trip to Target? You Betcha!

But because something is the social norm(even inside your chosen faith or "sub-culture"), does not make it right. Oh yea, I said it.

So now I must act. I must change how we live, how we consume. And I must do it on relatively the same amount of money. Change is hard. But, if we are to progress as a society and as a family, change is necessary.

Check out Food Inc. and the Story of Stuff. Think about change. Consider this journey with me. I will never be perfect. I will most likely always fall into the "hypocrite" category. But at least I will be moving forward.

Let's try voting with our dollar. Let's make a difference.

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