Update on My 31 Things in My 31st Year List

Last year, with my 31st birthday looming, I wrote a "31 Things in My 31st Year List" on this blog.  Here's the follow-up to that list--let's see how I did: (updates on accomplishments are in green next to the original goals)

31 Things…

1. Become more aware of what I eat, where it comes from, and how it affects my health. (Read Eating Animals).   I did read Eating Animals, along with The Omnivores Dilemma, and I saw a couple movies too-they all made me want to stop eating meat, (at least factory-farm produced meat), which I did for a few months...until I got pregnant and was craving meat... 

2. Run at least 5 races (5K or 8K). (The next one will be the Race for the Place 5K to benefit St. Lawrence Place, February 6th).  I ran the Race for the Place 5K, the St. Patty's Day 5K, the Get in the Pink 5K, and the Crawdaddy Dash 5K...then I got pregnant, so that was the end of racing season for me...I almost made it to 5 races!

3. Video tape my grandmother cooking some of her best dishes, (the ones she can’t write down the recipe for since she ‘just throws some things together’).  I am actually scheduled to do this on Saturday--we are making biscuits from scratch and Bierocks-- a German meal that my family LOVES, and only she knows how to make!

4. Video tape my sister giving birth to her second baby…(no NatGeo shots, just document the event).  Didn't get to do this because her 2nd baby, Taylor, came way to quickly--I wasn't even at the hospital yet!

5. Create something new at least once a month—(sew something, write something, cook something, make something).  Don't know for sure that I fulfilled this goal every month, but here are some examples of things I did "create" this year: my first-ever knitted scarf, currently working on a knitted baby blanket, a baby!, new cookie recipes, took some pictures with my new Holga camera, made a Gingerbread house with my nephew...

6. Take a road trip to Washington, DC. (Been wanting to go back for a couple years and just haven’t gotten around to it; Aunt LeAnn, here we come!)  This did not happen, and I'm sorry it didn't before I got pregnant, but we will still make it to DC soon, I hope!

7. Call friends who live out of town; at least one a month.  Again, probably did not happen...I am really bad at calling friends (hence the goal)...

8. Get a pedicure at least every 6 weeks; the money saved by not doing so is not worth the embarrassing-looking toes.  I think this one was accomplished.  I have nicely pedicured toes right now :)

9. Volunteer somewhere new. I am thinking of getting a Meals on Wheels delivery route.  I did get a Meals on Wheels Delivery route, and I love it--I see the same people each month, and it is so rewarding!

10. Train my dogs to walk civilly on leashes. And then take them on regular walks.  James and I started working on this last week--a work in progress, for sure!

11. Wear sunscreen more vigilantly. (Can’t promise I will not sunbathe, but I’ll at least wear SPF 15 when I do).  I have been very vigilant about sunscreen, especially since I got pregnant.

12. Start a new book club—yay!  Well, it started, and then fizzled...made some great new friends through the book club though!  Maybe we'll start it back again!?

13. Entertain people at our house at least once a month; whether it be a small dinner party or a party party…it just makes me happy.  Not sure if we accomplished once a month, (being pregnant makes entertaining not seem so appealing, especially in the first few months for me)...but, we did have at least 3 parties at our house and a few smaller dinner parties as well.

14. Frequent the Columbia farmer’s markets more often—the State farmer’s market and the All Local one.  I went to the Local Farmer's Market almost religiously until I got prego...love it!

15. Read East of Eden; a classic, and one highly recommended recently by a friend.  Still haven't finished, but it's still on my bedside table; about halfway finished...

16. Forgive myself and move on for not being able to finish Atlas Shrugged.  Done.

17. Figure out how to re-design the look of my blog and do it.  Done.

18. Learn to bake bread.  Done--definitely not perfected, but another work-in-progress.
    

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19. Make something using the immersion blender that we registered for and received for a wedding present.  I made a cauliflower/almond soup--it was pretty good :)

20. Organize my recipes.  Halfway done.

21. Take more pictures.  Done--with Holga and digital camera.  And now we have a new Zumi video camera which I love!

22. Save up for our next big vacation…which will hopefully be somewhere in Central America, Europe, or back to the West Coast…  Not done--instead, our current savings will go into a 529-College Savings Plan for baby Jones.  We did get to go to my friend Annie's wedding in Frisco, CO this summer though--that was a fun vacation!

23. Buy more fresh flowers.  I bought some from the All Local Market back when I was going regularly...need to start doing this again!
    
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24. Write more.  I have been writing in a journal to the baby--my thoughts and feelings since I've been pregnant, that I'll someday share with him.

25. Do something spiritual at least once a week.  Working on it--sobriety and pregnancy have increased my time for prayer.

26. Eat more fresh fruit and veggies.  Done--except the 3 months at the beginning of the pregnancy when I couldn't even look at a veggie.

27. Plant (and keep up) an amazing spring/summer garden.  Done.  Mostly due to my husband's diligent work.

28. Call my grandmother at least once a week to hang out.  Done.  We had lots of fun dinners and chats--this weekend we'll cook :)

29. Learn to knit.  Done--thanks to Lara Winburn!

30. Patronize local art, theater, restaurants, music, etc as much as possible.(The Nickelodeon, Columbia Museum of Art, Trustus Theater, etc...)  Done.  I went to LOTS of movies at The Nick, and we saw Rent and Reasons to Be Pretty at Trustus.  We also got a 8-ticket package at Trustus for the upcoming season for Christmas :)

31. Forgive myself if I don’t accomplish all of these things this year :)  Done. 

So, as you can see, most of my goals were accomplished.  Obviously, getting knocked up put a crimp in some plans, and changed some things, but all-in-all I feel it was a very accomplished year for me.  Bring on 32!

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Shouldn't We All Care What We're Putting In Our Bodies?

As I explained it to my Social Policy class Monday night, I have a new "passion," if you will...educating myself and others about the food, namely meat, that we are putting into our bodies--and the bodies of our children. #1 on my 31 Things for my 31st Year List was to become more aware of what I eat, where it comes from, and how it affects my health.

The first thing I did towards this end was to read Eating Animals by Jonathan Safran Foer. This promptly had me not eating animals...if you haven't read it, you should. I have since watched Food, Inc. and investigated a few of the local meat producers, Caw Caw Creek Farms and Wil-Moore Farms. I have also begun shopping more at the All-Local Farmers' Market at 701 Whaley St. in Columbia.

Today I came across two articles that are valid pieces of investigative journalism questioning the safety of the meat we eat in this country--the safety of beef processing as well as the antibiotics fed to the animals.

Here is an article I found on the blog Grits and Gravy: Adventures of a South Carolina Foodie. The article by Michael Moss of the New York Times questions the safety of beef-processing methods in America.

This article I found in my Pew Charitable Trusts weekly e-mail, Pew News Now. It is a report by Katie Couric of CBS investigating if feeding farm animals antibiotics is producing drug-resistant bacteria. (I think, how could it not be?!) Here is the video report, aired on the CBS Evening News on February 9, 2010.

In the midst of all of this educating and investigating and finding out things I never wanted to find out about the meat that is raised and slaughtered in this country, I am also learning about people who are doing the right thing. The right thing not only for the people they are feeding, but also for the animals they raise for meat. Two of those people, locally, are Emile DeFelice, of Caw Caw Creek, and Kristian Niemi of Rosso Trattoria Italia (and Gervais & Vine). Niemi does his best to serve local ingredients when possible, as well as humanely and organically raised meats, such as pork from Caw Caw Creek Farm. See the video below, Episode 1 of a new series called Off Menu with Kristian, where he takes a tour of Caw Caw Creek and then demonstrates a recipe of Grilled Pork Chops with Apple Chutney.



Stayed tuned for more posts highlighting local restaurateurs and farmers doing their best to serve healthy, humanely treated, and locally-grown meats and vegetables.

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Eating Animals

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I finished the book Eating Animals by Jonathan Safran Foer last night and I am a changed consumer. I know that sounds trite, but it's true.

I just began doing some research on local farms that raise animals for eggs and meat and will be posting about that soon...Foer is a big proponent of responsible, natural, humane raising and slaughtering of animals for consumption, even though he himself is a vegetarian now.

This book has educated me about the evils of factory farming--over 99% of the meat and animal products in America comes from factory farms--and now I wish to make informed decisions about where the animal products I ingest come from and how they were treated while alive and in death. Or if I personally want to consume animals at all.

A couple of my favorite quotes from the book:
"One of the greatest opportunities to live our values--or betray them--lies in the food we put on our plates. And we will live or betray our values not only as individuals, but as nations."
And:
"We have grander legacies than the quest for cheap products. Martin Luther King, Jr. wrote passionately about the time when 'one must take a position that is neither safe, nor politic, nor popular.' Sometimes we simply have to make a decision because 'one's conscience tells one that it is right.'"

I recommend this book to anyone who is a self-proclaimed animal-lover- or just not an animal-hater, and anyone who wants to be more informed about where the meat you and your family are eating comes from.

Here's a link to Farm Forward, an organization that" implements innovative strategies to promote conscientious food choices, reduce farm animal suffering, and advance sustainable agriculture."

*A post is coming soon about local farms that humanely raise and slaughter animals.

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Chipotle- Slow Food. Fast.

So, I'm currently reading Eating Animals by Jonathan Safran Foer, and as I was reading tonight I read "Chipotle is one of the only national restaurant chains claiming to obtain a significant portion of its pork from animals that don't come from factory farms."

It just so happens that a Chipotle Mexican Grill opened in Columbia just last week...I had no idea about their mission, "Food with Integrity." Very cool. When I looked up Chipotle, I learned that they represent a return to organic and sustainable farming; they use only antibiotic-free, naturally-raised chicken and pork and 50% of their beef is raised this way. Chipotle calls their menu items "Slow Food. Fast."

I have not yet visited Chipotle, but this certainly makes me more excited to do so. Here, Steve Ells, the founder and CEO of Chipotle speaks about his company's mission on Nightline:


And here's an article that discusses Chipotle's intention to install solar panels in 75 of its restaurants. If only other restaurants would take notice that you can be environmentally-friendly and serve meat that wasn't raised and slaughtered on factory farms...and still make a profit, too. If only the American public was more educated about factory farms and demanded better for animals, ourselves and our children.

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Chipotle's website advertises Food, Inc. View the trailer here. I haven't seen this film yet, but I really want to.

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And, Fresh is coming to The Nickelodeon on Tuesday, February 9th at 6 PM. See a trailer for Fresh here.

Staying true to my promise to be more aware of what goes into my body and where it comes from, I am really interested in the Slow Food movement and educating myself about our American food sources.

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Columbia has a Slow Food chapter, whose mission is to support the movement of Good, Clean and Fair Food. Check out the Slow Food Columbia blog here.

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Social Commentary in Unexpected Places

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I went to see Avatar last night. I did this because my husband has been dying to see it, and I love him. That is the only reason. I typically cannot stand sci-fi movies, much less 3-hour-long sci-fi movies with blue characters. I had 2 glasses of champagne pre-game hoping it would help me through; I was pleasantly surprised.

This sci-fi movie is really a treehugger, socially liberal movie in disguise. The social commentary included everything from honoring the earth and acknowledging where our food comes from to the horrors of war and greed. Love it! The 3-hour movie length didn't even seem too long.

My surprise over this movie got me thinking...is this common...for sci-fi movies to really be social commentary and not just aliens and robots shooting each other? As it turns out, it is. Wikipedia says: "Science fiction films have often been used to focus on political or social issues, and to explore philosophical issues like the human condition."

Here are some that I came up with that I watched in my earlier years that now seem to have been trying to tell me something deeper...maybe even helped cultivate my inner treehugger/liberal:

The Dark Crystal: definitely some good vs. evil to restore the balance of the universe undertones...

E.T.: Steven Speilberg himself called this movie "a minority story." It definitely taught me about tolerance...and the possible exploitative evils of the government.

Wargames: taught us that there is no winner in war. Better to just play a game of chess.

What sci-fi movies can you think of that have an underlying social commentary?

Avatar also made me think of a book that I saw featured on an episode of the Ellen Degeneres show this week; (having a week off of work leaves plenty of time for one to re-discover the trash that is daytime television, though I do like Ellen). It is called Eating Animals by Jonathan Safran Foer. The author was discussing the book and he wasn't preaching about being vegan or even vegetarian, but encouraging us to at least find out where the meat and animal products we eat come from. He pointed out that some of the major meat producers in the country would not let him visit their farms or plants. He spoke of the evils of caging egg-laying birds and keeping dairy cows indoors and hooked to machines for their whole lives.

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One of my 31 things to do in my 31st year includes becoming more aware of what I am eating, where it comes from, and how it will affect my health, so this book is next on my list to read.

And my 31 things to do in my 31st year list is coming soon...(my birthday is Sunday, January 3rd).

Has anyone read the book?

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