The Domestic is Political

My blog posts are getting a little pedantic; even I'm tiring of seeing the tripartite phrase "social, political, cultural" that precedes half of my comments about the presidential election and Americans in general. I blame it on spending 80% of my day listening to NPR and on having read too much feminist theory in grad school. And maybe just a little bit on my predilection for soap-boxing in print, where no one can evict me from my post.

But I'm tired of politics today. There's only so much bad news a body can absorb before it shuts down to take care of more immediate privations like hunger and sleep.

I've been thinking a lot about hunger over the last few days. In particular, kicking my fledgling program to eat and live more sustainably up a notch. Our summer farm box deliveries end this week, and I'm going to miss how easy it's been to eat seasonally. I'm contemplating signing up for a year-round program, or at least forcing myself to buy seasonal, and when possible, local produce from New Seasons. While a winter diet of cabbage, potatoes, and onions sounds more like a throwback to my impoverished Eastern European ancestors than a feast, it's the ecological and economical way to eat. Besides, lots of yummy things are available in the winter, like satsumas and dark leafy greens. Incidentally, I have a new baking book with a recipe for oniony greens pie, which I cannot wait to make. And T and I eat meat, so there are plenty of healthy roasts, stews and casseroles to tide us over until spring. I'm afraid that T will complain about the absence of summer foods like fresh tomatoes--we both love tomatoes--but he doesn't do the shopping, so I possess all the culinary power in the household. He will bow to my will. Bwa-ha-ha!

Moving on...

I'm also going to see if my mom wants to share weekly dairy deliveries from a local farm, Noris Dairy. They actually bring fresh milk, cheese, yogurt, and butter in glass bottles to your door, for no extra charge. The products are a little more expensive than the grocery store organic brands, but I figure the extra dollar goes towards maintaining a healthier relationship with the agricultural community and to supporting small farmers. The only problem is that T and I definitely can't eat $18 worth of dairy a week, which is why we need a dairy pal.

And then, I'm investigating buying into an animal, like buying a quarter of a cow. The problem with this is that: (1) that's a ton of meat and (2) we'd have to rent a storage locker or something. I can't see our landlord agreeing to hanging a gigantic haunch of meat in the basement. Where it would rot and foster maggots, anyway. Though, the silver lining of that plan is that hospitals are starting to use maggots to clean out gangrenous wounds. The festering haunch might provide me and T with a tidy side income.

Finally, when we get a house I will expand my potted garden into a wonderful veggie paradise. And then I'll learn to can and make preserves. Until then I can add a veggie or two to my summer container garden each year, so that I learn how to take better care of plants. Everything basically flourished this summer, but the tomato plant lost all of its leaves and smells somewhat suspect. It's still producing tomatoes, though, so maybe it's a balding exotic?

I've also started baking our bread, and am experimenting with whole grain wheat and rye flours. And--this is the coup d'etat, I'm so excited--I think I'm going to try making cheese. I'm going to ask for a kit for my birthday.

When I have a little more time I'm going to search out some like-minded women so that we can help each other live better. There's so little that we can single-handedly control, you know? Like the job market, which sucks, and the economy, which sucks enough that I feel afraid to leave my horrible job at the bookstore, and the frustrating ignorance and apathy of a lot of Americans. At least I can fill my fridge and our bellies with wholesome foods, and go to bed knowing that I'm doing something genuinely good every day, something that helps people and the planet.

I need to start.