Resolved… 2009…

I’d like to subtitle this one “The good from my years with Rosa”.

Back when Rosa and I were together, I was a farmer. Granted, I wasn’t much of one, but I grew peppers and tomatoes and berries. I grew tons of tomatoes. I’d eat them right off the vine like fruit.

And when I’ve told Vicky about this, there’s always a moment of recoil. There’s a look in her eye that asks, “Did I take that away from you?” It’s like she forgets that Rosa took that away from me and the death of my farmer self came as part of the price of losing Rosa.

Jump to today. And there I was, sitting back on my sofa, my head filled with head cold cotton and aches and pains. Times like that give you an opportunity to think, and I was thinking about food.

Vicky and I do so many things I am proud of us for: we recycle, we use reusable bags when we shop, she buy organic meats and (sometimes) vegetables. Yes, I am often filled with a sense of our own righteousness. The only problem with that, though, is that it keeps you from doing more. And there’s always more to be done.

Where we are in history, with our climate in crisis, with economic peril, with all of the problems that can be solved with smart decisions about what we eat, this is absolutely the best time to start making better decisions in that regard. After all, the food you get at the store gobbles up fossil fuels in production, shipment, etc. And what better way to help out our family’s economy than through wise food choices?

So, I had a sit-down with myself… and come to some decisions. And it might be a little early for this but what the heck. After all, I quit smoking a few days before New Years and that took. So...

Resolved: In 2009, I’m going to find a local farmer’s market to shop at every other week, at least. This one won’t be too difficult. There are farmers markets all over Orange County. In fact, there may be one in your area as well, if you’re so inclined.

Food from the farmer’s market is usually healthier as a result of being removed from corporate agribusiness. It grown closer, using fewer fossil fuels. And it’s often tastier, since it’s not grown for shipment.

This will be my way of not only helping Vicky and I eat healthier but supporting the local economy and helping the environment.

But there’s something else I can do – and so I will.

Resolved: In 2009, I’m going to start farming again. That’s right. There’s no reason why I can’t get a few tomato plants going, maybe some peas, too. We don’t have a lot of space but there is some. It’ll make our patio look nicer and provide us with plenty of cheap, healthy foods.

I left a lot of things behind a decade or so ago and some of them were for all the right reasons. But it’s also healthy for me to remember the good that I had and how it can help me here and now.