My Food Philosophy

I'm not a vegetarian, vegan, or health food fanatic.  I am concerned about eating healthy, but I am a realist.  I don't want to spend hours of every day preparing food.  I don't want to spend any more of my money for my food than is necessary.  These are not rigid rules, and I make PLENTY of exceptions.  Food is to be enjoyed, and rigid rules squash the fun if you ask me.

1.  I don't drink caffeine. I gave it up completely a few years ago. I don't drink much soda of any kind, but when I do it is never caffeinated, and never diet.  The stuff is bad. It rots your teeth, causes headaches, and all sorts of other nasty stuff.  It's not worth the flavor.  It's weird, after not having any for a long time, the actual taste isn't that great either.  It tastes like a bunch of chemicals.  Speaking of chemicals ...
2.  I really don't like anything with artificial sweeteners.  Fake sugar is just wrong.  If I am going to eat something sweet, give it to me with the real deal.  I'm ok with some of the natural sweeteners, like honey, fruit, etc.  but not those chemically derived, so called "natural" sweeteners.  Just give me the good stuff, in moderation, thank you.
3. I generally avoid "fake" food.  You know, things like, "processed cheese food", margarine, fruit "dink", candy that tastes like plastic, etc.  You know what I mean, the stuff that has more chemicals in the ingredient list  than recognizable food, with a  nutritional value of zero.
4. I avoid the microwave. When you microwave food you kill a lot of the nutrients.  I try to avoid using it.   I'm not rigid about this, just avoid it when possible.  I usually thaw frozen food in a bowl of room temperature water instead of nuking it.
5. I don't over salt my food.  I cook with some, but leave it to the individual eating it to salt it to their taste.  I don't like my food too salty.  A lot of processed, canned foods are so salty that I don't like the taste of them.
6. I prefer to use sea salt over the highly processed, iodized, table salt we grew up with.  Sea salt tastes GREAT!  There is just no getting around it.  If there are health benefits, woo hoo!
7. I prefer locally grown, non genetically altered, chemical free produce.  I would really like it if I could grow all I eat myself, but I'm just not that ambitious.  The local produce tastes so much better.  Here in Hawaii, the stuff grown elsewhere has been on a boat for WEEKS and you can tell.  Maybe the tomatoes are more round, but they taste like water logged cardboard.  I won't however, pay $7/pound for organic tomatoes.  Being concerned about the quality of my food supply, doesn't make me an economic fool.
8. I prefer to eat chocolate that was NOT produced by slaves, child or otherwise.  Most of the world's chocolate supply comes from the Ivory Coast and I don't like their methods.  Human beings are more important than a tasty treat.  Luckily, we grow plenty of chocolate here in Hawaii, without the use of slave labor.  Hawaiian chocolate is very delicious!  I also like Green & Black's peanut and sea salt chocolate bar.  They are a high quality, free trade, chocolate company.
9. Give me real butter, or give me death.  No, not really, but I really don't see the point in eating anything called "vegetable spread" that clearly has no vegetables in it.  Just like the sugar thing, if I'm going to eat it, I want the real deal.
10. What about meat?  Well, I love a good steak! Sometimes a medium rare, filet mignon hot off the grill is EXACTLY what my body craves and needs.  But not every day or at every meal.  I tend to eat meat in smaller quantities than the side dishes on my plate, and for many meals I have no meat at all.  When I was in Jr. High my parents raised chickens and pigs for food.  I think if more people had to "process" their own meat, even once, they would eat less of it.  Meat does not magically appear in the freezer.  It was once a living, breathing creature, and it takes a lot of work to get that steak on your plate. 

If I were to sum up my food philosophy it would be something like this.....

Eat real food, grown as close to home, and processed as little as possible.  Eat less chemicals, and more whole food.  Eat less meat, and more veggies.  Eat food that is produced responsibly, and be wiling to vote with my dollar.