EATING WELL

I have always been amazed at the extraordinary amount of people who are perpetually in the habit of minimizing their daily food budget in order to afford non-essential items such as the latest model smart phone, fashion accessory, automobile, or other, material accessory. What has driven people to the point where appearing to be healthy and happy is an acceptable replacement for actually being healthy and happy? How did it come to be that fresh produce purchased at a local market can cost more than two semi-meat patties, topped with ‘secret’ sauce, shreds of lettuce, some kind of melty ‘cheese food’ with onions and pickles on a bun, all engineered to the point to never mold, rot, or decompose?
 
There are those who like to point fingers and blame a capitalistic society based on consumerism blah, blah, blah. Yes, we can agree the continuous marketing and advertisement schemes allowed me to recall a catchy tune promoting fast food hamburger sales some 40 odd years after its inception, but you must ask yourself, what demand are they filling? Businesses don't just appear out of nowhere, thrive, and become international brands on a whim. They are simply supplying a demand of the people. You asked for it, you got it! (name that brand)
 
Convenience; Thats what people want, so thats what people get. As time has passed, more and more people don’t want, or cant be bothered, with preparing a meal for themselves or for their family. How insane is that? One of the most important aspects of remaining alive, eating, and people look for the easiest and fastest option available! Correct me if I'm wrong, but after oxygen I believe the first three needs for human survival are water, food, and shelter. FOOD is number two people! Sounds to me that would make it fairly important and deserving close attention to quantity and quality!

Good, clean, healthy, non-processed food is not difficult to make, but it does take some of your time. If you are not willing to dedicate a small amount of your time to eating well and good health, what worth does the remainder of your life have? Quality food does not excluded or prohibit based on economic status. It is available to all who are willing to dedicate the time to source proper ingredients and prepare them. (Yes, I used the word dedicate twice in this paragraph because that is what it takes)

Some people say because I cook for a living that makes it easier for me to acquire higher quality products at a more reasonable price. Ok, fair enough, I do have access to prime ingredients from all over the world at wholesale prices, but the last time I checked there are  a fair number of ‘box’ stores selling in bulk offering wholesale prices to the average consumer. When not working, I also scour the local markets for what is available and fresh. 

Case in point: Recently a friend and I purchased three beautifully fresh Tasmanian salmon which were on special. Sharing the costs and the labor of butchering, we ended up with more than 40 portions of super fresh, wild caught salmon for less than $3.00 U.S. a portion! At the same time we also made three dozen fresh flatbreads, fresh hummus, baba ghanoush, and tzatziki, all in about 4 hours! We have been eating like kings for two weeks. 

​Now I ask you, do you think it was worth the time?