Picky Eater

"Preach not to others what they should eat, but eat as becomes you and be silent." -Epictetus, Greek philosopher.

There is so much trash talk about the way other people eat - the vegans cry out, "Meat is murder" and the meat eaters chant, "My food sh*ts on your food." If you enjoy what you eat, then please take a bite, and don't talk with your mouth full.

I am not a vegan, or a vegetarian. I am a Picky Eater. I eat meat. I hunt, and I am a good shot. If I didn't kill it, someone in my family did. It is lean and wild and organic and free range and local. When it was alive the animal never got branded, castrated, vaccinated or drugged to grow faster. It never ate chicken feet, brains, poop, antibiotics or government subsidized corn. It was good and dead when it was butchered, and whatever didn't go in the freezer got left for the scavengers. Exposure to fecal matter was minimal. I am willing to assume the responsibility for the life it costs to eat meat. I eat eggs - from the chickens in my back yard. I eat (and drink) milk, cheese and yogurt - not much, and from local organic sources. I eat all grains . I am very lucky not to have any food allergies. I don't eat fast food, and I don't eat or drink anything with high fructose corn syrup in it. I like broccoli. I don't like pineapple. I eat tomatoes, but only garden tomatoes. I like very few kinds of cake. I like gelato better than ice cream, and sorbetto best of all. Ever since i was a very little girl, I don't like my cake and my ice cream to touch. I don't like nuts in my brownies. I am a Picky Eater, and a spoiled one at that. AND, I am very, very grateful for the quality of food I enjoy, and enjoy it I do - it is a tragedy to eat without tasting. And while I have plenty of criticism for a lot of food and food production, I do not criticize people for their food choices. I have a lot of choices, not everyone does. I enjoy my food, and I enjoy my eating habits, even my bad habits. Sometimes I enjoy those the most. My grandmother had a little wooden plaque in her house. It read, "My house is clean enough to be healthy and dirty enough to be happy." There is so much peace and happiness and balance in that simple statement. May we all achieve this balance in our diet - indeed, in our lives.