My Father: The original founder of the 100 mile challenge

5 years ago, I ate what I wanted. 

I tried to make healthy choices, but it didn’t really matter if I had popcorn for dinner, or we went out for wings Friday after work.

Having children changes how you think about food.

It changes the decisions you make for yourself and what you bring into the house.

I know so many people that only buy organic for their children.

I have to admit, I am not a big organic purchaser.  But I certainly have a long history with eating organic food, long before it was 'cool'.

Have you heard of the 100 mile diet?

The Food Network in the States also did a show called “The 100 Mile Challenge”.

Pretty easy to figure out what it is about, but the concept is for a whole year, only eating food grown / produced within the 100 mile radius of your house.

I was thinking the other day about my childhood and what I ate growing up, the perception I had back then, and how it has changed today.

As a child, we had a rather large garden, where the entire family helped with the planting, weeding and harvesting (oh how I hated that garden).

I remember eating potatoes, zucchini, corn, tomatoes, peas, beans, carrots, cucumber, spinach, beets, lettuce, onions, rhubarb, strawberries and raspberries.

(All grown organically with NO pesticides, or chemicals.)

We did not live on a farm; we lived in town, so my father made connections to purchase live animals he could then kill and butcher himself.

I remember him killing chickens in the back yard; butchering a lamb and a pig.  Thank god he did not ever get his hands on a cow!

A childhood favourite was a soup my Mom made – Chicken Ball soup – where us 4 kids would fight over not the chicken balls, but the chicken heart instead.

Growing up we ate rabbit, pigeon, deer, kidneys, liver and even cows tongue, (all obtained locally).

The perception I had growing up was very different than what I have today.  Today I am thankful my parents were open to so many different kinds of foods.  Today the 100 mile challenge is a reality, organic food are in style.

Back in the 80’s, it was cooler to have a can of processed pasta in tomato sauce than to have an organic salad.

Back then, TV dinners were chic, not organic, fresh lamb.

So here’s to my Mother & Father, for all the extra work they did to feed our family healthy foods.

Here’s to myself and my siblings for grumbling through plantings, weeding and harvesting that damn garden!

So where does that leave me today?

I am not sure I want to do a garden.  Did i say how much I HATED that garden growing up.  But I do know that I want to teach my children to make healthy food choices, to learn how to like real, unprocessed, natural food.