Hippiemommy

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  • Is the Slow Food movement oppressive to women?

    The main criticism that I have noticed popping up around the Slow Food movement is an idea that it is forcing women back into the kitchens and out of the world. The idea is that this is both degrading to women and it is robbing women of pleasure and leisure time that could be better spent.

    This lecture was posted on one of my message boards – Mark Bittman: What’s wrong with what we eat. The discussion moved over to the question of “who will prepare this food”? Who will be the one to cook from scratch and to use real ingredients? The underlying assumption is that most of the burden will be placed on women. I’m guessing that this is true in most families. So does that mean that this kind of advice shouldn’t be given?

    I’ve been thinking about this a lot. I can imagine myself saying the same thing 10 years ago. I didn’t see how “domestic chores” could be enjoyable and I certainly didn’t think they could be empowering. I thought that any woman who chose to do them AND enjoyed it was brainwashed or at least allowing herself to be manipulated by the patriarchal society that we live in.

    My view has changed drastically. You might guess that by looking at my last post about my apron, lol. Cooking can be just as empowering and enjoyable as any other leisure activity. I love the feeling of sitting down to watch my family eat a healthy, homemade meal. Looking back, I enjoyed it even when I was working full time and we didn’t have kids. I didn’t cook with whole food ingredients very often, but I did cook, and I enjoyed it. I think the closest thing that I can compare it to is the feeling that I get when I look down at a content, chunky baby who has just finished nursing. I can see that she is healthy, satisfied, and I know that I did it all on my own. Its such a great feeling.

    I’ve been reading This Organic Life for the past week, and it just so happens to have a whole chapter devoted to this topic. What are the odds?! It also had a chapter devoted to having to kill garden pests. That chapter also spoke to me since I have sneaky little mice living in my compost bin. I’ll save that for a different post though, lol.

    Back to the book though. Joan Dye Gussow starts chapter 14 (entitled “Is It Worth It?”) by saying the following

    The foregoing celebration of local food rests, admittedly, on the threatening assumption that someone will cook. Judging from their behavior, it looks as if most people in many circumstances don’t and won’t. They seem to have decided that cooking doesn’t pay–although buying lavish cookbooks does. According to time-use studies, what has replaced cooking for females is television and grooming; men didn’t have that much cooking to replace.

    Indeed. It does rest on that assumption. There is no denying that the only way that you can eat more whole foods, whether local or not, is if someone is willing to cook it. I really like watching BBC America’s show You Are What You Eat. I’ve always found it fascinating that some of the biggest complaints come over the fact that they have to actually MAKE their food. It appears as though they complain about the prep work even more than they complain about giving up fast food and junk. It seems that everyone comes around by the end, but almost everyone claims to be too busy to cook when they first start the process. I think that’s especially funny because they usually show the people sitting in a recliner, watching tv, and eating from a bag for the whole evening. They don’t look that busy.

    So yeah, it seems that many people don’t want to cook. So that is automatically factored into most people’s ideas of the value of cooking at home. So does this mean that it is automatically a burden to ask men and women to cook?

    Joan Dye Gussow came across the following quote as she was researching. It is from an Israeli economist named Reuben Gronau

    An intuitive distinction between work at home (i.e., home production time) and leisure (i.e., home consumption time), is that work at home (like work in the market) is something one would rather have somebody else do for one (if the cost were low enough) while it would be almost impossible to enjoy leisure through a surrogate.

    Aha! That describes exactly how I feel about the work that I do at home. I hadn’t thought about it before, but I really do see cooking as leisure time. I would never want to pay someone to do it for me. It would rob me of all of those great feelings. Apparently Joan Dye Gussow agrees with me.

    Wow, I thought. Anything done unwillingly at home is work; anything done voluntarily is pleasure. So if I enjoy cooking, then my work counts as a benefit, not a cost…

    The point is that cooking food is not just about whether or not I could pay a “surrogate” (as Gronau says) to do my cooking. The point is that I would miss out on way more than the experience if I were to have someone else do it. I would miss out on the laughs with my kids as they stir pancake batter. I’d miss the chance to meditate and contemplate while I kneaded my bread. I’d miss the chance to create and innovate while nourishing my family. I’d miss SO much more than I would gain by having an extra hour or two to watch tv or groom (which is apparently what the average woman now does, right?)

    I consider myself a feminist. At the same time, I am saddened by the feminist idea that anything that was traditionally done by women is automatically degrading. Should men help? Absolutely, if that’s what works for your family. My husband and I have a pretty progressive relationship. We divide our labor based on who is better and who knows more about a given topic. Revolutionary! I would find it silly to make Joe cook just for the sake of equality. There are times that he does cook. It is usually when it is something that he is better at though. Its not just so that he has to work as much as I do at every single task. What about single people? They still have to cook. Is it be degrading then?

    I realize that cooking is not something that everyone loves. I do believe that we can all work on finding joy in everything that we do. Joe and I have talked about this several times. He and I both have parts of our day that we enjoy less than others. There are certain tasks that we each must do at our jobs that are not our favorites. That doesn’t mean that we don’t get to do them though. The Bible tells us

    Ecclesiastes 2:24 A man can do nothing better than to eat and drink and find satisfaction in his work. This too, I see, is from the hand of God, 25 for without him, who can eat or find enjoyment?

    I actually love the section above this quote, but I have found that people start scanning when Bible quotes are long 😛

    I also love Paul’s encouragement to those who were slaves at the time

    Colossians 3:23 Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for men, 24since you know that you will receive an inheritance from the Lord as a reward

    Who would have more reason to hate their work than those who were being forced into labor?! Those are the absolute worst working conditions that we can imagine, and yet Paul still said to work as though you are working for the Lord.

    I have found that the more that I work with a good attitude, then the more I am open to learn and experience through the task. As I said above, there is so much more that happens during that time. Its not just about accomplishing an objective.

    Finally, as if reading my incredibly long post wasn’t enough, I want to link to this great sticky on Gentle Christian Mothers. It was written by a dear friend who has inspired me for years. We used to live near each other, and she serves with me at GCM. I feel so lucky to have her in my life, and I hope that her words can bless you to. Here is her writing on Finding joy in your homekeeping ministry. I hope that it can encourage you as much as it encouraged me 🙂

    I hope you’re having a great Sunday, and now I’m off to make dinner!

  • My new apron

    First, let me say that I am a huge fan of aprons. I love wearing them during the day. They keep my clothes clean, they look cute, and they are perfect for holding clothes pins, iphones, or whatever else you may need to carry.

    I was inspired to sew up an apron, so I scored a sweet deal on some Amy Butler fabrics and voila! Here is my end result 🙂 Its so cute, and much more fun to wear than my plain ol’ clean team apron.

    If anyone is interested, here are the instructions. They are in two parts. Here’s part one and part two. 🙂 Happy sewing!

  • Consumerism and the green movement

    I just read this article by Michael Pollan. He makes some really good points.

    It sounds like he’s on board with the Food, Not Lawns movement

    We’ve had in this country what I call a wilderness ethic that’s been very good at telling us what to preserve. You know, eight percent of the American landmass we’ve kind of locked up and thrown away the key. That’s a wonderful achievement and has given us things like the wilderness park.

    This is one of our great contributions to world culture, this idea of wilderness. On the other hand, it’s had nothing to say of any value for the ninety-two percent of the landscape that we cannot help but change because this is where we live. This is where we grow our food, this is where we work. Essentially the tendency of the wilderness ethic is to write that all off. Land is either virgin or raped. It’s an all or nothing ethic. It’s either in the realm of pristine, preserved wilderness, or it’s development– parking lot, lawn.

    This is a topic that I’ve been thinking about, especially after reading Urban Homestead. They talk a lot about the wastefulness of having a lawn, and I’ve been slowly trying to de-grass my yard. We are expanding our mulched beds, and putting in vegetables, fruits, and herbs that look beautiful, but also don’t waste water. It is ridiculous to pollute our water supply with all of the chemicals that we put in to our lawn, when it gives us nothing in return except for a manicured slab of grass. I am fortunate to live in an area where I am not required to have grass, but my husband is afraid that we will be the weirdos on the block if we completely eliminate it. He helped me to yank out some of our useless water hogs this weekend though, so I think he’s coming on board. For now, my goal is to reduce the amount of water that we waste and to make sure that I do the best that I can to avoid further polluting the water that does go to my lawn.

    Back to the article… Michael Pollan also challenges readers to

    …find one thing in your life that doesn’t involve spending money that you could do, one change that would make a contribution both to the fact of global warming and your sense of helplessness about global warming.

    I think of this when I’m at the grocery store and I see the “green” grocery bags for sale. I know so many people who have tons of canvas or mesh bags at their house, but they feel the need to buy the bags to be more green. Its silly. Our consumerism is tainting our attempts to undo the problem… a problem that it has caused in the first place!

    I think this is such a great challenge. Its one that I’ve struggled with… I’ve had to push myself to think in a new way. There are so many things that we can do that will help immensely and don’t require for us to spend a single cent. I use a clothes line outside, but I wanted to dry some clothes inside. I immediately wanted to run (or walk) to the store and buy a fancy, retractable clothesline. I thought about it for a second, and I realized that I had places in my house where I could hang or drape the sheets, and I didn’t need to buy anything. Why did I feel the need to go get the proper gadget to hang clothes?! Billions of people have hung clothes without indoor retractable clotheslines!

    I did the same thing with my worm bin. I was researching online to find some kind of super worm chalet. It took me several days to convince myself that all that I needed was the rubbermaid that held my homebirth supplies, with a few holes drilled in the side. It took me only a few minutes, and it reused an item that I wasn’t using. When I went to the Boulder county worm composting workshop, I smiled when I saw that they were using the same thing for their official worm bin. You don’t need fancy stuff to make it work.

    I’m not saying that there aren’t times when the special equipment is worth it. For example, I use my grain mill daily, and I absolutely adore it. I traded in my hand powered model for the electric one, because it grinds a much finer flour so I don’t need to supplement with white flour. I still try to make good choices, by buying Colorado grown organic wheat berries in bulk, and by batch processing the wheat. I’m still happy to use the electric version though 😉

    If you’ve recently started doing anything to be more green that doesn’t include buying something new, then I’d love to hear about it. I’m always excited to try new things! I am going to try to make a solar oven out of stuff that I have in my garage. We’ll see how that goes. Hopefully I’ll soon be making my zucchini bread in the back yard 😉

  • My new favorite book

     

    If you’ve been thinking about going “green” or taking yourself off of the grid as much as possible, then I really recommend this book.  I stumbled upon it after finding the authors’ blog, and it is such a great little gem.  It covers everything from vermicomposting to guerilla gardening to making your own solar oven and even outfitting your bike for grocery shopping.  Its really great.  I checked my copy out from the fantabulous Boulder library, but I’m going to go buy a copy because it is just that good of a resource  😉  Seriously…  Check it out.

  • Garden update

    My garden is so happy!  We’re still eating out of it every day, and I am just so proud.

    The early season crops have all either gone to seed or turned brown.  My lettuce has bolted so high that it is taller than my 6 year old.  I was planning on leaving a few and letting them just go to seed and hopefully they’ll give me some volunteers for the fall.  I’ll probably sow some seeds as well.  I’m trying to embrace the fact that things in nature don’t grow in neat little rows or on grids.  I’m planning on removing my grids from my garden to help remind myself that I don’t need everyone in a neat little spot.  Jungles don’t grow like that.

    My crookneck squash has already given me some food, and my zucchini is very close to being ready to cut.  My cucumbers are going nuts, but they are still really little.  My basket tomatoes and the ones in the ground are both very happy.  We ate blueberries for several weeks, but that is now done.

    So, without further ado…  Here’s some current pics.

  • Allowing our culture to shape our lives

    This concept seems to be popping up all around me, so I thought it’d be interesting to discuss.

    Yesterday I was watching The Story of Stuff and I was really struck by how much the culture influences our choices. The part that really got to me was when she talks about the way that we are pressured into buying something new even when we have a perfectly good, but older, version of the same thing at home. So, for example, I have an iPod Nano, but there’s a new one out that looks more sleek. When I’m at the gym, everyone knows that mine is the older one. It works perfectly fine. I don’t need a bigger one. Despite all of this, it is obvious to everyone that I haven’t bought a new one in a while, and I’ve had people make comments. Its ridiculous.

    Most people just toss theirs in the trash when they buy a new one, and then there are all sorts of toxins and plastics that will take hundreds of years to break down, if they ever do. That doesn’t even count all of the toxins and trash that was made just to create that iPod (and the newer, sleeker one that I would have then bought). The metals and other resources in there will be completely lost, and it is all only because of pressure to change to be like everyone else and to show that I have wealth.

    This morning I was watching The Independent Lens as they showed a documentary on The Men of Hula. They talk about how men did hula up until the white man came, and it was quickly shunned. People started to buy into the American idea that men shouldn’t move their hips that way and they should play football instead. It is still difficult for men who want to hula today because the culture has changed and they have lost so much of their richness as Hawaiians. There is a movement to bring back the Hawaiian culture and to stop being ashamed, but several generations now have stopped speaking Hawaiian and carrying on their special traditions just because they were told that it was a low-class activity.  It is amazing that we are willing to give up so much of our history and what makes us unique just to fit in.

    The same thing happened with breastfeeding during my mom and Grandma’s time. They each faced a lot of culture pressures to do something completely unnatural (formula feed) just so that they wouldn’t look poor. Although this is getting better in some areas, this stereotype still remains for millions of women and contributes to millions of deaths. According to UNICEF, if every baby were exclusively breastfed from birth to six months, an estimated 1.3 million lives would be saved each year. Most of these babies are formula fed because the mothers feel some kind of pressure, either from medical professionals or their culture. It is so sad!

    I am always amazed when I step back and look at all of the things that we blindly accept because everyone else is doing it. My great Grandfather always said that “The masses are asses.”, and I totally get what he was saying. The masses will buy into all sorts of destructive ideas just because everyone else is doing it. Its so sad, and I get sucked in just as much as everyone else does.

  • The ultimate local diet

    Sorry for the long hiatus.  I’ve been a bum.  Here’s some of what has been happening in our lives….

    #1 – I am so excited! We planted our first garden! We started it about a month ago, and I’ve already eaten my first salad out of it. It was delicious!  I can’t wait for summer when it is all big and beautiful!

    img_0625.jpg

    #2 – I’m starting to read a new book called Food Not Lawns, and I am hoping to write about it. I was recently introduced to this movement by the Boulder Community Roots Farm, who sells at the Boulder Farmer’s Market. You can read an article about them here at Peaksoil. Basically they are a CSA that uses city plots (mostly front yards) to grow their organic produce. Its a great use of space, and I think it is an awesome way to really put the C in CSA. They don’t have any shares left for this year, otherwise I would’ve signed up. This is just the kind of program that I want to support with my food dollars!

    I’ve also been reading another local foodie blog – LoveLandLocal. I thought that I was doing a good job at buying local, but Lynnet at LoveLandLocal is really inspiring me to push myself a bit farther.

    #3 – And, for totally random fun, I’ve also been dabbling in hooping. I made my own hoop and I’ve been practicing at home. I am having a blast learning new tricks and watching on youtube. This is my current favorite video…
    http://youtube.com/watch?v=x6PEsM3rQpI

    Anyways, I can’t spin it on my shoulder blade or anything, but I impress my kids, lol.

    Well, I hope to start blogging about Food Not Lawns in the next few days. See ya soon!

  • Green Smoothie Challenge

    For anyone who hasn’t heard:  You should hop on over to happyfoody and sign up for her 30-day Green Smoothie Challenge.  It starts today, so you’re not behind!  And hey, join the yahoo group while you’re at it  😉
    My smoothie today was banana, orange, strawberry, and spinach.  It was super yummy, and my dh (who makes faces at my green smoothies) was impressed.  He seems to like all of the ones that have strawberry in them, because then they aren’t actually green.  It just looks like a regular ol’ smoothie.

  • Menu for 2/16 – 2/23

    Saturday – Vegan Mac and Cheese (from VegNews).
    Sunday – Veggie Chow Mein
    Monday – Three-Bean Chili with Cornmeal Dumplings (from Fresh from the Vegetarian Slow Cooker)
    Tuesday – Breakfast for dinner, featuring Biscuits and “Sausage” Gravy (from Vegan with a Vengeance)
    Wednesday – Snobby Joes (from Veganomicon)
    Thursday – Bowtie Pasta with Garlic and Butternut Squash
    Friday – Veggie Burgers and Garlic Mashed Potatoes

    Tonight was the Veganize It! Mac and Cheese, and it was really good. My family is not a fan of “fake” meals, so I did not bill it as “Mac and Cheese”. I just said that it was a new pasta dish. My kids, who are not fans of potatoes, carrots, cashews, or onions, ate it up! Its a miracle! LOL. The sauce came out very creamy, and it looks just like cheese made from cow’s milk. It doesn’t really taste too much like cheese, but it tastes good, so who cares? I put a little extra garlic in there. We really like garlic though.

  • “Steak” Sub

    I was browsing around on the Little Turtle Knits blog yesterday, and saw that she was cooking the Marlboro Man Sandwich from Pioneer Woman. It looked so good, but so full of terrible things. I decided to try to make a meat-free version. I did everything the same, but I used a veggie burger that I sliced into pieces. It is so good!

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