It's Not Easy Being Green

Remember Kermit?  He was a frog ahead of his time.  He could have been the poster frog for those who are trying to save the planet through their efforts at green living.  It's too bad that caring about our planet is so closely associated with being new age or just plain odd.  Christians for the most part have jumped off of the environmental boat for fear of being guilty by association. Thus garnering for ourselves an unsavory label: "planet killers".  I ran across a good book, although a tad bit outdated, by Tony Campolo.  I thinks it's called How To Rescue The Earth Without Worshipping Nature.  It talks about how we as Christians should be good stewards of God's wonderful gift without going overboard by tying ourselves to trees and such.  Anyway... Is anyone else out there feeling the crunch or is it just me?  Seems like everywhere I turn lately people have this look of concern on their faces.  That look of concern turns into despair when you happen to look into the faces of the others around you while pumping gas.  

Pardon little ol' me for saying so but I have a tiny suggestion that I think just may help our collective situation just a bit.  Every little bit helps right?  

My suggestion is, as a family, eat one meal per week composed entirely of locally grown foods.  Here's a stat from Barbara Kingsolver's book Animal Vegetable Miracle "If every US citizen ate just one meal a week (any meal) composed entirely of locally grown and organically raised meats and produce, we could reduce our country's oil consumption by over 1.1 million barrels per week.  That's not gallons but barrels.  Becoming a less energy-dependent nation may just start with a good breakfast."  

Have you all noticed the hike in food prices lately?  It's not that the food is any better, it's the increased cost of getting it from farm or factory to your local Kroger. 

Now before you start moaning about finding local foods, or becoming a strange granola loving weirdo or stressing about actually having to cook real food or the high cost of fresh organic local fare, hang with me just a little longer.  

First off, did you know that 85 cents of EVERY food dollar you spend at the grocery store is not  spent on the food but on the manufacturing, marketing, packaging and transportation costs?  With that in mind, going to a farmers market and paying a few nickels more for good safe meats, eggs, and veggies seems like a happy trade.  After all, some humble farmer actually got up at the crack of dawn every day and lovingly tended to what he hoped would provide for his own family. So contributing to your local farmer is actually contributing to the welfare of your own local economy and not fattening the pockets marketing companies.  

Secondly, becoming a little more planet friendly is quite trendy these days, so don't worry about turning into a hippy. Here are a few resources I have found for finding local foods.  www.farmersmaket.com  www.ams.usda.gov/farmersmarkets and lastly www.localharvest.org  The last link has the option of finding local farms so that you can actually go visit the farm and see where your food is being grown or raised. This might actually gave you a little peace of mind if you are concerned about the cleanliness of what you are putting on the table. We have found 2 family run farms in our area (USDA approved organic) that offer farm fresh eggs, poultry, pork, lamb, beef, fresh milk, honey and lots of veggies.  

Lastly, consider a breakfast of fresh ham and free range eggs along with a glass of fresh squeezed fruit juice.  Lunch could be a great chefs salad made with local greens, veggies and eggs.  Supper could be a wonderful organically raised roasted chicken with a side of carrots and steamed broccoli.  See how easy that would be?  It's not so difficult when you consider all of the implications otherwise.  For your enjoyment I've included a fabulous roasted chicken recipe below.  Consider searching out your local farmer for what you will need to make a delicious homecooked supper and feel just a little bit proud about doing something special for your family and good for your planet.  

Roasted Chicken

1 large whole chicken with parts removed

2 large onions peeled and quartered

* For Spice Mix Rub

4 Tbsp salt

2 tsp paprika

1 tsp onion powder

1 tsp thyme

1 tsp white pepper

1/2 tsp garlic powder

1/2 tsp black pepper

Mix all spices together and rub all over bird inside and out then stuff bird with quartered onions.  Cover birdy and let him sit in the fridge for awhile.  

Heat oven to 25o degrees and roast the bird for 5 hours. Baste the chicken with the juices every now and then if you want to. The slow and low temp cooking makes this turn out to be just like rotisserie style chicken.  It's delicious.  Make sure the internal temp reaches 180 degrees.  Carve and serve.

I have discovered the crock pot works for this recipe too!