My Birthday

Today is my birthday. Quite a few "bloggable" things happened. However, my inspiration for tomorrow comes from this little snippet my mother wrote in a letter of reccommendation for one of her students that is applying to Harvard.

"Our hometown is located in a very rural area in Northeast Missouri. There are very few cultural and academic opportunities in this county. We have seen the great Mississippi river breach its levies and flood a significant portion of this school district. The local rivers and tributaries have flooded the cropland and farmers have suffered. Matthew's father has a construction business and has felt the financial ramifications of this natural disaster. Always looking beyond the difficulties of life, Matthew has thrown himself into charitable activities and volunteer programs that help meet the needs of the community."

The flooding in Missouri may jeapordize this young man's financial ability to go to college.

I grew up in this small town with the odds against me. Through some sort of luck, I have been able to travel the world, have financial success, and enjoy many cultures. As fate would have it, old roots are hard to pull and I have come full circle - back to where it all started. I am trying to support a food culture that puts more money in the farmer's pockets so people like Matthew have the opportunity to reach their potential.

Age is a small price to pay for the maturity that allows me to see and count my blessings. I do, however, feel old when I think of how short life is and how much work there is to do in the development of a more socially just food system.

Does the food you eat support large giants like Monsanto, Kraft, and Cargill.. or is there a deeper story behind it?

I encourage you to make the family farm the story behind your food. In doing so, you support people like Matthew.

Cheers and Happy Eats!
Lucinda

A day in the life of Lucinda.

I don't wear a watch, and for good reason. If I did, I would probably obsessively look at it and freak out over the time I waste on the random dramatic bits of my life. However, with my cell phone call log, email log, and all these other time trackers I will attempt to piece together my day so far.

5:30.. get up and make coffee, eat, shower, and get dressed.

6:30 Call from Cole (my baby brother) that went something like this:

Cole: When you had your old phone, did you download a bunch of stuff from easyedge?

me: What is easy edge?

Cole: a place to download games, the cell phone bill (we all have our phones on the same plan) had $200 worth of downloads.

Me: Weird, I lost that phone.. maybe it was actually stolen. What kind of games?

Cole: Need for Speed, swimsuit challenge, pacman, and a bunch of other stuff

Me: Yeah, because I am the kind of person that would download swimsuit challenge. (scoff) I will call US Cellular as in a few hours. Where is the bill?

Cole: Jody has it.

Me: ok, bye.

6:30 ish to 10:30ish... watch sunrise while responding to a gazillion emails (OK, there weren't that many, but it sure felt like it). Check facebook, write blog entry, read other blogs I follow, read news sites.

10:30ish... talk to Jody, tell her to bring bill... plan to go pick up seeds.

10:45ish... call from Jody.. tells me farm truck caught on fire, and she needs me to come get her in the tractor or on 4-wheeler.

I attempt to pull start 4-wheeler. Unsuccessful. Wonder why we have a 4-wheeler that needs to be pull started.

Get new hooker boots covered in mud. Make a mental note to buy more appropriate footwear.

Get in tractor, realize how utterly ridiculous it is for me to try and learn to drive a 70k dollar tractor on the fly. Make a mental note to ask if there is full coverage insurance on the thing.

10:55 ish... Call from Jody.. Amy is coming to get her. I have a sigh of relief...

11:00ish... leave for Quincy

12:00... stop and get latte while in Quincy.

12:15 ish .. Get to seed store. Impress older lady behind the counter at my ability to check the weather on my phone. Buy seeds. So happy to support a local place.

1:00ish... find a random number on bill that was called from my phone during the time I thought it was lost, and before I replaced it. Call said number. Thus, begins tracking down of cell phone thief.

1:15ish... Buy pink mud boots from Farm and Home.

1:30ish... food.

2:15ish... go to US Cellular store, sort out bill drama and get serial number for old phone.

3:15 ish... return to farmtown, and confront phone thief. Explain that he can own up to stealing it, and pay back the $200.00 at a dollar a month and bygones will be bygones. He cooks up some story about a random kid on the streets of town selling stolen cell phones, and that he bought it from this kid for $10.00. (Laughable in town of 600) especially since phone thief was in the same building as I was when I thought I lost the phone. Word to the wise... don't steal something in a small town. Everybody knows everybody and the truth always comes out. Sheriff gets involved and Jody and I head back to the farm.

5:00... return missed calls, respond to more emails, and wave at hired hand.

6:00... visit with grandma and grandpa about upcoming trip to St. Louis, new mud boots, high tunnels, and cell phone thief (word spreads fast in small town and they already knew about it). Grandpa gives me an article to research about high tunnels.

Currently: updating blog before food, wearing pink mud boots that have no mud on them, sitting under electric blanket, and watching the horses out the window.

Later: Call Cole to get farm report from Bridgecreek location.

much later: return more emails, read chapters of my book, and sleep....

I love farmtown.

After I go vegan, I'm going to eat the ducks.

When I was 10 years old, I started a list containing the things I wanted to do in my life. I titled it the "to experience" list. I occasionally add items to it ensuring that it is never ending.

Some items were on the list because I knew they were inevitable. If nothing good came of them, I could at least get the satisfaction of crossing them off my list. Such was the case with heartbreak and sorrow. Other items I thought would take some sort of planned effort, but instead happened rather randomly (like being on television or riding in a private plane). There are items that have taken effort, such as reading the entire Encyclopedia Britanica set.

At any rate, one of the items on my list is to be a vegan for a month. I know what you are thinking- I have a farm and its financial success depends partly on people eating meat. That is true, and I most definitely love meat. Pork, Beef, Lamb, Goat, and if my tender hearted brother wasn't so adamantly against it, I would eat the ducks my friend Janel gave us.

However, it is not the lack of meat that has me hesitant about crossing this item off my list, for I am a snobbish meat eater. I am used to/ and prefer good meat from animals given a life worthy of their sacrifice. I assure you there is a taste difference. Thus, when I travel I usually avoid eating meat.

The problem I am having with the idea of being a vegan is my dairy consumption. I am avid coffee drinker, and coffee just isn't right without a heavy dose of cream in it. Therefore, being a vegan would mean giving up coffee, which is not something I can do without dedication.

With all of that said, I am not one to shy away from something just because it takes sacrifice or seems too difficult. When I set my mind to something with a desire to devout my passion to it, I rarely fail.

With a few health issues, I have realized that a vegan diet may kill two birds with one stone. I can cross it off my list and have the possible side effect of better health. So.. here comes my passion.

I recognize that I can't be a vegan overnight, but I do have a plan. For the rest of March I will be taking a closer look at my meat and dairy consumption so I know where I stand. I will also be slowly switching to decaf coffee. In the month of April I will switch to herbal tea and eat no meat. Then, in May I will be completely vegan. During the month of June I might do the raw foods thing just for kicks.

After I have accomplished all of this, as the calender turns to July, for a reward I am going to eat the ducks no matter what my brother has to say about it.

This should be an interesting journey, and I will be sure to keep you all posted.