It's Resolution Time, Have You Made Yours?

Happy New Year! I hope you are as excited about 2012 as I am! Not only am I glad to see 2011 in the rearview mirror, but I can’t wait to see all the good things that are coming our way in 2012. I hope this new year brings you great peace, prosperity, happiness, and success!

The new year is typically a time when we are particularly aware of renewal, rejuvenation, renovation, and of course, RESOLUTION! As you consider your resolutions for this new year, I ask you to throw two more into the mix.

The first resolution that I ask to you consider embracing this year is to remove meat from your diet one day per week. Whether you choose to do Meatless Monday or choose any other day of the week (like Vegetarian Wednesday or Spill-No-Blood Sunday – sorry, that one was a bit graphic!), just be sure to set aside a specific day each week. To make it easier to keep this resolution, you should choose the day carefully… make it a day that is easy to prepare ahead for and is generally pretty routine. Eating satisfying meatless meals is a simple enough thing to do, but it will take some planning and preparation. For more reasons about why you should consider going meatless just one day per week and helpful suggestions on how to do it… check out www.meatlessmonday.com.

The second resolution that I propose, is to make a conscious effort to buy food locally as much as possible. And the local grocery store doesn’t necessarily count. J Try to find food that is grown and produced in your area. Meat that comes from a local farm is healthier for you, good for your local economy, and great for the environment. It’s a win-win-win situation. How often do those come around? A great place to start your search for locally produced food is at the farmer’s market. However, not all communities have one and not all markets are available year-round. An excellent online source for finding locally produced food in your area is www.eatwild.com. You don’t have to go all out, start small. Find a dairy or meat product that is the most convenient for you to buy locally and start with that one thing.

I’m not going to lie to you, it isn’t easy to fully commit to a life without factory farmed products. I’m learning that as I write this. Literally. That is, of course, the point of this blog… to share with you my experiences as I try to do just that. And I’m not there yet, but I’m taking steps in that direction. And, further more, I believe that it is possible, not only for me to do it but for us to make the changes necessary to do it (dare I say) as a nation. I hope you will join me on my continued journey this year and I ask you to consider taking steps (as small and as few, or as large and as many as you care to) away from factory-farmed goods and toward sustainable, humane, and wholesomely produced foods.

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

(The photo above was taken from horseback, the cows we ride past are always so curious and want to see the horses up close. It is my hope that more cows in 2012, get to live out their lives in pastures as God intended instead of ending up in feedlots prior to slaughter.)