Locawhat?

I have had a great desire to write about my new found passion. What is that Passion? Well, it's for something that every human being on this planet has in common. No one's immune to it and everyone needs it. Food.

You might ask, "D.J., why is food your new passion"?

1. My current reading of The Omnivores Dilemma by Micheal Pollan. Pollan follows the food chain from beginning to end. Frightening and liberating at the same time.

2. Living in Chattanooga, Tn. Here, I've found a group of friends who cares so dearly about the food we eat and how it gets to us. That includes one of our clients at widgets & stone, Sequatchie Cove Farm. At SCF they're raising food the traditional way. (Cows on grass, no hormones, free roaming chickens and pigs.) Often I ease drop on meetings between our creative director and Bill Keener(owner of SCF). I'm so grateful that I get to glean from his wisdom of food.

3. Just being a connected person. I like to know the story behind things, whether it's a person or food.

4. Spirituality. It's said that our bodies are temples and we must take care of them. Literally, I am what I eat. If I eat junk (food loaded with additives, preservatives, and things I can't pronounce), I feel like junk. If I eat healthy food, I feel great! I'd rather chose the later and eat the food the way God created it, way back when. Think about it, the food at the farmers market isn't much different from the food that Adam and Eve enjoyed. (stolen idea from Micheal Pollan)

I'd like to share two meals with you, that I had today and yesterday. I wasn't trying to, but I became a Locavore. For the day, I became a locavore, because everything I ate was from the Chattanooga region. (Think about, all of my money went back to Chattanooga!) At the Main Street farmers market, I met the handlers of my bread, and the growers, sowers, and pickers of my Kolirabi, Radish, Kale, and Cabbage. I had stories! I knew where this food was from.

I was a bit trigger happy at the farmers market. I ended up buying a whole bunch of stuff I didn't know how to cook. (Perhaps, an omnivores dilemma?) Luckily, yesterday, Bill Keener came in and alleviated my intimidation of my food. He said, just saute it or steam it or make a salad of it.

So here it goes, my local, healthy, story filled meals. The connected persons (me), dream meal. If only I had planted and grown portions of it. (I did nibble of a bit of arugula that I'm growing at one point) Joseph (my roommate and co-worker) and I shared this meal along with great fellowship.

Napa Cabbage, Kolirabi, Niedlov's ciabatta bread, Radish, Kale

Dinner is served! Ciabatta bread toasted and served with olive oil and Joseph's grown rosemary, Sauteed kale and kolirabi greens w/ touch of lemon, cabbage salad with kolirabi and radish, steamed kolrabi, kale, cabbage, and radish.

mmmm!

Pasteur raised eggs from Williams Island Farm

Look at the color of the yoke!

Toasted Ciabatta, Pasteur raised egg, home grown rosemary, and local Chattanooga water with a touch of homegrown mint.

On top of being a locavore, I rode a bike to work today and yesterday. I'm not boasting about any of this. My hope is to encourage and inspire others to try. It's intimidating at first, but, if I can do it, you certainly can!

Cheers!



















UPDATE: Drinking local beer from the Terminal Brewhouse, for lunch. Beer counts too! For those outsiders, that's lookout mt. in the background. The intersection you see is Market and Main. I'm enjoying the local beer on the Terminal's green roof.

A challenging life worth living.

The recent death of the Former President of La Roche college inspired me to think about what makes ones life valued by others? 

After leaving La Roche College, many people criticized Monsignor Kerr for driving La Roche college into debt. I understand there may be truth to that statement. It's no secret that La Roche college has been in the red for many years. 

Now, as I witness the mourning of Monsignor Kerr's death, I only hear words of affirmation and gratitude for the many ways he's had positive influence on other peoples lives. 

The reactions I've heard to Monsignor's death, or I should say his life, have instigated many thoughts in my mind. I wonder if at the end of our lives we measure, (or others measure), not so much the calculable accomplishments like a failing business or having made CEO or President. Rather, what if it was, indeed, about the lives we touched or had a positive influence on? 

In my opinion, the latter is a much more challenging life to live. It means that we must put others before ourselves. 

Today, I salute Monsignor Kerr. I will remember the man who lived his life trying to put others before himself.  The way he lived his life has dramatically changed the course of my life and lives of many others (for the better). 

Why do I do this?

Recently, my neighbor in Pittsburgh told me of a development firm in Pittsburgh, PA with brilliant mission statement, "we make money slow". At widgets & stone, where I work, our mission begins with "design the right things, design the things right". These two vision statements resonate with me, especially as I wonder what the vision or purpose of You Me and Everyone in Between is? I can't help but want to steal both of those statements and make them mine! Yet, they're completely different fields than I am in. I don't plan on using the blog for my design career or to make any money.

There's something to be said about discipline, depending on the habits that it forms. I believe that you must form the right discipline for yourself. (I tend to be too far fetched) Elite marathon runners have a much different discipline than someone like me training for a half marathon. If I started where they are, I'd never get anywhere. Eventually, I'd burn out and end up upset at myself for not reaching my outlandish goals. Seth Godin writes one blog a day every day. I wish I could do that, but to tell the truth, that would not be fair to you. You'd end up reading mostly sub-par entries the would fall short of serving you. Seth can do it, I can't, right now.

I would be lying if I told you I didn't want to achieve some fame from this blog. If I'm honest, I'd tell you that I think this blog actually has some potential. But, if my blog doesn't "make it" amongst the billions of blogs out there, at least I can rest in the fact that I know that I enjoy what I am doing. I take great pleasure in the process of writing an entry every week or so. In fact, for me, it's much more than writing, it's about sharing experiences in life. I especially enjoy sharing what I glean from the incredible people I cross paths with.

My Uncle from Kansas once said, "plant seeds and pray, that's all you can do". When he first shared these words I hesitated to accept them. I was younger and thought that I had even more control over life than I do now. As I grow I begin to recognize the wisdom within his words.

If I had a mission statement or discipline for You Me and Everyone it would go like this, "To plant ideas when I have ideas".

I'll continue to write as long as I'm having fun*. You're welcome to participate. I hope you do.

*I met with a man at The Manchester Bidwell Training Center who said, "D.J., let me tell you something, never do something unless it's fun".