More planning, less plastic (#goals)

Just last week, I was on my way home from a meeting and knew I had limited time there before moving onto the next thing. I was STARVING, my lack of meal planning on both the breakfast and lunch ends had me kicking my low-blood-sugar self. Worst part was – this wasn’t a particularly isolated event. It happens more often than I’m proud of. Am I the only one?

For some reason – I don’t think so.

It seems to me that our go-go-go lives/mentality make it easy for us to skip meals left and right, depend on snacks (usually in single-use packaging) and eat out more often necessary, leading to inefficiencies all around as we waste time, money, and nutrition due to lack of planning. I don’t mean to generalize. I’m a single, freelancing/entrepreneur-ing, social, busy millennial who can “get away” with this lack of planning since no one else is depending on me, but for those with circumstances that match my own I’d say the meals prepped & prepared are few and far between.

I’ll also take this opportunity to say that I am in this buzzy way trying to promote my own brand that celebrates *slowing down*. The irony never escapes me, particularly since I have to face my lack of planning with my aversion to plastic and other waste-full conveniences like single use packaging. It’s a journey – a constant learning in being aware of our habits and how they affect what/how we buy. I’m grateful to Lady Farmer and our mission for forcing me to think about these things and change (even if ever so slowly)!

So – back to my low blood sugar car ride home. I remembered a sweet neighborhood grocery and prepared foods store where I could get something relatively healthy and also quick…I could pick it up then eat it at home in my limited time. I even had my reusable steel to-go container in the car with me! I was winning. I pulled into the lot and proudly grabbed my tote with my zero-waste supplies, and entered the store excited to blow everyone’s minds with how resourceful I was. The display of plastic to-go containers and tops waiting to be filled made me feel especially pleased with myself.

When I asked the nice woman behind the counter if she could please put the seared salmon in my container along with some roasted veggies, she looked back at me wide-eyed and worried, not sure if she could do such a thing. I internally eye-rolled as she got her manager, who (somewhat abrasively) told me that it was against policy but she would be nice about it just this once. She said something about it being against health code which I immediately wrote off as untrue, because how could it be? I did not understand why everyone was so upset, I expressed my gratitude, and merrily went on my way, kind of confused about why it had been such an issue but also – again – feeling very pleased and proud of myself.

As I thought about in on the rest of my drive home, however, it dawned on me why it could be a health code violation. Thinking about it from the producer’s standpoint, it occurred to me that they’re liable for all kinds of things from food temperature to food container contamination…and upon speaking about it with a few folks I know in the food industry, I realize that is, in fact, the main reason why it is ILLEGAL (at least in our state) to fill your own zero-waste container at a prepared foods carry-out counter. Isn’t that infuriating? Like – it makes sense – I’m sure something happened once that was awful and I’m sure the rule does keep a lot of us from getting sick. So not only do we have to fight with our own organizational challenges and reliance on the plethora of single-use conveniences around us at all times, but it’s actually AGAINST THE LAW to do what we’re trying to do (in this case, avoid plastic) because it’s deemed unsafe!

Jeepers. It sure bugs me. Especially since I completely understand both sides of the issue.

All I can conclude from this experience, my friends, is that there is serious work to be done. And perhaps the issue runs deeper – that maybe the entire industry of convenience, of prepared foods, of single-use experiences and items, of things that take little time and thought on our part, are actually causing the world harm and costing us more money than we can even be aware of.

So does this mean I must become expert meal-planner and packer extraordinaire? Ugh. OR – we could all just move to France where “convenience” and “to-go” are not words that you see often grouped with food. They plan, prepare, sit, and enjoy food there with one another, above most other things including buzzing about for the sake of busy-ness.

The likelihood of a French move or overhaul of our gastro-culture makes me realize I should probably just face the facts and look to change some of my own habits.

I’ll be sure to keep you updated here 🙂

love,

Emma

PS – Please comment with your thoughts & observations! This is one of my fav conversation topics right now. I’d love to hear what the internet has to say.