Thirty, forty years ago things were simpler. You'd go to the big supermarket to one-stop shop for most things. We weren't worried about pesticide residue, we didn't think much about where our foods came from, we didn't see the bigger picture of the conflict between profit and growing food sustainably, and the Western Diet hadn't blown up in our face yet.

Nowadays I spend quite a bit of time running around to different places to fulfill my many food philosophies: local food from local farmers to support the local economy and get the freshest possible food, produce that has not been sprayed or at least as little as possible, foods that are grown sustainably, pasture raised meat and sustainably fished seafood, eating more vegetables and lots of greens, and of course being cost conscious of the higher cost these types of food command. It creates an intricate and more time consuming web of food related errands.

While we still do eat meat we eat a lot less of it and every few months I stock the freezer at a local farm where the animals graze outside all year round. We get our raw milk and yogurt from a farm that is twenty-five miles away and have organized with several other families to take turns picking it up for the group so each of us only has to drive every other month. Eggs come from the family whose place serves as the local weekly milk pick-up point. Once a month our buying club gets a grocery and produce delivery from our food coop - we buy in bulk and share and save. Some of the things I buy from the coop are bulk legumes, seeds and nuts, bulk tea and spices, condiments, nut and seed butters, also some personal care items. Since the coop produce only lasts for about two weeks I fill in from a whole bunch of local farmers, and sometimes the supermarket. I buy my recycled paper goods at Trader Joe's, where I also get some other organic basics such as vinegar and oils, chocolate, frozen organic spinach, and organic canned tomatoes. Most of our supplements I order online as well as some specialty items I cannot readily find locally or through the coop (like our favorite smoky tea lapsang souchong, which our daughter humorously calls lapsang sooch). And, believe it or not, I recently found a 5.5lb container of organic chia seeds at Walmart of all places (yes, I admit that I go there, too).