Gracie's Kitchen

Gracie’s Kitchen was an idea that arose from the pet food contamination ‘incident’ in 2007 that sickened or killed hundreds (or thousands, depending upon whose numbers you believe) of pets.  This contamination affected an ingredient used by several major pet food manufacturers in high-end products.  The idea was to create a website that would provide information about pet food, recipes, or even act as an online store for healthy pet foods.

That website never happened, but the name stuck.  Gracie’s Kitchen was named for our borzoi Gracie (1983-1997) who, despite our relative ignorance of pet nutrition, lived to over 14 years of age (a venerable age indeed for her breed!).

The Kitchen has now taken a new (but related) direction.  It is both a place (our back yard) and a lifestyle.  The adventure starts now, but years of thought, study, and experience have prepared us to take the first step. 

My wife, Lori, took her degree in health education, and keeps herself (and me) informed of developments in health and nutrition.  The findings show that animal protein is not good for us, and Americans eat far too much of it.  Increasingly it appears that we should be getting our protein mainly, if not exclusively, from plants.  In short, we should stop eating meat.

For my part, the motivation to do so is partly philosophical, though concerns about the environment, dependence on Middle East oil, and the rising health care problem in America (and the role of diet therein) are all good reasons for eating locally and largely vegan, (to say nothing of the personal benefits of a healthy diet!).

Although I come from a farming family, and spent my childhood (as much as I was able) on my grandparents’ dairy farm, I have never been comfortable with the practice of raising animals for food.  We did not raise beef cattle; however, bulls do not produce milk, and bull calves, along with 'surplus' heifers, ended up on somebody's dinner table (starting with ours).  Eating meat, therefore, has always involved an uneasy compromise, from which this new adventure will free me. 

However, animal protein is not just meat – it is dairy and eggs as well.  I am quite fond of a good aged cheddar, and cottage cheese, yogurt and buttermilk have all been daily fare for a very long time.  Weaning myself of those things is not going to be easy, especially as I have less philosophical problem with eating them. 

Perhaps because of my upbringing, I believe there is a legitimate place in human endeavor for animal husbandry, and that the ethical measure of raising cows and goats for milk, chickens for their eggs, or sheep for their wool, lies more in the treatment of the animals than in the enterprise itself.  

Further, I have long felt that we, as a society, have diet-related health issues and unprecedented obesity in large part because we have become so far removed from the production of what we eat.   Growing up on a small family farm was a priceless experience, because even if I never learned enough to become a farmer myself I did learn, in some measure, that farming requires diligence, very specialized knowledge, and above all, an intimate and respectful relationship with the natural world. 

My goal in this adventure, therefore, is not to become a ‘strict’ vegan (whatever that is), but rather to give expression to the would-be farmer in me and make much better use of our acre of land, to support local farmers by buying from them the food that we don’t grow, or don't grow enough of, ourselves, to change the way I eat so that at least 95% of my dietary protein comes from plants, to learn to grow and preserve those foods, and prepare meals that are healthy and (hopefully) delicious.

The adventure begins now.  I think it will be fun.