Over the last few years, Luis and I have been changing the way we eat. It started with gardening. Eating vegetables or tomatoes picked fresh in the garden that day is such a delicious way to live. Then Luis saw "The Meatrix" and was finally ready to purchase natural beef rather than support factory farming. We purchased some laying chickens for fresh eggs daily. In the last year, our push has been to eat more local foods and more seasonal foods. Fruits and vegetables purchased from a farm stand or picked ourselves at local U-Pick places put the taste of store bought foods to shame. We will not purchase strawberries, watermelon or peaches from a supermarket anymore. As part of our push to eat local and support small businesses, we decided to stop eating at fast food and chain restuarants. Part of this decision had to do with our other eating changes as well. Once you develop a taste for fresh foods, fast food and chain restuaurant foods don't taste nearly as good as they used to. We'd end up feeling sick to our stomachs and generally ugh if we ate fast food, regardless of which brand. This summer, we decided to raise a flock of meat chickens. I've missed the flavor of chicken, but have a hard time spending $2+ a lb for naturally and humanely rasied stuff. They are growing right now, and we will be butchering them in fall.

It's been a series of small changes, but what a difference each has made, both in the way we live and the way we enjoy our food. Not eating fast food and selecting small businesses to support instead means we travel differently. We enjoy more of each town we visit, meet people and learn more about the community than we would if we just picked up some fast food burgers. We travel at a different pace; even if we are just passing through a town, we are forced to drive through it to find that little diner or restuarant, thereby seeing more of the town and learning more about it. It makes our trips feel more relaxed; we take longer for lunch and enjoy it more. Such a small change makes such a big difference. We are more apt to stop in at a farmer's market for quick snack on a Saturday morning. We are more likely to try regional specialties. Our relationship with our food has changed too. We value each steak, roast and hamburger more when we know the farmer who raised the cow we eat. We savor the flavor of the tomatoes, broccoli and spinach more when we know how much work we did growing, harvesting and storing it.

Life is better when we can slow down, taking the time to appreciate and savor every flavor that comes our way. Supporting the independent business and regional differences, taking time to see more than just the highway, connecting with our foods and communities, these are Good Things.