Feeding the Family in an Over-Developed Nation

Food.

Some days, I feel as though I think of nothing but food. There are so many options and so many questions. We have the money to buy a wide variety of food and a huge selection at our local grocery stores, farmer's markets, etc. I do not spend all day thinking about how we will afford the basic calories we need to survive. I spend all day thinking about how to exercise our options.

What to feed everybody? What ingredients do I need in the house? When can I get grocery shopping or can I get Andy to do it for me? When do I need to start cooking? Is it already too late to start dinner in the slow cooker? Is this a reasonable nutritional mix? How can we afford to feed the whole family the wholesome, tasty food we got used to before we had kids? Will the kids eat the food I prepare for them, and if not, what will I do with the leftovers? How can one-year-olds eat so much and a four-year-old eat so little? How little time can I spend in the kitchen today?

It might be easier if I weren't such an avid reader. I add all sorts of questions to my list by reading up on nutrition, environmentalism, and food politics. Which foods should we really be eating organic? How can we eat locally grown food in a region where the growing season is short? Should I really take up canning and preserving to eat locally? Should we be eating less meat? Are the foods I'm serving really full of nutrients or do we need supplements to make up for the lack of nutrients in the farmer's soil? Can I do anything about reducing my family's exposure to genetically modified foods? Which fish are sustainably fished, low in mercury, and high in omega-3s? It's enough to get my head spinning.

Have you noticed that the most important questions from a quality of life perspective are missing? Shouldn't I be asking these questions instead:

What foods do we all like to eat?
When can we all eat together as a family?
How should we organize things so that we slow down and enjoy our meals together?

Even the quality of life questions don't have easy answers. 6 people have 6 different tastes and food moods. There are food sensitivities to consider. Andy gets home from work at varying times, usually after some of the kids are in bed. Do I eat with him or the kids? Patrick takes 10-15 minutes to eat and then gets bored. The younger ones often take 30-45 minutes to eat a meal. Some of Patrick's favorite foods are foods that the little ones aren't supposed to have for another year.

If money were tighter or options fewer, just eating enough calories would feel like success. But with a little more resource and too much information, it is easy for food to become a constant problem that needs to be solved rather than an enjoyable part of the day. The challenge is to find an acceptable balance. These days, I feel off balance. Worrying too much and enjoying too little. And, if I'm not careful, I 'll add worrying about that to the head-spinning.

I think I'd better just go play with the kids.