Fruit Inspection

So I posted a week or so ago about starting a bible study called “The 7 Experiment” and we are now 1 week into it. The first week our focus was on food. In reading the author’s book on this experiment, she ate the same 7 foods for one month (chicken, eggs, whole wheat bread, sweet potatoes, spinach, avocados, and apples). For the purpose of the study, we only have to do it for a week. I thought about doing only 7 foods, but given how drastically my eating has changed lately, I didn’t want to break any habits and I also wanted it to be a significant difference.

We had some other options to choose from, so I decided that my focus needed to be on the ridiculous amount of food we have in our house. Four hundred and fifty food items. Yes, I counted them. Two refrigerators, one large freezer, a pantry in the house, and 4 storage shelves in the garage. I told Jeremy we were going to start eating down the freezer. Basically I told him I don’t even know what’s at the bottom of it, but be prepared to eat a lot of fish.

I also wanted to look at the amount I was spending at the store. I did couponing 3-4 years ago but got out of the routine because I found that we were eating a lot of junk. It’s rare to find a coupon for fresh fruit and vegetables. But there are TONS of savings on sugary cereals and prepackaged foods. I decided that even if I didn’t want to eat some of that food, if I could get it dirt cheap, I could easily share it with a food bank.

Another change would be only purchasing items on sale. With the food I already have, this shouldn’t be a problem. I would continue to stock up on lower priced items, add them to what’s here, and planned my weekly menu accordingly. This took pre-planning on my part, and the only deviation from it was buying whole foods, produce, milk and eggs. Oh, and I did buy a small jar of strawberry preserves because the fruit that was on sale last week would make a great fruit salsa, and I needed the jam to make it. So I went over budget by about $2. Still, not bad for me.

All week long I tried to remember to be a thoughtful consumer. Stop throwing money away casually. Be purposeful in my purchases.

The study itself was SO GOOD! Each morning I read about fasting, starvation, nutrition (did you know that our kids are the first generation in the history of America that has a shorter life span than their parents?), and why God designated some animals as unclean. I’m not sure I’ll ever be able to choke down another pork chop. And apparently shouldn’t anyways!

I’m amazed at the detail in which God laid out how to best care for our bodies. And I’m more amazed at how far away this “advanced” civilization is from the plan. The best eating advice in the chapter on food? “Eat food. Not too much. Mostly plants.” The end.