Day 36

26. Treat meat as a flavoring or special occasion food
27. "Eating what stands on one leg [mushrooms and plant foods] is better than eating what stands on two legs [fowl], which is better than eating what stands on four legs [cows, pigs and other mammals]."

These two rules essentially address the same concept: the less meat in one's diet the better.

I'm conflicted on this concept. On one hand, I get the idea that, as Americans, we tend to believe that a meal = one big honking piece of meat and some other stuff, which is not only misguided, but actually completely backwards. Human beings aren't meant to eat so much meat, and until the combination of rising affluence of the United States and completely whacked-out federal subsidization of the meat industry, we didn't. It was too cost-prohibitive.

(Side note regarding that chart: Michelle Obama's crusade for healthier childrens' diets completely baffles me. What is the point of her campaign when at the very same time US government tacitly supports this massively unhealthy way of thinking and eating through its subsidies?)

And according to this totally bad-ass article from the New York Times that EVERYBODY should go read RIGHT NOW because it explains exactly what is so toxic about the overly meat-dependent diet, Americans eat twice the daily recommended intake of protein, and almost all of it from animal protein. World meat consumption has also doubled since 1961.

So I'm also all for reversing that way of thinking. I mentioned earlier that I try to make a habit of asking myself if there is just one vegetable I can add to every meal. By the same token, before preparing each meal, I ask myself if there is any way I can make it without meat. I also strive for and tally my "vegetarian days," days where (duh) I eat no meat whatsoever. Actually, today looks like it's shaping up to be a vegetarian day. An apple, homemade granola and yogurt for breakfast, salad and homemade pasta for lunch, and leftover huevos rancheros for dinner. Go me!

So, I totally, totally get that that's important. But, on the other hand, there comes a point in observing this rule that I can no longer see eye to eye with Pollan.

Pollan claims that vegetarians, as a rule, are "generally healthier," than meat-eaters, and I'm sure this is true. I'm sure there's a study out there somewhere, that proves it. Here's what I know: I was a rubbish vegetarian. I ate too much bread and cheese, too little protein. I also was (and am, if I'm going to be completely honest) not nearly creative enough or generous enough with my use of fruits and vegetables. In the words of my co-worker, who could not have said it better than me: "I was a vegetarian for a while - I got so fat and so tired."

So Pollan specifically advocates only eating meat in about two meals per week, leaving a whopping 19 vegetarian meals to figure out every week.

Now, for me, reduction in my consumption of meat came naturally for me, especially in the beginning, before I had had a chance to stock up on meat from local, non-industrial sources, because of the observation of Rule 30 (Eat animals who have themselves eaten well.) I thought maybe, as a more mature and thoughtful eater, that I would be better at being a vegetarian than I was as a teenager. That might be true up to a point, but I could also see a dozen bad vegetarian habits that I was falling right back into.

So, now that I've been to the co-op and the fancy local deli and I have an ample source of acceptable meat, I've slackened the reigns considerably. My personal goal is to have at least two vegetarian days per week, and eat meat with only one meal the rest of the time. I don't always succeed, and when I don't I'm not too hard on myself, but I think it's safe to say that this is the goal; this is what I find reasonable.

I had to be so lax about The Rules, especially in the middle of a project dedictated to observing them as strictly as possible, but I really think I'm in the right here. When I began eating meat again at age 20, I felt the effects immediately. I was less tired, more focused, had more energy. I didn't feel weighed down all the time.

I'm not one of those people who are all, "your body will always tell you what to do." In fact, I have not observed that to be the case at all. My body doesn't speak very clearly most of the time. So when it DOES, I feel obligated to listen.

After all, Pollan himself says in his introduction that food science is still relatively new. "Nobody knows what's going on deep in the soul of a carrot to make it so good for you," and, by that same token, nobody must know exactly what is going on deep within my body that makes meat so important to my health. But I know it's true. So on this rule, MP, you and I are just going to have to part ways.

Day 15

12. Get out of the supermarket whenever you can.
13. Shop the peripheries of the supermarket and stay out of the middle.

First, let me say that I was shocked - shocked to discover how accurate Pollan's advice to stay out of the middle of supermarkets is. I figured this would be more of a guideline: generally won't find anything in the middle of the supermarket you're going to want to eat, but, you know, there's some stuff.

Nope, there's really not. On my first trip to the grocery store after beginning this project, I was amazed to find myself flying through the middle aisles - nope, nothing I can eat on this aisle; nothing I can't eat on this one either... moving on... It turned out that the only places I lingered at all were at the produce, meat and dairy sections, and, at the local co-op, the section of fruit, nuts and grains sold in bulk - all of which were on the peripheries.

Amazing.

And yes, that means that I've been to the supermarket. Way more than I've been to any farmers' markets, I'm ashamed to say.

Getting out of the supermarket has proven surprisingly difficult, although in hindsight it probably shouldn't have, given how much trouble I tend to have getting into the supermarket in the first place.

In New York, I used to do my grocery shopping at midnight. Really. There was a 24-hour grocery store across the street from the restaurant where I got off work I'd stop in for milk or coffee for the next morning, and anything else I happened to be running low on. This system does not work here in New Mexico, not the least of reasons being grocery stores in the normal world are apparently not open at midnight.

I haven't really gotten a new system down, so I've become one of those people who peer into the fridge and think, Let's see, I've got an old tortilla and a half an onion... can I make a meal out of this?

Mmm, fresh local chiles. Why can't I get to this? So close, yet so far away...

Compounding the matter is the fact that the Albuquerque Growers' Market does not occur during the winter months. I've found a few farmers' market alternatives, none which are particularly convenient. There are a few Albuquerque area winter markets:

The Los Ranchos Market:
City Hall, 6718 Rio Grande Blvd. NW
10-12 on the second Saturday of every month

The Corrales Growers' Market:
500 Jones Rd. & Corrales Rd.
11-1 on the first Sunday of every month

But because of the hours and location, the most convenient winter farmers' market is Santa Fe Farmers' Market which happens every single Saturday and Sunday and appears to have a pretty wide selection including - OMG OMG - locally farmed chicken which I have thus far been able to find nowhere in Albuquerque (thought I still have a few more places to try).

What's more, market is at the Santa Fe Railyards, literally right off the train from Albuquerque.

Still, life takes over, weekends - which are meant to be kept free exactly for things like this - inevitably fill up, and here I am, over two weeks into the project and have not yet made it up to Santa Fe for the market. Nor will I next weekend, either.

Here is a win, though: I've signed up for Skarsgard Farms' CSA. I've been visiting their website like a deranged stalker since moving to Albuquerque, debating whether or not to sign up; whether the produce will be too much for me to eat on my own.

But you know what? FORGET IT. It's local(ish), it's organic, and it's delivered to my door. If a few apples end up rotting, so be it.

(And speaking of CSAs, my favorite little restaurant, Farm & Table, will be starting their own CSA from their farm come next growing season. One of the many reasons I love working there.)

I have to admit, it saddens me a little that the only New Mexico farm that is part of the Skarsgard Farms CSA is Skarsgard Farms itself. The other participants are from California, Colarado, and even a farm in Mexico. I mean, it's still good: they're all small, organic farms and collectives and, really, they're not that far away, but still. They're not New Mexico; they're pretty far away.

This is a moment where I have to step back and really take to heart that old adage: Don't let perfect be the enemy of the good. I do that a lot. I'm an all or nothing girl. I think "Aggh! This apple is from an organic farm in California! Why can't I get an apple grown any closer than that? Forget it, it's all a waste of time. I'll just buy my apples from wherever."

And that's not fair. An apple grown on an organic farm two states away is better than one pumped full of pesticides and flown in all the way from South America.

It's baby steps.

Days 1-7

1. Eat food.
2. Don't eat anything your great-grandmother wouldn't recognize as food.
3. Avoid food products containing ingredients that no ordinary human would keep in the pantry.

In a perfect world, I would have started writing on the day I actually started this whole food rules project, but life, as it tends to, got in the way. Today marks day 7 of the project, but we'll still begin at the very beginning and start at rule 1: Eat food.

It's pretty awesomely fitting that I should struggle with the very first rule on the very first day, although I think when Pollan said to eat food, he was talking about eating real food as opposed to what he calls, "edible foodlike substances." He wasn't actually instructing me to, you know, eat in general. That part should be fairly self-explanatory. And yet, that's exactly what happened.

This is what happened in my head last Wednesday when I started. I went up to the Santa Fe Farmer's Market the week before and stocked up on locally made bread, cheese, yogurt and meat. I signed up for the Skarsgard Farms CSA, ensuring myself a steady supply of locally grown, organic produce. And I took all of these delicious, fresh, local ingredients and turned them into smoothies, casseroles, stir-fry's and other pre-made, ready-to-grab breakfasts and lunches for the coming week.

Here's what actually happened: I woke up on Wednesday morning and thought, Oh shit, what am I going to eat?!?

I prowled around the kitchen in a sleepy stupor for about a half an hour and probably opened and closed the fridge in frustration before getting confused five minutes later and opening it again about a dozen times when I eventually realized with amazement there is absolutely nothing in this house I can eat.

Seriously, before that moment on Wednesday when I opened up the fridge for the last time in utter defeat, I was planning to, like, make my own yogurt. I was definitely going to stay away from boxed breakfast cereal. But here I was, on the very first day, settling on some weird, ultra-healthy sprouted grain cereal my mom likes to eat and sighing as I decided that yogurt not made by me, but at least containing nothing but milk and live active cultures was going to have to be good enough.

Wednesday was a bad day. All I could muster up for lunch was a salad and by dinner I was tired, hungry, and beaten down. It didn't help that I lost my driver's license on the bus - my New York driver's license. A little part of my old life that I could carry around; a reminder to myself and everyone else that I was there. I was a part of that world. But now I have to go down to the DMV and get a New Mexico license again, because I am not there anymore. That is not my world anymore.

I lay on the couch, grieving and listening to my tummy rumble so loud the neighbor's probably heard it and all I could think was, forget it. There was nothing for me to eat, and it just wasn't worth it to get up and try and figure it out. Now, I am not one of those skinny bitches who get to 5 o'clock in the afternoon and realize they haven't eaten anything all day. I love food. I always remember to eat. But that night, I just could not find it in me to eat dinner. Breakfast and lunch the next day were similarly light, and, again, by dinner, I was famished but finished.

On Day Three I bought found some local Yukon Gold potatoes, and that baked potato I had for lunch was the most satisfying the I've ever eaten. I don't usually eat potatoes; I've always been fairly strict about what Pollan lists as Rule 43, but I threw out that rule and my own personal one in order to eat the first real meal I had had in three days.

I have not been to the Farmer's Market, nor started ordering from Skarsgard, but I've at least been to La Montanita, the all-natural, crunchy-hippy local co-op in town, and it looks like I've got the concept of eating food under control. At least for the time being. Unfortunately, I've had to compromise a lot more than I'd hoped with the following 82 rules just to manage that very first one with some modicum of success.