Project 7: Food
My friends and I started talking a few weeks ago about Jen Hatmaker's book 7: An Experimental Mutiny Against Excess. I read this book a while ago, but remember feeling challenged to reduce my consumption and take steps to move away from materialism in several aspects of my life. But in the craziness of life, I'm not sure I followed through with too many of those good intentions. Said friends decided it would be a good idea to pursue our own experiment based on the precepts of Jen's "experimental mutiny." We planned to tailor the boundaries to challenge ourselves while still not setting impossible goals, and got really excited as we began to think about what doing this together might look like.
The goal is to reduce our consumption in 7 areas: clothing, food, spending, waste, possessions, media, and stress. I will be starting with food for the month of May, and I'm pretty pumped for the challenge!
Jen chose just seven foods to eat for an entire month, and I'm going to be sticking pretty close to that premise. I have allowed myself a little wiggle room with the addition of spices, cooking oils, and alliums that I currently have in my kitchen (to add a little flavor and to avoid wasting the onions and garlic that won't keep), in addition to the seven items I'm choosing for the month.
I gave a lot of thought to what foods to choose; I mean, there are so many delicious options to pick from! But what could I eat for an entire month without getting sick of it (or at least, without reaching that point after only a week)? Taking this into consideration, I began to seek out foods that were versatile. I also had to think through what types of foods I chose to ensure that I wasn't lacking any critical components my body needs to function. I ended up landing on the following:
- apples
- bananas
- oats
- chickpeas
- kale
- broccoli
- sweet potatoes
I've already curated a list of recipes that I'm eager to try, and I only hope I can motivate myself when it starts to feel too repetitive. I expect I will probably hit a rut a couple weeks in and really want some chocolate or peanut butter, and I certainly will have had my fill of these foods by the time June rolls around, but hopefully that will only make me more eager to embrace the variety of foods the summer farmers' markets have to offer!
Wish me luck as I try to eat only these foods (with a little flavor added by my oils, spices, & alliums) for an entire month! What foods would you choose if you were to take this challenge? I'd love to hear your input!