Food Transitions: Where I started

Food was important in my childhood home. This should not be a surprise because my parents did without through so much of their childhood.

My father grew up as the eldest of 13 children on an Idaho ranch--during The Depression.  He remembers sharing a candy bar with two siblings. He had ice cream once. Dad could suck all the marrow out of a chicken bone and his plate never looked used (but we washed it anyway :)

My mother's childhood was amidst vineyards in the heart of Germany--her small village endured the impact of World Wars. When she immigrated to the USA her limited income did not allow much for food. In fact, she remembers being hungry almost constantly which was not helped by church potlucks where no one explained you could help yourself to food!

Food was important in my childhood home. My dad treated us to ice cream every night. This is the truth. My parents worked hard and though our income was low, I do not remember ever being hungry. Food was also used to treat many discomforts--being tired, in pain, bad day, too hot, too cold--were all valid reasons for eating. This is beside the usual celebrations that include food and, of course, regular meals.

I also grew up during a time when our grocery stores went from being a small-family-owned establishment to chains. The food industry relied on more and more prepared foods and less and less on "real" ingredients. These cheaper foods were ideal for a growing family on a limited budget. The price of the item now became a big indicator of what my family purchased.

When I married, I started preparing the majority of our meals from scratch. This was a taste preference. As our family grew and our income shrunk, I delved into bargain shopping for food. This involved a leap into coupon shopping which majors on the prepared foods.

But God was ready to change my view about food and over the next few blogs I will share with you a travel log of that journey.