A Delicate Balance

July's Green Mom's Carnival (yes kids, apparently we are already in July, I am as shocked as you are) is about food and how it matters and stuff.

I am sure you will see plenty of really beautiful posts about food and how it should be local and organic and slow and it's more delicious that way, and people will wax poetic about the cherry cobbler and homemade ice-cream they all had last night and there will be plenty of splashy pictures of food porn.

For the record, I really enjoy said posts. I have, in fact, been known to whine when my favorite bloggers neglect to put up pictures of delicious food porn.

But, I am also on a diet.

See, I gained about five or six pounds while studying for exams (I call it my revision gut) and while I think I still look okay, I think I'm happier and healthier when I am five or six pounds lighter. It's not a big deal, and I've actually already lost a couple pounds since exams ended, but the last few pounds are proving a little stubborn so I think a diet might be called for.

Since I've started the diet, I've started becoming more aware of the levels of food porn on the internet and the health merits of some of this food. A lot of environmentalists are also foodies and they love producing home-made slow cooked meals of delicious goodness. A lot of people talk about how organic goods are healthier for you and the environment. These things are all true. But the thing is, even a homemade chocolate chip cookie made with local, organic, fair trade ingredients? At the end of the day, it's still a chocolate chip cookie.

I'm not trying to be holier than thou. I'm not anti-cookie. I'm not Captain Health... last night I had a pizza for dinner. And in fact, I think that the majority of eco-bloggers, including the foodies, probably eat very healthy meals most of the time. It's just that the healthy meals are boring to blog about. Who wants to read your blog post about your boiled eggs and a side salad? Who wants to see your recipe for homemade lavendar ice-cream? Everyone.

Which means that while peoples LIVES are probably balanced, our blogs are perhaps less so. And again, it's not a big deal, but we environmental bloggers are mostly well aware of maldistribution of food throughout the world. We're aware of the twin problems of obesity and uner-nutrition that, ironically, go hand in hand. So it's a little odd that our blogs, mine included, don't seem to reflect this awareness that much.

I guess what I'm trying to say is ... perhaps we all should sit back a little and assess our food posts a little more. Are they balanced? Do they really reflect the meals we eat? Are they overly tilted towards dessert posts?

Because if they aren't reflective of our general eating habits, we can create a false impression. I remember reading not too long ago someone commenting on one of Crunchy's posts (though I can't remember which post or who the commenter was.) The commenter essentially mentioned that she felt increasingly alienated from eco-bloggers because a lot of the posts were about organic and local food, and then the food produced was an apple pie. She said that she felt that though she didn't use organic ingredients all the time, the food she cooked using store-bought frozen vegetables was healthier for her than the organic desserts eco-bloggers seemed to be eating all the time. Now again, I personally don't believe most food bloggers actually eat apple pie every day, but if all you blog about is dessert, it's kind of a fair point.

So to this end, I am going to go all meta-carnival on you. If you would like, write a blog post of a healthy diet-friendly meal on your blog by next Wednesday. It can be super complex, or it could be as simple as a fresh salad. I'll compile the posts and put them up on my blog next Friday. That way we can all enjoy some nice, healthy recipes for the rest of the summer.

And um, if I haven't made this super-duper clear, I am not at all against posts about cookies, pies, cakes, or what have you. I am just pro-balance-in-food-blogging. Also, you will have noticed I did not link to anyone's food posts. This is because I'm not singling anyone out. I think the food post culture is somewhat systemic in the eco-blogosphere. I too, have been extremely guilty of writing long posts about gingerbread cookies, and very few posts about healthy food. If you disagree with my assessment that food posts are somewhat unbalanced, I encourage and welcome your comments.

Look for the rest of the Green Moms' Carnival on July 13th hosted by Alline of Milkweed Mercantile. By the way, congrats to Alline on the opening of her eco-inn!!