I am going to go ahead and publish this segment as I go along because there will be several parts to this entry and I didn't want to keep you waiting!!!
The trip to Kentucky and Chicago was NOTHING like I thought it was going to be!
So I got a little nervous about my journey and decided to purchase some organic gluten free bars just in case so I didn't starve! I also had breakfast at Organique before I got on the plane so I was at least set for a while.
When I landed in Chicago I jumped in my rental and began my 6 hour drive to Kentucky. Given there's mostly farmland between the two cities I expected to pass a ton of farms where I could buy my food along the way.
In the over 300 miles I traveled there was only ONE farm that I found along the way: Fair Oaks Farms.
It was like six flags over dairy!!! They produced all kinds of cheeses and dairy. I noticed there were no organic or USDA labels on their cheeses so I asked the sales lady if there were any hormones, antibiotics, or funky feed and she said no. I mentioned they should really advertise that more because it wasn't very evident to me. She said it was on the website,(but after my trip I still didn't find that info very evident).
I decided to buy some Cheddar curd (1st stage of cheese processing), the Sweet Swiss and the Colby cheese. They were divine! I got a chance to share it with my family over the weekend and they remarked on what a good cheese it was! Normally I can NEVER have that much cheese, but this cheese didn't really seem to bother me.
Further down my trip I ran across Donaldson's Fine Chocolates who I have bought from for years for client gifts. I knew he was using pure cane sugar so I thought there might be a chance he had something organic.
Mr. Donaldson is a trip. When I asked him if his chocolates were organic at first he got a little huffy and said they didn't have much of a call for organic chocolate. Then he got a little humorous with me after I told him and his staff about my organic project. He said he would be happy to sell me the chocolate and tell me it was organic like a lot of other people do, but he didn't. I thanked him for his honesty and went on my way. P.S. They still are some very good chocolates and it was a little difficult to leave that aroma empty handed!
One thing I did find fascinating as I traveled down to Kentucky is the use of the land. Hundreds of wind turbines dotted across the land north of Indianapolis. It's nice to see farms and landowners making sound choices to make revenue. Sure beats a bunch of cell phone towers.
I finally arrived to my childhood town of Louisville Kentucky where I remembered an abundance of fresh produce and foods. In addition we used to grow foods in both our garden and my grandparent's very large garden. I was also excited because my dad said one of his friends had started to raise his own chickens and he had a dozen eggs from him I could use to cook our breakfast that weekend. Little did I know what was in store for me.
I directly arrived to my childhood best friend Chris's and found that they had already ordered pizzas from Pizza Hut. She had no idea I was only doing organic, but she wasn't concerned. She has been making a great effort to try to make sure that her family is eating either organic or natural. Even if they have Kool-aid it's the one without the dyes and the sugar she adds is organic. Little did I know how impressed I would be with her efforts to grocery shop until I ventured into the stores myself. In the end I enjoyed an Amy's organic pizza alongside while watching them inhale their Pizza Hut. For the first time I could actually say I was envious. Amy's is really not the tastiest food available!!!
The next morning I went with my brother bright and early to Kroger's so that he could pick up his groceries and baby formula while I gathered the items I would cook for breakfast. They actually had an organic section which was mostly either processed or dairy. Dairy. Dairy. Dairy! Why is it no matter where I go I can only seem to find organic dairy. What about potatoes? What about some organic meat at least? Rice? A few staples? So basically I was planning our meals for the entire trip based on what was readily available.
What I really love about this project is that it made my brother look at things a little differently. He saw the physical changes going on in me. During our shopping trip he even started looking at what was on the labels of some of the food. He picked up a bag of cheese that he found on sale and called me over to look at the ingredients on the bag. We were both mortified! It wasn't even cheese. It was imitation cheese that didn't expire for another 5 months! We couldn't pronounce most of the ingredients, but I kept in mind price was the initial lure for my brother and had I not been there he would probably be still walking with that cheese in his intestines for the next month.
We came back from our grocery trip and I immediately began breakfast. I used ALL organic products. I mixed together the eggs, milk, a WHOLE stick of salty butter, half a block of cheese from the farm and some frozen potatoes to accompany the eggs. I also was able to find some organic oranges. Everyone seemed to love the eggs AND even my picky 3 yr old nephew finished his eggs and asked for more which never happens.
The next day I had to go back and do it all over again for my dad, uncle, and stepmom.
This time in a whole separate end of town I had to visit a Meijers, Walmart, AND Kroger just to get enough variety of foods to make breakfast. I cooked the same thing as before only adding fried polenta, avocado, cherry tomatoes, hemp granola, yogurt, agave, and acai juice to the menu. It went over really well. What was even more impressive is that I was using REALLY large amounts of butter, cheese, olive oil, and other rich ingredients and not gaining any weight!!!!! Hmmmmmmmm. I ended up having to get my own eggs instead of using my dad's friends. We got in a fight over the eggs after I found out that his friend had a contract with Tyson. I've already seen what some of Tyson's requirements are and so even if I wanted to use the eggs my dad already felt insulted.
Moving into the evening I knew was going to be difficult. My grade school reunion was going to be taking place at a bar and I assumed nothing there would be organic. I asked around to see if my family knew of organic liquor anywhere. Most of them had no idea organic liquor even existed. I decided to visit the liquor store next to my school and asked them if they had ANY alcohol that was organic. They said they weren't aware if they did have any so I decided to peruse the isles anyway only to find they did have Organic Vodka from a brand called Rain. One flask and one bottle purchase later I was on my way to the reunion. I felt equipped to handle people I haven't seen in 20 years! It was a wonderful evening even though I did go hungry for a bit, but I stopped at the store and picked up an organic yogurt. Again there seems to be no shortage of organic dairy anywhere!
Saying farewell to Louisville I drove back to Chicago with absolutely no food available. It was truly disheartening. Finally I passed a Meijer's just south of Indianapolis and decided to see what I could dig up there. It only took minutes to tell that I was located somewhere in Amish town. I felt like an old throwback of some sort with the bonnets and hats that some of the shoppers were wearing. I sooo wanted to ask to take their photos, but they were already giving me strange enough looks as it was!
In the aisles there were Amish cheeses and very little organic produce, but I was REALLY impressed with all of the Meijers brand organic products. That tells me that there is some sort of demand for these types of products.
In the end I was only able to pick up an organic yogurt, a brick of Meijers brand organic cheese, and a box of organic granola bars. Everything else would have required some cooking. The cheese was definitely not the quality of the Fair Oaks Farms cheese. It was VERY salty as well.
(To Be CONTINUED!)
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