On the Road [Real Food]

This past weekend we took our first road trip of the month – to a family wedding. Early in the day D asked, Isn’t there dinner at the reception? What are we going to do?

My reply: We’re going to eat a little bit because it would be rude not to. But we’re not going to overdo it.

So we made ourselves a delicious real food lunch before we left and we prepared ourselves to break the rules – just a little. I forgot to pack snacks, so I was super hungry by the time we got to the wedding. As the reception began, we discovered the menu included bbq pork sandwiches, baked beans, baked apples, potato salad, and brunswick stew. We were about to break the rules in a big way …

BBQ sauce, buns made with white flour, potato salad with mayo, baked beans and apples full of brown sugar, and let’s not forget the cupcakes full of white sugar…

I ate a sandwich. Took a bite of apples and decided they were too sweet. That was it. I couldn’t justify breaking the rules any further than that. And to be honest, nothing really appealed to me. D ate a little more than me (including a cupcake) but we agreed we’d stop for “real food” on our way home.

But … on the way home … there was nowhere to stop. Baby girl was not a happy camper. She hates car rides. By the time we got somewhere that might have had real food options, she had fallen asleep. I was not about to get her out of the car. So – we rode home hungry.

Have you ever taken an inventory of the restaurants in your neighborhood? I never noticed just how much junk food was out there until I was riding down the road with a rumbling tummy.

As we passed Arby’s, Dunkin’ Donuts, Chick-fil-A, McDonalds, and on and on and on, I was reminded why we started this journey in the first place. Our real food journey is about more than just eating healthy. It’s about being thankful that we have access to good, quality food. It’s about remembering all those people around the world who don’t have three meals a day.

I guess I just never realized how much convenience food is around us until I couldn’t eat it. And you know what? Even when my tummy is rumbling because I’m hungry, I don’t want the food of convenience. I didn’t even want to stop at all the places we passed. I was simply frustrated at myself for not planning ahead and bringing healthy snacks.

There are so many people who don’t have access to healthy food. So many people who have no access to any food at all. So this month isn’t just about our desire to eat better. It’s about eating better because we can. It’s about being thankful for being able to eat healthy. And it’s about learning how to eat what God intended us to eat. Real food.