On weeks when I'm really busy and have too much to do, I definitely use more plastic. On a normal week I do most of my cooking using whole foods -- like rice and beans purchased in the bulk bins at the grocery store, meat and cheese from the butcher and cheese store in my own glass containers, vegetables that I buy at a farmer's market or get loose at the grocery store.
Not only do I not have time to go to multiple places when I'm busy, but also I don't have time to cook from scratch. On those weeks when too much is going on or I have too many tasks to complete, I buy more packaged food and pre-cooked items, helpfully called "grab and go" from the grocery store. Most of those items come packaged in plastic. Or I pick up take out for a quick evening meal, which usually comes in plastic. (Some restaurants are starting to use post-consumer cardboard for food packaging.)
I really enjoy cooking though I know that not everyone does. I mourn the weeks that I can't spend part of my time creating wholesome meals for myself and my family. As a certified professional organizer
®, I try to leave gaps in my schedule for cooking and for unexpected challenges that normally come up in a week. Even so, some weeks just get away from me. Those are the weeks that I notice that I'm picking up sushi in plastic boxes or a pre-cooked chicken in a domed plastic container.
In 1982, physician Larry Dossey coined the term "time sickness," which refers to the belief that people have that there is never enough time. Thirty-five years later we're still struggling with this concept. Try as we might, the world seems like it's speeding up and our lifestyles reflect that. I believe that our reliance on plastic is part of that. Yes, it's a lightweight and cheap way of packaging foods. But why do we need so much food packaging? I believe it's because we aren't able to slow down enough to create food from scratch. Sold to us as "convenience foods," packaged and prepared food are consumed by our society in ever greater quantities.
When we consciously choose to slow down and re-prioritize, we can make a different choice about plastic and food. We can choose to make it a priority to prepare more farm to table food that didn't pass through a plastic bag on its way to our kitchen. We can hop on the Slow Food bandwagon and buy high quality, locally sourced ingredients as often as possible. And we can participate in the magic and mystery of creating the food that nourishes us the way our ancestors did.
