SustainMe

I thought I’d share with you how SustainMe came to be or at least how the idea for it was formed.

I’m not a political, agricultural, PETA or environmental activist.

I am one person among many on this planet that has learned quickly about a disease called Crohns. Just over 4 years ago I had my first experience/ flare-up with this disease. It took a great many months, visits to the doctor, hospital, loss of weight and muscle before I was finally diagnosed with Crohn’s. I will admit I had never heard of it or known anyone with this disease, prior to that day.

I was fortunate that I was faced with this battled in my early 30′s. Most people are diagnosed before 30, some people  as early the preteens or younger.  This will be a life long battle as there is no current cure, it is a manageable disease through diet, medication and similar to my situation, surgery.

After an extremely challenging 2010, which resulted in multiple visits to various specialists, hospitalization and surgery. I made a conscious decision to consider what I was consuming. Consuming on multiple levels as a consumer, not just my dietary intake.

A direct result was me wanting to grow more of my own vegetables and fruits. I was getting more and more concerned with food recalls, e. coli, listeria and salmonella to name a few. I wanted to control what I was consuming, where it came from, how it was handled and treated. Now I’m also looking to sustainable ethical  producers not just faster cheaper more convenient products.

This does not necessarily mean the most frugal method of consuming, however I am hoping this conscious decision helps negated some of my needless consumerism habits, resulting ultimately in a healthier more sustainable and hopefully frugal lifestyle.

This past weekend, I attended the Green Living show in  Toronto and coincidentally watched two films that were highly recommended by friends; Food Matters and Food inc. These 2 movies as well as connecting with more eco-conscious individuals at the show, reaffirmed my commitment to the slow food movement. I hope to reach out to more local purveyors and consciously seek to support individuals and organizations that are committed these principals.

I am happy to learn that individuals such as  Joel Salatin and his farm Polyface, Inc advocate healthy sustainable agricultural practices. I know there are more farmers out there like Joel, I hope to find more local farmers so I can share their success stories.

I plan to continue sharing my commitment to this cause through this site, twitter and facebook. Thank you for sharing, promoting and following SustainMe.