I never used to think about food other than wanting to put it in my mouth to stop my stomach from growling. I never thought about where it came from; whether it was fresh or not, local or not, frozen, fast food, drown in pesticides, or so on…I simply didn’t care. If I was going to be completely honest about it I would also tell you that didn’t change until I was 30 years old and met my wife.

You see, my wife was the first person that came into my life and showed me that food matters. She showed me how food was crucial to being healthy as well as the lifestyle that food is and that it can create. Now, fast forward five years later and I’m 35 years old and have taken a more active role in the food that I eat due to my wife and the other education I have received via reading and listening to others…especially some online folks like Trent Bown (@bowndairyman), Ray Prock (@RayProck), Janice Person (@JPlovesCotton), and Jeff Fowle (@JeffFowle). These people are great to follow, if only simply to learn from the tweets they send out as well as the fact that they’re available for questions any time.

I am amazed at all the things that come through in the media. An example would be that they say something like apples are the healthiest things for us one week but the following week they’re telling us they could lead to cancer or something crazy like they could cause shrinkage of the family jewels. What gives?

Point is that there are constantly divisive and confusing stories out there online, television, radio, and print. Who do we, the consumers, believe? What is healthy and what is not? It seems like this should be a relatively easy question to have answered…but alas, it is not. My concern, and frustration only grows now that my wife and I are expecting a little boy this October. Once he is able to move on from breast feeding to normal foods what do we feed him?

Expectant parents Matt & Annie Browne

We hear about all the pesticides, the “quick” ways of fattening animals up, preservatives, and all those lists of words none of us can even pronounce because they are fancy scientific words meaning things that can kill us, right? Where do we go from here? Luckily, my wife is very knowledgeable about food and what is in specific foods but at this point I really think it takes a community of knowledgeable people to get through the fog of confusion to the land of having some solid answers.

It’s just sad though, I am the average consumer and I truly feel like the almighty dollar has gotten in the way of providing accurate information, safe food, and common sense ways of treating the land and the animals. It seems we’ve hit the California three strikes rule…corporate involvement, government involvement, and the idiocy of the media spreading the message. Where do we go from here?

Matt Browne, and his wife Annie, live on the Central Coast of California where he owns several small businesses and is active in the local food and wine communities. He and his wife are expecting their first child (a boy) in October which has triggered more questions in regards to food, food safety, and health. Matt’s journey can be followed at http://www.HootnAnnieBlog.com and http://www.LittleBrowne.com