Veg Epiphany

I took a lunch break, and sat down in front of a barred window. The window belonged to the local Italian Supermarket, a gem in the north east of Calgary, supplying weary 9-5-ers with home cooked, delicious Italian eats, hot and ready for the lunch time hustle. I sat down and stared at my plate, mounded with a pasta and sausage party, and an enormous side of roasted zucchini. My ultimate favourite vegetable to roast. Okay, maybe that's too bold, I can't pick a favourite roasted veg. Regardless, zucchini is up there. It was glistening with olive oil and charred with pieces of spices and herbs. I couldn't wait to dig in.

It was a cold day in May, and it was threatening rain. I was tired from a long week with family visiting and was at my wit's end at work. My motivation was at an all time low and I needed a pick-me-up to make it through. So what did I turn to? An energy drink? Cuppa tims? Nope, a big ol' plate of home cooked nutritious food.

I started contemplating life, as most do when they stare out of barred windows. "Do what you love and you won't work a day in your life", stirred up in my mind. I love this zucchini, was all I could reply to myself as I sat on my own diving into this love affair on a plate.

I didn't think I could eat it all, but I did. I didn't even feel guilty about it.

Then the epiphany happened:

People need to feel how I'm feeling right now.

People need to eat more real food. Local, nutritious, whole food. Food that is nature's medicine. That makes you want to be a better person (too much?). I wanted to share this feeling. I needed to join the movement for real food, to be a champion for local produce and to nurture my friends, family and neighbours.

The feeling behind Uprooted Farms is to be a supplier of this feeling, of good food, local, fresh, sustainable, healthy, nutritious food that will make a difference in people's lives. We need to eat more real food, we need to make it the medicine that keeps us healthy, instead of the poison that drives us to prescriptions and deteriorating health.

I literally had to put my phone down as I sat there eating my zucchini. Yes, a girl in her mid 20's put down her phone. It was that much to handle. It was perfection on a plate, and I cared about what I was eating. We all need to care about what we are eating. It sounds simple enough, but I honestly believe it would solve a lot of hurt by caring about what is going into us and not just about convenience of food.

So I call this story the veg epiphany. I love vegetables, cooking up a dish with veg can be the highlight of my day. Actually it was the highlight of my day on this particular day. It proved to me that I need to join a movement and find a calling. I found it on this plate. (I swear a refrained from licking the plate, it was in a public place after all). Zucchini may or may not have whispered to me: "Uproot your expectations."

So for the love of food, eat something real.

Love from your weird veg farmer,

Kait