Tonight I watched the film above, The Future of Food. You can watch the whole thing, for free, on Hulu. (Or here on my blog if you so chose) You can learn more about how corporations are trying to run [ruin] the food supply at The Future of Food website.
Another great movie covering more of the food supply is Food, Inc.
I’m not a conspiracy theorist. But in my lifetime I’ve witnessed major food related issues among so many people I know. Too many. For years I’ve heard about this stuff and thought– what a bunch of whacko’s. But the more you learn, the more those whacko’s make sense.
As I wrote about a few weeks ago, Kristen and I are making a serious commitment to change both the food we eat and the way we get it. Our hope is to reduce our food waste by 25% by composting, buy most of our vegetables and fruit locally buy belonging to a CSA and shopping at a farmers market, and planting our own organic garden. (see the pictures of our garden)
So far, we’ve kept those commitments. And it hasn’t been hard at all. We’ve enjoyed tons of our own fruit from the yard and last week we started an abundant harvest of fresh lettuce. Today, Paul and I went out and bought a few more veggies, so we have tomatoes, herbs, and jalepenos coming in the next couple months. (And our compost worms are hard at work 24 hours a day eating our food waste!)
Our next steps involve increasing the percentage of food we buy from local producers, working out a local free range source of meats and fish, and finding a local bakery who is committed to non-GMO grains.
Maybe this all sounds a bit nuts? The truth is, it’s a lot of fun! We love starting a garden. We love the discipline of spending less at the monster mega-supermarket. And we love seeing what sorts of crazy things appear in our CSA box each week. Even more crazy is that I don’t think its costing us any more money per month.
There’s something so enjoyable about developing a more intimate connection between what we eat and the people who produce it.
Oh faithful reader: What are steps you are taking to be more socially responsible about the food you eat?
One of our family goals this year was to make some changes to how we consumed the world’s resources. Some of it is a desire to live more simply and some of it is just a realization that the stuff our little family does, when added up with millions of other families, really impacts our planet. So while we’ve been at it for a month, this is the first time I’ve talked about it on the blog. Simply put, I wanted to make sure we were actually doing stuff before I said we were going to be doing stuff!
Here are a few things we’re doing so far this year:
3 weekends ago we planted a little garden. We know it’ll take a couple seasons to truly get it productive, but we wanted to get something going. As the seasons go on we plan on expanding the garden. We definitely have the space in the yard. We just need to build up the beds.
We joined a CSA to support locally grown, organic produce. We picked up our first box this week, this is big change in how we spend money on groceries.
We are installing a drip system for watering outdoor plants. San Diego is a coastal desert. That means that we only get a little bit of rain each year and watering plants in the garden is a big deal. This will help us waste less water as well as hopefully make the garden grow a little better. The people from Drip Depot have some sweet stuff, can’t wait to see how it works.
Get serious about waste! Kristen asked for, and got, a worm composting system for Christmas. While it isn’t a huge impact, we want to reduce our food waste that goes in the garbage by at least 25%. We’re also trying to be more conscious about buying things we can re-use and recycle.
Still rocking the trolley when I can. We’re in a bit of a funk with this because of my travel schedule and the weather. But I’m doing my best to eliminate the need for a second car (we only have one) by taking the trolley to and from work. We eliminate the need for a second car by keeping our work schedules flexible as well as being quick to rent a car when needed.
We’ve tossed around, but not acted on, some other ideas. More on this as the year goes on.
When I first started at YS I was pretty good about balance. I limited my availability. I worked from home at least one day per week. Weekends became sacred time again. And I did a lot more little things to set me on a healthy path.
Then last February that all changed. Some positions were eliminated and we were put in a meat grinder position of turning the company around financially. Without being asked to do so I took ownership of that– “I’m going to do my part.” and all that healthy balance went out the window.
The other day Tic and I were chatting about this being a reset point for our lives. Sure, there is infinite work to be done. But if we don’t pace ourselves the workload will destroy us. He said something along the lines of… “If I’m not at a convention or something I’m fully aware that I’m not that important. I don’t need to be reached all the time.” That really resonated to me. It kind of cut to the quick of the issue. Like Marko has talked about on his blog, I have an unhealthy tendency to attach my significance to the world by what I do instead of who I am to the most important people in my life.
And so Tic and I are trying something. It feels like a big step. In reality, it’s a baby step. But we want to start off with one little victory before trying to add more. On Friday we both set out-of-office messages that just said, “I’m not available over the weekend.” And we’re both going to try really hard to ignore work stuff for the weekend. And we’re going to catch-up on Tuesday to see how it went. (Starting on a three day weekend is asking too much, so we just want to make it Friday at 5pm until Monday morning.)
There is lots to do. In fact, there is tons to do. Far more than I can fit into a work week. But I’m just not that important. The world will continue to spin. Projects will wait. I don’t need to work night and day and weekends, too.
The fact that I have 43 unopened e-mails on my work account is driving me crazy! And knowing that that number will be about 200 by Monday morning is tough to deal with. But the truth is simple. I’m not that important to the world. The fact that 43 unopened emails are driving me crazy reveals the true depth of the problem, too.
I am really important to my family.
I desire to be fully present. I need to work on that. I’m trying.
On January 1st, 2010 I will become an employee of YouthWorks.
Before I talk about YouthWorks I do want to mention some things about Zondervan. A lot of negative things have been said and written (Facebook, Twitter, blogs, etc.) about Zondervan through this process. I want to convey publicly what I told them privately. They have been great through this. The last few months have been painful to say the least. (I think the right term is agonizing!) And at every turn the people I worked alongside at Z were professional, kind, and quick to pray for and with me. Whether or not you agree with all of their decisions in the last year or so, know that they are not awful people with maniacal laughs and evil plans. From the CEO (Moe Girkins) to the CFO (Gary Wicker) on down through the leadership team and the ranks of employees, I’ve found them to be intelligent, hard-working, and upstanding people. I’m a better person for having worked with them. I’m thankful and proud of my 18 months of work with Z. (And by proxy, being an employee of HarperCollins and News Corp was pretty nifty, too.)
A couple weeks back, as the deal became final for YouthWorks to buy Youth Specialties, also came an opportunity for me to continue on in my ministry with YS as an employee of YouthWorks. Despite the fact that I had every reason to suspect I would be offered a job, the offer itself still came as a shock! I really had never thought about what my response would be if I were given the chance to stay on.
The next 36 hours were as near to insanity for me as I’d ever like to get. I asked hard questions that needed to be answered. (Of YouthWorks and myself) I listened a lot. I took a couple long walks by myself. I talked to my dog. I wasted gas driving around San Diego for an evening. I shed some frustrating tears. I aimlessly walked around Best Buy for a couple hours. I talked in circles to Kristen. I burned through a few hundred text messages. I put out a Twitter request for a burning bush. Around and around I went. I just didn’t know what to do.
Apparently my iPhone changed "divining rod" to "diving rod." See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dowsing
See, it’s not in my nature to do things halfway. There was a lot of wisdom in the advice I was getting… “Play it safe.” But that’s not me. That’s not how I roll. To me, it would have been better to just say no and move on with my life than to do something halfway with an eye on the door. I wanted to be resolute one way or the other. “Let your yes be yes and your no be no.” I wanted to be true to myself even if it meant putting into action plans B, C, D, or E and all the fear and second guessing that went with that.
Long story short. On Friday morning, I talked to the folks at YouthWorks and let them know that I had decided to stay on with Youth Specialties/YouthWorks.
And so a new adventure begins! After a weekend off, transition work began bright and early on Monday morning and will continue through the Christmas holidays. I’ve got this theory that decisions generate energy. And in this case, I’ve got lots of new energy and enthusiasm for what is next for YS.
Just as surely as it is hard to say goodbye to so many co-workers… its been exciting to meet a whole new staff of people from YouthWorks. Over the past couple months I’ve gotten a chance to meet the leadership at YouthWorks. In my desire to learn more, I even went out looking for complaints and couldn’t find any. Lots and lots of happy customers. Lots of people impressed with their mission trips and how they go about their ministry. As I’ve gotten to know them I’ve been very impressed with how forward-thinking they are. And it’s been scary how much we’re on the same page with overall ministry-styles. I’ve only met about 10 of their staff of 60 face-to-face, so I am looking forward to getting to know more and more YouthWorks peeps over the coming months. They are differently culturally from the SoCal-YS-style, but in heart and ministry value they are very much the same.
Soon, we’ll be rolling out a lot more about the future of YS, what’s next, etc. But just know that a big reason I’m joining YouthWorks is because I have a deep-gut belief that the best days of Youth Specialties are ahead. I know that’s a bold statement considering how great the past has been for YS, but that’s why I’m on board. I think there are even better days to come.
Here’s a few quick FAQs based on the innumerous texts, Facebook messages, and Twitter DMs I’ve gotten in the past couple weeks.
Will you have to move to Minneapolis? Nope. Sorry San Diego, you are stuck with the McLane family for a few more years. We’ll be keeping it classy together. We will be moving offices eventually. Hopefully, it’ll be something near a trolley stop.
How does Kristen feel about this? I just want her to get to know my new co-workers. They are, as a whole, very missional. That’ll resonate with her. At this point, she is just glad to have my sanity back. This decision released a lot of energy! She got her husband back.
What’s the new YS going to look like? More will come out in the next few weeks/months about our plans. I’ll just say I’m really excited about the stuff we’re talking about! I do know this… whatever it is, it’ll be true to the long-term mission of YS and YW, serving and equipping youth workers and church leaders.
Will you be at NYWC this Fall? Even if I had to pay my own way, I’d be there. You will want to be in Nashville the weekend before Thanksgiving.
Will you travel more or less? For some reason the YouthWorks staff wants to come here to San Diego more than they want me to come to Minneapolis. Go figure! So time will tell on that one.
What will you be working on? As time goes on, this will get more clear. But for now not a lot is changing with my job. It’s a safe bet that I’ll be calling 612 now more than 616.
Do you even own a winter jacket? No, we donated it to the Salvation Army when we left Michigan. I do, however, own a lot of t-shirts, shorts, and sandals. See question 6.
Can I ask you more questions? You bet. Leave me a comment. (Verbal comments would be awesome!)
This morning we are vowing to leave the house at some point. Yesterday, as is our habit, we hunkered down for a day of pure family. It turned out to be a really nice Christmas.
Christmas technically kicked off on Thursday night with a fun little trip to Orange County. A couple from our community group invited us to their family’s traditional Christmas Eve party. That was a lot of fun! Apparently, this group of people have been hanging out on Christmas Eve together for more than 20 years. So the house was filled with a mixture of joy and shared known. It was really cool to see the generational aspect of the whole thing, the embracing of some traditions, and it really just got our family in the mood for Christmas.
Christmas morning, the kids got up early, as decreed in the New Testament. At about 5:30 they woke us up with, “It’s Christmas! Can we open presents NOW????” We made them wait until 7:00 before we opened presents so mom and dad could at least see straight… and we had to listen to them count down every minute!
Ah, the anticipation of children and the power of parents to torture by saying “be patient.”
Best Present
Paul: Nintendo DS
Megan: Sweet digital camera and a photo blog to share
Mom: A new wedding ring (she had lost hers a few years ago)
Stoney: A new collar
Lovely: A cat bed
From about 8:00 AM on we all just laid around. The kids played with their toys. Mom and dad watched some movies. I think that was about it until lunch.
Since Kristen isn’t feeling great I was in charge of Christmas dinner. With just four of us… we kept it simple. Ham, cranberry, rolls, mashed potatos. Oops, I forgot vegitables! (No one complained)
After dinner, we all kind of scattered and just rested. Paul fell asleep about 2:30 PM and didn’t wake up until 3:30 AM! Megan watched TV with me. Kristen took naps off and on all day. We were basically bums!
Later, I watched the Chargers dismantle the Titans intersperced with endless episodes of Mythbusters. And that was Christmas.
Less than two weeks until Christmas and I don’t think a single gift has been purchased. Not a little one, not a big one.
It’s not that the kids don’t have lists… it’s that Kristen and I are avoiding their lists.
A couple years ago we decided we wanted Christmas to be about Jesus and not gift giving so we toned the whole thing down. So now we have told the kids they will get 1 big gift and a couple small gifts. But somehow that always mushrooms at the end and they end up getting a lot of little things.
In the past I’ve had an issue with Christmas. Consumerism. Santa Claus. Baby Jesus. You know, the normal.
This year I just don’t feel like it. Maybe its the weather here in San Diego and maybe it’s life circumstances? But the thought of heading to the mall and buying things my kids really don’t need with money I really don’t want to spend… it’s just not as appealing as it was last year.
I know that is anti-American consumerism of me to say. But I really just want to skip gift giving in 2009.
And yet, we will do it for the children.
Where are my car keys? The mall opens in 15 minutes.
We’re having a crunch month. It seems like during every calendar year there is one time when the vacuum cleaner has been attached to our accounts and we suddenly find ourselves going from “feeling comfortable” to “How much do they give for blood these days?” That’s about how things are for our family right now.
Semi-annual and annual bills just got paid.
All the regular bills paid, but were higher than budgeted.
Bought a car. (paid cash, huge win!)
Silly kids are growing and needed clothes!
Travel expenses, haven’t been reimbursed yet.
Even as a family who lives rather simply we come on tough financial times from time-to-time. In this case, we got through it because we had budgeted for it to happen and had the cash on hand to make it through. We’ve had times in the past where we didn’t plan so well and literally had to depend on the kindness of our church to eat. You live a little and you get a little wiser, I guess.
In some ways I wish we felt this crunch more often. These times in the calendar are refreshing! I rest in our routine. I rest in our budget. I rest in simple things. I rest knowing that when we make things even simpler it is better for our family. I rest knowing that we’re not touching our long-term savings to ride out a short-term crisis. I like wincing when we give to our church. I like scrutinizing what we spend. Actually, I kind of like even noticing what is being spent because all-too-often I get into habits where I don’t see how much we are spending.
Of course, I’m really thankful because I know three things are true.First, I know that things will go back up from here. We have an annual low point, this is it, and we can budget ourselves out of it again. Second, I know who provides for me. God sustains us no matter what. Kristen and I will never forget the mystery bags of vegetables we received in Oroville. God is our provider. Third, while we have less cash than we’d like we also have less debt than we had a year ago.
Today, Kristen and I are driving to Phoenix to see the U2 360 Tour. I have a figurative bucket list and this was on it. My brain has been mush lately so I am greatly looking forward to driving 5 hours across the desert to lose my voice screaming lyrics with Bono. Just for good measure we’re ride sharing with Tash McGill… and a late edition, Marko. (The artist formerly known as ysmarko.) I need a road trip. I’ve got another one coming this weekend. Stuff like this clears and renews my mind.
Mentioning this brings up jealousy. Like “Hey, so happy you and Kristen and spending the day together… but I really wanna go and I’m thinking of killing you to steal your tickets.”
No need to be jealous. You can have Mr. Bono and the massive stage craziness. Just tune in Sunday night for all the goodness of live streaming. Screaming “it’s a beautiful day!” in your home is optional. Better save that for the live experience.
We’re having a crunch month. It seems like during every calendar year there is one time when the vacuum cleaner has been attached to our accounts and we suddenly find ourselves going from “feeling comfortable” to “How much do they give for blood these days?” That’s about how things are for our family right now.