Father's Day Reflection

I imagine most first time fathers remember the exact moment when they learned that their significant other was expecting.  My experience was certainly not a Hollywood moment, but it was memorable nonetheless.   I had just finished coaching an evening youth program when I received “the phone call” from my wife.  She was saying something about something turning blue – my mind was elsewhere and it took an embarrassingly long time to register what was going on.  “Oh my god, are you sure?” –stupid question it turns out.  I don’t recall the rest of the conversation, but I do remember what happened next.

From seemingly nowhere one of my oldest friends appeared. He had been grilling with a few other athletes, and handed me a hotdog.  It was your standard, cheap mystery meat covered in ketchup and mustard hotdog.  Now I am not one to turn down food, and since stress-eating is a habit of mine I immediately accepted.  But, as I scarfed back that hotdog, I thought about how the food we eat, and the eating habits we pass on to our children, are some of the most important lessons we teach.

So there it was – the moment I learned I would be a father, and I chased that beautiful and special moment with a cheap factory farm hot dog. A couple years later when I told my friend the story and asked him to be a godfather, he sincerely apologized for not handing me something more fitting.

As the dust settled from the initial impact of impending fatherhood, I decided that it was important to reassess the food that my family and I were eating.  This is not to say that we used to eat badly, but I believe we owe it to ourselves, and our future children, to take it a bit further.  It is all too easy in our fast paced lives to let food slide to the bottom of the ever-lengthening list of priorities.

Fast-forward two years or so and we now have an incredible 18-month-old son.  When it comes to food for our family the questions of sourcing, use of hormones or antibiotics, and how the animal was raised continue to play a central role in the decisions we make about our diet.  While I am still relatively new at the whole parenting game and no doubt have an immense amount to learn, I am confident that consuming ethically and responsibly raised, and sustainable foods will continue to remain a family value.

 This summer as “dad” gets predictably overly excited and fires up the grill again, we will be dining with a clear conscience on Wild Idea Buffalo hot dogs, burgers, and steaks that help not only promote the health and well being of our family, but also of this great and fragile world we inhabit.