Kick the Can
I may need therapy. I occasionally decide that I need to be more aware of environmental issues. Maybe it’s because Tacolicious, our kids’ SF restaurant, recently quit using straws in their drinks. Plastic straws are totally out; paper straws are available only if you ask.
That made me think about whether I should be buying tomatoes in cans or in boxes. Which is better for our planet? Admittedly, I didn’t know there were tomatoes packaged in boxes until a few months ago when I spotted them at Whole Foods.
After doing a little Googling of the issue, I’m a mess. It’s not only the environment I need to worry about, it’s my health. I know a little bit about the concerns of BPA, but I didn’t know that some cans unload lots of BPA to their unknowing users and some don’t. I certainly didn’t know that there’s a trend to package vegetables by using vegetable-residue packaging material. And what about the environmental impact that paper products have? I’ve barely begun that investigation.
We only use a few canned products – mainly tomatoes, beans, chipotle chiles, evaporated and sweetened condensed milk, and coconut milk. Do I need to unload them? Kick them out of my life? Make – or can – my own? (HA!)
That brings me to Kick the Can.
I remember as a child playing rowdy versions of Kick the Can in the corner of our backyard. But I’ve yet to figure out who played it with me. Cross off my brother – who is 7 years older. Cross off my BFF Eileen, who says she only played it with her brothers. Cross off my BFF Patti, who claims she had other (more fun?) BFFs to play with. And put a question mark by my BFF Jeanie, who thinks MAYBE she remembers me playing – but in her backyard, not mine.
Did I play alone – maybe with imaginary playmates?
Anyway, those 3 BFF just visited me in Glen Ellen and memories from our childhood in Fort Collins dominated much of the conversation. We all remember Red Rover Red Rover, Hop Scotch, Jump Rope (with “Teddy Bear” as the cadence), Tether Ball, Jacks, and Square-Dancing.
We recalled that while my Besties were all learning to swim at City Park, I was learning to ride horses (as Andy points out in today’s “The Cowgirl and the Coach” in Andy’s Corner). I think knowing how to swim might have served me better in life!
We remember eating bologna sandwiches with mayo and white bread, Sugar Daddy and Big Hunk candy bars, and LOTS of food from cans.
Did cans have BPA in those days? Apparently, not.
In case a little more research convinces you to kick out your cans, here are some recipes for you to savor before you make that move. …