Changing habits can be almost impossible when you have minimal willpower like I do. But when that is combined with the menopause, a midlife crisis, three teens going through major exams and a massive move to essentially a different country (more on Catalonia another time), changing habits is nigh impossible.
Perhaps I would be daring even to say lethal.
Obviously not to me, but lethal to everyone in a 20km radius of me.
So what is all the commotion about?
Well one of the rules I had for this sustainability challenge was that each month I would need to make a concerted effort in one area of my life. This month it is food. And drink. But perhaps mainly food. Or would that be drink? Just a few more days to decide before I take the plunge. At this point can I thank my darling down-trodden husband, who is not really down-trodden, but might start to be in a few days. He’s the wonderful person who has helped to edit all my musings, however I might be in need of someone with very thick skin in a few days, as I am sure the next stage in this process will create a few battle grounds.
By now I may have lost all of my readership. However, on the off chance there are still some hangers-on, here goes.
Chocolate, meat and cows cheese
Considering I have given up meat and any meat products or by-products unless I have been unaware that I was eating them in the first place, this is a huge tick off the list. It would have to be revisited if, on the off chance, I fall off the meat wagon. Now isn’t that a grotesque thought.
And then there is…
Oo-er. On another matter entirely. I am presently living in an amazing country that prides itself on cheese. As Charles de Gaulle once quoted;
“How can you govern a country which has two hundred and forty-six varieties of cheese?”
This doesn’t include all the variations of those varieties of cheese, which means we are dealing with around 1000 to 1600 different types of cheese. You don’t imagine France without thinking of cheese and wine. In Occitanie, the region in which I live, you will hear people talk of “Roquefort”, “Pélardon” or even the “Tomme des Pyrénées” with pride. But I am giving it all up. Perhaps just temporarily for 12 months (and I will be going through the varieties of goat’s cheese, and maybe sheep’s cheese), however that might be one step too far for my taste buds. I have just counted 58 varieties of goat cheeses listed on Wikipedia, so I think I will be okay for variety. Why, you may be asking? Well part of the idea of living sustainably is to find products that have a lower carbon footprint, goat’s cheese being one of them. I am looking forward to trying the specialities of Haut Vallespir, the area we will be living in.
But really, chocolate?
Chocolate? Well that is another story. Chocolate has been my go-to for many years, in times of stress, as I am sure it has for many other people out there. It is also the drink I prefer when I go to my regular coffee morning in an amazing bakery with the girls. “Mon petit chocolat,” will be sorely missed and an alternative will be hard to source or even enjoy. And what about the chocolate eclairs or the “chocolatines” (and NOT “pain au chocolat” unless you are from the north of France), the artisanal “chocolats” or the chocolate spread in the morning? Then there are those chocolate biscuits and the smells of freshly baked chocolate cake on sultry afternoons. What can replace all of those? However, with the bad press chocolate has, (and still has) in terms of habitats, water, human slavery… The list can go on. So chocolate will be on pause. Hence fireworks in the home. I think my children will barricade themselves in their bedrooms and hubbie will escape with the dog. Not sure if that is better or worse. If you need me, I will be sulking near the bakery, watching those chocolate delights disguised as Spanish dancers or fluffy clouds that disappear in just one morsel. Oh goodness. Save me quickly, please!
MidLife Crisis In France
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