Ode to a walk-in pantry

picture by la fattina
I love my pantry. When we built this house I knew it would need a big pantry. Not just because we have four growing children - though that is reason enough. I crave nourishment, and the pantry in our home reflects that. Like keeping the pantry stocked with wholesome food somehow feeds my family’s spiritual well-being.

Sometimes I stop at my open pantry door and sigh with affection. Right now, the shelves are neatly organised and well-stocked with grains and sugars, pulses and nuts. And, in anticipation of the Christmas season, there is homemade mulberry wine and ginger beer in various stages of maturation. This pantry is the heart of our home and it is my domain.

I buy convenience foods like breakfast cereals and crackers, and perishables such as milk and bread at our local supermarket but all the basics are acquired, in bulk, through informal co-operative buying schemes run by people in my network.  I actually like gathering for the delivery and sorting of our co-operative goods.  It is a social ritual that far surpasses pushing a bockety trolley through aisles and aisles of un-necessary paper and plastic packaging.

I actually like not being inundated with choice.  Impulse buying is almost impossible and it is easier to put our dollars into ethical food industries.  In our fruit and vegetable co-op we order once a fortnight, and seasonally in the case of dry goods and grocery items. Buying this way means food is usually fresher than what’s available at our local supermarket.  It is also generally less packaged, which means less paper and plastic in my wheelie bin destined for land fill.

Soon I hope to be feeding our family more from the garden, harvesting and preserving fruits and vegetables and eventually filling these pantry shelves with the stuff that is growing in our own garden. We’re already part way there and I’m learning a lot as I go (read: I’ve had a lot of stuff-ups so far).  I’m enjoying the process, even if we aren’t yet getting to eat very much of what we grow just yet.

Every mother, or cook, deserves a walk-in pantry.  It is the heart of our home and sometimes a place of escape.  Where else is it possible to hide from the children, in broad daylight, while nibbling contraband chips or chocolate?

October 29th, 2008 - Posted in gratitude, consumerism, community, sustainability | | 3 Comments

Domestic Haiku #4

babydoll belly

under her dress

just like mama’s

October 18th, 2008 - Posted in haiku | | 0 Comments

Domestic Haiku #3

dishmop microphone
the audience applauds
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October 11th, 2008 - Posted in haiku | | 0 Comments