Just a few months ago, my fridge was full to the brim of leafy greens, roots and eggs. At one point, I could barely keep up with my lofty culinary intentions and the fridge, as friend and colleague Olivia put it, became the place where vegetables went to die.

Today, I’m staring at an empty fridge and I’m feeling rather odd and out of place.

For 2012 I am making several changes to my relationship with food. The highlight is that some of these changes are for the new me (as yet and to remain undefined). The low point is that it hasn’t been very well thought out (typical me).

First, I’ve cut off my main food supply: my CSA.
For three years, I volunteered as a core member for the Bed-Stuy Farm Share in exchange for free produce. It was an amazing experience for me, not only because I saved several hundred dollars in produce and eggs, but because I also had an opportunity to experience my neighborhood in ways I never got to as a child (saving that for a later post).

Second, I’m traveling more.
At least, I aim to travel more, and that makes the issue of having all that food rather moot. This month alone I’m out of NYC for two weeks of the month. I won’t be around to tend to my former CSA duties this spring/summer, which also means no more good food on a weekly basis.

Third and lastly, I’m thinking now’s the time to explore a new dietary philosophy or two with more consciousness: Real Food and Paleo.
I’ve played around with some of the tenets of both philosophies (clean eating, whole foods, good quality fats, pastured-raised meat, poultry, and eggs, lacto-fermented foods) with immeasurable results in the past. And since dairy and I need to take another timeout (damn sinuses), I haven’t craved grains (not even my beloved quinoa!) in quite some time, and I really need to cut out white flour (damn sinuses) a Real Food/Paleo experiment is in order.

So now this leaves me to answer:

What to Eat? 

How should I buy groceries – every few days, once a day? 

How will I eat on the road?

Stay tuned, as I’ll be working these questions out over the next several weeks.

You’re welcome to share your thoughts and perspectives in the comments.