Siobhan,

> Eating out - I'm lucky to have a few restaurants in the area that serve
grass-fed meat and organic veggies.

Where do you live??  I'm in New York City now, and I'd have thought there is 
everything here, but I've never seen that.  In any case, I wouldn't want to 
be restricted to this rare type of restaurant.  My friends and I have certain 
favorite places that I'd like to continue to go.

> Dinner with friends - they know not to invite me if they will be insulted 
by me bringing my own food.

That's too much trouble for me, and I don't want to be socially separated 
like this.

> My answer to children who do this - "Oh well.  Sorry.  Food is for
nourishment. The food I have is nourishing."

I said something similar to my niece.  I said I try to eat only very healthy 
food.  She was so confused by that response that she was speechless.

> Many children are used to eating real crap for food.  I refuse to 
perpetuate the myth that this stuff is really food.

This is true of my nieces.  What my sister-in-law feeds them is appalling.  
My nephew is better--he's been munching broccoli spears since he was off the 
breast, and he didn't taste refined sugar for the first two years of life.  
When he saw the other kids eating it, though, my sister let him have it.  She 
didn't want him to get a complex.  On the other hand, she has a vegetarian 
orientation, and gives him veggie burgers rather than meat.

When my brother's family came over, I served barbequed chicken, spinach 
salad, corn on the cob, and milk for the kids.  I realize that corn and milk 
are not paleo, but if I didn't have milk for the kids the parents would have 
been angry with me, and I knew my brother's kids eat mainly junk and I didn't 
want to serve NOTHING they liked.  Therefore the corn.  I also bought a loaf 
of fresh baked sour dough bread (in case my nieces insisted on peanut butter 
and jelly), and gave it to my sister-in-law to take home with her.  While 
they were here, my boyfriend and I told them all about paleolithic nutrition. 
 We showed them Ray's book and Boyd Eaton's "The Paleolithic Prescription.  
My brother was interested and I gave him a bunch of internet links for 
learning more.  I also sent the links to my mother and sister.  My mother 
didn't even look; my sister hasn't responded.

Final confession... I didn't eat the bread, but I ate corn on the cob.  So 
did my "paleo" boyfriend.

     - Sheryl