Corey and Sarah launched their Shift foot card a few months ago, presenting themselves simply as a place to get New York-quality wood-fired pizza in our small rural and agricultural village. They are doing much more than that, slowly, steadily, and impressively.

Their kickoff was quiet and reserved; if we didn’t drive by the car, we wouldn’t have known it was there. It is changing the way I think about food.

We are glad to have found it. We order food from their wagon almost every weekend night – they are only open three or four days a week; Sara is a teacher and nutritionist.

Corey loves food and has studied it for years. He is also pretty resourceful. He bought a decaying old food cart and rebuilt it into a state-of-the-art kitchen.

Yesterday, looking at the daily Shift menu, I was planning to order a wood-fired pizza, but it wasn’t the kind you usually see. It was called The Scape Goat; it was made with garlic scape pesto, tomato, and goat cheese, and it was not only thin and healthy, but it was also one of the best wood-fired tasting pizzas Maria and I could recall.

I also noticed something new on the menu – Corey and Sarah often slip something new into the daily menu, usually some fresh food grown by a local farm. The soup was Cream of  Asparagus Soup, which I would never think of ordering. I’ve never liked asparagus, cooked or raw.

That’s the thing about Shift. I trust this wagon and am ordering all kinds of food I have not eaten and would ordinarily not order. That is liberating. Healthy also.

We have both come to trust the food Corey and Sarah make. I noticed this week that their food is diabetes-friendly; my blood sugar seems to go down whenever I eat it. As importantly, I find myself living food I usually would not think of ordering or eating. I have a healthy diet for obvious reasons, but Shift finds new ways of using fresh food and vegetables to create food that is not only delicious but healthy.

I am trying foods all the time now that I never ate before, and liking them very much. They are competent in making delicious and healthy food, disguising it as just another pizza or takeout. I am learning it is a lot more than that.

The shift wagon has gotten me thinking differently about food, and in a good way. I called Corey and Sarah up to tell them what a great job I think they are doing and to tell them how much I loved their soup.

Corey explained that this was one of the reasons they called the business “Shift.”

He said they hoped to shift people slowly and quietly towards healthy, fresh, and locally produced food.

I was startled to realize that this is the story for me.  I am an example.

I thought I would occasionally get some excellent thin wood-fired pizza; now, I can’t wait to see what is new on their menu and we mostly order things other than pizza. Corey and Sara are not loud people; they don’t make much noise about themselves. They do no marketing, I can see; they trust word of mouth for their promotion.

Corey told me their idea is to let people figure out what they are doing; he doesn’t want to beat them on the head; they don’t plan to make a lot of noise about it.

I do want to make some noise about it. Corey and Sara are changing our lives, me more than Maria, but both of us together. She has always eaten like a rabbit; I was closer to coming to salads and vegetables as a mainstay diet. Now I can’t think of eating anything else. And she loves the new things they are making, and it is broadening her food horizons also.

They know their nutrition—little sugar, no glop, nothing fried, everything fresh.

A benefit of this “shift” is that Maria and I increasingly love the same food, making it easier and more regular in our diets.

When the wagon is open, I say, “Hey, should be ordered from Shift,” she always says, “sure,” and we look at the daily menu and pick something. We have realized over time that we like everything they make, which is a bit of a shock, albeit a happy one. I’m not someone who likes everything on a menu.

I would never have trusted anything called cream of asparagus soup. I didn’t hesitate the other night. I hope they make more.

We both work at home all day, are tired when it comes time to cook dinner, and love getting out together. We place our order for 6 p.m. and get it home before it cools off. A sweet new dimension in our life, one we never expected from a food cart. And truthfully, a big change.

It is not easy eating well in a small rural village; there are not many choices. Shift is changing that.

I believe that women and young people will save us from ourselves. Corey and Sarah give me hope. I’m impressed by their enterprise and hard work.

I ordered two bolls of the cream of apparatus soup, and it was great, one for each of us; I will get it as often as it is available (which won’t be long, garlic scapes are almost out of season now).

This kind of food has never been easy to get here. I went and ordered three vegan smoothies from the cart this morning and froze them. They are full of healthy fruit, granola, and almond milk, making for a beautiful breakfast. My two pieces of multi-grain bread are losing some of their appeal.

We can order the food online and pick it up whenever we want.

Corey and Sarah are doing something important, and the more I eat their food, the more I understand it. I am shifting, just like they wanted. This good food is changing me reasonably and necessarily.  It can change a lot of people if their experiment works.

I admire what they are doing and how they are doing it. I can’t predict their success; this small town has many people who dislike change and new things.

But since they don’t want to toot their own horn, I thought I would jump in and put the blog to good use; we can’t live on flowers alone.

I don’t think they will need me, to be honest. Some things speak for themselves. Tonight, dinner is “The Scape Goat,” and breakfast is a vegan smoothie with fruit.