I have to admit that I am a little puzzled at the new excitement surrounding eating locally. This is what I have done all my adult life. This is my family legacy modelled to me by my grandmother, who raised a large family during the depression and wartime, and continued by my uncle on the farm in NH. I can’t remember the last Thanksgiving we ate a turkey purchased other than from the local turkey farm or grown on ours. One of my greatest pleasures in life is to sit down to a meal grown totally by us or by our friends and family. I got into a huge argument last summer with a man at farmers’ market who insisted that I must go to the grocery store for something, and all I could come up with was detergent, olive oil and salt. And even salt I could get locally.
Worried about food contamination? Eat local.
Worried about disruption to the food supply caused by weather extremes? Eat local.
Worried about real flavor in your food? Eat local.
Worried about your carbon footprint? Eat local.
Duh.
2 comments:
I think it's great that you have been able to eat locally most of your life! My husband and I are new to this whole eating local thing. Liz over at www.pocketfarm.com has One Local Summer, which is eating one meal per week locally. You should join! It starts June 24th :-)
The chef at our company cafe tries to cook locally as much as possible. He spends a lot of time educating people here about it, and it is amazing how clueless most people are. (Do you read the little stickers on your fruit in the supermarket, people?? It says "Chile" or "Mexico" or... Get a clue!) I think partly, they also have no idea what is in season. I have a reputation for being a good cook, so people come ask me for recipes or suggestions. They say something like, "I want to make something with green beans." I say, "Green beans aren't in season right now. How about a different veggie?" And they say, "But I see it in the store." And I explain how it isn't that good, blah blah blah. They know nothing. But what the heck? Most of the food they eat is "manufactured" which has no season, locality is not relevant, and the dominant flavors are often artificial. Maybe one day they will find out that stuff causes Alzheimer's...
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