Local Food
29 June 2008

We don’t blog much about food around here, but I can never forgo an opportunity to wax poetic about fresh fruits and vegetables (just ask Bob).

When one mentions local food, unfortunately many people instantly conjure up images of “local grass fed beef,” because most locavores are also omnivores who can’t pass up a good steak - but if it was treated well before it was killed, then it’s okay and it’s better for you, right?  Can you feel me rolling my eyes right now?

When I think of local food, this is what I picture:

Food that is able to be picked at the height of ripeness by someone that I actually know, not loaded with pesticides, and not trucked across the country or shipped from another part of the world.  (Thank you to the Kent Family Growers for their amazing produce!) I eyeball the strawberries in the grocery store and feel sad that someone is going to eat the sour, tasteless berries in the plastic package.  The strawberries pictured above taste so amazing that we don’t ever put them into a pie or a strawberry shortcake - we just eat them as is, or on top of our morning muesli.

I think I’ve actually blogged about this topic before on here, but since our archives never made it through the move to our new design, you lucky people get to read about it again.  It’s just that when every summer rolls around, I am so awed at the quality of the produce we can get, how amazing it tastes, and and wonderful it is to eat whole, fresh foods, especially after a long, harsh winter full of sad, tasteless produce.

I’m not a diehard locavore and I don’t think that it’s the be all end all to any food crisis, but it certainly can’t hurt, and it is nice to support the local economy and eat healthier as a result.  If you are able to, visit your local farmer’s market, farm stand, and/or look into joining a CSA (Community Supported Agriculture) in which you’ll get a weekly delivery of whatever’s in season.  It is probably too late for this year, but it’s a good time to start looking into joining for next year.  It’s a great way to connect into the local community, learn what is in season when in your area, expand your produce horizon (every year we get a new vegetable that I haven’t cooked before), and eat healthy, whole foods.

  Posted by Jenna Torres    Permalink    Filed under: Opinion
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