"Food Issues"

seasonal food
Cav, when I retired and moved from California's Bay Area to Albuquerque, New Mexico last October, I was confronted with the reality of seasonal fruits and vegetables I had not experienced in many years.

In California's Gourmey Ghetto in Berkeley, I was able to buy wonderful and tasty fruits and vegetables all year long. In Albuquerque's high desert area, I find such availability subject to their local growing season. Some produce is shipped in, mostly from California, but the majority is locally grown for supermarkets and also farmer's markets.

This seasonal New Mexico local green grocer market reminded me of my younger days when our meals were prepared with mostly seasonal locally grown produce. Of course, during World War II, my family and many others planted "Victory Gardens" creating our own seasonal produce. The quality and flavor were wonderful even if you did get tired of constantly eating so much of the in-season produce.

Some famous restaurants specialize in seasonal produce by having four basic seasonal menues with emphasis on seasonal fruits and vegetables, and even some meats such as Spring lamb, etc. "Greens" in San Francisco, "Mudds" in San Ramon, Alice Walter's Chez Panisse in Berkeley, and the former "Nut Tree" in Vacaville are good examples of this seasonal rythym of ingredients. Alice Walters is the guru of seasonal produce fans. Her impact on food production and eating is outstanding.

---BumbleBeeBoogie

The Chez Pannise Cookbook was a standard text when I went to Chefs School. It was a big influence on me in my approach to cooking.

My short visits to italy primed me for interest in seasonal food buying, but I have been lucky in living in California, where glorious tomatoes are grown locally and peak in September or so...well, not to go on and on, california has many climates in one state and there is quite a variety of produce and fish available even if you shop for local seasonal items. I like shopping at my Coop for local fresh veggies, and vary what I cook accordingly. I know I am spoiled in being able to do this without adding frozen or home canned this and that to add interest to meals.

I'm a Slow Food member, and support the local organic free range hormone and antibiotic free beef and chicken raising companies, buying these when I do buy meat or chicken...both of which I have cut down on, if not cut out.

I don't like genetically modified food for a different reason than usual...mainly that I hate to see one type of corn, for example, become all there is... I'm a fan of keeping heritage type varieties going.

What is Slow Food?

http://www.slowfood.com/

Whew! This covers so much! I can't even begin to comment. Very important on many different levels. Culture, tradition, decency, a way of life going by the wayside- putting a positive spin on the pursuit of pleasure. I will definitely continue to read about this.

Yes, it is really something. I get six books from them a year with featured foods. My biggest problem was whether to join up for the italian slow food section or US...because I don't have such an interesting source otherwise on italy....

Oh, and I looooooooooooove my snail pin.

Around here, we only get locally grown about 4 months out of the year. The rest is shipped, prepackaged, preserved, etc.. Just the way of the wild windy East Coast. Also, with dairy farms disappearing around here, it's harder and harder to find milkmen for farm milk, cheese, and butter.

I do buy some food from the organic grocery store, but to tell you the truth, it's much more expensive than the regular market. It's a lot easier to 'eat right' if you have the money for it. Weight and health issues in the poor can largely be attributed to the poor quailty foods they consume - the higher in fat , sugar, growth hormone and pesticides - the cheaper it is.

So, it's nice to buy local in the summer, and organic tomatos and steak in the winter, but most of the time I don't have the extra cash.

There is plenty of food, but I guess my food issue is a cost issue. Up the street from my office is a grocery store, but some of the children that live in the projects across the street won't be eating any fresh tomatoes or meat for dinner. Maybe some frozen burritos for dinner? Three for $5......

ditto what Sugar said.
The good stuff is so dang expensive its not even funny. Last week I picked up a bag of black cherries, one of my favorites to get this time of year..and come to find out..it was 10.00 for that little ol bag. I wont be buying cherries again anytime soon.
Still waiting for local tomatos as well..anything not 3/lb is just plain ugly.
I like buying organic when I can but, the cost is just horrid.
I spend most of my time in the rgular isles trying to find the best for my buck.
Sug---Theres a couple of dairy's that still deliver around here actually...Ive checked out the trucks. My whole food issue is lactose so, I wont be buying from them anytime soon . I liked fresh milk and stuff growing up, well, okay, maybe it was just the trucks I have a fascination with.

It irks me that junk food is indeed so much cheaper than fresh produce. However, there are alternatives, if one learns how to cook, that could, in the end, save even more money than relying on buying junk. I will admit, the junk food thing is more of a problem in the States. We don't get the same kind of super-size deals in Canada, but we still have the same issues.

Junk food is only cheaper than healthy food in nations where the consumption of junk food exceeds the consumption of healthy food.

In nations where natural foods are the staples thay are far cheaper than in nations where junk is the staple.

I jes wonted tew make a chicken/egg.

Actually, Craven, you have a point there.

Well, in other nations in which I have lived it was just as cheap to get a freshly squeezed glass of juice as it was a coke.

Processed foods were more expensive than natural ones, expecially in tropical places where food grows easily.

McDonalds was actually for the middle class. It was as easy to get a steak dinner as it was to get a hamburger..
Etc etc.

I miss real food. Here in the states it's inconvenient and expensive to eat decent food.

I keep waiting for somebody to put together a 'fast food/healthy food' competitor to McD's. Health shakes--salad on a stick...

Grr, what passes for "healthy" here is not what I'd like to eat. I'm thinking more along the lines of simply "homestyle" foods.

Some ricebowl company (I think it's Uncle Ben's, I've only heard teh commercial and haven't seen it) has a campaign that says something like: "Lunch went away.. and everyone searched high and low.." they are referencing the disappearance of rice and such at lunch. With breads being all that's easy to get. I think they are right on. The sandwich was invanted by a guy who didn't want to give up what he was doing while eating.

I don't mine sandwiches but I'd like to be able to have a decent meal as accessible as fast food. And that doesn't mean it has to be fast. I don't want a drive through. I just don't want to have to pass 10 fastfood joints while looking for one knife and fork joint.

Thing is, here in the states people think eating healthy means salads, which might be nice if youse a femfolk and doant need carbs but what I miss is a simple meal with meat, rice, pasta or whatnot available as easily as sandwiches are.

I miss food dammit. What passes for food here is often called snacks elsewhere.

Is there a Trader Joe's by you? They solve most of my decent/healthy food, min prep time problems.

http://www.traderjoes.com/locations/map/26.asp

I am talking about eateries. In the supermarkets here you can get plenty of decent food.

They have ready-made stuff, though. I guess you need access to a microwave for a lot of it. But they have stuff like very good prepared pasta dishes that just need to be warmed up for 2 minutes. Or middle eastern lunches -- falafel, pita bread, hummus, tabbouli -- all in one. That kind of thing.

I shall start to carry a microwave wherever I go. Sounds very convenient and very tasty, after all, everyone knows that nuked food tastes delicious.

My complaint is about convenience. You can find good food stateside you just have to cover more distance, endure fewer conveniences and pay more.

There's nothing like being able to order a homecooked meal delivered to your house. Or for there to be more places that serve it than there are McDonalds.