Fresh Local Produce

My husband is rolling his eyes again... Because I told him that we need to go to a farmer's market that is 30 minutes away... to get goat cheese... He would say, "so why do we have to go to that market again?" "and what do you want to buy there?" "does it have to be that market?" My answer was "yes, I have to go there and I am buying goat cheese".

I have joined the movement recently. It is like a "slow food nation" local style. I have just finished reading Barbara Kingsolver's "Animal, Vegetable, Miracle", oh boy! I am inspired. Even though my husband may complain and look at me like I am going a bit too far, he is very supportive of my dedication to local fresh produce. After all, I am the cook and he loves what I cook, so in the end he benefits, too. The other day on my facebook, I wrote, ‎"If every U.S.citizen ate just ONE meal per week (ANY MEAL) composed of LOCALLY and ORGANICALLY raised meats and produce, we would reduce our country's oil consumption by over 1.1 million barrels of oil every week." by Steve Hopp. I got two comments about how Organic food is expensive and people cannot afford it and they end up eating cup noodles (!!). Yes, they are right. Organic produce at a supermarket is extremely pricey and many people cannot afford it. And many people living below poverty line do have to rely on "cheap" food at a chain supermarket. How sad... However, I beg everyone to re-think of the way we eat and the way we buy produce. I beg everyone to re-evaluate where your money really goes to. And those of us who CAN afford to buy organic food at a local farmer's market where produce are much cheaper and fresher than at a supermarket, what is stopping us from going to the market? Why do we keep going back to supermarkets? Familiarity? Convenience? Lack of information? Plain laziness?

We started going to farmer's market every chance we get about two years ago. Slowly, our food purchase moved from supermarket to farmer's markets. We still use healthy food chain stores for dairy products and staple food. But much of our fresh produce we get from CSA and farmer's market. We learned a lot from the farmers about seasonal produce. Our Avocado man Jimmy taught us different types of avocados and how we store them, cut them, and eat them. Our Jujube farmer taught us about organic produce and its certification. Another farmer taught us how to choose a pomegranate (cracked and bruised the best!) We get to know the farmers and we started to care for the produce more. My husband would say, "I can't let this avocado go bad... I feel bad for Jimmy..." Indeed. We connect to the farmers and therefore to the produce we buy. It was challenging at first but soon it became normal and easy.

You may not want to drive 17 miles just to get goat cheese from a farmer who raises and attends the goat. But surely, you can check out if there is a market close to your home and start going there. Try their samples and savor the sun through their fruits and vegetables. If you don't know how to cook, grab some fruits that you can bite into. Taste the difference. and keep going back. Soon, you don't want to go back to your supermarket any more.