(this is just my shelf in the fridge. i did not include the crisper drawer.)
it's not enough that all of my relatives have their own vegetable gardens and are constantly sending me bags of peppers and tomatoes. no, then there are farmer's markets. my dad was recently in town and he, like me, is a sucker for produce. i woke up at my grandparents' house on saturday morning and was presented with a box full of apples, peaches, pears, and nectarines.
"these are asian pears. they're more like apples."
"these are ginger golds. they're interesting."
"i guess i didn't get you too many peaches. we'll have to go back."
and the best:
"i also got you five pounds of honey. that should last you a while."
whenever i look at the contents of my fridge and pantry shelves i think about how my friend down the road just bought a case of ramen. it's not just about the ease of preparation. it's that ramen, and nearly all processed food, is a whole lot cheaper than buying a pound or two of apples. and as a general rule, it would be cheaper for me to go to beto's than make dinner for myself. if i didn't have relatives throwing food at me and wasn't inherently health conscious, i would probably be doing just that. (this is not to say, however, that don't enjoy a greasy burrito every now and then. i am only as health conscious as my willpower allows.)
the question is, why do you have to be a white upper-middle-class yuppie to get decent food? farmer's markets, to me, are associated with hipsters and middle-aged guys in birkenstocks buying heirloom tomatoes--in other words, they're trendy.
what i'm hoping is that the trend doesn't fade and instead becomes part of the mainstream culture. the ideal would be for small farms to become more prevalent, decreasing the need for imported produce and thus decreasing the cost (potentially). heirloom tomatoes for all.
http://www.slowfoodusa.org/
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