21 March 2011

Get up close and personal with your food

Americans tend to be disconnected from their food.  To many people, it does not particularly matter where their food comes from or how it comes to be.  They do not think twice, or even once, about the lettuce and tomato that came from thousands of miles away to sit atop the hamburger they just picked up from the drive-thru window at the nearest fast food restaurant.  So many of us pick our fruits and vegetables from the produce section at the grocery store with the same amount of consideration we give to selecting a box of cereal. 

Vegetables can be easy to grow.  You may say you don't have an area big enough for a garden, but if you have ten feet of space, you can grow a lot.  Don't have a yard?  Plant tomatoes, lettuce, and herbs in containers on your porch or deck.  Don't have a porch or deck?  Plant things in containers inside in front of a window.  What I'm getting at is there are no excuses when it comes to getting up close and personal with your food.  Michael Pollan has illustrated this well in his numerous books about food and gardening. 

Many people say they don't like the taste of vegetables.  I'm willing to bet that if those people tasted locally grown, fresh vegetables straight from the garden, they would be amazed at the difference in taste and quality.  A tomato that is ten feet away from my backdoor definitely has a different taste than the tomato that came from two thousand miles away.

No comments:

Post a Comment