Real Food/In Defense of Food

That's sort of my general problem with his comments. They're great, if you can afford them. I don't think it's affordable for most people.

I agree and I think the affordability is an issue of time and money both.

[DCJenn]

I try to get our veggies from our local organic food delivery source and I won't buy meats from anywhere except the Farmer's market, Whole Foods or the chi-chi grocery store. We don't eat a lot of meat but I would prefer the meat that I do eat to not be treated with ammonia (anyone see that NYTimes article today? Gross) or rife with the other nasty things found in large corporate meat processing.

I can't get much to grow in a garden- our neighbors who are retired have a gorgeous "cottage garden" yard but please note- they're retired. and they don't have kids and therefore don't have grandkids. They're in the yard all the time.

I'll plant my tomatoes in February and they'll likely be burned to a crisp by June (again.)

I'd like to try my hand at baking bread, so that's my next little project- get over my fear of bread.

Jenn

[spotty_dog]

What Alison said though I am not quite as dedicated.

I'm kinda the opposite of dedicated, to be honest. I get passionate and do it for a while, then lose momentum and take a break, usually to make more frugal choices or indulge in convenience for a while. I'm mostly on a break now, though I'm still trying to stick with North American produce. But I know I'll soon get back to it, (in the spring if not sooner) and make more things habitual, and learn more about the food supply chain in my region, and the pendulum swings get shorter as "local" and "frugal or timesaving" begin to draw closer.

I mean, the way I see it, I pay now or I pay later, in many senses. Food won't always be this cheap to fertilize and transport. When the day comes that the only tenable option is sustainably produced local food, I'm going to be glad I've invested in my local farmers and in my own garden plot, so that they're still here to feed me, and their prices will seem cheap compared to the alternative.

I also love showing the kids where their food was grown and introducing them to the people who grew it.

[SoonerTexan]

I get passionate and do it for a while, then lose momentum and take a break

That sounds familiar.

What stinks is it is so hard to find "the good stuff"

I went to the Dallas Farmers Market last year and 75% of what was there was the same stuff you would find in a grocery store. I've actually had better luck in Oklahoma, but you are right, it does get really expensive and time consuming. And I'm only feeding myself--I cant imagine what happens when you throw a spouse and kids into the mix

[spotty_dog]

What stinks is it is so hard to find "the good stuff"

Yeah, in metro areas "farmers markets" can encompass all manner of produce and are often simply the same stuff marked up. But that's one reason we were so glad to move here. We're smack in the middle of farmland, and the people selling the goods at market are the people who grew the goods! I can recognize many of the farmers on sight and point out their farms on a map, and have visited several of them. Our little town grocery store is also great about stocking local product.