Mr. Distressed has been working a LOT lately, so when we
finally had a day off together with no plans, we were very happy. The weather was perfect, in the 70s and
sunny, so we headed off to two winter farmer’s markets, the last of the season.
What We Brought
Home Today and Where We Bought It:
Markets
Clintonville Winter Farmer’s Market:
Worthington Winter Farmer’s Market:
Vendors
Taylor Made: Hot
sauce
Dan the Baker:
Sprouted multigrain (millet quinoa, flax and oats with whole wheat and whole
rye flours)
Curly Tail Organic
Farm: Pork shoulder
Speckled Hen Farms:
Eggs
Vegetables: Celery, potatoes, snow peas, onions (to be
honest, I forgot the name of the farm, oops)
Personal Musings
on my Relationship to My Food
My mom and I had a conversation yesterday about the
technological advances in agriculture in the last hundred or so years and how
they’ve affected our daily lifestyles.
My mom talked of how much time and energy some of our older relatives
spent in food production and preparation, with hours upon hours spent both in
the garden and kitchen. When many in my
grandparent’s generation found the convenience of the boxed mashed potatoes,
they walked away from the garden and put down the potato peeler without ever
looking back. It’s understandable
too. The new technology of processed
foods meant a huge surge in the abundance of free time. The abundance of cheap and fast food has come
at a price though, and our society is currently undergoing an identity crisis, looking
for a balance between cheap, fast, productive versus meaningful, slow, thoughtful.
Food exemplifies how I think about relationships in our
world in general, and my desire to understand them (as well as my role in them)
as much as possible. I don’t want to be
a consumer, to which large faceless corporations vie to sell me the lowest
value product for the highest price. I
don’t want to walk into a grocery store and walk past an employee with a
near-minimum wage salary and no personal pride in the food-like products he’s
selling. The vendors at the farmers
markets think about their relationship in the world. They think about growing cycles, animals and
the care they need, the value of their products, being effective stewards of
the land, and how to remain viable. This
understanding of and role in the cycle of life creates an enormous amount of
pride, and the farmers are vested in the annual cycles of the earth, their
local economy, and their community. While I’m not sure I would have the vim and
vigor to start my own farming endeavor, I’m so happy I have the option to
partake in a system in which I can see the participants’ faces.
As I sit here and write, I think about all the topics I’ve
left out, or barely glossed over. I’m
not trying to write a book though, Michael Pollan already wrote several of
those J I’m just trying to show you a picture of my
farmer’s market bounty.
