Tomatoes in winter

Even though I'm not super into the word locavore, eating local food is pretty important to me. I'm sold on the idea that local veggies require less fossil fuel to produce and ship (smaller farm infrastructures, smaller distances to market), support family farmers and businesses, and keep dollars in a local economy. The American food system, as dependent as it is on fossil fuels, is unsustainable in the long term, so it makes sense to me to start embracing and supporting alternatives now. I also really like being in touch with the seasons - broccoli in the spring and fall but not high summer, that amazing period when honesy crisps are available, asian pear season. It helps to ground me where I live, and I'm lucky to live in a richly agricultural area.

But we're in to winter now, down to mostly root vegetables (and bread and animal products) at the farmer's market. Eating local is important to me, but so is eating vegetables, and I think vegetables from far away are slightly better than processed frozen ones. So I've ventured back to the conventional produce stalls at Reading Terminal. Bring on the brawny non-organic kale.

Price is part of it too. $4 for scrawny late season greens at the farmer's market just makes me sad. I spend a lot of time thinking about food and how it's a cultural commodity - something people consume for meaning as well as function - and the cost of food, social class and priorities (paying 25 cents for a single large carrot totally motivates me to walk the extra three blocks to avoid an ATM fee). I'm an underpaid nonprofit worker, and sometimes I need to take a break from expensive local food. More and more, winter is becoming that break. I feel OK about it.

That said, Michael Pollan totally put it all in perspective when I saw him at the White Dog this week with my mom: local food is expensive, he said, not only because of higher production value (smaller scale, etc.) but also because it's not subsidized. More often when you buy from farmer's markets you're paying closer to the true cost - meaning that what is sometimes the true cost of food could be considered, well, expensive.

That wasn't really a revelation to me, but hearing it again has me wondering now about those innocent looking onions at the Iovine. You gotta wonder, where's the line?