Food: The Good, The Bad and The Ugly

Well, I guess I have already covered the ugly with my earlier picture of my homemade bread, so I'll stick to the good and the bad.



I am thoroughly enjoying all the fresh food that is currently available, both from my garden and the local farmer's market. This is my favourite time of year for eating - and I do like to eat! The fresh fruit and vegetables are so incredibly delicious. Many of my meals right now are derived from just fresh produce without any cooking or preparing.



A little custard over a bowl of fresh raspberries is a favourite summer time treat around here.




I was inspired to try making pasta salad from one of the ladies here. The other day while a group of us were having dinner at the beach, I noticed how incredibly delicious her pasta salad looked. I think I have only attempted to make it once before and I was fairly disappointed with how it turned out. I found this website though that outlines the steps for making a great salad and now I am hooked. It was delicious ... and so easy to make. I think this will be a new summer staple in our house.



Now on to the bad side of food. I have been reading 'The Omnivore's Dilemma' by Michael Pollan. I heard about it months ago from this very interesting friend over here and I am just getting around to reading it now. It is a very well-written and somewhat entertaining book that shows a very in depth and grim look at where our food - and I use the term loosely - comes from.



I don't think I will ever look at an ear of corn the same way again.


Michael Pollan does a great job of outlining the path that food takes before it gets to our tables. He shows how the days of homestead farms in the Midwest have given way to giant corn growing operations and feedlots. What was once a natural symbiotic relationship between animal and plant - where the animal grazes on the plant and in turn fertilizes the soil - has turned into an assembly line system creating mountains of waste and heavily processed foods.


Years ago I made the decision to buy predominantly organic whole foods - both for my health and to support organic farming. This has been a very expensive prospect. I remember discussing this with a friend and we determined that I spend twice as much on food to feed my family of two than she does to feed her family of four. What made this all the more disconcerting is that our family income is less than half of hers as well. Obviously I have had to make some pretty serious sacrifices because of my food purchasing decision ... and that has caused me to rethink it several times over the years. For me, this is more than just a choice about food though - I also see it as casting a vote in support of agricultural practices. I have often tried to convince myself that buying organic is not viable for me right now, but I just keep coming back to the fact that - no matter how much money I would save - I would be supporting a whole system of producing food with which I so strongly disagree. Reading books like this just reinforces that decision for me. It also inspires me to carry on growing and preserving more of my own food.

Anyway I highly recommend this book for anyone who has ever wondered what the 21st century food chain really looks like.