Food

I want to talk about food. More specifically, I want to talk about the psychology of food. People are weird about food, aren’t they? They’ll shell out 50 bucks for a fake Prada on the streets of New York, or 1000 for the real thing, but you still see them buying a 7 layer burrito from Taco Bell, or dare I say it? Buying conventional produce from the grocery store. Why is it that consumers feel their wallets and lip glosses deserve a fifty dollar home when they themselves don’t even deserve a 4 dollar quart of organic strawberries? They have the latest gadgets, music, books, video games, or what have you, but they can’t be bothered with pouring over labels to avoid high fructose corn syrup. I have a hard time understanding these people, partly because I’m happy with my 6 dollar handbag from Gap, but mostly because I care deeply about what goes into my body and into the bodies of those I feed.

I’m not trying to begrudge anyone a hearty meal or even an occasional treat, but the everyday stuff (or double stuf) that people pour down their throats really disturbs me. Have we, as a society, traveled so far from our agrarian roots that we can only eat from cans, packages, or bags? Okay. I’m being a bit extreme, but have you tried an organic strawberry? Those little red berries of delight are laughing in the face of their conventional brethren. Organic cheese is sharper than its conventional counterpart, and I wont even start on tomatoes.

I would like to encourage as many of you as possible to give it a shot. Try eating organic. Try shopping local. Try to cut back on your processed, packaged foods. Make more than 5 meals a week. I'm talking breakfast, lunch, dinner. Take out the Cocoa Puffs and try a banana. How about some plain yogurt with honey and granola? Give it a month. Indulge yourself in the good stuff and see how you feel. My guess is that, if you keep up with it for an entire month, you’ll come back to report you’re feeling energized, light, refreshed, because that’s how my body feels every day.

Here are a few resource links for you:

Newsweek's Lab Notes. Face Off: Organic vs. Conventional.

Organic Center and their Mission Organic 2010

How Organic Food Works.

A voice of dissent from CNN. (See? I'm a fair reporter!)



I’m climbing down from my soap box, now. But watch for me to step back up tomorrow because I’m going to be talking about a really worthy cause, The Author Advocate Defense Fund.

Farmer's Market

On Friday, I went to our downtown farmer's market. There were more than 10 farmers, selling their produce, flowers, and baked goods from little stands and trucks. Here are a few pictures, to make you feel like you were part of my organic Friday experience!

Spring Onions - These onions are delicious. I made 2 quarts of refrigerator pickles, and I think the onions are the best part!

Fresh Strawberries from Wood Fired Bakery and Farms.

Patchwork Farms had the sweetest organic snap peas on the planet. After buying 1 pint and tasting them, I walked right back into the line to buy another. Yes, they were that good. And the owner was a total sweetheart and gave me his recipe for garlic scape, which I've never tried. You can be sure I'm working on that this week!

My friends, Barrie and Madeline Moser, of Moser's Garden Produce, were selling beautiful greens and herbs. The sweet basil was so good in a roasted corn, tomato, and mozzarella salad.

So, it was a very successful outing. I spent 20 dollars and purchased: Organic spring onions, beets, 2 pints of snap peas, 1 qt organic strawberries, granola, a dozen free range organic eggs, a scoop of raw milk ice cream for my little boy, garlic scape, napa cabbage, and sweet basil. They're holding the market on Tuesdays from 11-4 and Fridays from 11-6. Go down there and buy local, if you can. If you're not in the State College area, visit FarmersMarket.com to find out where you can shop locally. Thanks for reading and commenting.

All the best!

~Sara