Will work for Right Livelihood!

I'm back from another weekend spent in supermarkets, and do I have some new insights. My muses in this experience seem to be the seniors. I guess I shouldn't be surprised, who else is going to be shopping early on a Friday afternoon. By the time the working crowd comes in later they are pretty focused on getting what they want and getting home.

Saturdays are a completely different experience altogether. Granted these first two weekends I've been doing this were not typical. The first weekend was the first really hot summer weather we've had, and people were either in physical shock from it, or quickly grabbing beer and bbq food, and heading to the river. This weekend was Memorial Day weekend, and somehow that definitely makes it different from a non-holiday weekend.

This past Friday, I spent in a large, modern supermarket on the far outskirts of a very upscale bedroom community that is heavily populated with seniors. I had a pretty enjoyable time that afternoon. I talked to the seniors a lot about nutrition and what and how they ate. These folks are the veterans of our present day food system. Most of them have been foraging for food since before the advent of TV dinners and microwaves. I guess I shouldn't have been surprised that these people knew their stuff. They have seen the way we shop and eat swing almost full circle now as most of them remember the early days of highly processed and fast foods, and are still here to see things start to swing back to where they came from. That is more and more of us wanting the artisan foods of old, the things raised and made by a couple of people with a passion for what they do, and not a multinational corporation trading in genetically-modified crops raised half-way around the world.

Because these seniors live in this upscale neighborhood, I'm guessing they can afford health insurance, probably have regular visits to their doctor, and are pretty knowledgeable about the latest in nutrition. I think another thing that serves them well is that they remember what real food is. Their reference point for pancakes is probably that one mixes batter and fries them in a pan, not freezer to toaster or microwave to plate. They also have something most of us have less and less of - time. I'm not sure how inclined these folks are to take the time to make that many home-cooked meals anymore, most of them have raised kids and gotten meals on the table most days for over twenty years. But if they felt so inclined, they could take the time to cook. Most of us grab the toaster waffle because we're late for work and heading out the door as soon as it pops up, if we even take the time to do that.

I love the questions these seniors have for me as they pick up a package and look for sodium, check the fat, check the serving size. They know their stuff. When you stop to think about it, that's why they are probably still enjoying good health at their age, although many confided in me that "they just can't eat that stuff anymore" as they often described a health condition that precluded it anymore

So what's wrong with our food system? If you've got 20 minutes I highly recommend you listen to what New York Times Food Writer, Mark Bittman recently said. I certainly can't improve on how he explains about our country's Western diet which consists of too much meat and fast food, and too few vegetables. And guess what? You don't need a drive-thru to get fast food. Lots of what you buy at the supermarket qualifies. He also talks about how the same style of eating that challenges our health, is what challenges the health of our planet.

As you'll see on the video, he's not proposing we all become vegetarians. He, like me, has cooked and eaten meat for a very long time. He's not planning on becoming a vegetarian, and neither am I. That being said, I find myself cooking and eating more vegetarian fare all the time. I find the flavors I can build and combine can be much more interesting, it's healthier for me, I can feel good about the fact that I'm helping the Earth a little, and eating vegetarian is way less expensive.

A couple of points here about Bittman's chat on our Western diet. First, he's not crusading against eating meat, and neither am I. I think what's he's saying is let's develop some balance in our diets. If we can make our diets a bit more interesting in the process, so much the better. My personal preference would be to indulge every now and then with a fabulous meal of something special that's led a good life and was harvested in a humane, conscious way, rather than eat steaks five times a week or more that come from our mainstream food supply of beef raised in feedlots that consume a grain diet, and...well, I'll not get into that here.

Like you'll hear Bittman describe, he and I grew up in households that did pretty much that, and I came to find it a very boring way of eating. Just like he says, I did not even know what real spinach looked like until I became an adult. My parents both worked, and my mom was an amazing mid-western cook. But as her part-time job grew into a full-time job, her style of cooking became like most working moms. Quick and easy fare became much more common than slow and wonderful. I know one of the coolest events in her kitchen life was when she got her first microwave oven. And they were not all that back then.

My parents started to enjoy some career success about the time I was in high school, and their diet started to change. Not more meat, they'd always served meat at nearly every meal. But the cuts changed, less hamburger, more T-bones. And not T-bones like you see on the Food Network. These were the bargain ones. I guess it was a big deal for them, but it became one of my least favorite dinners, "Steak again, Mom?" When I went to college I began to realize that when it came to food and eating, I'd rather have the best once in a while, than mediocre all the time. I'd much prefer to indulge in an occasional piece of a happy, fabulously tasty cow that lived a good life. The rest of the time I could do just fine making fab food out of veggies and grains and such. Sound boring? Well it can be.

Vegetarian food has not been elevated to what it could be in our society. There are certainly many exceptions, but if you want great vegetarian food, look to a society that has been eating almost exclusively vegetarian for centuries, like India. In one of Anthony Bourdan's "No Reservations" episodes, he travels to Rajasthan, India and dines at a vegetarian only restaurant that serves what even he admits is "vibrant and flavorful" food. This coming from one of the most vocal and outspoken critics of American vegetarian cooking.

The other point I'd like to make is that, we're not talking about absolutes here. No drastic changes in diet that will make you miserable (and probably everyone around you!), and if you can't live without something, definitely don't give it up. I'm saying what your mom used to say, just try some new things. Be open to a little change that will be good for you, and probably good for our planet too. We're all so used to settling for what is available in most supermarkets, many of us have lost our sense of adventure about eating.

Another thing that I believe will become more and more important is eating more things we can find locally and seasonally. If you have to have strawberries or oranges in January, fine, but with what's going on with gasoline prices those things are going to become much more expensive and less available in our local food supply. Think about the alternatives you have at hand, Oregon berries are usually very plentiful in January. Or you can plant some strawberries in your yard or in a pot on your balcony and have strawberries for years to come. Sometimes it just takes a little thinking about it and not being so ready to take what we can find in the usual places. Did you know there are Farmer's Markets in Portland that stay open all year? Try People's Farmers Market. Another one I have high hopes for is the Portland Public Market which just lost in it's bid to secure the former INS Federal Building as it's permanent location. When the right home is found I believe the plans and vision for this market will make it a model of markets for the future.

So where does that leave me? I'm wrapping up my time working under the bright lights of the supermarket and heading back to Southern Oregon for another growing season. I'll try to write about what's going on from where I'm headed. Have a fabulous summer!

Peace and Peas,
Calliope