localizing
localizing
| Forum role | Member since | Last activity | Topics created | Replies created |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Member | Oct 25, 2008 (17 years) |
- | 2 | 5 |
- Forum role
- Member
- Member since
Oct 25, 2008 (17 years)
- Last activity
- -
- Topics created
- 2
- Replies created
- 5
Bio
When I was 21, I moved to small town Northwest Michigan to work as an environmental writer for the Michigan Land Use Institute, a small nonprofit group working to rebuild American cities and towns for sustainability, prosperity, and fun.
I had the good fortune to move in with Patty Cantrell, a local-foods pioneer who works hard to rebuild the markets that connect farmers to grocers, cooks, and humans generally. She owned a share in a Leelanau County farm, bought her eggs and strawberries from friends, and held stock in Betty the goat, who provided our weekly dose of yogurt. Living with Patty permanently changed the way I thought about food.
I live in New York now, where it's possible to eat anything, anytime, but I still get up early to go to the farmers market. I go to see the green stacks of corn, the orange-flecked gourds nestling amonst the green goose-necked squashes, and to rejoice to see that tomatoes are still in season. I go to marvel at how many crops are available even in the middle of winter - kale, apples, butter-nut squashes, purple cabbage, chartreuse sprouts. It reminds me that we could feed ourselves from the land around us if we really needed to, even though our winters are long.
I go because there is something very reassuring about looking at all the fruits and vegetables and cheeses and chickens and knowing that, even if we lost everything else, we would still be able to eat. And if we can eat - if we can grow food and cook it up - we'll be okay. The "paper wealth" of our economy might balloon or burst, but the value of our food is constant. Whatever else happens, this is real. We can eat it.
I go because buying my food from the people who grow it reminds me of the true value of the food. I am reminded of how many people worked so that I could eat. I am reminded that this work is indispensable and couldn't possibly be replaced by writing or lawyering or anything else.
I go because cooking and eating according to the seasons pushes my creativity as a cook and expands my palate as an eater. It's funny how accepting limits - does it grow here? does it grow now? - has increased the variety, flexibility, and spontaneity of my cooking.
I'm trying to eat a little closer to home a little more often, and I'd love some company along the way. If you're interested in localizing your life (or maybe just your refrigerator), please join us for anecdotes, photographs, recipes, and unsolicited advice at Localizing.
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