Saturday, July 26, 2008
I was reading a piece about food the other day. The author argued that produce bought locally always tastes best and that we should try and eat what is locally grown rather than what is imported from around the world.
Later that day I found myself at a local chain grocery store. When it comes to fresh fruits and vegetables, I usually try to support small local grocers. However, on my way home from work I do stop here because of its convenience -- it's right next to the sky train sation. I tend to just pick up my staples: a stop at the deli, whole wheat bread and yogurt. Yet, as I walked into the store on Thursday I saw a display of beautiful nectarines. I had picked up some Okanagan nectarines two weeks prior and they had been succulent and delicious. These ones, however, were marked "Product of the USA," and were still hard because they'd been shipped on a semi truck before they were ripe. This disappointed me a little. I'd been excited about these delicious-looking nectarines. I picked a few up anyways, figuring they'd ripe and hope and be just as good.
The next stand I passed was stocked with clamshells of berries. Again, they were marked "Product of the USA," which upset me a little because strawberries are in season here in June and July so we don't need ones shipped from California. I looked in the produce section to see if they had any locally grown strawberries or nectarines. I was saddened to discover that they didn't, and had little to no fresh Canadian produce for sale. I was surprised because I seem to recall this chain store had advertisements not too long ago about how they sell fresh local produce.
The nectarines and strawberries were good. I brought some strawberries for lunch. While I was eating them, I remembered what this author said about locally grown foods. It is true. The Californian strawberries did not taste as good as the local ones -- especially not the six tiny strawberries I found and picked from the flower bed in my front yard!
I'm nowhere near ready to embark on the 100 mile diet, but I will try my best to buy fresh Canadian-grown produce. (Although my economically-minded boyfriend did point out that for reasons of proximity, it can make green sense to buy produce from Washington or Idaho.)Labels: food, July 2008
posted by Vanessa at 10:32 PM
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