Food Values

The life of a food purist is not an easy one. Take shopping day, for example. I first must go to the farmer's market, since that's where I'll find local, fresh, and organic food. Local is the key word, here and it's usually my first criterian. Not only am I not going to buy fruit and vegetables from Mexico or South American (or China!) I'm going to try not to buy them from Georgia, either. Or even Washington or Oregon. I'm going to first look for food that's grown within 100 miles of where I live. And yes, I'm really lucky in that regard, since I live in the Bay Area. It's amazing what's grown or found within 100 miles of here.

So after the farmer's market, it's off to Whole Foods for whatever I absolutely must have that wasn't at the market. I'm usually pretty lucky there, 'cause I can still find most of my produce from local farmers. Whole Foods puts up signs telling you where the stuff was grown. Try looking for that at Safeway!

In general, the local thing works pretty well for me. I only buy what's in season, so there's no need to get the asparagus from Peru. I got it when it was harvested in California. After Whole Foods, then I hit Safeway for the few items my husband refuses to give up, like Mocha Mix, cereal, turkey bacon, etc. That list is getting smaller and smaller, thank goodness.So three stops for groceries and beyond that, I also belong to a meat CSA which distributes once a month. That requires a trip to Berkeley, but I get grass-fed meat from local ranchers, as well as eggs from chickens that got to scratch for their food, and I'm hoping for a heritage turkey or ham for the holidays.

My last stop will probably be Peet's coffee (a non-local item I'm not giving up!) to pick up a 2 pound bag of beans. But I'll get that tomorrow when we go see a movie. Peet's is next door to the theater.The taste of the food is so far beyond what's sold in normal grocery stores that I hope I never have to go back to them. It can be a challenge, but it's worth every minute!