I was at Oliver’s Market the other day. A strong proponent for local agriculture, the soul of their company is creating relationships with local farmers and vendors. On this day, I was talking to one of the butchers about the growing local food movement. We discussed how it’s pretty cool to know where you’re food comes from, especially when it’s nearby. Later in our conversation, he mentioned how it’s nice to have a variety or mix of local and, perhaps, imported food. This got me thinking…
Look at the food in your fridge, do you know where each item came from?
Take bananas for instance. They’re very little bananas grown in the U.S., which means, if you want to enjoy the potassium possessing, energy instilling fruit, you’re going to have to sacrifice your local roots. On the other hand, a fruit like grapefruit is fairly abundant in the U.S., grown in states like California, Arizona and Texas, which means there are a much more opportunities to savor the local flavor.
This sort of conflict is synonymous with many other facets of the food industry. Honey, meat, seafood, vegetables, baked goods, alcoholic beverages, dairy, and many others, all share the conflict of: local or imported?
What ever your philosophy on food is, I would like to share mine with you. Similar to my butcher friend at Oliver’s, I believe in supporting local vendors as much as possible by eating locally grown food. There’s nothing quite like enjoying the uniquely wonderful flavors and textures in your food, knowing that you could take a short car ride to find where it grew-up. With that said, there’s nothing wrong with buying some banana’s from Costa Rica or bell peppers from Mexico. It just isn’t possible to eat everything local, but it is fun to try.