There's a change coming

I woke up this morning in a wonderful mood.  That mood got even better when I logged onto my Facebook account.  Apparently Oprah had Michael Pollan on her show yesterday.  I didn't watch it, but have read great things on her site.  There were so many people talking about it on Facebook.  They were linking to Oprah, saying they needed to make a change and talking about Food Inc.    I had to join in and link to local Farmer's Markets that are running in the winter. 

It makes me feel hopeful for some significant changes.  It would be even better if these same people would look into planting a few edibles in their yard this year.  I swear that gardening is like crack, you get hooked and you can't stop at just the tomato plant, you have to have more!  Well, maybe that's just me.  If this groundswell from Oprah's show gets a real toehold, there could be major change this year.

There have already been huge numbers of new gardeners.  Anybody who tried to order seeds last Spring, quickly found out that things were rapidly running out and many were unable to get the varieties that they wanted.  I just got my Fedco order and along with it was a letter in Fedco style.  It talked about the politics of farming, how they are continuing to see record sales and struggling to keep up with them.  The types of veggies are changing too.  It seems that more and more of us are looking to grow veggies that are good keepers over the winter.  This is important.  If more of us have fruits and veggies in the basement, there will be less demand for those summer fruits and veggies from our Southern neighbors.  We need to get people hooked on the taste of fresh from the garden foods.  How can you even look at a grocery store tomato, when a little patience brings you a garden tomato. 

There are so many delicious things that people have forgotten about.  Take our dinner tonight for an example.  We'll be having roasted veggies.  They all come from either our own garden or the farmer's market.  With sweet potatoes, carrots, beets and onions, the taste is amazing.  Why have a tasteless imported tomato, when I can have those gorgeous root veggies.  The flavors can't even compete.

Then there is the taste of real meat.  The chicken that we've been eating lately are from the local slaughterhouse.  They aren't those quick grow chickens.  These are dual purpose birds that were running around in someone's backyard.  The legs tend to be a bit tougher, since they actually use their legs, but the taste is incredible.  It actually tastes like chicken.  This is the same with all the meats that we've gotten from there or other local places.  You don't need to eat as much of this kind of meat, there is so much flavor, you don't need to. 

I'm amazed at how far our local eating journey has taken us.  We still have a long way to go, but its been amazing.  If more people become interested, it can only get better.