Disclaimer: I just finished a tough physics exam and a radiation material science presentation outline. I will probably be deficient in English skill because I've had abstract variables and scientific jargon in my head. All. Week. Long. The writing exercise of a diary helps me remember the bees, butterflies and trees.
I read about the 'slow food' movement a while back. Even though 'slow' is not exactly an adjective I want to describe my food because it's a nice way of saying, "takes for-f'ing ever." "Wholesome" and "simple" are the ways I'd describe it. Based on my impression on it, I'd say it's a small part to establishing a local economy based on local production to meet a local market demand. Civilization is grounded upon irrigation and the toilet. Two things [of many] you do constantly while you're alive: You eat and you poop.
Bakersfield, CA has more or less befallen to large agribusiness. Go to your supermarket/grocery store and you'll probably find carrots by Grimway/Bolthouse farms along with anyone else that might grow carrots regionally. Same with the grapes (Delano/Arvin!) up until December when you'll start seeing them come from Chile. I'm not sure how they are grown. I'm not sure what's on them. I have an idea who picked them. I'm not certain where they've been processed before being shipped anyway. Likewise, same with anything that gets shipped in from long distances.
Monsanto has made a name for itself. I won't talk about them because everyone else who got screwed by them already has and I have nothing more to add.
Let's move forward. Over the orange Krossaint we go.
The extent of my food growing expertise is limited to the backyard trees I had in Bakersfield. They are always fruitful. They are always sweet, never sour or tart. The most attention they get is branches getting cut off to keep them neat. Automated sprinkler systems are pretty much the norm so I can be lazy and not water them myself. Year after year, a sweet plum, orange, peach or persimmon was a few steps away. I always had so much fruit, I ended up giving it away to friends, teachers and co-workers. Unless they were trying to be nice, I've never heard any of them say the stuff I grew tasted bad.
I came to Michigan in summer of 2009 for a research internship in Detroit (contrary to the jokes and popular beliefs, I am alive and well). I met a lot of people who were involved with community gardening. With the right conditions, abandoned buildings were demolished. I don't know all the details but the empty lots get turned into community gardens so people can grow stuff in it. Wayne State has a farmer's market and I guess some people sold their excess produce there.
That stuff tastes way better. I started to eat salads with no dressing because all the flavor came from herbs.
And then my fiance's mother bought a watermelon plant to plant in the ground. Every time I visited her house, I could watch a small watermelon grow. It was the size of a large grapefruit when I finished my internship. I never got to eat it. There were other things she kept in her garden like broccoli, zucchini, squash and a 100 different pepper plants. I like to cook so it was cool to just grab what was in the garden, wash it and then dice it up. I cook large amounts on the weekends and eat off of it during the week. Heat n' eat.
It's a bit hard to grow food when you live in an apartment or in an area with very limited space. I like herbs in lieu of salt because they add much more to food than just saltiness so I started growing Genovese basil, sage, lemon basil and cilantro in a giant pot. Fresher stuff tastes better except for cheese and liquor.
This place gets a lot of east sun. And the result...
My fiance's mother started another garden again and this time there was quite a bit of land to accommodate growing food to supplement 4+ hungry people. She and I picked out all the things we like to eat frequently. She and her husband were away on vacation a lot during the summer so the good future Mr. Gazer and I went to delightfully tend the garden and reap what we sow. That cherry tomato plant ended up outgrowing its cage and then some. Unfortunately the rabbits and a woodchuck had a field day with the broccoli early on so there were no broccoli to eat this year.
So in the end, how does this relate to the greedy food CEO's and franchisers that insist on charging you extra to insure their workers yet cut their hours so that they don't have to pay to insure their workers? Pretty simple, the less you are dependent on them or choose to seek alternatives to reduce your business toward their establishments, you can either eat from locally established eatery or make your own food.
If you have the resources and ability, it's easy to make your own food so you don't have to buy theirs. Cooking gets more refined with practice. Even better: grow it yourself or organize a way so that multiple people can look after it. There is a website out there (not sure what the address is) that is $1/month subscription and you can browse the recipes and print out a grocery list for those recipes.
I understand there's workers on the line here but there shouldn't be any reason for CEO's to stick it to both their consumers or employees. The employees have it harder so I feel for them, but I absolutely do not approve of the selfish and short-sighted mentality of those kinds of people. I can't make it any clearer by simply just not taking my business there.
Blluleehhh!
There are ways of making sure the gardening contents you acquire don't line the pockets of agribusiness... but I will leave that for another day. If you are curious and are completely new to the idea of gardening, look locally for your dirt (no miracle-gro, please), buy some heirloom seeds, read about what you want to grow and try it. Try growing one herb first, though. I tried growing 3 my first time and ended up with 2. :|
You water when the soil top is dry to the touch and you water until it barely starts to come out of the bottom holes. Once your plants grow big enough, pick the herb leaves in moderation. Play iron chef with the food that comes in or look to the net for ideas.
Itadakimasu.
7:07 PM PT: I should make it clear that it's not a call to grow your own food. That is something I suggested because I have grown some - not all - of my produce. The real deal is sharing what works for your busy lives in response to leaders of food corp throwing tantrums because Obama this Obama that.