The Anti-Locavore
Some people derive joy from being "anti." Anti-government, antiglobalization, anti-crocs, it doesn't matter anti-what as long as they can be against it and--this is the important part--get a rise out of others. The specific cause becomes irrelevant. The perverse pleasure comes from pissing people off.
Joel Stein fashions himself as an anti-locavore in his latest Time magazine article, "Extreme Eating" His broad attempts to tweak the nose of "the farm-to-table movement" are so far over the top that I have to believe it is partly tongue-in-cheek. "To prove how wrong the farm-to-table movement is, I cooked a dinner purely of farm-to-airplane food. Nothing I made was grown within 3,000 miles of where I live in Los Angeles." How does that prove anything? Nevermind logic, he's already filled his minimum word count with straw men and insults before ending with this endearing foreign policy gem, "I'm going to keep buying food from my foreign neighbors. Because it's the only way we Americans learn about other countries, other than by bombing them."
Grist magzine offers numerous factual and conceptual flaws in a rebuttal, Edible Media: Anti-local yokel. Go ahead and read it; they've said it all better than I could.
The only thing I'll add is that I was amused by Mr. Stein's inference that eating local means missing out on the richness that global cuisine can offer. The opposite of buying imported food isn't eating insular cuisine but... buying local food. We can shop for produce at the farmer's market and still prepare meals from around the world. Just last week I made Thai Green Curry Chicken, Mexican Chorizo Burritos, Filipino Adobo Chicken and Vietnamese Chao Tom, all using local ingredients. Those menus weren't "Luddite," or "antiglobalization" or anti-anything for that matter. They were just good, local eatin'.
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Well said and to the point Alan! Eh, some people are just spoilin' for a fight I suppose. Me, I only wish that I could be back in the islands digging into a bowl of poi. Can't get much locavore-ish than that!
Before you even posted this I was thinking about various "foreign" foods. One of the hardest for you that I thought of was italian with pasta. Without local grains and stuff, what would you replace pasta with? Or would you simply not have pasta? I choose not to have watermelon out of season in MI, and Kingma's doesn't sell cider out of season, so simply abstaining is an option I suppose.
Reading your about your locavore diet has inspired me to shop and eat locally as well. Last week Ray and I headed down to the farmers market right next to Ward Center and apparently you need to be a member to get in, not only that but it cost 10.00. As you already know, I'm cheap, so I said forget it. I think charging a member fee to support local farmers is horrible. Yet at the same time I'm sure the money is used towards something useful for the farmers. Anyhow, my question to you is do you think the 10.00 fee is worth it because I would hate to pay and have the place suck ass. Also, do you have any suggestions on other places to go to support our local farmers.
very good point, Alan :)
Rowena, yeah poi is as local as it gets. Did you hear there was a shortage a few months ago? I think we're mostly through it now, but weather problems caused some stores to actually ration the little bit they could get their hands on.
Topher, I love food and so I expect I will always include non-local foods in my menu. I can't bear yet to give them up entirely. For me, a big part of eating locally is about looking for local alternatives when they exist, trying to be creative when they don't, and weighing the cost carefully when no other options exist.
Doodoolicious, I *think* the $10 annual fee is only for Marukai and not for the farmer's market as a whole. Marukai is worthwhile, but only if you cook a lot of Japanese. They carry a good variety in very specialized ingredients (even moreso in their Dillingham store), but nearly everything is imported.
The farmer's market at Ward is kinda bleh. For true farmer's markets the one in Manoa Marketplace is good albeit small (i forget which days it convenes). KCC on Saturdays is more towards the gourmet end, but excellent. My mother-in-law speaks highly of the Waikiki farmer's market (Kapiolani Park maybe?) but I've never been.
Kat, thanks!