Local Foods: How Far Do You Go?
This rather wet Saturday saw me packing the girl and heading to the Augusta district, where I had hoped to score dinner-making goods from the Certified Arkansas Farmers Market. Alas, the rather turbulent skies had forced all but a handful of hardy souls to abandon the lot at 6th and Main, and with the Argenta Market not yet open we were left to head south for the other market of note.
Both of the River Market pavilions were packed with individuals and groups selling their produce and breads, jams and pet treats, flowers and meat. I picked up a fragrant quart of Cabot-grown strawberries, other produce from Holland Bottoms, some hothouse Arkansas-grown (I was told) green tomatoes and garlic chives, fresh dug wax potatoes, and more. Some of the food was certainly not local -- I don't think hothouse corn would be common around here -- but it was all certainly rather fresh.
Dinner tonight consisted of locally-raised chicken roasted with salt and pepper, red pepper, and Parmesan cheese; fried green tomatoes battered with AP flour and ground white cornmeal from War Eagle Mill; slices of zucchini roasted with olive oil and a little oregano; wax potato medallions in butter and garlic chives; roasted corn on the cob, no butter needed; cornbread made with previously mentioned cornmeal and kernels of fresh corn mixed in with a little Cheddar cheese; medallions of sweet potato with dots of ghee and honey from Garland Gilliland's stand in Damascus; and of course a dessert of sweet, fresh strawberries, no sugar necessary.
Of course, we have more produce to consume from my takings today, which included all but the chicken, grain products, oil and honey -- and which set me back around $12. Our dinnertime conversation at Chez Robinson centered around the local food movement -- and just how far will the typical consumer go to fulfill their desire to help save the environment. For instance -- yes, we are lucky enough to have many War Eagle Mill products on hand, since we stock our pantry with them. But for the average consumer, wold that be better than simply purchasing organic from one of the grocery chains? What about fresh bread bought from Old Mill Bakery or one of the other vendors that also comes to Market? And such products as olive oil, which to my knowledge isn't produced anywhere here in Arkansas? Where does economy fit in?
Recent discussion on this list has pointed out that much of what you can find at the Little Rock Farmers Market comes not from this state but from elsewhere. There have also been discussions on the whole homemade/housemade titles and such. Here's your opportunity to talk more about said things, particularly the slow food and local food movements and what they mean to you. Enjoy.
Comments
Kat, you end by saying that this is our opportunity to step in and talk about the local food movement. I'll jump in.
Here's my perspective: I grew up in Little Rock at a time when it was relatively easy to obtain good, authentic local food simply by going to one of the local farmer's markets--where everyone brought produce and fruit in right from their farms. We went to the one in North Little Rock.
As those institutions disappeared, it began to perplex and frustrate me that the only versions of the same fruit and vegetables I could then buy in local stores came from, say, California, or Florida.
An example: I remember baskets of all kinds of apples when I was little, local apples, apples with wonderful taste. Where have those gone? They're impossible to buy. Even in "organic" food markets, the selection is limited and controlled by economics.
Then, some time down the road, the "new" farmers' market developed, and at first, I welcomed it, until it became apparent to me that much of the stuff it was selling had no connection to Arkansas at all. I especially found it off-putting when I'd ask vendors there where the food came from, and have them snap back with surly, evasive answers that tried to make me feel snarky simply by asking if this vendor was selling Arkansas tomatoes (e.g.) in this Arkansas farmers' market.
And that brings me to where we are now. Now, we have some alternatives, and I celebrate those. There's a growing awareness of the importance of local foods. We have a few places to find local foods now, too.
I'm impatient about those places, though, on the whole, because they cater to an economic and social elite, and too much that they do (and offer) seems to be driven by the tastes, needs--and, often, lack of knowledge, and even more often, greed--of those elite groups.
That old farmer's market in North Little Rock my family would drive across the river to visit? Not a pretentious bone in its body. Real food. Real prices. Real people.
The local food movement we have now hasn't really replaced that older institution, and I don't think it's going to do so. As much as I welcome this movement and will do all I can to buy the products it offers, I also wish it would educate itself a bit more about what truly IS local, in any given area, and would ditch the pretenses and really dialogue with people who know local food--and whose motives aren't monetary or snobby, as is too often the case with those in the food business at all levels.
KAT: Well said.
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May 3, 2009 01:10 PM