Food

Last night, we ate this pizza for dinner. It was SO easy and SO yummy. Make it.

I've been reading quite a bit lately. I just finished Animal, Vegetable, Miracle by Barbara Kingsolver. It examines our food culture in the US, and how detached we are from where our food actually comes from. Before you stuff that bite of Lean Cuisine in your mouth, ask yourself: "Where HAVE you been?"

After reading this book, I've become obsessed with calculating food mileage of my meals. Sure, bananas are yummy and cheap, but how many gallons of petroleum did it take to bring that banana to your bowl of Cheerios? Pomegranate? Good for heart and soul, maybe not so much for the environment. I wish I could grow my own food. And I should. I have the excuse that I don't really live anywhere long enough to have a garden, but I totally could have planted some tomatoes in my window sill or something like that instead of buying my tomatoes at Trader Joe's where they come from Timbuktu. I have visited the Farmer's Market here this summer, but not often enough.

I just started reading The Omnivore's Dilemma. I'm never going to be able to eat anything without feeling guilty ever again.

You know what's stupid? We import 1.1 billion pounds of wheat a year, but we export 1.4 billion. Does that make sense to you? Also, the government pays $80 billion a year in subsidies to big companies for corn. The subsidies were originally Depression-era legislation designed to help small farmers but have been perverted by the big business lobbyists since then and now 90% go to the largest few corporations that produce and sell corn.

The take-home message: Buy local. Not only is it good for the environment, it's good for your community. Don't live in Arizona, it doesn't rain there and you can't eat local.

I think I'll go make dinner now with my Argentine tomatoes and my California lettuce.