Please Not Another One

Me: These are musings on my life as a foodie.  

You: Oy Vey! Please not another one. Why don't you just bury me in recipes for heirloom tomato tartlets, describe your favorite local farmer in folksy prose, get holier-than-thou about the virtues of the dinner table, post a couple hundred veggieporn photos, and call it a day?!

Me: Okay, scratch that -- some of those things might happen here from time to time, but I'm going to do my best to keep this blog genuine. I'm really not a foodie, and in fact I'm growing increasingly disenchanted with the word. I'm no food groupie, I'm simply an eater who cares, and who has been lucky to live and work on farms and with farmers for over 15 years now. I eat each day, and I care what I eat -- some days I care a little, most days I care a lot. But for me, as for most of us, my life is organized around the fact that that I need food regularly. 


Here's the reality: human beings eat. And when we do, we interact with all the other species on the planet -- whether by eating them directly (thank you for lunch, Zea mays var. rugosa ), or by relying on the work they do and the food they produce for their young (lookin' at you, Lactobacillus delbrueckii subsp. bulgaricus, with a nod to Ms Bos primigenius), or in a myriad of other ways I can't wait to think about with you. And these interactions happen, if we're lucky, several times a day. 

What I am concerned with is how the actions humans take and choices humans make about what and how to eat impact not just us, but the other million or so species with whom we share the Earth. As I see it, all life deserves its chance. That means I try to operate in the world as if my human cousins and I are sharing this planet and its resources, and I do think -- here comes my preaching -- that we all should try to operate that way. And I'll freely admit that I stink at sharing -- most of us do. But I'm trying, and the major way I try, that I am incredibly lucky to have translated into a career, is by facilitating conversation about what our food choices mean, and by facilitating options for growing, buying, preparing, and eating food that to the best of my knowledge help us better share the limited resources of the planet.

You: So basically you're an eco-freako hippie foodie Pollyanna idealist who has decided to share her opinions about the interconnectedness of all life with the world?

Me: Pretty much! Welcome to the blogosphere -- that's what we do here. 


P.S. -- As far as why I've named this little soapbox "Strawberries and Tomatoes ..." tune in tomorrow!