You know how I feel about local foods, right? I mean it, it's lifestyle for me. We have our specialty import items...fair-trade coffee, brooklyn bagels, basic grains, peanut butter, condiments. I am constantly attempting to pair down what we buy from outside the State of Maine (I ought to add New Brunswick to the mix, considering proximity) Each meal I attempt to use as many items from in county as possible. I love that it's so fresh, I love that I could call up my farmer or producer and have a conversation about the current weather pattern, it's one of the ways I feel that our family can make a difference.
It's a different mentality though, that's for sure, and it's a lot more work! It makes for a lot more planning ahead, and as a sometimes chef I become limited by the season/availability as to what we eat. It's also more expensive there's no question, but as a family we've come to prioritize the cost of local living and budget accordingly. We feel the benefit to our health and community far outweigh the additional financial cost and inconvenience. I also feel proud of my role in supporting and helping to distribute the local food system.
All that being said, there are exceptions, there are always exceptions. Like sometimes you go on a camping trip and you have to buy hotdogs (nitrate free!) and marshmallows and graham crackers and chocolate (fair-trade!) and you have to eat them with homemade picallili and commercial celery salt and after you've eaten them with organic hotdog buns from the health food store you can admit your mistake and say that we should of gotten the commercial lack of nutrition and fiber content buns, because you're eating a hot dog, by the firside for crying out loud! And sometimes values don't weigh on the side of health and locality, but on the side of aesthetic and tradition. I love the space where that all overlaps, and walking the line, and thinking about making a beautiful Venn Diagram someday to chart our movements through food.
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