Patience and Anticipation

Have you eaten at a Slow Foods restaurants recently? Perhaps you have and you don't even realize it. I have been actively seaking them out.

A restaurant that abides by the slow food philosophy supports local and seasonal crops for their menus. The benefits of produce when it's local are cost, taste, and nutritional value. When in season, costs can be less because there is bountiful supply. The other thing I've been studying, is the idea that fruit is best picked ripe. When traveling great distances or across seas, the crop is most definitely picked much earlier than a ripe state, and since the nutrition comes from the stem of the living plant, you can see how the earlier picked, the less nutritional value. I am embarrassed to admit I had no idea.

I have been thinking a lot lately about the selection of produce in the grocery store. Do I really need to eat blackberries in the middle of winter? Or should I wait until they are in season and patiently anticipate the summertime flavor... From my point of view, the food really does taste a lot better when it's local and in season.

As with everything else, I guess there is a balance to integrating new purchasing habits into our lifestyles. I can't imagine just shunning all the wonderful options in front of me, but the more I think about it, the more sense it makes, and less it seems like a sacrifice.

By Tracy Kinnaman