I have noticed that this preference for superior produce is lacking in America. That’s mostly because there is no food culture or habit of dining together.
In Asia and even in parts of Europe, people will wait for seasonal produce and appreciate certain varieties. (White asparagus dipped in melted butter..yum. Don’t get me started about mango season in India)
The National dish of USA is the cheeseburger. And we import most of our produce. So there is no appreciation for seasonality and food is always from elsewhere. And often picked unripe and have travelled a lot of food miles. There is no anticipation or excitement for food. Everything is available in massive quantities and on demand. At some point, the law of diminishing returns kicks in.
We export commodities like nuts and fodder. We have billions of sales in worthless tasteless leafy greens like kale and lettuce. Nobody ever enjoyed a bowl of ‘yummy’ lettuce. Nobody.
As a farmer, this is very depressing to me. As a chef, I feel almost suicidal. For cooks and chefs, if there are no one enjoying or appreciating our skills, we might as well not exist.
As an immigrant who grew up in a food culture before America, it’s wretchedly depressing. The grocery stores here are designed like warehouses and farms are like factories. The goods are standardized and optimized for efficient supply chain. All the joy of food shopping is sucked dry from these sterile environments.
As a small acreage farmer who wants to automate and improve tech, the options are minimal to nil. There are some companies that try to help small farmers but I am not sure how it will pan out. Time will tell. Everything in America has to scale. Economies of scale is the killer. Must scale is the mantra.
While Europe has at least close to a dozen small acreage ag bots in the work, you don’t even hear about the handful that is working to help us small acreage farmer out..many have died out even before they can get started because of lack of funding. But that’s another topic for another day.
California is better than most places, tbh with varieties. The weather is the saving grace.
Also: There is California rare fruits association and scion exchange.
fresh dino kale (not the curly kale type) sauteed in olive oil with a bit of salt is heavenly. and various fresh lettuces are wonderful, so you should tone down your blanket condemnations
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I enjoyed reading that. Thanks.
I have noticed that this preference for superior produce is lacking in America. That’s mostly because there is no food culture or habit of dining together.
In Asia and even in parts of Europe, people will wait for seasonal produce and appreciate certain varieties. (White asparagus dipped in melted butter..yum. Don’t get me started about mango season in India)
The National dish of USA is the cheeseburger. And we import most of our produce. So there is no appreciation for seasonality and food is always from elsewhere. And often picked unripe and have travelled a lot of food miles. There is no anticipation or excitement for food. Everything is available in massive quantities and on demand. At some point, the law of diminishing returns kicks in.
We export commodities like nuts and fodder. We have billions of sales in worthless tasteless leafy greens like kale and lettuce. Nobody ever enjoyed a bowl of ‘yummy’ lettuce. Nobody.
As a farmer, this is very depressing to me. As a chef, I feel almost suicidal. For cooks and chefs, if there are no one enjoying or appreciating our skills, we might as well not exist.
As an immigrant who grew up in a food culture before America, it’s wretchedly depressing. The grocery stores here are designed like warehouses and farms are like factories. The goods are standardized and optimized for efficient supply chain. All the joy of food shopping is sucked dry from these sterile environments.
As a small acreage farmer who wants to automate and improve tech, the options are minimal to nil. There are some companies that try to help small farmers but I am not sure how it will pan out. Time will tell. Everything in America has to scale. Economies of scale is the killer. Must scale is the mantra.
While Europe has at least close to a dozen small acreage ag bots in the work, you don’t even hear about the handful that is working to help us small acreage farmer out..many have died out even before they can get started because of lack of funding. But that’s another topic for another day.
California is better than most places, tbh with varieties. The weather is the saving grace.
Also: There is California rare fruits association and scion exchange.
http://mbcrfg.org/scion-exchange/
fresh dino kale (not the curly kale type) sauteed in olive oil with a bit of salt is heavenly. and various fresh lettuces are wonderful, so you should tone down your blanket condemnations
I hear that you have different food preferences than me. Thanks for sharing.
P.S: I want to apologize to the two children who downvoted me for hurting their tender feelings. I do have a recipe for Kale popsicles though..!!
https://weelicious.com/green-ice-pops-yes-green/