My Good Finds Org

Ironic that the old is new again.  I have observed food as it has evolved around me throughout the years.  During my childhood,  my mom cooked delicious food from scratch.  Little did I know that type of cooking is now to be considered “gourmet” prepared by chefs.  Fresh from the market fish(which were caught the night before), meats(animals slaughtered at dawn), vegetables and fruits(vine ripened).   I think I was around 8 years old when we had an eccentric  lady from Swtizerland who ended up camping out in our tiny living room for what seems to me like years.  She was eating tiny beets, carrots, radishes and other rabbit food which she acquired from a German friend’s garden in the city.  We called her Lola Marta(th is not pronounced in Filipino), she was the first vegetarian I’ve ever met. Each piece of vegetable was painstakingly scraped, if it was peeled the piece will be alot smaller.  She was very passionate about food that were produced without chemicals such as fungicides, pesticides, chemical fertilizers and what have yous.  I just thought she had some strange eating habits since she prefers her food quite crunchy. Came the time of the canned food, the imported cans with the bar codes seem to be so special that I found them being proudly displayed on the China cabinets of some of the homes that  I have visited.  Then came Mc Donalds, Jollibee and the other chain restaurants, which seem to dominate the boob tube.  When I came to the US, I was overwhelmed with the variety of boxed ready made pop-in-the-microwave stuff that are most abundant found on the store shelves.  I was  then asking myself if I have to learn how to cook the boxed stuff. But thank goodness I had such a great cook for a Mama, I was able to learn from her and somehow stay on track to eat real food.  I have learned to adapt, improvise and make the most with whatever is in season because I haven’t acquired the taste for microwave ready food.

Walking through the produce isles at the regular grocery stores 11 years ago, I was wondering why everything looks too perfect. I was leery of the apples, bell peppers, oranges, carrots, etc that looked like they were cloned, unnatural and waxed-up. My Papa has always been saying that he’d rather see worms here and there in his greens because it means that they weren’t doused with pesticides. If it’s good enough for the worm it’s good enough for you.

To me food has come in full circle, food is back to what it should be and people are realizing the benefits of going back to organic eating.  Depending on where you are, anything labelled  with a USDA Organic seal seem to command a higher price.  Restaurants who specialize on organic food attract the higher income bracket.  I believe that good food should be accessible by all, this will only be possible when everyone puts the pressure on the producers to make food sustainable again.  Another option is to plant a backyard garden. No yard? Use pots. Of course, I don’t claim to be an organic expert but you all can read up on Organic Gardening.