Michael Pollan in Connecticut: A Review (of sorts)

This post is a follow up to this post.

With all due respect to the Jersey Boys: Oh what a night! The Station Square in Madison, CT. was packed! I had e-mailed for reservations but the author's talk was already booked solid. My party was even too late to get on the waiting list. And yet, we got in! Pollan turned out to be excellent. He is one of those rare authors who speaks as well as he writes.

The Farmer's Market side of the venue was packed as well. There wasn't room to turn around. And yet, it was exhiliarating--all of us there to get the good stuff.

I scored:
- French Country Bread from Wave Hill Bakers.
- Empire Apples from Palazzi Orchard.
- Two cheeses, one with a Jalapeno and tequila rind from Meadow Stone Farm. (Sorry about not knowing the names of the cheeses. I bought what I sampled and didn't write them down.)
- A taste of Cabernet Franc from Chamard Vineyards. (They were not allowed to sell any at this venue, so I'm going to have to make the road trip!)
- Pleasant Son cheese and soft cheese from Beaver Brook Farm.
- Lettuce from Two Guys from Woodbridge.
- The latest edition of The Edible Nutmeg.
- A family membership to NOFA.
- Michael Pollan's new book, In Defense of Food (signed).

There were many, many other treats and not enough time to check them all out. It was so wonderful and wild. It was definitely worth staying out late on a school night. I am so sorry that I didn't get any pictures. Maybe next time!

UPDATE: Sue Spencer has done a much better job than I have at recapping the evening.

The Omnivore's Dilemma

I finally ordered and read the other locavore book, The Omnivore's Dilemma, by Michael Pollan. Like Kingsolver, Pollan is an exceptional writer and his story is well-told. While he provides a plethora of research details, it is never boring; in fact, it's fascinating. If you really want to know where your food comes from (mostly corn) and why it comes that way, read this book.

One of the things I took away from the book is that farming doesn't really scale well past a certain point. Factory farms and feedlots are not in the best interests of the country, the environment, the economy, and the health and well-being of the eaters (us).

One of the book's segments discusses Polyface Farm in Swoope, VA, a model of sustainability. The farm belongs to Joel Salatin, who is one guy I'd love to meet. I wish there were more farms adopting Salatin's model.

Among many other things, Salatin said, "We don't need a law against McDonald's or a law against slaughterhouse abuse--we ask for too much salvation by legislation. All we need to do is empower individuals with the right philosophy and the right information to opt out en masse."

A New Beginning

I am just about finished reading Animal, Vegetable, Miracle: A Year of Food Life by Barbara Kingsolver. This book inspired me to begin this blog. Barbara Kingsolver is a brilliant writer; you may be familiar with some of her other works, such as The Poisonwood Bible or Prodigal Summer.

I'm not going to do a book review here---there are currently 110 of them at Amazon, and perhaps hundreds of others elsewhere. The basic premise of the book is that her family goes back to the farm in Appalachia and eats local foods for an entire year. Local includes their own farm, a neighbor's farm, or a farm within 100 miles of their home.

There are dozens of reasons to eat locally, not the least being that the bulk of our commercially available food is tasteless, nutritionless, and consumes more petroleum than our automotive vehicles. The book is informative and moving, practical and fantastic.

She made a believer out of me, perhaps because she's not one of those in-your-face health food nuts. She acknowledges that it's impossible to eat everything grown locally--take olive oil and pineapples for example (not in the same recipe). But if you take the time to think about it, you can make much better long-distance choices. The book has a companion Web site for more information.

I wondered if a suburban dweller with a full time day job and could take on an equivalent committment. My gardening skills are in their infancy. I do have a "victory garden" in my yard and it looks liks the Japanese beetles, deer, and chipmunks have declared victory. While Kingsolver's family spent about $0.50 per meal per person, my total garden yield this summer has been about a dozen tomatoes and a several dozen Jalapenos.

However, I am excited enough about the idea to begin this blog and hear about others adventures in local eating. Share your experiences, your successes (or not) in your attempts to eat closer to home.

I live in Connecticut, just east of Danbury. Can I amend my diet to favor locally produced fare? What's available in my neck of the woods? Where can I get it? Do I have to "put up" my own produce (canning and freezing) or can I retain my grasshopper-ness?