54: strawberries

On Friday, Dad and I took a break from work to get his oil changed. On the way back to work, I saw the red barn for Suter's Produce sitting in the lot between an Aldi and an auto part store.  Mom had mentioned strawberry shortcake, so I got really excited and insisted that we stop.

So, so glad we did. I've been munching on them ever since, eating absolutely everything but the stem because they're beautifully ripe. They were by far the best strawberries of the summer, and I was almost sad to see them sliced up and tossed in sugar.

Then I ate a whole bowl of them and thanked God again for Suter's Produce.

I love having a chance to support local farmers and local food initiatives, even if that means paying double or more than I would at Wal*Mart. Americans spend less than 10 percent of their income on food, and Michael Pollan has a lot of great things to say about it. (I recommend In Defense of Food, though Omnivore's Dilemma was the book that changed everything for him.)

It's time that our culture took control of our food again. As the Slow Food movement would tell you, know your food; know what happened to it; know what season you're in. I can't wait for Joe and I to get into this. France will make it a lot easier, with all of their markets and local shops... but I'm enforcing a rule on us: Absolutely no food that comes in a box. If we want to see change, we have to push toward it relentlessly.