eating locally
In the past year i have been very convicted about starting a life of eating local foods. It's because most of the food we eat is shipped over long distances and consumes fossil fuels for our convenience. Just as little as 20 years ago, people were still eating fruits and vegetables in season. It became a novelty to have out of season fruits in winter, like strawberries or peaches*. Obviously, this doesn't apply to us in California as much, because most of those out of season fruits that are shipped to other states come from our state anyway. Although i was horrified today when i saw blueberries at Henry's from Chile. Seriously. So it is easier for us CA residents if we just pay attention. I know that the foods are going to get shipped anyway and consume those fossil fuels anyway for other people, but i just personally don't want to be a part of it anymore. It's a similar mindset to being vegetarian. Vegetarians know that other people are going to go on consuming meat, but they've made a personal choice not to. Obviously this is going to take some time for me to work out, and i can't imagine myself being as hardcore as some other "locavores" but seriously, we live in a year-round growing season. What's stopping us from producing our own food? Besides that, it's far cheaper and healthier to eat fruits and vegetables you've grown yourself.
Well now you all know why i get so excited about backyard fruit trees. :)
I mentioned all that to say that i went down to Cafe Calabria in North Park today, which is a coffee roasting plant. I love coffee and i wanted to see a) if fresh roasted coffee would taste better and b) if it was the kind of local establishment i could get behind. It's a pretty awesome place. I told the guys working in the roasting part of the building (there's a full scale cafe, too) about my local food feelings and one of the guys said, "why don't you just roast your own coffee?" I seriously thought it was a joke until he went on to say that some people buy popcorn poppers and roast coffee in them. The other guy said that it was half as much to buy the green coffee beans and roast them yourself. Ah, a DIY project and frugality, two men after my own heart. :) I'd like to look into it. Although i don't know if i can be that hardcore.
*Which are only delicious in the months june-august. Why would you want to do a delicious peach a disservice by eating it out of season? As a peach lover, i should know.
Well now you all know why i get so excited about backyard fruit trees. :)
I mentioned all that to say that i went down to Cafe Calabria in North Park today, which is a coffee roasting plant. I love coffee and i wanted to see a) if fresh roasted coffee would taste better and b) if it was the kind of local establishment i could get behind. It's a pretty awesome place. I told the guys working in the roasting part of the building (there's a full scale cafe, too) about my local food feelings and one of the guys said, "why don't you just roast your own coffee?" I seriously thought it was a joke until he went on to say that some people buy popcorn poppers and roast coffee in them. The other guy said that it was half as much to buy the green coffee beans and roast them yourself. Ah, a DIY project and frugality, two men after my own heart. :) I'd like to look into it. Although i don't know if i can be that hardcore.
*Which are only delicious in the months june-august. Why would you want to do a delicious peach a disservice by eating it out of season? As a peach lover, i should know.