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I’m on vacation with some friends in Duck, NC, so my food
awareness exercise has had some highs (local produce) and lows (cheesy
puffs). I began the day with coffee
prepared by my friend, Steve – Starbucks Dark French Roast, roasted in Seattle
but sourced from (as they say) high-quality Arabica beans from around the
world. I had it with some Stonyfield
milk, which comes from one of 1300 family farms across the US affiliated
with a co-op called Organic Valley/CROPP.
(Is this industrial organic? It reminds me of the way Kroger gets their
milk, except they have photos of some of their farmers so it feels
better.)
And to eat, Kashi Heart to Heart cereal. The sad news is that I recently heard from my
fellow blogger, Jill, that Kashi’s promise to be GMO-free is not
actually true. (I must admit to
doubting the reliability of this article since they misspelled “pollen.” Come on, HuffPo – just because you’re online
doesn’t mean you shouldn’t edit.) Read
up on the controversy and you can also take your own action on it – but for
now, I’ll report that Heart to Heart is from the same places as the other Kashi
cereal I had (ranging from Manitoba to Texas).
Lunch was my favorite beach food: sandwiches with my
homemade pimiento cheese & homemade guacamole. The bread La Brea bakery’s rosemary/olive oil
from Harris Teeter, made in Van Nuys, CA (which sounds familiar to me from game
shows I watched as a kid). And this took
me by surprise: they have their policy on slavery
and human trafficking but nothing about sourcing. To avoid making this longer than need be,
here is a list of the things that went into my sandwich ingredients:
·
Cabot sharp cheddar
cheese, from a cooperative of 1200 dairy farmers in upstate New York &
New England
·
Kraft mayonnaise
·
Harris Teeter pimientos
(distributed through Matthews, NC) (waiting for a response from the customer
service)
·
4c grated
parmesan, from cooperatives in “South American countries,” according to
customer service – they don’t have further information because they work with
certified importers and not directly with the coops
·
garlic
·
cilantro (California)
·
avocados (Mexico)
·
jalapenos (Mexico)
·
lime (Mexico)
·
salt & pepper
I am sorry to say that, being on vacation, I also have had
snacks that I would not usually have had. Cheez-its, Utz cheese puffs (not
really food, so not sure if I should even report this), and two
Chips-Ahoys. I also had some Market
Pantry baby dills – the perfect complement to Cheez-its on the beach. Probably all of this qualifies as Bermuda
Triangle territory, if not worse.
Snacks that I’m proud to report on are some AMAZING cheeses,
purveyed by my friend Sara (also known around town as the Cheese Queen).
·
Langa La Tur, a sheep, cow *and* goat milk
cheese from Italy’s Piedmont region, made by Caseificio dell’Alta Langa, and
possibly the best cheese I’ve ever had.
I woke up thinking about it.
·
Three-year aged Gouda from Holland
·
Petite Agour, a sheep’s milk from the Basque
region in France
I ate them with Triscuits, HT brand crackers (both Bermuda
territory) and some more LaBrea bread.
For dinner, my friend Kirby fixed some amazing salads, much
of which was local. Greens from Cabbage Hill farms, local strawberries from Agriberry, kohlrabi from
another local farm (no longer remembered), pea shoots from Manakintowne
Specialty Growers (also near Richmond).
The ingredients, some of which are a mystery (because I didn’t make the
salad):
·
Harris Teeter brand orzo (waiting for customer
service to call back)
·
limes (Mexico)
·
black beans (Bush’s, unknown origin)
·
corn
·
cilantro (California)
·
avocados (Mexico)
·
a yellow pepper
·
Casatica di Bufula (Lombardy, northern Italy,
made by Quattro Portoni)
To be honest, I also probably ingested some sand and hot tub
water over the course of this amazing day, all sourced straight from Duck, NC.
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