It was eerie down there. Just got back myself, having gotten down there around 6:45.

I didn't see a single stroller. No wagons, either. No one stopping to look around in the middle of traffic.

It was lovely.

There were plenty of Honeycrisps at the Harbor East market Saturday, even at the more civilized hour of 11 AM.

I didn't buy any of them, as I don't like apples that are that large. I did buy Empire, Gala, and a third variety whose name is escaping me at the moment.

We apparently walked by you when you were taking that picture. I didn't notice, but Courtney did. Next time we'll introduce ourselves -- we're always there about that time.

I saw cauliflower for the first time this week -- next week I'm making cauliflower and white cheddar soup.

Thank you for pointing out that although our grandmothers "put up" produce for eating summer fruits and veggies in the winter that this is not seasonal eating. There is a reason we are supposed to be eating the starchier, heartier veggies during the winter. Our bodies need a different type of fuel. That's not to say we should do without the leafy, greens... they just come in different forms.

I don't see a problem with canning vegetables from an eating locally or seasonally perspective.

If you don't allow for traditional preservation methods, then you are saying no vegetables for months out of the year.

The problem is not canning corn in September to eat in December; the problem is the desire to have fresh berries in February that must be flown in from South America.

I agree with RoCK. I see nothing wrong with eating stuff I froze or canned from the summer as being "non-localized or un-seasonal".

However; I will venture to say that before the long, very long, winter is over, I will have bought non-localized shipped in asparagus at ungodly prices. Because I can.

Before SEVEN, really? I was proud of myself when I got there at 8:15.

Gustatory variety is one of the dividends of world dominance. We live in a second Roman Empire with a market system that brings us good things to eat from all over the world any time we want them. Anything. At any time of the day or year. Raccoon noses, otters' ears, the first honey of the hyacinths of the hills of Crete. I was in Superfresh yesterday and bought a container of crabmeat from Mexico. On the next shelf were clementines from Peru. I feel no guilt or shame in this.

If you could wait about a month, you would have beautiful clementines from the US. Its nothing personal against Peru or god forbid some sort of michael pollan thing, but they just taste better to me.. seasonality keeps things interesting. I wish I ate more peaches this time around, but now I have all these apples to think about.

Its not really like "ooooh clementines from the far reaches and highest mountains of Peru, hand polished by elves"

Cleatus, where in Mexico was the crabmeat from?

"I wonder if strict adherents to the whole local, seasonal thing put up produce. On the one hand, their grandmothers did. On the other hand, it's not eating seasonally. ...

I guess there are few "Strict adherents to the whole local, seasonal thing" in Alaska and other far Northern climes. Awful hard to grow anything when the sun don't shine for months on end.

If I remember right, somewhat over a century ago beef was a summertime thing in most parts of the country. Probably pork, lamb, and other fresh meats too. I'm sure Mischa wouldn't mind but many of the rest of us do enjoy the year-round availability of many foodstuffs. Local and seasonal are great when the locale and season allow it, but many of us do not want the hassle of home canning, along with the need for proper storage.

Do "strict adherents" allow greenhouses and artificial sunlight to get that "local" imprimatur?

Point is: I really don't care where the stuff comes from. It's there in the store when I reach for it--at any time of the day or night, any time of year. It's a bonus that our geographic situation allows that some of it comes from the bounty of Maryland--our farms and fields and estuaries. But what doesn't come from Maryland isn't poisoned by our ability to fetch it here at a reasonable cost. I just had a tin of mixed tropical fruit--pineapples, papaya and passion fruit--none of which, I am sure, grows in Maryland or anywhere near here. The can cost $1.79. It was delicious. Should I feel bad that I ate stuff from Hawaii or Indonesia or Thailand? When I bought the crabmeat, they had one container left before I picked up mine that was from Alabama. The grocer asked the guy ahead of me which he wanted, Mexico or Alabama. He said: "No offense, Alabama." What guarantee did he have that crab didn't come from some polluted backwater sump in Mobile?

Cleatus, if the Mexican crabmeat was from the Gulf of Mexico then it was probably the correct species of crab. If it was from the west coast or from the other side of the Yucatan Peninsula, who knows what kind of crab it might be. I know the crab from Venezuela is definitely an inferior species.

Hal--
The label on the container says "Pressure steamed handpicked blue backfin" and the store was representing it as such.
Whatever it is, it tastes great.
But thanks for the heads up.

I like getting there at 7, but sometimes I feel like an intruder as some of the vendors I favor are trying to set up shop. Still, I do like the fact that not too many people are there at that time and I do get a chance to walk around and get a good look at what's being offerred. I used to see the late George Baumann there at that time. He always bought flowers .

Cleatus, pesticides that have been banned here for decades are used in other countries (which also poisons those farmers). Often the people producing those clementines or crabs not only work 16 hour days under horrible conditions, but they get paid nearly nothing.

Now, those are jobs that do enable them to feed their kids, but it feels to me like some kind of global rush to the bottom. It is a hugely complex issue, and we all need to decide what trade offs we wish to make, but I'd like to see everyone get the 8 hour workday, good pay, health care, education and the other things that my union foremothers and forefathers fought for (before the unions became as bad as the bosses).

It's all economies of scale, Lissa.I'd bet that the Mexican crab meat is probably purer than anything from the waters around the US. $1.79 here buys a can of fruit. $1.79 in Peru buys the fruit stand. It's wrong-headed, IMHO, to apply our standard of living and all of the attendant expectations to other people's lives, lifestyles, and cultures. That's what happened in Iraq and Afghanistan. The former administration assumed that everyone in those areas wants--no pines for--democracy. They don't. Some of those cultures are oligarchical, some are patriarchical, and some are tribal--or all three.

There is a huge difference, Cleatus, between wanting safe working conditions and fair pay for all workers and invading countries. Not even the United Mine Workers, at their most militant, invaded another country.

"Economies of scale" is just shorthand for "really profitable for middlemen." I won't bet on the purity of the crab without scientific testing, either. Of course, the ocean has becomeincredibly polluted. Still, would you want to eat crabs caught where raw sewage is released?

The fruit in your can is likely to have those pesticide residues. Of course, so is fish from Michigan.

What I don't get is how is "eating local" any better for you than eating global, if the local farmers are showering their vegetable plants with Miracle-Gro to force the crop to market sooner than it would naturally come? Why not eat oranges from Chile in February? Or salmon caught wild in China in April?
Lissa: You're right, unless you grow/raise it yourself, you have no idea of what's in the food you eat. But you also point out, rightly, I think, that buying global produce helps in some small way the producers "over there." Can't we also simply enjoy the variety our economy provides us? Heck, it's the best time and the best place in history to be alive. Roman emperors had it no better than we do. Wouldn't you agree? Anybody ever have it any better? If so, who? When? I'm not suggesting we're all overfed bourgeoisie pigs, but aren't we are the inevitable beneficiaries of an historical convergence? Portion control is not an American strong point--and maybe it should be.--but, hey God--pomegranite juice in five flavors?

Lissa:
"Still, would you want to eat crabs caught where raw sewage is released?"

Exactly why I don't eat crabs from The Chesapeake Bay.

Ahhh.. I wondered how long it would take to go from fruit cocktail to Iraq. We are as great as the Roman Empire USA USA USA. If you really love that Del Monte fruit cocktail then more power to ya, buddy. Nuff said, yeehaw.

Nero--were you "hand polished by elves?"

That is why, Cleatus, I go to the JFX market and talk to the farmers. They could be lying to me, but DDT is illegal here and I've developed a relationship with some local farmers, so I'm less likely to get sweet corn filled with the best Monsanto has to offer. Not to mention fresh produce tastes better.

I haven't even gotten into the cost of using fossil fuels to transport things 6,000 miles.

I've lived in the Third World, and seen what monocropping for export does to farms and farmers. Right now in India, farmers are swallowing pesticides to commit suicide because their debt load is so high and their land will no longer produce anything but dust without massive amounts of fertilizer and pesticides.

So, we may be in some very small way helping producers overseas, but, mostly, we are making some unnecessary middlemen very, very rich.

I fear that soon our food will go the way of manufacturing. Try buying a nail made in the USA. You can't. It keeps getting more difficult to find clothes and shoes made in the USA. Forget about electronics.

Lissa, I applaud you for sticking to USA made products. If you have any secret places to buy hiking shoes/boots made in the USA will you share them?

I'm trying to think of a nice way to say this: If everybody decided to "eat local" there is no way that the local framers, stockbreeders, and other food producers could feed all the people of Baltimore. Heck, lots of them can't even get factory farm vegetables. Then start thinking of those of us in the suburbs and in the rest of the East Coast Megalopolis. If we had to depend on local food there would, literally, be wars over the little food available. We can pontificate over how wonderful local produce is, how inedible "imported" fruit and vegetables are, and how much it costs in time, money, and environmental pollution to bring in tomatoes from Chile or even peaches from California, but if it were not for this network of food production and transportation our way of living would be untenable. Even 35 years ago in Germany I saw foodstuff from all over Europe and even oranges from Israel.

There, that was relatively nice.

This Sunday, October 4th from 9:00 - 12:00 Toyota is sponsoring its Farm To Table National Tour at the JFX Farmers Market. Chefs will be pairing with local farmers and serving market tastings. Our Chef Ben Troast will be serving butternut squash soup with cinnamon croutons starting at 9:45. Should be a fun event talking with chefs and local farmers.

Alan:
And the cinnamon is from...?

I'm thinking maybe Cleatus would be willing to serve as a sort of canary in the coal mine--we just need some sort of notification system if he eats something that makes him ill.

RiE, I agree with your post absolutely, as we saw the same thing when we lived in Switzerland years ago. But even though food came from all over, it was always labeled with the country of origin, so that we had informed choices. The Swiss food was always luscious as well as local, and it cost more, too. Since we were living on a student stipend, we couldn't always afford the local choice, and were grateful to have cheaper alternatives.

RIE: right on.

Being a true locavore is just harder work than I'm willing to expend to enjoy what I eat. I know that offends some folks.

Dahlink: I'll let you know ASAP.