How blessed (or lucky, depending on how you view it) are we?
We've had the good-natured discussion of what foods we'd never have in our kitchen, the ingrendients we'd never cook without, and our favorite ways to prepare our foods. We are truly blessed (or lucky) to live in a society that affords us the variety and wealth to choose what we eat, and to have it relatively quickly, and in good condition. In many cultures, this is not even a dream. What food do you undrerate a little, but without it, your culinary life would be a little less bright? And for what food are you most thankful? For me it's any fruits.
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15 Comments:
water... i know it's really not a food but to have fresh, clean water is what i'm most thankful for, then i'd have to say fruit also.
evilchefmom at 4:51PM on 06/01/08
+1 evilchefmom.
We are truly a very fortunate group of folks. I think at times many of us take for granted our resources. I know I sure do when I do not think twice about ordering foie gras, buying lobster, paying $15 for a glass of wine.
I would like to think my volunteering, monetary donations and dedication to the group of unwanted teens we have "adopted" make up for my self indulgent behavior, BUT I know better. I do not think I will ever tip those scales. But I will keep trying. ;-)
izatryt at 5:16PM on 06/01/08
I have to say the array of fresh produce jumps out as #1 for me. I'm not talking about Frankenfruit, when they cross an apple with a giraffe. I mean carrots, onions, celery, turnips, plain-Jane stuff. You want to talk about taking something for granted? That's the category to which I'd point.
chiff0nade at 5:26PM on 06/01/08
Velveeta!
srhcb at 6:38PM on 06/01/08
What a timely question for me. I'm taking a summer speech course and I'm giving a speech on Wednesday about a particular global problem. I chose to discuss hunger and malnutrition, and it has truly made me feel grateful for the wealth of food that I have surrounding me everyday, at my fingertips whenever I am hungry. It's ridiculous that so many people globally-and even nationally-struggle to find enough food, or food that is nutritionally adequate.
I don't think there is a particular food that makes me feel "more blessed"--just walk around the grocery store and observe all the fresh, nutritious (and even less nutritious) foods that we have available to us. It's pretty awesome.
Thanks, Beth, for relaying such an important message to us SE readers.
luswim06 at 8:10PM on 06/01/08
Chiff is right, we can just leave our homes or go out in our yards and grab fresh produce. When I go to a produce market or farmers market it brings me such joy, the sights, smells, the colors.
Same for pasta. When I look at many shapes and styles of pasta I get a warm feeling, total comfort.
JerzeeTomato at 8:54PM on 06/01/08
I live in Korea now and it is so hard to find my typical grocery items from the States. I've had to adjust my culinary life without certain dairy products like good cheese and sour cream. Herbs and spices are difficult to come by too-- mostly peppers, garlic and sesame are used here for flavor. Needless to say, I've been trying out many Korean recipes. It's still wonderful here-- I can't complain! :)
smile at 10:47PM on 06/01/08
I definitely take having had fresh, beautiful, unlimited produce my entire life for granted. It never clicked for me when I was younger that most people don't go into the fields and cut a head of lettuce and some broccoli whenever they want it for supper.
I appreciate clean water for more than one reason - because so many people, even living in the United States, don't have it, and because I live in a town that 20 years ago had a water system tainted with toxic waste (anyone ever heard of the Woburn, MA water scandal?). My godfather's entire family died of stomach cancer from it. We are unbelievably lucky to be able to drink unlimited fresh water without worrying about death or disease.
embolini9 at 11:06AM on 06/02/08
It sounds like the produce thing is unanimous. Every Thursday, when I take my three-year-old daughter to the Farmer's Market, I am overwhelmed by the beauty and bounty available. I credit that kind of marketing for having a small child who eats broccoli and beets and brussels sprouts, and we're so blessed to live in a society where I can get all those things for her, for relatively cheap, and oftentimes organic or at least sustainably farmed.
rosezilla at 11:43AM on 06/02/08
I spent a few months teaching English in Mongolia (before I turned foodie, mind you), and produce is definitely up there. However, more than that, I had trouble finding not overly tough meat ... that wasn't displayed willynilly in an open air cooler for you to hack off yourself. Like I said, I wasn't much into cooking before I went there, but when I came back, walking through an American grocery store was the most beautiful thing - everything you could ever want in both abundance and safety.
joyyy at 1:20PM on 06/02/08
I have to jump on the fresh fruits and vegetables bandwagon. Although our local grocery stores carry pretty much everything year-round, it's not fresh, ripe, or grown in this country. I try to support our local growers as often as possible. My favorite thing to do in summer is to "escape" from the family, hop in the car and drive the 30 minutes through the country to a variety of Mom and Pop produce stands. I savor the scenery, feast with my eyes on the colorful and bountiful array of fruits and vegetables, and anticipate preparing and eating as much of it as possible. My only sin: Buying too much at the same time. The remedy: Sharing with my senior citizen neighbors.
Josdean at 1:24PM on 06/02/08
Agreed about the water! Good one evilchefmom!
Hillary
Chew on That
Chew on That at 2:30PM on 06/02/08
Fresh water and fertile soil. Growing up and living in Michigan, we are taught early that we are stewards of the Great Lakes and to be fiercly protective of the fresh water that is the Lakes. I learned about fertile soil in all places, Australia. I noticed in Australia that in places the trees were smooth, they had no bark. Curious, I asked a native naturalist. He said the trees drop their bark because the soil is so poor, the tree drops it bark to feed the rest of the tree. He said this was common knowledge in Australia and wondered why I didn't know this. I told him I was from the Midwest in the US. He said, "Oh, you are living in the most fertile soil in the world, no wonder you never saw this!"
Michigander at 11:57PM on 06/02/08
Thank you for this post! We are truly lucky to have options of what to eat for every meal. Open up the refrigerator or pantry and "Wala" (if that's how you spell that) the choices are there. Knowing that we have clean water, as well, is such a blessing. I love fresh fruits, going to the farmers' market and browsing around. Honey is amazing - use it in green tea, on oatmeal, on PB and banana sandwiches - YUM!!. We are blessed!!
bster18 at 8:32PM on 06/09/08
luswim06, here's a great site, Global Issues (dot org) for finding out about the causes of hunger around the world. I'm still working my way through it. Also, Raj Patel's site, Stuffed & Starved (he has a book by the same name). It's hard to talk about these without mentioning the Wasted Food site which was recently highlighted at the New York Times and on one of their blogs, Well (there's a podcast there to listen to by the author, Jonathan Bloom). They might help you with your research. I'd love to hear more about your project.
As for me, I'm really grateful for salt. I've recently been discovering all the different types and I love them but salt is the thing that makes food snap from the soup to the chocolate chip cookie.
But yeah, water and soil. Soooo important.
Oh and bster18, I just discovered this too (like yesterday) but the spelling for "Wala" is voila. Like the instrument only switch up the first vowels.
Sieseye at 9:46PM on 06/09/08