gustoct’s Profile
Recent Comments
Why Mario's Closing the Enoteca at Del Posto
I've eaten at both more than once; he'd have been better off to have closed the "main room", which is pretentious, overpriced and a little oppressive in tone, and whose food isn't outstanding enough to justify the attitude. The Enoteca had excellent, inventive food at reasonable prices, served by friendly people who didn't take themselves (and you) so seriously that you spent more time worrying whether your tie was on straight (the main room is that kind of place, even if you are not wearing a tie!) than enjoying the food.
Dim Sum at Ocean Jewel in Flushing, Queens
Is there a better dim sum restaurant in Flushing than Ocean Jewel?
Is Locavorism For Rich Folks Only?
While I enjoy local food, especially when I can find sources that taste better than what's available from afar, there is a romantic quality to this whole "movement" that is a bit precious. I think it unlikely that we could feed 20 million people in the New York metropolitan area for 12 months of the year on locally grown food and, even within quantity limits, confining themselves to food seasonally available is unattractive to most people. Beyond that, it is not clear that fruits and vegetables carried in small quantities in trucks or cars (when picked up at a farmer's market or farm) have a smaller environmental "footprint" than large quantities of food packed in containers and distributed in full trucks to supermarkets.
The availability of decent and decently priced food in low-income neighborhoods is a completely different problem better attacked by finding ways to attract larger stores (even supermarkets!) selling mass-produced food at manageable prices.
Having said all that, those of us who can afford it should encourage artisanal food for the same reasons we prefer and should encourage artisanal production of wines, cheeses, jewelry and clothes. The individuality provides variety and makes an important statement about individuality in a mass-production world -- but only for those who can afford it and without the expectation that we are going to return to eighteenth century production methods and levels of consumption.
See more comments by gustoct »
Recent Posts
See more posts by gustoct »
Recent Favorites
gustoct hasn't favorited a post yet.
Recent Polls
gustoct hasn't answered any polls yet.
Recent Quizzes
gustoct hasn't taken any quizzes yet.
Recent Comments | Response to Comments
Dear Slice: 'Heading to NYC, and Pepe's in New Haven'
As a New Haven whose exposure goes back 47 years and who simply won't put up with the treatment at Sally's, I have mainly frequented Pepe's with occasional detours at Modern (as well as other places not as good and some really great ones, alas no longer with us). My experience is also that Pepe's is much more variable than it was when the previous generation was running it and before its expansion, but I have had some remarkably good pizza there recently and disagree with Ed's verdict (of course, I didn't have the pies he had). You get superb pizza more often than not and I haven't had a BAD one. My experience with the Fairfield location has actually been quite good, but I haven't tried the others.
I'll have to try Zuppardi's in West Havenm. Do they have a coal oven?
Why Mario's Closing the Enoteca at Del Posto
I've eaten at both more than once; he'd have been better off to have closed the "main room", which is pretentious, overpriced and a little oppressive in tone, and whose food isn't outstanding enough to justify the attitude. The Enoteca had excellent, inventive food at reasonable prices, served by friendly people who didn't take themselves (and you) so seriously that you spent more time worrying whether your tie was on straight (the main room is that kind of place, even if you are not wearing a tie!) than enjoying the food.
Dim Sum at Ocean Jewel in Flushing, Queens
Is there a better dim sum restaurant in Flushing than Ocean Jewel?
Is Locavorism For Rich Folks Only?
While I enjoy local food, especially when I can find sources that taste better than what's available from afar, there is a romantic quality to this whole "movement" that is a bit precious. I think it unlikely that we could feed 20 million people in the New York metropolitan area for 12 months of the year on locally grown food and, even within quantity limits, confining themselves to food seasonally available is unattractive to most people. Beyond that, it is not clear that fruits and vegetables carried in small quantities in trucks or cars (when picked up at a farmer's market or farm) have a smaller environmental "footprint" than large quantities of food packed in containers and distributed in full trucks to supermarkets.
The availability of decent and decently priced food in low-income neighborhoods is a completely different problem better attacked by finding ways to attract larger stores (even supermarkets!) selling mass-produced food at manageable prices.
Having said all that, those of us who can afford it should encourage artisanal food for the same reasons we prefer and should encourage artisanal production of wines, cheeses, jewelry and clothes. The individuality provides variety and makes an important statement about individuality in a mass-production world -- but only for those who can afford it and without the expectation that we are going to return to eighteenth century production methods and levels of consumption.
The Sam Sifton Era Begins: He's A Serious Eater, All Right
I may be too tightbutt here, but it wasn't clear to me that the Cowgirl Seahorse review was about food. It was more like a club guide. Nothing made me want to EAT there, although I could see why someone might want to GO there.
Lamb Burgers from Eleven Madison Park
An important philosophical question: How big does a meatball have to be to become a burger?
Top Five Fancy-Pants Doughnuts in New York City
"You could almost deem this a complete meal." (re: Craft). Yes, the two basic food groups, fat and sugar!
The Great New York Fancy-Pants Fried Chicken Roundup
Great survey and very informative, but I don't understand the value calculations. Momofuku gives you 1 bird for $50 and gets a high value score. Brooklyn Bowl gives you a half bird for $18 and gets a poor value score. Momofuku isn't a bowling alley, but it's not exactly Le Bernardin either. I won't bore you with other comparisons. Maybe you needed a separate "atmosphere" score.
Have Menus Gotten Too Complicated?
NotAmerican,
In Continental Europe, cheese comes before dessert, perhaps so you can finish your wine. In England, it comes after dessert, so you can have your port with cheese.
Katz's Deli: Go for the Pastrami, Not the Breakfast
I should add that the pastrami and egg omelet was excellent.
Katz's Deli: Go for the Pastrami, Not the Breakfast
I had a pastrami "omelet" for breakfast at Katz's a couple of months ago. I was practically the only person in the place (it was right around opening time) and I don't know if it was on the "menu" (I asked for it without looking), but it was "available".
The Joys of Unnaturally Flavored Sodas
I share your passion for Fresca, but age has its advantages, at least for those who can enjoy their memories, true or not. As I remember it, Fresca was even better in its original formulation, which included cyclamate. Cyclamate was ultimately banned from the market because a rat eating its weight in cyclamate might get cancer -- there was a law, the so-called Delaney Amendment, that banned from food any additive that caused cancer when ingested in any amount. Since that was almost everything but exempted substances historically added like saccharine, it had the ironic effect of forcing the substitution of something that tasted worse but caused more cancer. Coca-Cola pulled Fresca from the market until aspartame was approved, then reformulated it, and the new stuff is great, but at least in golden memory the old stuff was even better. I bought a large quantity when they announced it was being pulled, but it had a limited shelf life and then there was no more. It's a little like the sugar/corn syrup story, I guess, except this substitution was prompted by a berserk regulation;
Trader Joe's Practices Refreshingly Good Grammar
I don't want to disappoint the Wholefoods haters out there, but my local Wholefoods has the grammar correct as well.
Israeli Products May Be Banned at Park Slope Coop
This is a swamp from which no one returns alive: Should the co-op also ban: figs from Turkey? (killing Kurds, Armenian Holocaust Denial), spices, grains and chocolate from various African countries ? (assorted dictatorships and slaughters of innocents), wines and agricultural products from Australia? (mistreatment of Aborigines), dates from Egypt (repression of democracy), anything from Pakistan? (supporting terror against innocent civilians), spices and fruits from India? (Kashmir); anything from Iran? (where do I start?), Saudi Arabia? (repression of religious freedom and women's rights, exporting religious fundamentalist terror and repression), Serbia? (slaughter of Bosnian Muslims and Albanians), Croatia? (slaughter of Muslims and ethnic cleansing of Serbs), Basque Spain? (terrorism against civilians); China? (civil rights and religious freedom, Tibet), Russia? (Chechnya, Georgia). I could go on, but you get the idea. We would have no difficulty finding something fairly awful in the recent histories of most of the countries of the world, including our own. Let each consumer make up her own mind. If nobody wants to buy something, the stores (and co-ops) won't stock it. But don't take moral autonomy away from individuals who may not agree and may not want to speak up.
The Best Steak in NYC Might Not Be in a Steakhouse
I'm sure it's delicious (seriously), but at that price this may be the wrong year for it.
Chinese Wine Coming to a Restaurant Near You?
Two things can be true at once: It's possible that most Chinese wine is currently bad or counterfeit or both (and that none of it is worth $60) and that in 50 years (maybe more, depending on how the economic slump affects the Chinese) some of it will be really good and there will be a lot of it. I don't know what "the leading producer in the world" means, except for quantity, and (again depending on economic growth) it's not inconceivable that a home market of a billion and a half people will be the largest in the world. Berry Brothers and Rudd is a serious firm and not given to wild statements. I doubt that they mean that China will surpass (perhaps not even equal) France, Italy, the U.S., Australia, and Germany in the quality of its best wines. But that it might be the largest producer in the world with some very good wines seems perfectly plausible to me. California was producing some superb wines within 50 years after the end of prohibition (1983), as is New Zealand, which started essentially from scratch 35 years ago.
14 Most Important New York City Restaurants of the Last 40 Years: Did Gael Greene Nail It?
Hard to leave Craft off such a list. While other restaurants certainly used excellent local ingredients, It arguably was the first restaurant to really focus in a laserlike way on the ingredients themselves and their origins, paving the way in NY for the somewhat over-hyped but still important locavore, "get close to the earth and the producer" movement. And it meets the "deliciousness" criterion, which ought to be in there somewhere as a sine qua non for "importance". Several of Greene's choices are/were not delicious, and a couple may well have been delicious for her, but not for people who were or are not known friends of the house. Finally, Chang may be a genius, but he is too much "of the moment" to be put on a list that purports to recognize "importance", which surely requires the perspective that time gives.
A Few Street Vendors Are Not So Fastidious; Will You Still Partake?
You may not like the journalistic style, but people deserve to know that some vendors have "disgusting habits" and they even deserve to know which ones. Perhaps a "list of shame" or some other way of distinguishing the many clean ones from the dirty ones would help us use the clean ones with confidence. Bashing "Inside Edition" doesn't make the problem go away, and if you are an ill patron of one of the disgusting few, you won't feel better knowing that many are clean.
Steve Cuozzo is Sick of Luxury Burgers
Wagyu beef doesn't have enough fat? At least in Japan, Wagyu beef is the fattiest of all. Do they grow it differently here?
Serious Eats City Guide Premiere: New York (How to Leave Here Pleasantly Full)
Under Barbecue, I agree with Ed that particular places are best for particular items. I would put RUB's burnt ends in the same category as his other "bests".
Ed Levine's Updated Guide to the Best Hot Dogs in NYC
Thank you for an extremely informative comment. Do you know whether the exact same Papaya King/Gray's/Katz's recipe hot dogs are available at retail (other than onsite at Katz's), perhaps under another brand?
Third Avenue: Hamburger Row
Please post the cross streets with the addresses, so we can find these places without wearing out our mouses (mice?) on Google Maps.
Why Can't You Get a Good Slice Outside New York City? 'Wired' Magazine Says It's the Water
It may help those engaged in this melee to know that there is no one "NYC" water. Upper Manhattan and the Bronx get it from one source and reservoir system. Manhattan south of 110th St or so (I'm not sure where the boundary line is exactly) get it largely untreated from the Delaware River and southern Catskills through a different reservoir system. Brooklyn and Queens get it from another source, and I don't know where Staten Island gets theirs from. As many have pointed out, you can get good pizza from places other than the lower 2/3 of Manhattan and outside NY City. I'm sure there is water so bad that you can't make good pizza from it, but it's clear that you can do fine with lots of different kinds of water. For what it's worth, Phoenix gets its water from the Colorado River, the source of a lot of Southern California's water. The City of L.A. gets theirs from the Owens Valley, east of the Sierras.
Kosher-for-Passover Coke and Pepsi Are Back!
It's worse than akiono luna thinks: not only is corn subsidized, but sugar is protected from imports, so it sells in the U.S. for a multiple of the world market price. That's why it pays to substitute corn syrup here, but not in the rest of the world. It's also why we are making biofuel ethanol from corn, when the Brazilians can make it from sugar much cheaper (and get a much better CO2 result in the process).
Paris food picks from someone who knows
Recent experience 4/08:
Gaya is excellent, very inventive, very modern, very expensive. Hip decor, good service. Empty at 8:00, fills by 9:30. Food somewhat "deconstructed", but not tortured beyond recognition.
Bistro Paul Bert, excellent traditional bistro food, good atmosphere, a little out of the way and not quite worth the detour, but definitely worth knowing about.
Dear Slice: 'Heading to NYC, and Pepe's in New Haven'
Adam out of respect for the Wooster St legacy I kept Pepe's at #3 because of the respect issue and because there are other pies Like the Clam which are out of this world. But I observed other people cutting into their pies and everyone was having the same issue and looked upset that it was taking so much work to eat their pies.....
the slice when you would pick it up would stay straight that's how tough the actual crust has been coming out of the oven lately at both locations.
I've eaten Pizza in quite a few cities and I've followed the GQ Pizza Article on a few of the Detroit pizzeria's since I have family on my wife's side who live out that way.
I really enjoyed buddy's pizza and actually found photos on my cell phone that I sent in. Way different pizza squares and such....
But back to New Haven, for the health conscious Pizza eater up the road about 4 miles up on Whitney ave in Hamden there is Olde World Pizza they do lo carb and even wheat pizza. It's not coal oven but it's pretty good stuff as well.
I haven't eaten yet at the new Yonkers location or the Mohegan Sun for Pepe's but once they went to 7 days a week and opening up at 11:30am something has changed, you need more staff, different people making the pizza and it's just different at Pepe's right now...
I should send them an email because I'm asked all the time 6'3 300lbs which of the big 5 is the best and I tell anyone depends on what you like on it. Sausage hands down is Zupps...... Modern is bigger in seating capacity, very thin Apizza...But they have won best pizza in the Advocate for the past 7 years....Ballot stuffing who knows..... But everyone I know loves Modern. The one thing I do love in regards to the peperoni used at Sallys and Pepe's is that it's cut off the stick.....It doesn't get any better than that......
Then you have to go down the block on Wooster for Italian Ice at Libby's.
Libby's has a new location in North Haven right down the street from me.
Homemade just awesomeness is all I can say. You want any Italian Cookie or Angel Wings, expresso , etc.....It doesn't get any better than Libby's after throwing down.....
Anyone ever wants to do a Pizza throwdown with a Former/Transplanted New Yorker.....
Just drop me a line.....
Enjoy the weekend and holidays everyone...
Dim Sum at Ocean Jewel in Flushing, Queens
Chinese food in NYC used to be amazing... why is it not still? Statistically there are more Chinese-born inhabitants in New York than any other major metropolitan area... but it seems to be universally agreed that the food is on the decline.
http://www.migrationinformation.org/DataHub/FB_maps/State_Metro_ACS2008_Chinese_FB.pdf
Dear Slice: 'Heading to NYC, and Pepe's in New Haven'
Wow. Thanks for the great intel, offthemeter. Interesting that Pepe's still comes in at No. 3 even from what you say above. Before I got to your ranking, I expected it to be somewhere after Bar or Zuppardi's. It's now clear we'll have to go back and do Bar and Zuppardi's (and re-try Pepe's).
Dear Slice: 'Heading to NYC, and Pepe's in New Haven'
I want to chime in since I grew up in New York City and now live 10 minutes from the Big 5 Modern, Sally's Pepe's, Zuppardi's and Bar.
Pepe's the last 3 times in the past 2 months and 1 time at the Spot which is the original Pepe's. Their crust I couldn't even cut it with my knife and it was beyond noticeable. 4 times same Original Location and the same experience it's not a coincidence until I read the other posts on here today.
Sallys sauce when you ask for extra sauce is the sweetest of the bunch. The rudeness factor makes me laugh but my wife refuses to eat there and she's a native and lifer of the area. The issue is they can only squeeze in 10 pies into their oven at a time and they take phone orders if you can get through.
Modern is our favorite out of the Big 5 the Italian Bomb is a hearty pie sausage, pep, bacon, onion, red pepper. I'm a Pepperoni guy that's all I need and sometimes just good old Sauce and Grated does me fine as well.
Bar Pizza is made by someone who used to work at Sally's so that's why it gets high marks as a sleeper pizza. I've only had pepperoni and cheese and it was pretty good.
Zuppardi's in West Haven...Their sausage Pie is really good not Coal Oven though and the decor is very old school.... Gives it Character.
1.Modern
2.Sally's
3.Pepe's
4. Zups
5. Bar
Dear Slice: 'Heading to NYC, and Pepe's in New Haven'
"My experience is also that Pepe's is much more variable than it was when the previous generation was running it and before its expansion, but I have had some remarkably good pizza there recently...."
IMO, I strongly feel that product AND consistency is what makes a great pizzeria. Most pizzerias, either because of lack of ingredient quality, lack of skill sets by the pizzamakers and/or lack of passion are not even capable of making a great pizza to begin with.
A "great" pizzeria is capable of making a great pizza and is driven to get as close to that greatness as often as possible.....which is most of the time.
It sounds like Pepe's is in the process of falling, or has already fallen from greatness, even if it can still crank out a great pizza from time to time. That's really sad to this pizza lover and a situation that hopefully will right itself sooner than later.
Adam, the pic of the Sally's pizzas look delicious BTW. I need to get to New Haven ASAP! --K
Dear Slice: 'Heading to NYC, and Pepe's in New Haven'
@gustoct: Point noted. I'll have to try Pepe's next time I'm in New Haven to see how the crust fares again. Now that I know how easy/quick it is to get to with a Zipcar, that should be soon.
Just called to verify with Zuppardi's Apizza: They use a gas-fired oven. No coal.
Serious Eats City Guide Premiere: New York (How to Leave Here Pleasantly Full)
@Ed: I think most New Yorkers might be over the Shake Shack burger - am I alone here? There is an amazing burger down in FiDi at a hotel bar - I would definitely add it to the list - at The Libertine..
Does Anyone Really Love Pumpkin Pie?
I love pumpkin pie, sweet potato pie, and I will eat butternut squash right out of the rind once it's roasted. I bake pumpkin bread and pumpkin pie in autumn, not really for the holidays so much. I generally love squash. I once made pies from a squash in Peru just because it was a novelty. These squashes/gourds are so big it takes two people to carry one. It's important to remember that pies aren't just a desert - they are often the main course, filled with meats, vegetables, and spices. My family usually has pumpkin pie around Thanksgiving and Christmas, but we also get tired of traditional holiday foods. Frequently, for Thanksgiving or Christmas, we will decide to have something different at the table. Last year we had an incredible Italian dish that my father prepared for Christmas, and I smoked chicken and baby back ribs for Thanksgiving. It didn't change the spirit of the holidays at all for us. So, I guess the important thing is that you enjoy what you cook and eat during the holidays.
Why Mario's Closing the Enoteca at Del Posto
What a really bad excuse. I don't think the critics are going to like it either.
Why Mario's Closing the Enoteca at Del Posto
"What if we earned a Michelin star and no one showed up to enjoy the food?"
I can understand professional ambition, but am not sure how having a less casual place attached impacts food quality, unless the pace or volume of serving food in the more casual Enoteca impacts the ability to serve high quality food at Del Posto (doubtful). So basically, he's upping the snob appeal in hope of recognition. It seems like it might backfire - if anything, Michelin seems willing to recognize places that are more casual in atmosphere but excellent in food.
Dim Sum at Ocean Jewel in Flushing, Queens
Aren't the "pan-fried pork and chive dumplings" under the chicken feet, usually made with shrimp, rather than pork? I've never had pork in one of those. Lovely photos, though!
Dim Sum at Ocean Jewel in Flushing, Queens
avisualperson: MSG levels were ok - not too bad, but then again, we didn't order a lot of savory dishes that came with soups and stocks, so I can't comment on their general use of MSG.
Good question by gustoct: This was actually my first dim sum meal in Flushing in 6 years, so I'd welcome more recommendations!
Is Locavorism For Rich Folks Only?
Indygal: My husband and I did do the Food Stamp Challenge trying to eat only organic and buying majority of our groceries at local Farmer's Markets just to see if we could. We found that while it was hard, it wasn't impossible. We managed (but did go a little hungry sometimes and ate less food than normal...and lost weight). I would drag around a notebook and try and compare prices and noticed that Farmer's Markets were higher but we just bought less food and wasted almost nothing unlike pre- and (sadly) post-challenge. Farmers were also very supportive and would throw in extra produce (something that NEVER happens at Vons).
I think the goal is, do what you can and what feels comfortable for you. We try but we're not militant. And yes, it would be harder if we had children or the luxury of a car, etc.
Is Locavorism For Rich Folks Only?
Even the most expensive local tomato is still way, way, way cheaper than most crappy food eaten out. I buy local. I like to cook. I prefer my food dollars to go to good food, and if one shops sensibly it is not that expensive.
Example:
- cheap chain grocery green beans: $1.50/lb
- frou-frou Ferry Plaza Farmer's Market green beans - could be $3/lb to $4/lb
- Civic Center Farmer's Market - catering to a different demographic: $1/lb.
Is Locavorism For Rich Folks Only?
One reason why locally farmed food is more expensive because it isn't subsidized by the government. Also, how much more expensive is it really?
http://www.oregonlive.com/foodday/index.ssf/2009/07/which_price_is_right.html
Another reason why, for example, out of season gassed to ripeness florida tomatoes are cheaper is because the tomato pickers are paid slave wages. In fact, some of them are actually slaves.
http://www.ciw-online.org/
People seem to also forget that local, smaller farmers are HUMAN BEINGS, that work INCREDIBLY hard. A lot of them are barely making minimum wage even charging what some people deem "ridiculously high prices". It's a lot easier to grow things with tons of chemical fertilizer and pesticides. Farming is not even a recognized profession by the U.S. census.
Seasonal food tastes better than out of season food being sold in conventional supermarkets in January(i.e. tomatoes, strawberries). I realize that this is an opinion, not fact, but I'm more than willing to run a blind taste test. Conventional food is also higher in nutritional value than industrialized ag. When people say that in season, local food is only for the rich, one thing I think is "so you're telling me lower income people only deserve flavorless, nutritionless, pesticide laden food? And that isn't elitist?"
I'd also like to point out that cheap food prices are based on fossil fuel. With peak oil, the U.S. is likely going to go through a major food crisis. We could do well to learn from Cuba and try to prevent that by recognizing these local farmers and attempting to give them the status and pay they deserve.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special_Period
Lastly, there is a lot of flawed reasoning in McWilliam's new book. The reviews on amazon are a good place to read them.
Is Locavorism For Rich Folks Only?
I find it to be more expensive to shop at my local farmer's market than to buy food at the most expensive grocery in my area -- and that's just the basics, not heirloom vegetables, artisanal breads and cheeses.
I tried to follow the Food Stamp Challenge a year or so ago. It was difficult at the grocery; impossible at the farmer's market.
Is Locavorism For Rich Folks Only?
It's definitely for people that are better off, financially. The price difference,availability and education of the consumer on the topic being the main reasons. I love a nice delicious locally grown tomato, etc but I cannot justify the price difference to a working single mother of 3 or 4 struggling with a shoestring budget. Can you? If you can, you are being sanctimonious and are just as oblivious as Alice Waters,et al. to any real struggle happening everyday. Also, the inner city population is not going to listen to some hippie locavore talking about 15 dollar grapes. Sorry not gonna happen.
Is Locavorism For Rich Folks Only?
"Off the cuff: you could consider part of the cost of local vegetables (particularly heirloom) to be the seeds that you'll get that are proven to work in your local ecosystem. So, if you've got the time to invest, the higher cost will amortize over the successive generations of food that you can raise from the first purchase."
Nice theory. I buy into it every spring. This year was the worst ever. I got two heirloom tomato plants for $1.00 each at my local farmers market. And dirt. And pots. And some seedlings- squash, parsley, jalapenos, cucumbers. I ended up with 3/4 of a tomato (1/4 was buggy or rotted). Granted, it was the sweetest, most delicious tomato I ever tasted, but criminy. 4 months of careful tending, and i ended up with almost nothing.
I'll surely be romanced again next spring. I'm an incurable optimist when it comes to this sort of thing.
Is Locavorism For Rich Folks Only?
All I know is, here in Chicago, a pound of string beans at my local produce market (and by local I mean in my neighborhood, not a source of local produce), string beans are $1.49/pound. At the farmers market, where the produce IS local, string beans are $6/pound. That is a huge, huge difference.
Is Locavorism For Rich Folks Only?
@foodinmouth - can you please write a coherent comment? Trying to parse some meaning out of your rant is painful. You seem to think that the Union Sq market is much more important than it really is. Sure, they should take EBT and food stamps. What I think is even more important is that the markets in the poorer neighborhood take them. And they largely do. You are making a lot of angry assumptions, about the people who shop there, about the farmers who sell there, and about the organizers. You are asking a lot of rhetorical questions, I bet you've never bothered to get involved yourself.
Is Locavorism For Rich Folks Only?
I'm rather tired of people whipping out the argument that we can't feed X amount of people if we all shopped locally and sustainably. That's as illogical as cramming food left on your plate down your throat so that children in Africa don't starve. No one's asking you to give up feedin' the world by supporting your local farmer. But all the costs of 'cheap' supermarket food are subsidized by the govt, i.e. our tax dollars anyhow, so pushing those costs out of the way and hiding them does not in fact make them go away. I've been one of the poor described in the article, for several years. I STILL went out of my way to purchase some of my food from local farmers, most of whom deliver if you order over 50 bux of meat. I still bought organic milk at the store, and when I couldn't afford something I went without. I totally understand that some people cannot. ever. afford to choose pricy local stores, but most farms DELIVER. Whether it's through a CSA, a bulk order split between several friends, or even a private arrangement, you can indeed get at least half of your food from local sources. It will indeed be cheaper, probably healthier, and you'll be supporting your local economy, your own neighbors. We have several community gardens that grow food for the food bank, just for those reasons and people love it. There is a large continuum of shopping locally, but snide comments calling it a fad or worse is just as annoying.
Is Locavorism For Rich Folks Only?
@simon,
I've seen that site and also know the time that I've check that site (the last two years), the Union Square farmers market has not shown up there.
It's the biggest one. It's the one that would stand to create either
a. the most confusion w/ new ebt equipment or system
b. the one most likely to have farmers who might be irked at having to implement it.
I've heard certain markets use a station for ebt users to go and swap for tokens, and then use tokens at the stands. So yea, I know what's going on with 'em. The point is that if they want to make a statement, they should do a better job. I mean, how long does it take to implement the system at Union Square? Are any of the farmers pushing for it? Are any of the customers? Seriously, if you people want to say that farmers market cares about being a social movement, then you're really talking about everyone at the farmers market *wanting* a social movement. I don't see that at all. The worst part is that people who go to farmers markets don't even realize they're not part of any social movement. Who exactly is progressing the EBT system for farmers markets? Is it the people who go there? Is there such a clamor? Is it the farmers? Are they saying, "Damn, look at the demo that visit my stand!" Get the **** outta here man.
Is Locavorism For Rich Folks Only?
NYC Greenmarkets currently accepting EBT transactions.
Progress in use of Food Stamps at NYC Greenmarkets. (PDF)
This is a real issue and it is being addressed. The primary mission of the Greenmarket movement has always been a social one.
Is Locavorism For Rich Folks Only?
Ed,
When are we going to get food stamps or EBT cards in the biggest farmers market in New York City? Or is that one just for the well-to-do? Union Square has got some catching up to do.
Lamb Burgers from Eleven Madison Park
for $12, I'd want three on my plate but it's lamb so maybe this fair!
Or how about making the two just a LITTLE bigger! Just a thought!
Recent Posts
Recent Favorites
gustoct hasn't favorited a post yet.
Polls
gustoct hasn't answered any polls yet.
Quizzes
gustoct hasn't taken any quizzes yet.
As a New Haven whose exposure goes back 47 years and who simply won't put up with the treatment at Sally's, I have mainly frequented Pepe's with occasional detours at Modern (as well as other places not as good and some really great ones, alas no longer with us). My experience is also that Pepe's is much more variable than it was when the previous generation was running it and before its expansion, but I have had some remarkably good pizza there recently and disagree with Ed's verdict (of course, I didn't have the pies he had). You get superb pizza more often than not and I haven't had a BAD one. My experience with the Fairfield location has actually been quite good, but I haven't tried the others.
I'll have to try Zuppardi's in West Havenm. Do they have a coal oven?