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market-farming - Re: [Market-farming] cooking in France

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Subject: Market Farming

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  • From: Matt Cheselka <cheselka AT freestateproject.org>
  • To: Market Farming <market-farming AT lists.ibiblio.org>
  • Subject: Re: [Market-farming] cooking in France
  • Date: Fri, 26 Mar 2004 15:02:04 -0600 (CST)

On Fri, 26 Mar 2004, Joan McHugh wrote:

> I was in France two years ago and still remember the absolute best
> strawberries I've ever eaten. So aromatic you could smell them two
> stalls over at the market.

I'd really like to understand what's so different about what they're (the
French gardeners/farmers) doing as compared to what we're (USA
gardeners/farmers) to create such an obvious difference. Is it the soil?
Is it the growing method? Is it the variety of strawberry they're
growing?

> They care about quality of food, not quantity.

This statement, Joan, struck me so hard I'm still trying to recover. I
read it 8 hours ago and my jaw is still flopping on the ground! The
reason this struck me so hard is becuase it raised so many other questions
in my head:

1. Do Americans not care about the "quality" of their food?
2. How do Americans define food "quality"? (I define it by
deciding how the food I eat tastes)
3. Is more of something (which leads to a lower price if you
agree with the theory of supply and demand) more desireable
than anything else?
4. Will Americans choose to have something of lower "quality" if
it's cheaper?
5. Have American taste buds been tampered with? Are we less
sensitive to "quality" food?
6. If a tomato bought at Safeway tastes about as good (something
subjective, of course, and subject to a person's taste
sensitivity) as one bought at a farmers' market, why would anyone
feel compelled to pay the (probably) higher price?
7. Are Americans in a situation similar to 3rd world countries,
where *any* food is better than no food at all, and therefore
"quality" doesn't play into the decision?
8. Has commercialization in the food industry made Americans
less sensitive (i.e., dulled our sight, smell, taste,
hearing, and touch) to "quality" food and therefore a tomato
bought as Safeway equals one bought at the market? (e.g., "All
tomatoes are the same")

> And all the French are slim and enjoy their food immensely.

Meaning: "they eat like pigs and don't gain any weight"? Well, I'm sure
there are some fat French people, but I know what you mean. Very
interesting.

Thanks for putting my head into a spin, Joan. Nice to think about stuff
like this while I'm planting new lettuce seedlings! :)

Matt Cheselka
Cosmic Lettuce





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