It's been a while...

So it's been awhile since my last post.... OK more like a couple of years since my last post, so I thought it might be a good time to go back and recap some of my best and worst "food experiences" of the past couple of years. These "food experiences" will be both about restaurants that I have frequented as well as my own cooking. Now I am certainly not a professional food critic, but I do have a better than average understanding on how the food industry works. Since I was about five or six years old, I had the amazing opportunity to be around some great chefs and home cooks. They took the time to explain some of the things that most people take for granted or dont know or care about when it comes to food. For example, when I was five, my dad and my uncle were planning a big gathering of family and friends and needed to feed about 50 to 60 guests. So they concluded that they would go to a local farm (I wish I could remember the name of it...Oh well), and get everything that they needed for this party. Turns out the farm trip turned into a crash course in how we as a society get our food. I have been hearing this term a lot lately "From the Farm to the Table". That has got to be be the biggest load of bullshit these giant processed, frozen, preservative filled, boldface lying food corporations could ever serve up. The truth is that no matter what the package says, its a more likely that those Sweet Peas or Corn that come in a bag, are from a different country, and has been frozen for a lot longer than you may think. The true sense of the phrase " From the Farm to the Table" is a hell of a lot more expensive, and is not as available as the other crap. The best thing any of us could do for our health is read the damn label. If there are more ingredients than just the "Sweet Peas" in the bag, I wont buy them. People have said to me in the past,"but buying organic produce is too expensive. I would rather save some money and buy the stuff with all the pesticides and chemicals". You could do that, just make sure you sock away enough of the money you saved for you future chemo treatments. I know that not every pesticide laden onion is going to lead to some type of cancer, but if you think back on how many people we all know and lost due to some horrible disease, it would only make sense to not ingest those chemicals and pesticides and give yourself a stronger and healthier chance of not having to deal with these diseases. So back to the farm. Now when I have told this part of the story to people before, I usually get a response like, "oh that must have been terrible for you" or "thats cruel how could your dad do that to you". I never felt that way. In hindsight I feel that my dad taught me one of the most valuable lessons any one could learn. Part of the farm trip included a visit to the slaughterhouse, to get some farm raised lamb and beef. I witnessed how chickens are euthanized, and how a cow becomes a porterhouse. The thing that we didn't witness was the lamb. My father chose to do that himself... at home. Now my old man grew up on a vineyard in Argentina. He knew more about wine than anyone I have ever met, but this was the first time that I knew of when he also took on the role of butcher. The Lamb lived with us for a couple of days until the day before the party, Thats when my mom told us that we couldn't go play with the lamb in the basement. After my dad butchered the lamb, he butterflied it and stretched it across what looks like a crucifix. A cross made of metal with sharp ends that you stick in the ground over an open flame. It was the coolest, most archaic thing I have ever seen. You have seen concepts liks this in movies and tv shows set back in medieval times, I got to see it in my back yard. Although I was upset that my new pet was gone, I understood that it was there to feed us. And as I ate all the things my dad cooked that day, I came to realize that this is where our food comes from and this is how our society should be eating. I don't mean that we should be slaughtering animals in our homes, but we should embrace the true meaning of "From the Farm to the Table" Now that was a long time ago, and there are a lot more options for people like me that live in more urban areas, such as food stores that carry certified organic produce and proteins. My choice is my local Wegmans in Woodbridge NJ. They have a wide variety of organic produce that is reasonably priced. The meat and fish departments are outstanding as is the knowledgeable staff. It helps when you get to know the people that work there and they help guide you towards the products your looking for. If you do go there, say hi to Chef Marvin who is usually cooking some amazing tasting seafood dish for folks to sample. Another option is a CO/OP for produce. There is a health food store close by that offers its customers with an option to buy into the CO/OP and receive a variety of fresh organic fruits and vegetables for a weekly or monthly fee. Not bad considering that all the hard work is being done for us. Its up to you as the consumer to make the choice to eat better and healthier or continue the cycle that in my opinion is what has killed off a good part of the generations before us.