California

So, I'm on vacation in Oroville California visiting my brother, Luke, and his wife, Erin. I left Portland days ago resolved to continue exploring the great food experiment. California is a whole different story when it comes to local. Processed foods are still out for the most part, but avocados are in. So is rice. We went to the farmers market today and bought a large bag of bell peppers for $2.00. We bought chard and chinese flowering broccoli. Honey. Almonds. Peaches. Tomatoes. Basil. There were almost no leafy greens--so much harder to grow in the heat, but there was mozzarella, the real kind, made from local water buffalo, and crates full of melons sold for a dollar each. I have enjoyed limes and lemons and all wonders of citrus drinks. I am becoming certain that my palate is Mediterranean. Did I mention olives? As one of my favorite authors, Ellen Meloy writes, if the end of life as we know it came (good-bye big semis, florida grapefruit, wheat gluten from across the world), Californians would still be floating in hot tubs sipping local wine and dipping their fingers into bowls of olives and other fancy fruit, nuts and cheeses. Still, California has its drawbacks...but ah, the food!

Kate