I've been wanting to read Barry Schwartz's book, The Paradox of Choice for some time now but as we approach the final days of the Eat Local Challenge I think his book has moved to the top of my reading list. Schwartz writes about the anxiety that a consumer/shopper generates by having to choose from so many options in any one category of goods. One of the lessons I learned over the past several weeks is that eating locally does mean making some choices. Sometimes these choices are difficult--"can I still eat the Ithaca Chocolate even if its made in Switzerland?" Ah...no. But there is some comfort in knowing that many of my choices have been made for me. Some of these choices are made by food distributors and others are made by mother nature--Central New York-grown celery root in June is not a real possibility.
As I went through the garden to pick what was ripe today I noticed the changing variety and limited choice of my yield. A couple of months ago, my bowl would have been filled with lettuces, broccoli raab, and kale. Now, my bowl is filled with yellow squash, tomatoes, collards, and a squash blossom. By the end of the next month it will probably have butternut squash, kale, and maybe red chard that I recently seeded.
My point is--I am no longer overwhelmed by the simple act of going to the supermarket and looking at the sea of produce choices to determine my dinner. I remember reading Alice Waters' directive to do just that in the Chez Panisse Cafe cookbook--walking into the Berkeley Bowl I didn't know where to begin. Instead of anxiety, eating locally (and hence seasonlly) means getting creative with what is available perhaps trying out a new dish.
Instead of trying to choose from a cereal aisle the length of a basketball court, I can easily choose the few locally produced cereals that offered. It isn't that I don't like choices--I really do. But there is a part of me longs for a simpler time when a market may have given a few really good options instead of a couple dozen mediocre ones. When I go to the large supermarkets I have to spend so much time sorting out my choices that it can be energy draining. When I go to the Co-op or the organic farmers markets, I know that some of the "weeding out" has been done for me. I know that the choices I make for my meals are made from the healthy, local options available.
I guess I'm rambling a bit but with just a few days left in the month I'm hoping that the Eat Local Challenge will be a way of a life rather than a summer novelty. I am glad that my options are not as limited as I had previously thought and I rejoice that some of my choices are no longer as overwhelming.
And by the way, though I will continue to eat local, chocolate will ALWAYS be one of my exemptions!
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