One of my favorite parts of putting together this issue was the day we spent at the South Perry farmers market with Chef Jeremy Hansen (see "Fresh Food Chain"). While the finished dinner was an inspired creation, melding flavors I would never have thought to bring together, my most vivid memory of the day wasn't the taste of the food. Instead, it was watching Hansen as he deliberately sliced and separated a bunch of fresh apricots from their pits. It was a job that I would dread. How to get the dozens of soft fruits pitted and chopped for the sauce as fast as possible? Yet, in the midst of the happy hubbub of the market, Hansen quietly and steadily sliced and pitted them, stopping to hand out a slice or two to the kids who watched. No peels flying, no hacked-up fruit that was going to be simmered in a sauce anyway.
In fact, each food item — from the meats to the salad greens — was treated with respect. Maybe it was knowing where the food came from, who grew it and the care it took to bring it to market that made the job more meaningful.
For most of us, it may not be practical to get everything for even a single meal from the farmers market, but we can take some small steps toward becoming more deliberate and thoughtful about how we nourish ourselves and our families. Those small steps add up to a big local economic impact, and even better, a wonderfully pleasant way to be healthy.
To your health!
