July 2008 | From the Editor
A Matter of Taste
I’ve always been a finicky eater. When I was a kid, my mother made me sit at the dinner table for hours post-meal until I choked down a few bites of her infamously chalky lima beans. Bedtime trumped our stubborn standoff though, so I always managed to get tucked in for the night having never swallowed the loathsome (yet highly nutritious) legumes.
These days, I’m still pretty picky, but I’d rather think of it as my having extremely good taste. (My palate has since evolved to appreciate a nice lima bean salad, by the way.)
My meat-and-potatoes childhood gave way to vegetarianism in high school and full-blown veganism come college. During my school years I worked at a natural foods café near my alma mater, Kent State, where I first learned about the fine line between organic and transitional, the pleasures of artisanal edibles and the evils of processed food. My roomies and I cooked elaborate dinners together, hosted potlucks and tended a garden in the spacious backyard of our crumbling Victorian farmhouse. I shunned fast food, added phrases like “superfood,” “gluten-free” and “live enzymes” to my vernacular, and entertained a laundry list of real and imagined food allergies. (Cow’s milk and I still don’t get along very well, unfortunately. Everything else, I’ve happily learned, is fair game.)
The transition was complete: I was officially a full-fledged foodie.
Today, I’m a flexitarian and much more adventurous than I used to be, as long as my food is healthful (with a few indulgent exceptions), and preferably local, organic and/or sustainable. I’m continually amazed by the power of food: it’s not only what keeps our hearts beating and lungs filling with oxygen, but it’s become a hot political issue, with many folks finding their identities closely tied with their epicurean preferences.
That brings me to our delicious food-themed July issue, in which we explore the environmental argument for vegetarianism (“Veg-o-lution”), parse the uber-complex topic of sustainable seafood (“A Fine Kettle of Fish”) and chat with food activist and filmmaker Deborah Koons Garcia (“Conversations”). Our feature on urban homesteaders (“Grow Your Own Way”) is especially inspiring to me. Considering skyrocketing global food prices, genetically engineered frankencrops and recent salmonella and E. coli scares, the idea of people growing their own food becomes ever more appealing. We talk with five hip homesteaders who are trading lawns for lettuce and sharing their wealth of DIY knowledge (plus recipes!).
While many people in the world wonder where their next meal will come from, Americans are fortunate enough to have endless choices available to them. I may be a finicky eater, but I’m infinitely grateful for the opportunity to dine in an organic eatery or tend to my container garden of tomatoes, eggplants, herbs and berries. For me, gratitude is a necessary ingredient in each meal.
Writing this letter has made me hungry. Organic lima beans, anyone?
— Jessica Ridenour, Editor
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