meower wrote: 
It's not just blighted inner-city minority ghettos either.  I live within the city limits, a stone's throw away from if not the wealthiest suburb, certainly one of the wealthiest.  If I get on the highway, get off two exits down the road, and wind my way through the convoluted suburban streets that are designed to confuse outsiders, I can find a Whole Foods, and pay top dollar for good food, then spend another half-hour getting it home.  Not practical.

Madison is one of the best cities for farmers' markets.  But unless you live within walking distance of where it's held, and have time every weekend to do a whole week's shopping (not very practical when you're on foot), it's really nothing more than one of those quaint things for tourists.

What do I have in my neighborhood, where I can do a day's shopping in an hour?  The closest place with food is a small Wal-Mart.  No, not the new Wal-Mart grocery stores, or a Super Wal-Mart, just a plain Wal-Mart.  Next is Target, which recently added a food section.  (No fresh food though.)  The regular grocery stores are either recently shut down or about to be shut down.  It's not a recession thing; it's the big box stores taking enough of their business that they can't survive.

I'm seeing this in a lot of "nice" neighborhoods.  And it's not easy to "just drive to the good stores" as they get farther and farther away.  Not everybody has a car.  Not everybody can drive.  Not everybody can afford cab fare and groceries.  But everybody must eat.

I like seeing news about efforts to bring nutrition into areas where it's most needed.  I also like the idea of taking abandoned lots and using them as community gardens.  I'd like it better if they came to where I live.  At least it's a step in the right direction.

http://whyy.org/cms/news/regional-news/2009/12/10/some-neighborhoods-struggle-to-attract-markets/25219

New supermarkets may be routine in the suburbs, but in some urban areas they are a rarity. WHYY's Elizabeth Fiedler and Peter Crimmins offer this joint report on local efforts to bring the benefits of fresh food to the inner city. First, Elizabeth Fiedler reports from Progress Plaza on North Broad Street.

Very good story about the efforts of an area in North Philadelphia to bring fresh food to their area. 

 buzz wrote: 

 MsJudi wrote: 
i hope not

KFC Introduces Surreal Sandwich That Replaces Bread With Fried Chicken

You have to be kidding...

 MsJudi wrote: 
Seasonal food!

To me, the out-of-season food at the grocery store tastes so lame that i don't even bother.  We eat peaches during peach season (local!)  And we gorge on apples 'round here in the fall.  Eating something that you just picked is totally different than something that was picked in Chile 3 weeks ago. 

We've got crappy farmland here in NH... but hardy farmers, so they make a go of it.  We had local corn tonight.  Mmmmmmmmm.

 oldviolin wrote: 
  glad it's becoming popular again... but with both parents working I don't think there will be time.

I'm fer 'em both.

 MrsHobieJoe wrote: 


Be still my heart (and move me to a cooler climate forthwith!)

 MsJudi wrote: 
it's becos we're socialists (either that or we have a cooler climate that you). 

Milkfloat:

 MrsHobieJoe wrote: 
I didn't even know anyone did that anymore.

 oldviolin wrote: 
LOL once they're steamed in the corn pot, you'd never know they were... ok, I'm totally lying. As a kid, I wouldn't even touch the cobs that had worms in them. I think my logic was that I'd get worm stuff on me and die.

 MsJudi wrote: 

We still get our milk in glass bottles delivered to the doorstep.....

 MsJudi wrote: 
Don't eat them little worms...unless you need the protien...

The book Animal, Vegetable, Miracle by Barbara Kingsolver describes in detail how to live on local food. A very enjoyable read.

 oldviolin wrote: 
This is what my mother did every year, too. But we were in PA where we had almost unfettered access to fresh fruits and veggies and milk and steak straight outta the field. I remember the weekly trips to the dairy down the road where we bought our milk in glass bottles that we returned every week. And this wasn't back in the 1800s either.   We're talking late 60s, early 70s.

edit: (Oh lordy, and that little trip down memory lane reminds me of going INTO the corn field with Dad and picking cobs straight off the stalks into a large paper grocery sack. We'd take them home and sit outside and shuck- a job I loathed as a 6 year old. But corn on the cob would be the only thing we'd need for dinner that night. And now my tummy is growling.)

 JrzyTmata wrote: 
magic wand?

 ptooey wrote: 
That's where the old folks had it right. They canned, swapped, shared, and stored.

 JrzyTmata wrote: 

I think that they are really trying to reduce food miles- ie not having your fruit flown in from Australia at certain times of the year.  Trying to eat as local as you can and concentrate on eating seasonal food rather than strawberries in December.