I heard on the radio this morning that the New Oxford American Dictionary Word of the year is "locavore." (Read about it here, as well as the runners-up.)
Here's Barbara Kingsolver's take on the word: "In many social circles it's ordinary for hosts to accommodate vegetarian guests, even if they're carnivores themselves. Maybe the world would likewise become more hospitable to diners who are queasy about fuel-guzzling foods, if that preference had a name. Petrolophobes? Seasonaltarians? Local eaters? Homeys? Lately I've begun seeing the term locavores and I like it: both scientifically and socially descriptive, with just the right hint of 'Livin' la vida loca.'" (From Animal, Vegetable, Miracle.)
3 hours ago
3 comments:
We eat lots of local produce for at least half of the year - we own a share in a farm, plus I'm a big fan of our farmer's market. And what little meat we eat mostly comes from local sources. So we're kind of locavores.
About 18 months ago, I sort of paid attention to an 'eating local' challenge. But the people doing it at the time got somewhat absurd in their nitpickiness until I couldn't bear to 'watch' any more. I'm glad that people like Barbara Kingsolver and Michael Pollan are bringing a little more reason and balance into the conversation.
One more locavore comment: our local school district is doing "Farm Fresh Fridays" as part of the school lunch program. This will be somewhat tricky in Michigan, since half the school year falls between harvest and planting agriculturally. But anyway, I heard some of the 4th graders complaining about how they started on a good note with yummy fruit (different melons for the first few weeks), but then only had tomatoes for weeks. An adult pointed out that's what it means to eat seasonally. I have a little bit of hope that a bigger percentage of the 'next' generation will be more in touch with eating seasonally and locally, but we Americans are so loathe to give up convenience and variety and 'cheap' food, so change will not be easy!
And one more food word (silly this time!)... A recent Bizarro comic strip showed a man at a table who said "I'm a twinkitarian. I only eat food with a 100 year shelf life." :^)
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