Great article! Two many choices and not enough time.

Great post! Lots to think about.

love this! I'm a beginner loca-vore, my blog is 0theplaceswewillgo.blogspot.com

Great post!!!

It's a struggle, and sometimes, the powdered mac and cheese does win lol! Fortunately in Brooklyn there's a plethora of farmer's markets, fresh produce and small, independently owned & healthy places to chow at-great post!

If you seek to eat really well and good food you need to think also about healthy and natural food. And in my opinion it is really inconvenient nowadays. You can try to prepare it in healthier way, not to lose many vitamins and useful features of product, but the problem is that the products you can get in food stores are already treated by producers and contains many chemical elements. The same is in all sectors - same in clothes market, same in cosmetics market. That was the main reason I started to produce real, organic, natural cosmetic products. If you start to think about what we eat, what we wear, what cosmetics we use, it is easier to STOP. But still we have a choice. I really happy if some still lives in countryside, grows his own food and eat not only well but also valuable food. Thanks for great post :)

Fruits and vegetables always the best. nature gives us so much.

good article. thanks!

Thanks for this! In my family with little ones, we are struggling to change mealtime from a task to complete, to an event to look forward to. My kids are going through a terrible picky stage where they only want to eat cereal and pbj's! My solution? We haven't bought a loaf of bread or a box of cereal in 3 weeks. We're starving 'em out.

i think both can exist simultaneously. it's not really either or but a healthy combination of convenience and the slowness of complex, slow cooked and raw foods... convenience doesn't connote junk nor complex necessarily mean it will cure all that ails. walking into a convenience store in asian country will yield you just that. you have the prepared fresh home foods next to the mass industrial produced "junk food". all still count as convenience food, though their taste and nutritional value might vary greatly. the best bet is variety. i think in this case, you can have your cake and eat it, too. have the ice cream, fried food, produce, and molecular food - as long as it balanced out.

I fantasize about a world (my world) in which I walk out my door and pick dinner immediately before cooking it...from the garden...the henhouse...the stream...or from the cellar where I've lovingly stored all the freshly canned or otherwise preserved foods I've grown in said world. I'm starting small. I bake most of the bread my family of 5 eats, and I'm growing herbs and a few veggies this year. I've purchased peaches at their peak from the farm down the road and canned the preserves I made with them (as well as taking a pie to share with neighbors). It's small steps toward the goal of eating truly well that make the adjustment bearable. I think of it as an investment in the future and continue to hope that my 11 year old will choose a fresh salad from the yard over that box of mac and cheese...

Beautiful piece for us foodies!

I take so many darn trace minerals for this fact alone. We are not getting the proper nutrience from our food. All of the proper minerals we are supposed to be getting from our foods is being depleted on a rapid scale. Great article and definitely something to think about.

This is such a great topic for discussion and one that I often find myself thinking about. First, I am completely with you on avoiding the label "foodie" where it implies any type of elitism - ironically, the term was originally used to separate regular people who enjoyed food from the dreaded "food snobs" that had taken over the dining scene 30 years ago. Now, even Paul Levy (credited with coining the term) wonders what its meaning implies today. Food conundrums always leave me feeling really conflicted. On any given day, I find myself having to make a lot of tough choices just to put something on the table for my family: as you mention, saving time using pre-packaged versus preparing things from scratch and avoiding fillers - also, buying imported organic versus local non-organic, saving money on a food with questionable origin versus paying more for the sustainably harvested choice (especially when it comes to farmed/wild caught fish)... it's amazing how the world's food supply chain has made the idea of "eating well" both more accessible and beyond complicated, all at the same time. Thanks for a thought-provoking article, Danielle - this is definitely worth discussing.

Gluten *phobia*? Gluten, and wheat gluten in particular, is shortening people's lifespans and actually killing some. If your gut is not healthy then no part of you will be; the gut's where most of our nutrients enter the body, and the colon in particular is its own ecosystem and mediates our immune system, among other functions. And that's the first thing gluten damages, even in people who don't know they're gluten-sensitive because the symptoms aren't extreme enough to notice yet. Phobias are for things that don't deserve fear, or that are extremely unlikely to cause harm. Fear of gluten is not a phobia. It's interesting too, but these foods that we think of as "elitist" or out of reach for the poor? They're peasant food. Bone broth is a peasant food. *Stock* may be elitist, but you don't have to clarify your broth to get maximal nutritional benefit out of it. There are people blowing $30 a bottle on glucosamine and chondroitin capsules to keep arthritis at bay or going on osteoporosis drugs and bankrupting Medicare when all the stuff you need to maintain your bones and joints is right there in the stock pot. It would help if people would get over their phobia (and here the word is legitimately applied) of animal-eating. Because a lot of what has led us to make food preparation complicated is an over-reliance on plant foods, especially soy and grains. It is easy to prepare and eat animal foods in a way that is appetizing. It is not so easy to do that with dry grains and beans. And there are toxins which should be removed from certain plant foods that simply don't exist in animal foods: phytates, oxalic acid, trypsin inhibitors, phytoestrogens (no, Virginia, those are NOT good for you), etc. And you get so much more nutritional bang for your buck at the end of the day if you're eating meat, especially organ meat. The current fad is to claim that world hunger will be solved if everyone grows a victory garden in their backyard. Number one, not everyone *has* a backyard, or even their own place to live. Number two, have you seen the calorie count on the average garden vegetable? At the end of the day you have got to intake enough calories to function. Right now we expect the poor to make up any caloric deficit in grains and beans. That isn't working out so hot for their long-term health. When you intake calories you are supposed to burn them for energy, not immediately put them to fat storage because what you just ate shot your insulin sky-high. I can't really be bothered about what geeks think of all this. I know geeks. I have been around them my whole life. I consider myself one, though maybe not in the usual sense. And geeks tend to suffer a lot of allergies, tend to wear glasses more often than not (a trait caused by many factors, but one of them is nutrition), tend to be obese or at least suffer from symptoms of metabolic syndrome, and tend to suffer from varying degrees of mental illness, on average. If they really want industrial foods they are welcome to them. I got tired of being sick and I made other choices.

I attempt to eat the freshest food I can find. I am lucky enough to live about a mile from a local farm. So not only do I get to eat the freshest food but it's delicious & local too. I eat what Holmes Farm in Loris SC grows! :)

Also, you need to fix your comment function. No paragraph breaks. :(

Great article!

We try to eat fresh fruits and vegetable when every possible. Having our own garden helps.

eating fresh is so important... and in any way you can reasonably fit it into your life. even if that just means growing a pot of mint for your mojitos! xoxo

Great article.... We need to take the time to eat well !!

Rope.....how about some fresh baked whole grain breads and natural peanut butter with an organic honey or a homemadejam or jelly. Win win!!

Frozen veggies are frozen at the optimum time for freshness & nutrition content & have no added preservatives, salt or chemicals... but "foodies" still class them as "convenience food" & sneer at anyone using them despite the fact that they're as healthy as the fresh version. Food snobbery is a ridiculous form of oneupmanship indulged in by people who have way too much choice about what they eat compared with most of the world throughout most of history, way too much time on their hands & (it's very tempting to say) nothing better to do. What, how & when I eat is no one else's business & I refuse to be drawn into discussions with such people.

Nothing is more satisfying, convenient or affordable than stepping a few feet outside to the garden to pick that night's dinner ingredients. I've even turned all of the planter space in our inner city front yard into vegetable beds. Not only is it attractive, it's inspired other neighbors to do the same! We had the most delicious zucchini parmesan last night..... so fresh, so good!

GardenApothecary, that made me laugh! People keep swearing that my mojitos are so much better than others and it's the freshly picked mint (and lots of it!) that makes all the difference in the world.

My comment would be: find a balanced diet that suits you, but think also that physical exercise is considered by many to be even more important than what you eat for overall health and well being (mental and physical). Here's one easy way to do this: take a 20 minute walk out your front door every day...and work up from there!

I think I've gotten to the point where "whole foods" is preferred over "convenience." I can just as easily heat up some fake chicken nuggets in the microwave as i can prepare a simple salad with fresh, whole ingredients. and in the same amount of time! i think what's important now is education about how easy & cheap it is to start with the most basic foods, and adding some low-processed foods (like peanut butter or almond milk) to make it extra simple. i've talked with people from all walks of life, and managed to understand that it's totally possible for most all people to eat a whole foods diet while still leading busy lives. i started my food blog (hipsterfood.tumblr.com) last year to do just that, and hopefully now we're making that education a reality. great post!

I still don't understand why wanting fresh, local, sustainable foods is "elitist." Isn't that the way people have eaten since the beginning of time? Great post. EB spicedish.typepad.com

I am totally one of those "techies": working most days through one or two meal times doesn't give me the choice of between a stove or a microwave. I wish it did, because I would certainly be a lot more like my dad when it comes to cooking. His family has been in the restaurant business for the last three or more generations, and he spent quite a few of his non-active Navy days working in a Chinese restaurant down in Chinatown (yup, San Francisco), so he knows plenty about making a really delicious (and easy) meal from scratch. Thankfully, he's finally taken over the kitchen from my mom, who cooks quite plainly and goes in repetitive cycles when it comes to meal ideas, so whenever I am home for lunch and especially dinner, I get to enjoy all sorts of new twists on meals I grew up with as a kid or meals that could have come from India or the dozens of other countries he stopped in while on tour. Thanks for the interesting read! Hopefully I'll become more like my dad sooner than later.

Fresh food IS fast food. What is quicker than a basket of blueberries from the farmers market or goat cheese and a freshley baked baguette?

When I was at school they taught home economics, my mum also taught me to cook but to those families who's parents don't have the time or inclination to teach their kids home economics was great. It gave you the building blocks of cooking basics, so many people out there are intimidated by food because they see it as being so complicated they 'can't' do it. It's a shame this basic life skill isn't taught to kids in school, maybe it'd help them understand what good nutrition really is...

Great thought provoking article. Sometimes it's just a matter of weighing time vs. convenience. Yes - fresh vegetables from the farm stand are the best option but sometimes there is simply not enough time in the day to do everything and grabbing a bag of frozen vegetables once in awhile is not a bad thing - I just try to not make a habit of it. Read Michael Pollan, Mark Bittman, or David Tanis for excellent no nonsense commentary on trying to eat well. David Tanis recently wrote a great series of articles on cooking simple fresh meals in a small city kitchen - yes it can be done regardless of where you live. We just try to avoid processed foods, take a walk every day, spend time in the kitchen with loved ones, have a glass of wine on the front porch and breathe.

Great article, with lots of thought provoking comments. Oh and the photos are fabulous!

I make all my own food, I love this kind of thing, http://www.lurpak.com.au/lurpakchallenge/recipe/le-park

This is great! About a year ago I found out I have 2 major food allergies (eggs and milk). From that point on I knew fast food was from now on out of the question. Topday I look at this more of a blessing than a curse! I have learned how to cook, and I love it! We are what we eat and we all need to get back to the basics!

Thank you for your great article which I can see has generated a lot of thought and comments, which is amazing! So interesting, our history and memories of food, where we are today versus where we came from! Thanks for sharing!

Love the post. I just returned from my CSA and spent some time picking shelling peas in the field...both physically and mentally nourishing. :)

I grew up eating fruits and vegetables straight from the garden- often picked right off the plant, sometimes even green (because I could never wait for the strawberries to ripen- and to this day I still like my fruit a little on the underripe side. ) I was really lucky to have parents (particularly my mother) and grandparents who were always growing fruits or vegetables of some kind. Produce still doesn't taste right to me if it's cold! Even though I eat far less vegetables than when I was a kid, I finally realized part of the problem isn't just that store bough lacks flavor, but that it isn't warm and fresh tasting. I hope that the price of organic fruits and veggies, and also *healthy* food in general, will start to lower to the price that makes it affordable to a greater range of people. It kills me that anything store bought- bread, soup, etc is so much more expensive to buy if it's healthy, when a loaf of white store-brand bread is $1.00. Sometimes it comes down to just not being able to afford to pay that extra amount.

Mmmm.. these pics look delectable, plus malaysian cuisine is one of our favorites! We find a balance between healthiness and convenience by choosing to cook foods that are nutritious, tasty, and easy to cook. By purchasing fresh tasty produce from the farmers market, little has to be done to make it taste good, as it already does - just some sea salt, spices are all that is needed. We find soups to be easy to cook as you can add many items to it. We also like to make sandwiches from scratch, which are quick and easy to make, and nutritious as well (the key is either very good store brought or homemade condiments).

I have 4 kids, 2 of which are reasonably picky and wouldn't eat vegetables on a plate, pretty much never. But all 4 of them pick peas off the vine in the garden and eat them, pick carrots out of the ground, beans off the bush, and tomatoes, etc. (even the kid that doesn't LIKE tomatoes). I've learned a valuable lesson while having a "pea picnic" the other day....there's nothing better than the real thing, but it doesn't have to be a big deal :) Great article :)

Thanks for the article and great topic. We all eat for our life, we are what we eat. This year represents the first year I have a garden. It's fantastic...but requires alot of space and time - something not everyone has. Our society has made consumption so easy for us that we are spoiled and a bit lazy when it comes to growing and preparing our own food. We all know it is better for us to do so, but the commitment is costly. Cheers! Mioux

nice article... I just read this recipe for bullion cubes a few hours before reading this... http://www.101cookbooks.com/archives/homemade-bouillon-recipe.html Spend a little time making things like these so you can have delicious foods in a snap!

What an awesome article. We as a family eat lots of fresh foods, and as much as we can year round. We have a garden and have recently acquired some backyard laying hens - fresh eggs! We are also going to start a hydroponic garden in our basement this winter. A healthy meal will make your body, mind and spirit healthy!

What an amazing article!

Fresh local food should not be elitist. It was the way we all ate up until recently. We have our own garden and it is time consuming, but rewarding. Lots of us have a bit of land, but choose to cultivate grass. Lawns waste a lot of fertilizer and gas (mowing). I would much rather tend a garden than mow, water and fertilize a lawn :)

Love the article! I'm a new mom trying to figure out these food questions for my family now.

Eating healthy makes me feel better and look healthy!! Love the article!

Love your thoughts on this. I so agree with this- you can make delicious homemade meals from scratch without it having to be gourmet!

I was brought up eating "convenient" food, and so the transition to healthier food took a good deal of effort. After I discovered that food allergies/intolerances were responsible for a whole slew of random-seeming health problems, I HAD to learn to eat differently. It took time for my taste-sense to change, and to learn to work with different ingredients than those I was raised using, but after about a year, I could throw together simple tasty healthy fresh food. It is a personal choice, and what is "healthy" for one person may not be the best for another. I think it is very individual, maybe having to do with peoples heritage & what they ate growing up- for most people, beans are healthy, but many of them make me ill. For years I was covered in speckles that doctors said was everything from "nerves" to "adult acne"- nope, nightshades. Had I been brought to understand earlier that what you eat may very directly affect how you feel, day to day, I would have done the work to change my diet sooner. Fresh organic food is expensive, but the more you research about the mysterious & frightening processes other food goes through- and how hard it is to buy processed food that isn't made in a gigantic factory filled with the dust of so many mass-grown, cheap, altered & chemical "foods" - it is frustrating that our standards in the U.S. are so low- that so much of what we consume is ...sketchy, at best.

I take exception to your idea of 'gluten-phobia'. It might pay for you to do some reading about gluten intolerance and coeliac disease. These are common conditions, and on the rise, and very serious. Eleven years ago my father was given three months to live with an aggressive primary tumour in his bowel and a debilitating secondary tumour in his lower spine that had the capability to paralyze him for life. Our leading cancer specialists in our leading cancer hospital, Peter Mac, (I live in Melbourne, Australia) had to send biopsies to America to find out what sort of cancer it was and the cause. And guess what? The cause was undiagnosed Coeliac Disease, or gluten intolerance. The fact that my father had been consuming gluten had destroyed the villi of his bowel wall, so he was becoming malnourished, and as a result cancer formed. He was exceedingly lucky considering his diagnosis, and made a full recovery despite being classified as terminal. Now he sticks to a strict gluten free diet, and other members of our family got tested and are also coeliacs. The crux of the matter is that our bodies were never designed to eat grains in the ridiculous volume we do these days (side of garlic bread, anyone?). So before you scoff at someone who is gluten intolerant again, just think of the devastating consequences such a food allergy can have. It nearly cost me my father at a young age.

I love these veges!

Wonderful post!! You make food look so colorful and such textures!!

I loved this article. I've decided that the best course of action is to find a balance between convenience and home cooked. And each person must find their own balance. Also, remember that home cooked can be convenient, especially if you plan ahead. I deliberately plan for left overs. I'm gone for approximately 12 hours during the day and if I cook a large, home-made meal, it could be 8:00 p.m. before I eat. Planning ahead allows me to have a fresh cooked meal and be ready to eat by 7:00.

Trend of the times - back to basics! Great post, thank you!

I think the awareness about food-related illness (gluten intolerance, nightshade intolerance, food allergies) is spreading, and this is so so so good, because it is very difficult being sick & no one being able to tell you why. Too often we are given very expensive "medicine" to treat the symptoms, and the possible food-causes are overlooked- I think they are much more common than most folks realize. Health is so important, worth time effort and money, as anyone who is without their health will tell you. Someone mentioned earlier in this blog the ecosystem of your guts being responsible for your immunity- I accidently came across an article discussing how there may be a link between the modern over-use of antibiotics and the increase in food allergies- does anyone know anything about this? The article said that it's possible our gut flora helps our bodies determine what is/is not "invasive", and that antibiotics killing off our natural flora may be causing allergy problems. Is this true, does anyone have info?

I make a point to go to the farmers market and prepare most of my family's meals at home. I make simple dinners that are mostly plant and grain based. My family thinks it's "healthy" food but I do my best to learn how to make it taste like something more.

Try to make it less fat and more fruits and vegetables for each meal. :)

Time and budget is our biggest concern when it comes to shopping for groceries. We've noticed fresh fruit and vege is cheaper than prepared frozen meals, and because we cook in one big batch over the weekend, it takes less than 5 mins to reheat after work. Win win :D

Gluten as a "phobia" ??? Sorry you are so misinformed about the fact that avoiding gluten is a medical necessity for some. The term of "phobia" does a disservice to the millions of people that are diagnosed with celiac disease.

It is always nice to have a home cooked meal unfortunately the recipes I know require several pots and a lot of ingridients as I only learned to make my favorite food. Food here in Singapore is cheap if you eat at foodcourts and they are very delish.

I think the people who are getting up in arms about the whole "gluten-phobia" thing don't realize the comment was tongue-in-cheek. There is unfortunately a sub-culture of people out there who think gluten causes autism, and there are people who are still fixed on the Atkins fad-diet, etc. So, uh, chill out, guys.

Eat what you love. Love what you eat!

I have a program called Sunday Set-Up™. Since I have been in the fitness world for decades I felt it was important for me to marry the two together. Sunday Set-Up™ is about setting up your healthy organic fruits, veggies, proteins and grains at the top of the week so your food is prepped and ready to go for recipes all week long. Then you start over. You lose weight, save money, gain time and get you and your friends and family back around the dinner table eating like civilized human beings.

Born and raised in the Rain Forest of Cambodia, seeing the post is such a delight and made me long for home! Thank you, Danielle!

studiorandom...... I agree 100% with you. I have cut gluten already out of my whole family's diet when I found out that it was making my daughter very sick. Great article and great posts!

Great post. This is right where many of us find ourselves navigating in the food world today. Thanks again! Jess (at) OlyMomma

Wonderful post! 8-year-old bored with a diet of steamed rice <--- could have been coming from me LOL Must be the reason, why I only cook rice once in a while, ever since I live and cook on my own. As for eating - there are days, when I'm too tired and too lazy to cook, that pre-made tortellini and pesto from the jar are served within 12 minutes as our dinner. But there are also days, when I stay hours in the kitchen to make tortillas or pasta from scratch and turn the fresh vegetables from my own garden into sauce. I freed myself from thinking in good vs bad categories a while ago, so that I could enjoy cooking and eating more.

Great post

Very intersting article, even more so the posts! I love what I learn from my fellow Etsians!

Don't interpret her use of the term 'gluten phobia' literally...it's a nod towards the new and ever-increasing list of 'dangerous' foods in the sanitized, rich countries of the world! Just a generation ago, people cooked and ate a little bit of everything and there wasn't too much of a fuss about it. Obesity, with all its health implications, was not an epidemic.  Over the last 15 years or so peanut butter has gone from being a childhood staple to a life threatening toxin. I read about a schoolbus which was evacuated after they discovered a PEANUT on board. Wheat, a coveted staple in many countries, requires special labeling in the west - 'wheat-free' is suddenly a GOOD thing.  Hundreds were sickened by tainted spinach recently because it was contaminated with bacteria. Why was everybody shocked? Fruits and vegetables grow IN MANURE (gasp), out in the open, in farms, and are supposed to be covered in all kinds of yucky stuff. Before the introduction of modern farming methods, horses, buffalo or oxen were used as 'tractors' in crop fields - in some countries, they still are, with all the 'contamination' it implies. It's our job to wash or cook vegetables and fruit thoroughly before consuming them. Raw produce was never supposed to be clean. The 'hygiene hypothesis' suggests the sanitized environments of many homes is leading to a host of food intolerances, allergies, asthma, etc. I think sanitized, prepackaged, preprocessed food does the same to your insides. A couple of years ago they announced a 'cure' for peanut allergies: controlled, gradually increasing exposure to peanuts...not a worldwide peanut ban!  I don't think it's a waste of time to prepare a nutritious meal, so I guess that makes me a foodie. You are literally what you eat so how can an investment in health possibly be a waste of time for you or your kids? 

A really fascinating article which seems to have brought out a passionate response from many readers. I think in a world where we are so out of control in many ways, having control over one's diet is important. But I do perhaps think that becoming obsessed with a set of diet rules and seeing foods as distinctly GOOD or BAD can be as unhealthy as any other psychological obsession.

Great post. I love all the comments as well. I suddenly don't feel like such a weirdo for taking the extra time to quickly whisk together my own sauces or dressings from fresh ingredients. I was reading a label for "Parmesan" in a can, and was like.... what in the world is cellulose powder to "prevent caking" from this company who writes "no fillers" on the can? Googled it, and it's a filler made from.... cotton??!! Crazy. It takes research and work, but our health and our world depend on us trying- even if we just try a little.

Good post. A few food rules to abide by: never eat anything bigger than your head, never eat anything served through a window, never eat anything advertised on tv (even though I secretly crave McDonald's) My husband and I have these funny food rules that we keep adding to. We actually take them quite seriously.

This is a really good article. It is encouraging to buy fresh and eat healthy, and take the extra time to prepare good nourishing meals instead of throwing something fast into the microwave!

I don't think there's ever been a time where food choices have been so personal and political. Someone, somewhere is judging you for what you you are eating. It's a time where we in the first world have never had so many food options. There are many reasons for being a 'hacky teckie' -- for some, their passions are in areas other than food. Food is simply a way to keep the fuel going so they can continue to be an artist, humanitarian, inventor, whatever. There's nothing wrong with it. Some people have a lot of time to invest in their foodie passion. To each his own. I once lived for a couple weeks on a compound with 'fruitarians' -- this was in tropical Queensland, Australia. Fruit was ok because it had naturally fallen from the tree. Vegetables, not so great because you had to pick it from the plant. This was a case where people had taken their food passions to an extreme and had built their lifestyle and moved their families to do it. I think it comes down to whether food is a passion for you or if your passions lie elsewhere. There's no need to judge. We're all passionate about something. For me, it's feathers! :P Jessica

Good article :) I try to eat healthy but sometimes its kind of hard. Ive been on a diet for about 3-4 years now. I find it hard to eat healthy on the weekends since Im always out and about and have to grab something on the go and always end up feeling guilty after. Im a health nut most of the time.

I love cooking with (and eating) fresh vegetables and meat--even though I don't like to spend all day in the kitchen. Cooking good, healthy meals doesn't have to take all day. Although it does take more time than pre-made stuff, the taste and quality difference more than makes up for it. :)

This seems to be overthought. Food is food is food. That said, I love a good bowl of homemade soup even during the summer. During the summer, I like the cold soups - avocado and potato (not together!) are great...Potato soup is best washed away with a Guinness.

Glad to see this article:) I had recently just discovered my local farmers market and i really can appreciate all of the fresh local options. I just feel better knowing my money isn't going to huge corporations who really don't give a hoot about our health. Soo my new mentality is the fresher the better! Processed food= illnesses, and less then good health. Put simply :p Its worth the effort to make homemade meals.

How timely! I'm having a green smoothie for breakfast as I read this, and finally suspecting that I (along with my mother and grandmother) have some serious issues with gluten after years of puny health...

Fabulous article!! Local over 'certified' organic, and foods that do not require peeling: get em organic! And we can't forget fair trade!) The hole in my locavore diet is coffee!

if you have the resources, it definitely makes sense to try and eat real food, as opposed to processed food made up mostly of chemical ingredients you can't pronounce, let alone know what they are

I've recently come to realization that I might be a foodie myself. Probably an organic foodie if there are various categories of foodie. I never wanted to be, I just prefer good, chemical free local and fresh food made into homemade meals from scratch. and I love to garden! I will have to take a look at Danielle's blog!

I wouldn't know what to do with a recipe that didn't call for a can of soup. And that's probably why you will never find me on my yoga mat perfecting the headstand. Please pass the butter.

As a person that is severally gluten intolerant, I can appreciate what it means to make good food choices. I have seen my meals in my youth go from prepackaged taco mixes to real home made corn tortillas. I love life now! :) Food can be our friend.

I wish all food was required to be organic!

Good!!..eat well, live well. Here we eat natural, and it takes 10 minutes to prepare!!

Our balance comes on the weekends.. shopping at outdoor markets, selecting just the right ingredients and preparing the meals with TLC... nothing tastes better!

This is one of those ridiculous ironies of the current age... That fresh common garden vegetables and home-cooked dishes are "elitist" food, that high-calorie prepared foods are cheaper than low-calorie staples. It's reminiscent of (and probably related to) the way that different body weights change in popularity over the centuries. If only our medieval ancestors or the pioneers could see us now!

thank you everyone for great information....

it's not inconvenient everywhere. for allergy & other reasons i'm vegan & gluten free. if i wasn't i'd be in a TON of pain. rather inconvenient in itself. ... anyway, that's quite complicated in america, especially if you aren't living in a city. i just moved to thailand & healthy, fresh foods couldn't be MORE easy to come by. you know how nyc has hotdog stands? picture that but w/ fresh fruit & soups prepared right in front of you. people are under some kinda daze thinking that fresh & healthy food is hard & expensive, but i'm living in practically 3rd world here & that misconception is clearly proved wrong. seriously, this is one of the poorest areas in the country. some people don't even have solid walls, but the food is HEALTHY.

It is a very true and difficult struggle! I am sitting here having fresh berries for lunch and tazo tea, but only because I went out of my way to go get it instead of running through the drive through, which I do more often than not. It's really hard to live the busy, hectic lives we are all expected to have and still manage to eat decently

The only way I can stay sane around food with a teenager and a hubby with unusual tastes is: "Moderation in all things."

Very nice article. To be honest, I barely ever eat the ready made meals and microwave dinners etc. I like cooking, enjoy trying new recipes and I would love to go to farmers markets and shop there, but as a student, I still choose supermarket vegetables, because they are cheaper. However, once I get a job, I can just see myself shopping at a farmers market with a basket full of veggies :) And of course we use microwaves, but only for warming up the food from the day before etc. Cooking at home is a nice thing, it really makes me feel at home in my own flat - and when I cook something and the others like it, its a great feeling too (nobody feels wonderful, when they tell you : I really love the ready made microwave dinner that you heated up for me tonight). However, when I want to behave like a pig (occassionally, too), I go to McDonalds, but mostly I really enjoy cooking.

It's definitely a struggle if you're not used to eating or cooking without pre-packaged or processed foods but, if you ease into it, it will eventually become second nature. Plus you'll feel better and enjoy the food more. That's how I feel anyway.

Those food pictures look so ridiculously delicious my mouth is watering. I wish you could come cook for me. Luckily, I am not gluten intolerant but I am the more rare allergic to wheat but I still eat it because all the wheat free alternatives include items I'm even more allergic to. The allergist said he had never seen such severe across the board results to the blood tests. I completely blame to poor food choices I've made for the past ten years.

GOOD ARTICLE. BUT CONSIDERING THAT THE MAJORITY OF THE U.S. POPULATION IS OBESE, THAT SAYS A LOT ABOUT WHAT PEOPLE PREFER TO EAT, AND SOOO DOES NOT SPELL HEALTHY. I LOVE HEALTHY FOOD, JUST DON'T KNOW WHY PEOPLE DON'T PREFER IT. PERHAPS IT'S BECAUSE NON HEALTHY FOOD TASTES BETTER? GO FIGURE

We switched to local & organic 9 years ago. I'm so glad we did. We support our local farmers, get to see their beautiful farms & love going to the farmers markets. We raise chickens and have deep orange yolked eggs as a result of their free ranging. Great photos. I love food photography.

Since going gluten-free due to a wheat allergy in January, I noticed how sensitive I am to things like MSG. That seriously limits what I can eat while out and about. It forced me and my husband to cook more and not eat at fast food joints. I've become more aware of WHERE my food comes from and what exactly is in it. We've gotten into using local ingredients whenever possible and are enjoying this new side to life :)

My family and I have not had a microwave for a few years now and it's really no big deal. I also started reading food labels and noticed that even my dog's food has food coloring! Now we try to get food that doesn't have all the coloring or preservatives. We make a lot of food ourselves that we used to just buy already made or just add water. An added benefit is that our whole family will cook dinner together. So now it's a good way to spend time together.Of course there has to be balance. Some days it's just not practical to do it all from scratch. The most irritating part is that a lot of times it is not only less convenient but also too expensive to eat all natural. I try to just make sure the things we eat a lot of or every day is made with natural ingredients and don't worry about the small things.

Great post!!

Isn't it funny, she was bored (as all children are) of food that was lovingly prepared by her grandmother consisting of rice, fish and vegetables. That sounds like a dream to me! If only we could appreciate things more as children. Le sigh...

This is an interesting and thought-provoking subject. I recently read an article that stated, "The essence of a healthful diet is simply making good choices from the foods that are available." We all know the harm that can come from a fatty, salty diet, however I believe people will have to make the right choice for themselves as to what is acceptable for them to eat and what is not. I think it would be wrong for me to impose my dietary views on others, or condemn them for having a different opinion. We all have our own set of circumstances, family dynamics, backgrounds, and values. So when it comes to convenience, it is good for each of us to consider for ourselves what we are willing to do in order to work with the time that we have to prepare meals. I agree with your comment that, "our decisions around food bear even more weight than they did in our parents’ (or grandparents') generation". We all must find a balance for ourselves, because everyone is different, in juggling eating well and the demands of daily life.

Ahh, it never ceases to amaze me, the passion that the subject of food evokes! *wink* I would agree with many folks posting on this subject: You don't have to eat fussy, time-consuming, expensive foods to eat well. For me, the secret is having all sorts of yummy ingredients on hand all the time in my pantry & fridge that make ordinary ingredients seem luxurious. Examples of things that are relatively inexpensive that I always have on hand: Capers, fresh lemons & limes, a big pot (or several) of fresh herbs on my window sill/deck, good wine vinegars, sea salts, fresh spices, sun dried tomatoes in oil, etc.... I play with all these things when preparing the basics: Really good brown basmati rice, beans of all sorts, fresh pastas, breads made in the bread machine (haven't bought bread in 2 years!), fresh fish from the local market, whole organic chikens to roast, ETC.... People, when you're chopping veggies it doesn't take much effort to throw the little trimmings in a simmering pot of water on the stove and cook yourself some veggie stock while you're at it! It's VERY easy, and very pleasurable. Recycling at its best! :^D I was very lucky; I had a mum that was able to cook very good food for us, from scratch when I was little. This gave me my love of preparing food fresh, and my passion for good nourishment. This is also another key: If you don't enjoy the sensory experience of preparing your own food, then you're missing out on a lot of pleasure! But I realize not everyone has this built in. For me, there is nothing better and more relaxing than going into the kitchen, pouring myself a nice glass of red, and composing something with the ingredients on hand. I put on the jazz, and just chop away.....it's like meditation. ♥ I really hope to expand my horizons with a fresh veggie garden, and backyard chickens one of these days. But in the meantime, I try to enjoy the smells, and textures of my food while I prepare it. I prefer this infinitely to 'convenience', though my bread machine IS indispensable. Hehe. Great article! Cheers, Heidi

One of my favorite things to do is prepare a nutritious, delicious meal on a budget. And that's a good thing, because having multiple food allergies and a small income really necessitates that. I make everything from scratch. I consume a vegan diet. I buy the best quality fruits and vegetables that I can afford that week. And I take a lot of pleasure in it :). I would say that nutrition definitely wins out over convenience for me, but that doesn't mean that it has to always be inconvenient. A simple meal of collard greens with seasoned rice and tofu or beans is nutritious and relatively easy and quick to make. Finish that off with an orange or kiwi for dessert and you've done well by your body without too much effort. And if I'm going to make something that takes more time, I make a LOT of it and freeze the (ample) leftovers. Then I get to enjoy a convenient, healthy meal for a week or two after. That's a pretty good balance.

Great article, I've been thinking about this a bit lately. When making dinner I often think about what people in this region ate 100 years ago, they kept it simple, using fresh ingredients and did not feel the need to eat something totally different every day. Now we are faced with so many options and it's a bit overwhelming. After being somewhat of a food snob, I have begun to realize that the canned, throw together foods I grew up with aren't really all bad. It's just a matter of balance.

Gahhh! I see what another poster meant about 'no seperate paragraphs'. They're eliminated as soon as you press the 'post' button! How annoying, like one big run-on sentence.....LES BOOS.

The posts here are so interesting that I dont have time to comment myself and will have to come back here again.

I appreciate the convenience of these techies, but when I can avoid popping something in the microwave, I feel better about what I eat. I'm broke, and I'm no elitist, but I am conscious of the chemicals that go onto and into the foods that I eat. I rarely compare the costs of foods bought at the farmer's market to foods at the grocery; instead, I compare the freshness, the absence of chemicals, and the quality and taste...Not to mention that I feel good about directly helping a local farmer without losing costs in the interim to Walmart *shudder*.

Great ‘food for thought’…. I have recently discovered that I have been suffering from food intolerances and although I never considered myself a 'foodie' I have changed my life this year to facilitate a healthier approach to daily nutrition. It's amazing that the foods we have been taught were 'healthy' may be causing serious health problems for millions of people. I look forward to making more gluten-free cosmetics and products for others who have also gone through similar struggles. :)

Y'know...I'd like to add that so many people say that healthy, fresh food is tasteless. I think that so much of (American) society has desensitized their taste buds by overloading their foods with salt/sugar or buying premade/prepackaged preserved foods that are pre-overloaded.... If that's all you can taste, you will only want moremoremore to keep tasting anything. By cutting back on those, you can appreciate the taste of a fresh cucumber or cantaloupe. And adding flavor to bland foods like rice or chicken breast is easy! Skip the boullion and bake your chicken with a mixture of hummus and salsa. Add some lime to pretty much anything, and you'll be amazed at the taste, and will have skipped the salt.

Great article! Not always easy to eat healthy, but I sure enjoy my fresh salad with my home grown veggies!

As many people have commented, I find it funny that eating fresh food is considered elitist. Toiling all day on a dirty farm growing that food certainly isn't considered elitist, how come eating it is?

We're really lucky that we live in a place where there are Farmer's Markets open within a few miles everyday of the week. Both my husband and I were also very lucky to work at Whole Foods for a while years ago and received a great and free food education. Until then I happily, I won't lie and say I don't sometimes crave a twinkie, ate all manner of junk food. We were so passionate about what were learned we built a business around it. We started to grow our food, which I thought was a fantasy until this summer, and even watched my little girl eat organic green beans right off the "vine". I really enjoyed this article, thank you so much for taking the time to write it. It's not always easy, I agree. When you spend everyday in a kitchen, coming home and cooking and cleaning up your own is not desirable. But it does feel great once you've eaten. Thank goodness my husband is the chef. I just wash the dishes. ;0)

This is a great article and one really close to my heart. Having started a vegetable garden last summer, I realise how much tastier home grown vegetables are. This is the beginning of what I hope will be a lifelong journey of home grown.

Interesting article. I try to include fresh fruit and/or veg with most meals (preferably homegrown or organic) and simple proteins like eggs, nuts, seeds and tofu, but I do use bouillon cubes and ready made pesto sometimes, to save time. Soups, salads, stir-fries, curries are fairly quick to make from scratch and taste so much better than ready-meals. I just tasted my first homegrown tomato of the season here in Scotland - it was sweet-salty perfection :)

I liked it, I love going to the farmers market and getting the freshest food out there, but my favorites are the ones in my backyard. I grow as much as I can and love all of what I pick. Also when its in your backyard, sometimes it can save you a trip to the store because you need one zuchinni or a bell pepper. I just love picking my own fruits and veggies. I even grow pumpkins for halloween. Up next in my garden... corn! :) loved the article.

I was raised by my German grandmother, who was a widow most of my life. She put in a garden, hung her clothes on a clothes line and cooked wonderful tasty meals. I loved my life with her. I think we were poor, but it didn't feel like it because she always had flowers in her flower garden and was always cooking meals. Lately I've been thinking about the scripture in Timothy that says, If you have food to eat and clothes to wear, with these be content. True

Interesting article!

I grew up on a Ranch where we raised all our own foods from vegetables to meat and what a difference it makes in how you feel and the food just tastes so much better. I now live in Vermont and during the spring and summer grow all my own vegetables and some fruits, using no chemicals, and have many chickens which provide my family with fresh organic eggs. What we do is actually feed our chickens all our vegetable and fruit scraps (as well as chicken feed), but have found that by giving them all the scraps the eggs are very large, sturdy and absolutely delicious. We sell them and receive wonderful reviews about them. We also have access to many farmers markets that we are able to get fresh produce from until my garden is ready. Living naturally is such a wonderful feeling, you feel as you are more at one with the Earth. Even with the products I use on my skin, they are all natural, because the products you put on your skin are absorbed into your body, so if there are chemicals in your lotions, etc. Than those chemicals are absorbed into you. Live naturally.

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Thanks for introducing us to Danielle's excellent blog! I skimmed and found a wonderful post on Frog Hollow Farm, whose luscious peaches I used to buy from the Plaza Ferry Market - when I lived in San Francisco a decade ago.

Great story, thank you for sharing. I am amazed at all the passion in the posts above me. I am lucky to live in an area where buying local ingredients of all sorts are quite readily available. We can all make a difference with our grocery dollars =)

Especially at this time of year in most of the Northern Hemisphere, it's not that difficult to purchase farm fresh produce. Doing so not only nurtures you and the planet, but supports the dedicated people engaged in small scale agriculture. The choices you make on a daily level can have an incredible impact on the world around you.

Thank you! And here here SpiceDish! Health begins in the gut... and that comes from whole food nutrition not fragmented shelf stable frankenfood. Let's hope the FDA "gets it" soon too and lightens up on the true farmers and the penalties, fees etc. Here's to discovering what "food"really taste like again! God knew what He was doing when He first created things - un-genetically modified or shelf stabelized. Here's to the great ones - our true farmers. Support and encourage them whenever you can! It's a mindset - as soon as we "vote" with our dollars the FDA, big agribusiness will hopefully back off and stop pushing anemic foods on us called "good".

Fresh foods, herbs, spices win all out for me. I have found that buying Fresh -- mixing my own salad dressings and stocks and soups -- it tastes better and is better for me. But it does take time -- and I am constantly figuring out ways to do it more efficiently, but it is so-o-o worth it -- and I don't mean just taste, as Fresh made with spices and herbs of my own choice taste infinitely better than packaged anything!! Recently I went back to the basic Olive Oil, Lemon Juice and Herb Salad Dressing that I mix up each time uniquely when I make a salad -- OOAK each time, LOL!!!! But I have pots of Fresh Herbs in my front yard, so I can just go snip whatever I feel like putting in the salad right then in it!! Nothing beats the Fresh Herbs!! This is probably a never-ending discussion -- especially for those working long hours and on the run all the time, but it is worthwhile to discuss -- and figuring out how to do more Fresh is definitely worth it!!

I too am fascinated by the strength of feeling that a topic such as this generates, and rightly so. Food is so important. Our over-reliance on such a small range of foods is extremely worrying: like so many of you I was forced to examine my diet via an exclusion regimen whilst suffering from ill health a number of years ago. It was then that I realised what a high percentage of foods in the UK contain wheat or wheat derivatives and how difficult it was to go into a regular supermarket and buy things low in sugar or gluten. My research tells me that the US has similar problems with soy products. Of course the environmental implications of monoagriculture have been documented, but on a personal level (and, full disclosure, I am writing this in the throws of caffeine-induced insomnia) too much of a single food type can never be a good thing: balance is key. That said, sustaining an ever increasing global population is a tricky task, but marketing convenience over healthfulness is abhorrent. There should be no room for elitism when it comes to food, we all deserve to eat well, eat properly and be educated thus. Thank you for your interesting article and to my fellow Etsyians for their ever thought provoking responses.

Thanks for sharing! Aloha.

hi everyone, i just saw a movie called "farmaggedeon" and it is one scary movie. i highly recommend it to anyone concerned with the availability of farm fresh food grown by local farms in the United States.

Wonderful, intelligent and articulate post. Far too many media and marketing buzzword labels and associated behaviours, get out there into the public conscience and prevent actual, independent thought from occurring.

great article. wonderful blog. my family and i try to eat the best local food we can - a challenge at times. but we try. fresh always tastes better.

There are so many ways to eat healthy, keep food budgets down and buy locally. I ALWAYS feel better eating my own meals than eating out at most restraunts that use shortcuts with processed ingredients. And I really don't like spending my time in the kitchen- but the payoff of health and easy weight maintenance is well worth it. I do use bullion cubes- but it seems to be less and less. : )

In the long run, "convenient" foods will turn out to be inconvenient for your body.

Great article, great comments! It would be great if we could all enjoy growing, preparing, and creating delicious meals from natural foods. Unfortunately most people don't even realize that the food they are consuming are making them feel sick!

I believe that our freezers are a great convenience. I love to whip up a batch of French bread dough or pizza dough and stash the extras in the freezer. We now have oodles of gadgets and contraptions that help us to make short work of food preparation if we choose to do so.

I live in northern Europe. Whereas the idea of locavorism is tempting, in practice it can require a deal of modification. For some crops and merchandise, parts of the world are just reliant on imports. I don't mean that you have to eat tomatos in the middle of winter, nor import highly exotic fruits but local veggies grow boring, and very limited. It's various types of cale, root veggies etc. This is how people did eat not that long ago. Potatoes, grains, dairy and meat. If crops failed, there was famine. I try to go as local as possible but you can't negate the need for imports completely. You can work actively with cutting out foods when they are so obviously off season. You eat fresh berries in the summer, the rest of the year imports are pale at best. It's a question with many ins and out. It's a worthy debate but I feel it is close to impossible to render an opinion of yes or no. Historical accounts around the history of diet and eating in some parts of the world serves

Thought provoking...

very interesting, thanks for sharing!

Great photos! Balance is the key to a healthy, happy lifestyle isn't it? I'll take 6 days of farmers market produce and goodness with one day of tater tots and mac n' cheese. Healthy and happy.

Many folks think it is easier to use convienient food but is is so simple to cook from scratch that I have trouble preparing fast food in my clients home and they are shocked.I am always left wondering where the taste went. I know the food value went the same place the taste went. I think that most folke think it needs to be tough to fix food because the were not taught the other way.I agree that classes be they in school or clubs would help.

That soup looks amazing.

Thank you for sharing. I have about 22 food allergies and I am very aware of where my food comes from and what is in it. I truly focus on eating whole food and organic if available. I have learned so much but I truly believe the US culture of food is the reason why me and so many other people suffer. All of my ailments disappeared once I changed my diet. But, it does take time, research, and patience...something difficult for a fast pace society. It's so worth it though. Thanks again!

Going back to food and convenience: I went grocery shopping a few days ago at the local Whole Foods market, and found myself torn briefly between buying the organic cage-free non-antibiotic chicken breast (boneless/skinless) and the non-organic counterpart. The price difference was so dramatic between the two, but I was able to strike a compromise with the organic bone-in skin-on chicken breast (also cage-free non-antibiotic) which was easily $3 less than both previous options. I think the point is: what is convenient to you, personally? For me, I'd rather save a few dollars, get what I really want, and maybe spend a couple extra minutes in the chicken cleaning up the chicken. I also agree that simple cooking instruction available to everyone would go a long way in eliminating some of the myths around cooking being too difficult for the average person.

Excuse me, I meant to type "...in the *kitchen* cleaning up the chicken." It's a bit early here, still : )

We've got alot of good organizations here in the US spearheading the drive to healthy eating.... Weston A Price leads the pack and with Dr. Mercola's good advice and knowledge base, we have every excuse to become the healthy nation we once were. We can certainly eat more healthy foods by buying and eating local foods and supporting the local farms. More and more people are beginning to realize that in the past 50 or so years, we've been conned as to what is healthy food. All the low fat/no fat diets are amongst the most unhealthy. A chemical feast is also not food! All we need do is get Big Agra, Big Pharma, the FDA and Monsanto out of the way to just leave the food alone and let people decide for themselves what is good for them or not! A new movie called Farmageddon has come out and hopefully will prove "the straw that broke the camel's back" on what little food freedom we have left and how a cabal of thuggish petty tyrants decide what is good for us and what we are allowed to buy!

Thanks to those who remind us that fresh food has always been here and not to be thought of as "elitist" but as naturally sustaining. Pruatelier, thanks also for the info on the documentary - I think we'd be very surprised just how much we've all been conned into buying things that are ultimately horrible for us but profitable for the "big guys."

I just have to say that these comments are refreshing to see! My garden this year is comprised of only heirloom vegetables...and I too would rather eat a tomato off the vine, then throw something in the microwave......food is meant to nourish not only your body, but your soul too. You don't get that from burger that's been thoughtlessly thrown together...

I find the balance between convenience and nourishment by keeping a stocked pantry of whole wheat flower, organic free-range eggs, heavy cream, and baking essentials (yeast, butter, cocoa etc.). We also grow fresh herbs and container vegetables. It's right there, fresh, organic, and begging to be added to a fresh soup, or omelet. Many of these items keep for a long time. You'd be surprised what you can make with these simple ingredients and internet recipes. I've also started baking all of my own breads, crackers and I'm making ice cream right now. It saves so much plastic, fossil fuels, and travel/grocery time. Challenge yourself, and allow yourself to mess up, cooking is a big experiment that gets easier and becomes very rewarding. Enjoy!

As a young person who just graduated from college, I'm trying to find my path in the kitchen, and learn how to eat healthfully on a budget. Thank God for the Internet and food blogs! Hopefully someday soon, healthful eating won't be seen as elitist, but as the commonplace standard.

Of course we can eat conveniently and consciously. The ideas should have never been divided. Conscious, healthy, and sustainable eating habits are just as easy as those unhealthy, "speedy" ones. It just requires a change in mind and routine. If we can make our routine going to the organic grocery or starting one or two salad green planters in our window boxes, we can change the way we live, rekindling our connection to nature and our bodies. Planting seeds takes less time than going through a drive through and with much greater satisfaction at the end of the meal! Much love, great post!

Conspicuous consumption... that is a mouthful when it comes to food. I take care of my father, whose health problems relate directly to his choices of foods throughout his life. He was born during the depression, and always ate with a zeal, like if he did not eat enough, there might not be more. Today, I see food as a necessity, but less is always better. Salt is the enemy, of flavor and of health. It only takes six weeks to take away your savoring of the salt flavor. Once this is done, you will repel yourself from almost ALL prepared food. Once you do this... you will taste your food again. If you are throwing food away, you are wasting a lot of money. Buy less, re-purpose more. The economy may see the downfall of many "Fast Food" outlets, but it is only our health that will flourish when this happens. Eating is not entertainment, or it is not supposed to be. But cooking, and eating is such a social activity, it is essential to make every bite count, literally. Just thinking about everything you put in your gullet, can make everyone around you healthier, physically, and spiritually. American candy has too much sugar in it, and all restaurant food has too much salt, unless you are spending $30 a plate.

i often feel like we are living on a small island here in northern idaho. our community has an amazing network of small farms, local gleaners, and a co-op with amazing food accessiblity . and yes my life is centered around food, production, preservation, and enjoyment. good to know that so many people are caring about that!

I'm healthy as horse, eat all manner of foods and yes, opt for quick and easy over healthy sometimes. I do enjoy fresh fruits and vegetables immensely and love having the time (when it does happen) to prepare a homecooked meal. I enjoyed the article very much, however reading this did not make me feel bad about my food choices or make me fear anything I ingest. That was not the intent of the article, but food is personal, for everyone and so I can see why some people responded the way they did. I know me, my body and what is and isn't working. That should be enough for each of us. Because, like snowflakes, we are all gloriously different and complex. Get to know yourself. Therein lies your key.

Wonderful article thanks for writing it.

Yes, maybe free range and cage free are time consuming concepts to research but in terms of animal cruelty, I make time. Commercial farming goods are cheaper than organic, so are the pesticides, hormones and antibiotics that go with them. And again, extreme animal cruelty. So I agree with some of this (packaged food is awful, prepare your own even if simple) , but not all... And check out that documentary on HBO about Pig Commercial Farming!

A quick meal... frozen meatballs defrosted in slowly heating jarred spaghetti sauce and cook some pasta from the box...Walmart brand, of course. Add a nice greek salad, bottled dressing, box wine and you have a crowd pleaser! $20!

YES... EAT FRESH FRESH FRESH !!! Thank-You FOR A GREAT ARTICLE...

Wow, what an interesting article! Today's food choices are more complicated than ever, and it's surprisingly refreshing to prepare a simple salad or something similar from fresh ingredients. :)

Great article, thanks! Nature requires 67 days to grow peas, and 84 days to make a tomato. Three and a half months to make honey. That's what slow food is. Enjoy it in its plain goodness - and it will beat fast food hands down every time!

I live in an apt, and have created a small garden of flowers and food. Because the space is so small, many of the plants are in pots. I have many herbs, a luffa gourd vining up the landscape shrubs, and some salad greens. Also 2 blueberry plants and a fig tree in pots. Because of health concerns, I mostly stay away from grains, and emphasize proteins, veggies, and fruits. For a satisfying sweet treat, I mix vegetable glycerin (non caloric sweetener) and pink salt in natural, fresh ground peanut or almond butter.

I think about these things a lot and I try my hardest to feed my husband and myself well (and our friends when they come around for meals). But it can be hard, because food is one of our most confusingly marketed commodities--from the moment the food goes into the ground until the moment it appears on our dinner tables. As soon as the farmer's markets open up here in Chicago, my husband and I go each week until late October when they shut down again. My family farms in Ohio on a small organic farm--not agri-business "organic", real and truly organic fertilizing with horse manure and rotating crops and planting partner plants together and and and--and so I feel like helps me even chart the farmer's market wisely. When I see tomatoes or cantaloupe in a Chicago F.M. in June, I know that's a lie and avoid them. The joy and healthfulness of F.M.'s is eating food in season that has been grown outside in the sun with little fuss. It's the best food and the most nutritious. Plus cooking is fun! That's the biggest thing people have either forgotten or never learned. . .

There are plenty of good, wholesome, and staple recipes that make cooking from scratch more convenient and affordable than going for the ready-made microwaveables. Nevertheless, I could never do without my beloved pressure cooker!

Eating fresh and seasonal as well as wholesome. I am all about scratch - it really doesn't take more time to eat a well-balanced meal by cooking it yourself. Unless you are making the stock. Great piece!