More and more places allow one to buy their local farmer’s market produce with public assistance program vouchers. There is a wonderful democracy going on in terms of food. Part of that culture is the world of food and all of its trappings. We are people who by living certain values and having specific priorities have to really be careful about how we participate in the consumer culture. We are people who hide our relative poverty. We are people who make our own way when there is no other way. We are people who sometimes have and sometimes don’t. All do respect to those who have, many of us who are involved in this culture are not upper middle class nor are we necessarily upwardly mobile. We are not a nation of upwardly mobile or upper middle class people with leisure at our fingertips. I think we need to acknowledge that the common notion, certainly not Bryant’s, that food justice is just for poor kids and single moms is limited. Bryant Terry has taught us a lot about food justice especially as it applies to children growing up with healthy eating experiences and access to quality food. One of my followers on Twitter privately expressed to me that, and I am paraphrasing, that “it is as if certain people don’t deserve to make or enjoy pesto…” That really got to me. I see a lot of people writing to those who can leisurely indulge in the foodie world but very few who write to the people who deserve a seat at the table but can’t really afford it. Our culinary desires and acumen are speeding ahead alongside our need to reexamine the basics we need to survive in days of economic uncertainty and struggle. The last post I did got a really great response because I think people are at a wildly strange crossroads. That has meant thinking deeply about how I cook at home and what it means to come up with new ideas for the people who follow me here on Word Press or on Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, and the like. However I’ve had to keep up with the big girls and boys in the food world both near and far. When the Ancestors see that I’m following directions…I get blessed, other times I struggle through the muck like everyone else.
Let’s talk about the pantry for the moment….I am a very very very very very financially modest man.let’s get that straight. Apologies for rambling in advance…this is more of a brain deluge than a blog post… I am supposed to be working on book proposals and that will happen ASAP, I just need to get my juices flowing at 2:24 AM. I don’t really want to make this a long post…really I don’t….so I’m going to try not to. JML Buying Cymlings in Mississippi at an HBCU Sponsored Farmer’s Market