I go through occasional bouts of virtuous foodism. Take today for instance: I’ve just returned from a food shopping expedition to the organic shop, where I eschewed kiwis from the other side of the world for ridiculously expensive blueberries from Holland. There may be a credit crisis going on, but I feel like the Mother Theresa of food shopping right now. Yes. I could be Valentine Warner’s apprentice.
But it doesn’t last. I’m ashamed to admit that nine times out of ten I’m buying pesticide-riddled mangoes in December from Peru (or rather, from Albert Heijn, who probably bought them from an un-fair trade farm in Peru) on the grounds that boring old Dutch apples don’t exactly blend in a smoothie-like manner. So why these sudden moments of local, organic, seasonal do-gooding?
Funnily enough, they generally happen in September… the last of the summer fruits are hanging in there, pumpkins and butternut squash are adorning shelves everywhere with their curvy orange-ness, runner beans are young and not-yet stringy… it’s easy to cut down on food miles and go all green when it’s harvest time in northwest Europe. So yes, I’m making the most of it, hence the abundance of pumpkin recipes I seem to be making at the moment. But I’m not promising anything come December…
