Middle Aged and Living Well

When the doctor told me to lose weight a few years ago, I didn’t want to go on any of the fad diets of the day.  I decided to just reduce the amount I ate and slowly replaced poorly prepared food (fast food) and highly process food (most any prepared food on grocer’s shelves) with food prepared by me or chefs or friends that I trust with made with wholesome quality ingredients.  After all, if I was going to reduce my total consumption, I wanted to make sure that every ounce was tasty and delicious.

The problem was where to find the good quality ingredients to make the food I wanted to eat.  Whole Foods offered lots of quality produce, but two things were going against it.  First, much of its produce, including organic, are trucked and shipped from all parts of the country and Central and South America.  Second, its so expensive.  While they supplied quality ingredients, I was spending too much money on staples.  In stepped Mother’s Market.  When it opened, I was so pleased.  Great produce for less cost, but still much of their product is trucked and shipped to their locations from both national and international locations.  What I needed a local farmer’s market.

The problem with the local farmer’s markets here is that they are small and usually take place during the day on weekdays.  They hardly offered the volume or variety to break away from work to attend. Lamenting this fact, Darya Pino of www.summertomato.com suggested I attend the Irvine Farmer’s market held each Saturday morning.  So on Saturday morning, I drove the 13 miles to the location across from the UCI campus.  I was like a kid in a candy store, only the candy was local strawberries, local greens, local eggs, local potatoes, local citrus and local vegetables.  I found my nirvana; bountiful quality ingredients, locally grown and at a more than reasonable price.

Now, if you want to find me on Saturday mornings,  just look for me wandering the booths, tasting and inquiring from each vendor about their wares.  I cannot wait until each of these vendors knows my name and I theirs.