I had never been to PF Changs before I came to Argentina.
I was shocked to see one of the only food brands besides Mcdonalds in Venezuela: TCBY, which went out of business in most places in the US at least 20 years ago.
And whenever, I go home, it urks my brother, that I would rather go for traditional Mexican, lovingly prepared, homemade tortillas, recetas de abuela y mucho mas in place of Chipotle, which I never have been too. My brother almost got me there once and then there was an E coli outbreak and I reined it in.
Today, we went to PF Changs for lunch. For Argentine standards, it's fairly expensive, although, comparable, I imagine to what it would cost in the states, between $8-15 a plate. I ate my meal and was satisfied. There were vegetables, shrimp, sauteed in a rich, coconut curry sauce. Overall, it was a pleasantly flavorful meal for Argentina's sake, still I looked at it and judged all too much at once. I started with myself. I could have cooked a much better Asian meal than this. I moved on to the actual food. In a country full of pretty beautiful fresh produce, I wonder how much of this food is actually from here and how much is prepped, frozen, or pre-shipped from the US or whatever distributor is closest. I finally stood back and looked at the grander restaurant. It was packed full of people, more people than I have ever seen in the few times I have visited. Why would people support this business when there is much better produce out in the grocery stores for much better prices?
Convenience is everything particularly in a world where we have almost sped our lives up to the speed of the internet. And as more people in the world find themselves working multiple jobs or working and raising kids at the same time, all in the name of survival, convenience is often our best friend. It's no wonder that you can get any frozen vegetable you want in the States and they are significantly cheaper than fresh loose produce. It's also terrible for our kids, for ourselves, for farmers, for carbon footprints.
We must think differently about how we consume fruits and vegetables.
I was shocked to see one of the only food brands besides Mcdonalds in Venezuela: TCBY, which went out of business in most places in the US at least 20 years ago.
And whenever, I go home, it urks my brother, that I would rather go for traditional Mexican, lovingly prepared, homemade tortillas, recetas de abuela y mucho mas in place of Chipotle, which I never have been too. My brother almost got me there once and then there was an E coli outbreak and I reined it in.
Today, we went to PF Changs for lunch. For Argentine standards, it's fairly expensive, although, comparable, I imagine to what it would cost in the states, between $8-15 a plate. I ate my meal and was satisfied. There were vegetables, shrimp, sauteed in a rich, coconut curry sauce. Overall, it was a pleasantly flavorful meal for Argentina's sake, still I looked at it and judged all too much at once. I started with myself. I could have cooked a much better Asian meal than this. I moved on to the actual food. In a country full of pretty beautiful fresh produce, I wonder how much of this food is actually from here and how much is prepped, frozen, or pre-shipped from the US or whatever distributor is closest. I finally stood back and looked at the grander restaurant. It was packed full of people, more people than I have ever seen in the few times I have visited. Why would people support this business when there is much better produce out in the grocery stores for much better prices?
Convenience is everything particularly in a world where we have almost sped our lives up to the speed of the internet. And as more people in the world find themselves working multiple jobs or working and raising kids at the same time, all in the name of survival, convenience is often our best friend. It's no wonder that you can get any frozen vegetable you want in the States and they are significantly cheaper than fresh loose produce. It's also terrible for our kids, for ourselves, for farmers, for carbon footprints.
We must think differently about how we consume fruits and vegetables.
- Consider using mesh bags and buying loose produce (not pre-packaged)
- Consider planning out your meals so you can go to the grocery store twice a week, getting produce that is actually ripe and ready to eat, so it doesn't get thrown away
- Shop seasonally. In Argentina, we are spoiled because usually the fruiterias and verdurias only have what is seasonal but in the States, you can get anything, anytime. Fruits and Veggies More Matters is a good site to help you stay informed about what is in season so you don't pump up carbon footprints consuming out of season.
- If you are lucky to be in places where there are orchards, farms, etc., consider picking your produce fresh. Hopefully, more farms that are close to cities will open up there doors in the future so we can decrease carbon footprints from farm to table.
- If possible, compost! I am really hoping we can start something at Lincoln with all the space we have that will encourage people to compose their waste rather than trash it all.
