As consumers in an industrial food system, we've come to expect food that is unnaturally uniform and consistent and always available. As consumers in a small scale local food system we are more tuned in to what's thriving in this particular moment, in our particular watershed, and we know that natural systems on a real organic farm are constantly changing.
One week it's hot and muggy and the soil is hot and dry, the next week it's cool and rainy and the soil is saturated. Vegetables won't look or taste exactly as they did last week, or some of our favorites might be in short supply because conditions on our farm are dynamic and unpredictable.
Plants respond and change in flavor and texture along with the changing weather and we believe this is something extraordinary to experience as an eater. Many vegetables, like radishes, turnips, lettuce, kale and arugula start out mild and tender in the spring and get spicier and more robust with the heat of the summer, and then get sweeter as the temperatures cool off in the fall.
This week, let's embrace the variability in our food as a source of inspiration and as a protest again the industrial food system. Try tasting each of your vegetables raw before you start cooking, see if you notice a difference from last week. It just might inspire a new idea in your cooking.
