Food Systems

Interview with a farmer:

Unfortunately I took notes for this conversation on my phone, which is now broken (all sorts of bummers). However, I can remember most of the conversation I had with the orange seller. I first saw him handing out wedges of oranges to people and he seemed pretty friendly. He gave me an orange, which was awesome (I bought a ten pound bag for $7) and then asked him a few questions. He is not a full time farmer; it is his dad that grows the oranges and other citrus (900 trees) on his farm in Winters. The man I talked to mostly liked the selling part because he got to meet cool people and have lots of conversations. He wanted everyone to know how sweet and delicious his oranges were.

Interview with a grocery store employee:

I chose to go to Trader Joe's (I needed groceries anyways) and talked to a great guy named Andrew who was working the sample bar. He had worked at Trader Joe's since it opened because he needed a job and TJ's was hiring. He graduated from UCDavis and has lived here ever since. Although Andrew works every job in the store, his favorite job to do is probably working in the wine section, because he traveled a lot and seeing the wines from different places reminds him of the good times he had. When he first started working at TJ's, he didn't realize how quick the turnover was for fresh foods, but he soon realized that's why everything is always fresh. That's one of the main reasons he likes to buy food from where he works.

I think knowing where your food comes from is important. Whether you are trying to eat locally, organically, or just curious about the origins of your food, it is nice to know where it comes from. If you were really concerned, you could go to the actual farms (especially those that provide for the farmer's market, since they are so close) and see how they grow their food. It is interesting and can show you more about the other side of things. I'm glad I got the opportunity to learn more about the food systems available in my neighborhood. Although I mostly eat at the DC this year, next year I want to focus on eating in ways that are healthy and sustainable.