Simple. Good. Food.

First, the saddest news - the closing of Gourmet magazine by Condé Nast.  There is no other magazine that has such excellent food writing, with style and photographs to illustrate and remind us why we eat in the first place: to satisfy us, to nourish our bodies and feed our spirits; to bring us together; to show us how similar we are and what connects us across the globe in our craving for simple pleasures.  My favorite articles about exploring the world through the kitchen came from Sardinia, Corsica, Slovenia, and Latin America. They were articles that had my mind scheming about upcoming travels, and my mouth watering, about to discover new ways of combining spices and layering flavors.

Sigh.

So the good news comes with mixed blessing, and closer to home - rain.  For anyone who is remotely connected to the soil - the cold, wet, rainy miserable weather is a relief.  For those of us who share in the ups and downs of farming on a tiny level by partnering with a farm as a CSA (Community Supported Agriculture) member, we have the benefit of being tuned in to the successes and hardships of running a small-scale vegetable farm operation that is so delicately tethered to the whims of the weather.  “Our” farmer, Mike Noreen, of Burning River Farm in Frederic, WI, reminds us that the seasons are more connected in weather than we might imagine - and a good start to spring crops depends on rain in the fall. So, my misery on a bike this week was measured in a big way by remembering the the bigger picture; the soil being readied and resupplied for next spring.  Being a part of a CSA farm, or growing a garden – urban, country, or in between – brings us a little closer to our food, which I think is a good thing.  

The inconvenience of rain makes obvious connections for me about our food system. It is so easy to get caught up in what we want, without taking into consideration what we need and when we need it.  This can be very true for our food habits.  We expect that our grocery store will have berries, fresh tomatoes, or zucchini when we want them, every month of the year.  If we look closer to home, though, and are in touch with the seasons, we can see that it’s probably good to let those foods go for another year.  Instead, it’s time to tune in to the squash, the apples, the root vegetables and the cabbage.  

It’s common to hear the argument that it takes too much time to do the right thing, or too hard make sense of what we should be doing with our food choices.  But by slowing down a little bit, and taking the time to visit a farmer’s market or check out local options at a co-op grocery or any grocery store, it’s possible to see that the seasons are helping us do just that. 

The squash are lovely. The apples are crisp, fragrant and delicious. The cabbage is sweet and crunchy.  It makes me realize where I am about to head - into the kitchen with my back issues of Gourmet, to expand my taste for simple pleasures.