Maybe it's because it's summertime and I want to be outside every chance I get, but lately, I can't stand going to the supermarket. I've gotten my weekly supermarket visits down to a science, where I'm in and out of the store in 20 minutes, tops. I'm practically fleeing from the place. But there's another reason that I'm giving it the slip: I've discovered how infinitely better it is (for our tastebuds, our health, and the planet, of course) to buy all of our produce from local farms instead.
From a green standpoint, "eating locally" is a huge issue. Michael Pollan has explored the topic in his enlightening best-seller, The Omnivore's Dilemma. It's well worth a read if you haven't already picked it up, but one of the main points is this: Think about the time it takes for a piece of fruit to be picked, get loaded onto a truck, potentially travel through several states, and finally wind up in your supermarket, only to sit on the shelf for who-knows-how-long before it's purchased and eaten. How many gallons of gas did it take to get there? How much CO(2) was expelled from the tailpipe? Or did it have to fly around the world, expending jet fuel, to get to your store? (New Zealand apples, I'm looking at you.) How much plastic or styrofoam was manufactured for the packaging?
One of Pollan's other main points in the book is the astounding difference in taste between fresh-picked and store-bought. And that brings us to the astonishingly delicious scent of ripe summer fruit at Sun High Orchards of Randolph, NJ. When I was there this week, snapping these photos, the current owner-operator, Phil Green, told me that his father-in-law's father started the farm in 1945, and they've kept it in the family ever since. Hats off to them!
Instead of a supermarket with its generic atmosphere, white-bright-fluorescents, and too-chilly temperature, a trip to the farm is (quite literally) a breath of fresh air.
Instead of rows upon rows of neon cardboard boxes, plastic containers, and styrofoam trays, the shelves at Sun High look like this:
I felt like I had walked right into the movie, Paper Moon.
Instead of ho-hum fruit packaged in little clear plastic coffins (because as Pollan writes, it's long into the decaying process once it's in the supermarket), everywhere you look, you see glorious still-lifes of gorgeous produce. Just look at these little juicy guys below, all angling for their close-up...
There's something about produce that's not covered in plastic which makes it seem outrageously delicious (and it is). Most of the produce at Sun High is loose, so you can bring your own reusable bag and pack it all in, once it's weighed. Smaller fruits, such as blueberries and strawberries, come in cardboard cartons, and as the new recycling ad for NYC says, "If you can rip it, you can recycle it." Our town has finally started to accept almost all coded plastics for recycling (hallelujah!), but it takes more energy and creates more pollution to melt down plastic and make it into something else, so I'm sticking with the cartons if there's a choice. Plus, if they do wind up astray, they're biodegradable, unlike plastic (see my July entry entitled Road-Testing Reusable Lunch Containers.)
When I was done selecting my fruit, I headed outside to visit these two characters...
Alpaca: "You go, girlfriend!"
Donkey: "Mmmm...dry hay."
Then I headed homeward, happily, to feast!
Almost too pretty to eat. (I said almost.)
I can't give up the supermarket entirely, because Sun High doesn't carry things like milk, eggs, and cereal. But sorry, supermarket: You've lost my business in the produce department. It wasn't even close.
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Sun High Orchards is located at 19 Canfield Avenue in Randolph, NJ. Open 7 days a week in summer from 9 am to 5 pm. Phone: 973-584-4734. Bring the kids and let them pick out their own fruits and veggies. Plus, there are plenty of farm animals to visit and feed. One final green note: The produce at Sun High is not organic, but you can use an all-natural spray like Veggie Wash to remove any residue.
Do you have a farm or farmer's market that you frequent? Please share the details in the Comments section below.
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