Our World in Food

In search of sustainable food systems: back home in Seattle, Washington

Hello Again, From Home January 11, 2012

Filed under: Seattle,USA — Nicole @ 8:49 pm

Devuelta en Seattle, en el Pike Place Market.

Where do I begin…

It’s been six weeks since I’ve posted anything and in that time so much has happened…I’ve been in 4 countries in 2 hemispheres and 4 continents. Now, and I still can’t believe it, I am back home in Seattle. If everything had gone according to plan I would be in Scotland right now, but a couple of things came up…

I ended up spending 5 (difficult) weeks in Morocco. Reliable internet connection was rare, so I’m working on a few posts now about Moroccan food and will post them as soon as I can.

It’s embarrassing to admit, but I think all backpackers should know this, I was denied entry into the UK when I first tried visiting. It is one of the most difficult places for anyone to visit as they are really cracking down on illegal immigration. My plan was to spend the holidays with my family in England, and then to stay for the month of February in Scotland. I was naive enough to land in London Heathrow without having bought my onward flight to France. Mistake. Because I also hadn’t printed out my bank statements proving how much money I have or brought much cash with me, on paper I looked extremely suspicious. So they refused me entry and I was sent back to Morocco, with my tail between my legs.

Back in Morocco I received news that my two grandmothers were very ill and that my parents had both flown down to Buenos Aires to take care of them. I got on the next flight to Buenos Aires. When I arrived I immediately started feeling ill. One week later, my grandmother passed away. The next day, at the emergency room, what I thought was just the flu turned out to be a pretty serious bacterial infection. I immediately started taking antibiotics and somewhat reluctantly promised my family I would put my trip on hold to go back home and take care of myself.

I was devastated for having lost someone so dear to me. Abuela Ofelia raised an incredible daughter, who taught me to be a confident, brave woman. Without their inspiration and support I would never have considered traveling the world on my own. Ofelia first got me interested in cooking and in chocolate. She was and still is my guardian angel, who I will always love and who always loved me, unconditionally. But it was her time and she left beautifully, peacefully.

I have never wanted my twin sister more than at that moment. She was in England, and thankfully, the doctors and my parents let me catch a flight to London to spend Christmas with her and her British fiance’s family. This time I went prepared, and the immigration officers let me in. I spent a wonderful week in Lincolnshire, eating mince pies and Christmas pudding, resting, and smiling more than I had in weeks. I am so grateful for Catherine and Kevin’s generosity and understanding, they welcomed me with open arms into their home and into their family.

Reunida con mi hermana en Lincolnshire, Inglaterra

I’ve been in Seattle for almost two weeks now, resting and taking it easy. I’m hoping to be able to continue my travels but I need to be in tip top shape first. Meanwhile, I get to spend much-needed time with my sister!

 

Where is the local food in L.A.? September 10, 2010

Filed under: Los Angeles — Nicole @ 4:33 pm

Not at the farmers market but at Whole Foods!

I was so dissappointed when I went to the L.A. Farmers Market, it wasn’t a farmers market at all!!! It was basically a food court full of fast food vendors. There was one little stand with fruits and vegetables, and all of them were from out of state, out of country for that matter (the lemons were from Chile). I KNOW that citrus grows is California, in fact, I know that almost everything and anything grows in California. What’s the deal? Why isnt’ there local food at the L.A. Farmers Market?

veg stand

The only fruit and veg stand at the farmers market

chocolate hands

A candy shop in the farmers market where they temper chocolate with their hands!?

bakery

They did have some nice looking bakeries at the farmers market

Check out these statistics about California agriculture:

  • Top agricultural state
  • Moderate climate and fertile soil allow year-round farming
  • Produces more than 400 crops
  • Produces more milk than any other state

BUT…

  • California is the largest exporting state, about 12 times any other state
  • Supplies more than half the country’s fruits, veg and nuts

So most food grown in California leaves the state and the country, unfortunatelly, quicker than Californians can get their share of it. Even though California is a successful producer, it still imports cheap crops from out of the country grown in abundance right here in state. This clearly yields a profit, but logically and environmentally, doesn’t make any sense.

So where did Nicole find local food in L.A….at Whole Foods Market. I can’t believe it, I had to go to a natural food corporate giant accross the street from the “farmers market” to find fresh, local, organic food. But again, it’s because Whole Foods makes more of a profit than any farmers market could. Bummer.

I cooked up some delicious fried rice with Chris and bought a Theo classic dark chocolate bar to console me. Recipe soon to follow…

 

L.A. is… September 9, 2010

Filed under: Los Angeles — Nicole @ 4:06 pm

L.A. is…not what I expected! I drove through L.A. once about 6 years ago and felt oddly uncomfortable. I thought I would feel that again on this trip, but I haven’t!

neighborhood

Silver Lake, the neighborhood I'm staying in

I was lucky enough to find a local who let me stay at his place for free through Couchsurfing.org. If you’re not familiar with the site it basically works like this: make a profile about yourself (like Facebook), choose to be either a couch to host travelers or a surfer looking for a place to crash while traveling, and surf away! Its purpose is for travelers to get to know a city  from a local perpective, and for free!

the couch

The couch I'm surfing has a lovely view of the neighborhood

Chris, my host has been fantastic! He picked me up at the train station, drove me to the consulate (on his motorcycle, sweet!) and even invited me out to eat and drink with him. I’ve been repaying Chris with chocolate and of course by cooking! I’ll write a post on the food I’ve been eating and cooking in L.A. later…

chris on his bike

Chris, my host, on one of the bikes he took me around on

For now I want to leave you with a list of words that I’ve found best describe L.A.

  • HUGE and spread out
  • made for cars (and motorcycles ;)
  • populous, diverse, latino
  • warm, smoggy, overcast
  • dusty, desert, dry
  • dirty and manicured
  • rich and poor
  • beautiful and run down
  • smells of eucalyptus and car exhaust
  • obesity and celebrities
tar

I also visited the L.A. tar pits where thousands of ancient fossils have been preserved

Speaking of celebrities, I’ve seen two so far! Frau Farbissina (Mindy Sterling) from Austin Powers and Slater (Mario Lopez) from Saved by the Bell. The Frau was in front of me in line at the Whole Foods, angry that the cashier closed our lane when it was her turn, and I saw Mario smiling, walking through the L.A. Farmers Market with a group of people following him.

I’ll keep my eyes peeled for more!

 

Mission Accomplished!

Filed under: Los Angeles — Nicole @ 5:02 am
I got my Argentine passport!

yay

outside the consulate with my argentine passport!

I thought it was going to be much more of a headache when I got to the office on my first day and it was closed (they close at noon, seriously). The next day it ended up taking only and hour. I got in, paid, waited, and “señorita Pita” that was it!

I’m off to Costa Rica on Friday! That means I’ve got another couple days in LA, which has not turned out to be what I had expected. I take back all my preconcieved notions of LA…well, some of them are true, but it’s the fact that I’m being hosted by a local (couchsurfing) that has completely changed my perspective on the city. I’ll explain in a later post…now I’m off to the LA Farmer’s Market!