Normal Green: Bourdain Talks Recessionary Eating

I'll tell you. Alice Waters annoys the living shit out of me. We're all in the middle of a recession, like we're all going to start buying expensive organic food and running to the green market. There's something very Khmer Rouge about Alice Waters that has become unrealistic. I mean I'm not crazy about our obsession with corn or ethanol and all that, but I'm a little uncomfortable with legislating good eating habits.

I was kind of wondering what you all thought about this. Bourdain's statement resonates with me on a couple of different levels (and not just because I find him foxy.). First, as someone who has had her food budget affected by the current economy, I appreciate the fact that he understands that everything can't be all organic for everyone all the time. We certainly try for healthful shopping (which includes purchasing locally-grown or sourced items from a locally-owned grocery store) most of the time, but like many people around the globe, we've had to make some significant changes.

The second reason has to do with something Spanish chef Ferran Adria says in the book A Day at El Bulli, the tome about his trend-setting restaurant. I'm paraphrasing here, but he says something to the effect of: If you spend all your time talking about how organic and home-grown and free-range and hand-crafted your food is, well, there must not be anything left to say about how delicious it is. And I have to say, I agree. In the end it's about the food you put on the table.

Many of us these days have to feel good about what we are cooking and eating on an eco-conscious level and on a budgetary level. Will it be less delicious if the foodie buzzwords of the day don't apply to our meals? I'll follow Adria's lead and say, "No." I mean, I can appreciate the orange-ness of a yolk from an egg laid by backyard chicken or how candy-sweet a tomato can be when picked right off a sun-warmed vine, and I don't want to continue lining the pockets of unscrupulous food conglomerates, but damnit, there is also something pretty magical in its economy about a Spam musubi. Even our new president agrees.

Everything in moderation, I guess... which is the point of this whole column.