Produce grown, harvested and photographed by Jennifer BB
by Jennifer BB
For a fee, Mr. Paque, who lives in San Francisco, will build an organic garden in your backyard, weed it weekly and even harvest the bounty, gently placing a box of vegetables on the back porch when he leaves. Call them lazy locavores--city dwellers who insist on eating food grown close to home but have no inclination to get their hands dirty. (Kim Severson, NYT)
Okay--first, let's applaud those who are willing to put a premium on eating locally grown food. And for those who subscribe to Community Supported Agriculture shares or who "cow pool" to obtain fresh produce and pastured-raised beef--this is only a great help (key to survival, even) for small, local farmers. But is it even possible to have a bounty of fruits and vegetables growing in your own backyard and NOT want to get your hands dirty?
I've been nursing a blog post for the past couple of weeks and the first sentence waxes poetic about the joy of watching the tomatoes slowly grow on my vines, picking early Sungolds and chewing on baby Swiss chard as I pull stray weeds from my raised beds. It just takes a few minutes--about as long as it takes the water to boil for my morning tea. I can't imagine paying someone else to do it--even if I could afford it.
But perhaps it is like the small steps it takes to get people eating real food--I can't knock those kitchen centers you can go to to prepare a weeks worth of meals if it gets families eating balanced meals at the table on a regular basis. I can only hope that those who have room to grow their own food but pay others to tend it, will soon discover the delight of sowing, weeding, tending, and eventually harvesting food their own hands have touched. Check out the full story in The New York Times here.
