Over the weekend I found myself wondering how often pioneers intentionally over-shoot their target in order to achieve what they initially wanted, knowing instinctively that they must do this and then compromise to their goal. While at that particular moment, I may have had the likes of Steve Jobs, Jeff Bezos, Elon Musk or more currently, Jack Ma in my mind, today it was in regard to Alice Waters.
This was followed this morning by the observation that every once in a while the philosophies of two oddly-juxtaposed people will come into my psyche and coalesce. Today, those two people are Alice Waters and Scarlet O’Hara.
While I was away, perhaps nothing jarred me out of my massive Italy-induced euphoria more than an article by Katie Parla invoking Alice Waters. In a world dominated by corporate food production, the trucking of massive amounts of underripe produce cross-country (and continents), inhumane animal ranching, drugging animals, spraying crops with poisons and other sub-prime food production, Alice Waters has raised the question of how local is local, and when are markets not local enough? This startled me a bit as it came into focus in my naive lens of lenses, where I was preferring to think of myself as being in one of the higher quality venues of local markets. I guess one can never take anything for granted. Was Alice overreaching or is she reaching for the ultimate? Is she an idealist, purist or a pragmatist?
Gee-whiz, I sighed, can’t I just relish the inherent beauty and the fruits of noble farmers’ labors for what they are, here in their bins, in their showcases, born of the summertime sunshine and clear and fresh air of Italy – just as they are without worrying that they didn’t come from close enough in or from the pristine hands, water, seeds, soil, barns, or sustainable waters that Alice espouses?
Conscience now churning, I suppose it was good for me to have this backdrop rather than to naively go on snapping away at more beautiful photos of fresh foods – as I am happy to do. But, I suppose that only leads to another, boring for some if not for me, post about a Farmers’ Market. I can’t explain why I have such an infatuation for food markets and feel so compelled to take more photos, all the while feeling I must have them. As I’ve mentioned here before, I could go on doing this till I am finished with my days on this earth. And, while I think they are beautiful momentos for me and testaments and celebrations of their producers, I wonder, do I need 16 photos of beautiful melons or artichokes? Apparently, yes, I do, if only to satisfy myself. Beyond collecting though, what is the story behind the photos? And, how can I find out? Hmmmmm……….
In the noted article, Alice Waters criticized Campo di Fiori for becoming a folly for “tourists”. I was saddened to read that this market wasn’t authentic “enough” and so a new introspective was formed. Where does the food come from and when is it not “local” enough? I indeed had apparently taken too much for granted. How is this evaluated, I began to wonder. Aren’t outdoor food markets better than shopping via the corporate food model or when the carbon footprint is less than it would have been under long-range trucking, say from a hundred, or thousands of miles away as we do in the US? What had Campo di Fiori done wrong, I wondered. Lots of new questions come to light here, and my balloon was burst, a little rain came down on my parade. I’m all for Alice doing what Alice does well – making people think deeply about our food supply and while I was glad to read this article which shed new insight into the marketing of food for me, I selfishly just wanted to go and enjoy it as it is.
I had to reposition my thinking a bit and decide not to let all the newly-raised questions cloud my enthusiasm for seeking out my new little market venues in the precious little time I had there.
This was my Scarlet O’Hara moment – “I can’t think about that right now. If I do, I’ll go crazy. I’ll think about that tomorrow.” as Margaret Mitchell cleverly penned and I said to myself and parked all of Alice’s great issues in another compartment in my mind.
In spite of the soul-searching questions about how local is local, I stood to my purpose and strode out, still game for visiting the markets, even if my glee had to be held at the level of purely visual entertainment. (I’m sounding a little defensive, aren’t I?)
This trip, I had Mercato Centrale and Mercato Sant’Ambrogio on my list – two venues I could easily walk to from our camping point.
Beautiful photos are beautiful photos – I have to keep it this simple, if only for right now. And so, for no other reason than visual feasting, here is my little collection. They make me happy merely for how I saw them in that little moment. I will think about all the ethical issues, well, later…… Alice had stung me and as much as I love these market days for the simple excursions that they are, she’d had her intended effect.
Mercato Centrale may be considered a tourist attraction for some, as is Campo di Fiori, but I’m still excited to go there – and I did, twice. While I have no answers to any questions about sourcing for today, I did happily collect the following photos, if for no other reason than to enjoy, at their most elemental level:
and, at the charmingly neighborhood -y Mercato Sant’ Ambrogio:
is this where you buy squash by the slice?
I guess everyone needs a little moral agitation now and then. I got these beloved photos out of my system. Now I suppose I must go on to pondering the scaling of goals of pioneers……….
Would her goal be to set standards for markets in most if not all venues? If nothing else, Alice succeeds in sewing the seeds of conscience into a myriad of platforms – school lunch, community gardening and the world of food production and marketing, just to name a few- and for that, I, for one am thankful. Did she spoil my time, my naivety of pure enjoyment of what I saw? No, she only served to deepen my appreciation for a season’s job well done, knowing that the quality of each season’s planting and harvesting must be worked upon and improved, even if in minuscule degrees, in order to sustain the heirlooms, cultivars, and dignity of the animals and ocean and freshwater beds for the fish. Uncanny timing, Alice. You’re a priceless classic, just like Scarlet.