Three local items

It's been quite a while since I last posted. Sorry to those people that actually read this.

Anyway, today I have a couple of new local things to tell you about.

First, where to get the best tortillas in town. For several months we had been picking up tortillas from a lady who sells her own at the local farmers market and without a doubt they are quite good. Unfortunately, we haven't seen her since about Christmas and we are really needing a tortilla fix. For those that have had good tortillas you know what I'm talking about. Light, thin, slightly chewy, and just plain delicious. Compared to true tortillas, the ones sold in the stores under the national brand names might as well be slightly damp cardboard; there really isn't a comparison. Anyway, with the tortilla lady nowhere to be seen, we headed off to the place in Tucson that is supposed to have the best tortillas and picked up a dozen. Once home, we heated one up, and let me tell you they were heavenly. Very thin, light, slightly chewy, and when toasted a bit crispy. The perfect tortilla. So where can you get a tortilla like this? Head on over to St. Mary's Mexican Foods, a small restaurant/shop just west of the Freeway on St. Mary's road. Trust me, it's worth it.

A second thing to mention. While we've been extremely happy with the produce from Farmer Frank and the Tucson CSA, we have been trying to get more local fruit. So on Friday we wandered over to the fruit stand on the corner of 6th and Speedway. I'm sure everyone has seen it right there on the corner with the stenciled signs indicating what's available. We mainly stopped in because of the recent article in the AZ Daily Star and my disgust with the last orange that we got at the supermarket: dry, flavorless; I literally threw away half. Stopping in the little market we found that prices were half of that at the supermarket, and much of the fruit was local (or at least from AZ). We've decided that we'll be stopping in regularly.

The final local thing to mention: eggs. Winter time normally means a reduction in eggs from chickens. It's their time to molt, and when they do, they energy they expend to replace feathers means fewer eggs. So lately it's been hard to get the eggs at the Tucson CSA. When some would come in they'd sell out almost immediately. Finally needing eggs, we picked up a dozen at Trader Joe's; these promised to be cage free.... To my mind they should have been promised as flavor free. Now, I never would have believed it, mainly because I didn't notice too much of a difference when we started buying eggs at the CSA, but when we tried to switch back it was painfully obvious that commercial eggs really aren't that good. I consider it a lesson learned.

So why are we trying to eat more local? It's a hard question to answer, as there are many subtle reasons. I guess the most important is that this is something we put in our mouths and swallow. Shouldn't we know a little more about it than the price? With local, we can (and do) visit the farm where our produce is grown. We can (and will) visit the ranch where our cheese is made. We might even see how the chickens that lay our eggs are treated. And by seeing that, and meeting the people that produce these things for us, we'll get a feel for the quality of our food.

Think about it for a minute: if the chickens are mistreated at an egg factory (as many are), why would you trust them to produce sound eggs? If the goats and cows that produce the milk for our cheeses are mishandled, why would you expect the products to be handled properly? If the land where your produce is abused, why would you expect the vegetables to arrive pristine? What you put in is what you get out. And I guess that's one of the many reasons we try very hard to buy local items.

Feel free to let us know about your local find.