A spade is a spade

I read a great article this weekend in the Seattle P-I about local produce. The article itself didn’t put any real new spin on any of the information, but they did manage to get a particularly damning quote from Jim Sinegal, co-founder and CEO of Costco: "We sell blueberries from any place we can get them."

I suppose I should admire him for his honesty, but it’s difficult to get past the egregiously Machiavellian capitalism. He rightly defends these actions as all being in the interest of the consumer, who should share the blame with us as we vote at the cash register. I do bite my tongue however, when they say that sending third party inspectors to their suppliers is part of sustainability.

There’s a lovely juxtaposition to cookbook author and food consultant Greg Atkinson of Bainbridge Island who cuts to the quick on eating locally: "It sounds kind of woo-woo, but it's almost a spiritual thing, it's about being fully present in the moment. You need that genuine connection to the time and place where you are. That is our job on Earth, to be here and to be fully present."

And only two paragraphs after that insight, the ‘smart’ technology that’s supposed to divine context and display appropriate advertising completely backfires.

Yup, Mickey D’s, the antithesis of local, good, slow food. Wonder how many people clicked on that one?