Simple Living-talking tomatoes and cukes

So the conversations in our house have been really odd lately- hard to believe we all live together. Generally, we're feeling blessed and thinking about what we might like to have. George is talking about a new car (we have agreed to get a hybrid) or an I-phone, or maybe a flat screen TV and a Wii. Burke and Josh talk alot about buying Pokemon, legos, and any new toy they can think of- as well as making preliminary lists for the birthday present fairies. I have been trying to figure out how to live more simply, and in my exhuberance made this pledge to try and make all our food intake be 50% local by year's end. It is certainly a goal, but I've been thinking about buying a small chest freezer, or maybe a tiller, and a truckload of dirt so I can have a bigger garden next year, and I am buying loads and loads of fresh vegetables so I can say I buy local. Now, I could get high and mighty and say at least my wants are oriented towards the greater good- the goal of simple living- less is more, closer grown and using less gas. The bottom line however, is that each of us is simply talking about spending money on ourselves.

Sure, mine would be more of an investment, but you could argue the same for Pokemon cards (I imagine a complete deck from 20 years ago would fetch a pretty penny today). And in some regards, you have to spend money to save (having a chest freezer would definitely cut my buying of frozen veggies at the store) but in the end, I have spent money that could go elsewhere to people who don't have food at all, and for whom buying local is not an option, as local fruitstands don't usually take WIC vouchers. It puts me in a quandry of sorts and it is easy to just sit and be paralyzed by the competing voices. (Should I spend $7 for local peaches that can be frozen and enjoyed in November, as well as reduce my carbon footprint, but were probably harvested by illegal immigrant labor and grown using less than sustainable agricultural methods? Or should I spend that $7 and buy 5 cans of peaches and give them to the food bank for folks who need to eat, but then I contribute to the dependence on canned goods shipped across the country eating up fossil fuels, and most canned goods contain so much sugar and sodium that they will eventually increase the obesity problem among our impoverished neighbors, costing the health-care system and government many dollars? )

A great case in point came as I perused the local fruit and vegetable market- and I am blessed to have several nearby--and my eyes saw the sauces and salad dressing section. In my quest to be local, I have sought first to stay in my zip code, next my area code, and finally my state (we are one of the smaller states in area- so while probably stretching the definition of local to a degree, it is better than trans-continental). So, I saw a barbecue sauce that is very good, and made about 100 miles away. It supports our state and did I mention, tastes great? The problem is that it is Maurice's BBQ sauce. Anyone from SC should know about Maurices and also about the issues surrounding it. Seems Maurice Bessinger, who is the founder and namesake of the BBQ restaraunt and sauce company, is also a certified racist. He still flies the confederate flag over his main store, it is on the label of his BBQ sauce, and he has pamphlets in his stores about how slavery was good for the social order and also God ordained. I don't wish to buy his products under ethical reasons. But it tastes really good, and it is locally produced. His is not a nationally traded company and the profits, I feel certain, stay right here in SC. But do I just shelve all of the ethical issues, just so I can say I bought locally? Or do I take the high road and buy Kraft BBQ sauce that is part of one the major American conglomerate food producers and is probably made with ingredients from China?

Whatever the case, I seem to be in a quandry again- wanting to do the right thing, and yet, torn at the same time. So, instead of saying I'm talking apples and oranges, the former of which are not in season, the latter of which are not local, I will instead talk tomatoes and cukes. They are local, and I like them alot, and they don't tend to give me ethical issues when I grow them in my backyard, or get them from a friend. I will also just consider myself blessed to have the income that allows me to have these theoretical dillemas at all and I will consider myself blessed to have a house, and health, and a car. And until I can figure it all out, I'll just keep having fresh tomato sandwiches for lunch.