Long Distance Food

I was just watching a show on Food Network about where your food comes from and how it is made, etc. I think it was Unwrapped. It disturbed me.

They profiled pickles from the #1 most common brand (won't say it here), specifically the baby pickles. They said the cucumbers were imported from India because the climate allows them to mature faster so they can pick them small.

I beg to differ.

My little brother when he was 14 years old along with several of his friends planted a couple of acres of cucumbers. They got up early every morning and picked for hours. They loaded up the truck bed and wagon with bushels of baby cucumbers. Then Mom would drive them to a pick-up farm about 45 minutes away where Paramount bought them for pickles. It was a hot and sweaty job but these teenage boys did it for money to buy their first vehicles with. I wish more teenagers these days had that kind of work ethic.

Granted Paramount probably doesn't have the market share as the other brand, but I much prefer my pickles to come from Indiana than India.

Don't get me wrong. I have nothing against India - I just want my food to be as local as possible.

This has prompted me to research where my food comes from a little bit more.