Adventures in Local Food VI: Clandestine peaches

But I should back up. In case you have wondered why I haven’t submitted posts over the past couple of weeks (or did anyone notice?), it is because I was in Fort Worth. Yes, Texas, in July. For work, not vacation. Yes, it was hot, mostly, except when indoors. Air conditioning can be too cold (could too much air conditioning and global warming be connected???)

So, back to food. How do you eat locally when traveling? Sure, you can carry food with you (that is until the airlines consider food, like water, to be, well, illegal?) … but without refrigeration, the shelf life is limited. I took some fresh and some dried and dehydrated food items to supplement my meals ... after all, vegetarianism in Fort Worth is about as popular as overcooked Brussels sprouts among children.

While I did get to go to a grocery store early on for a few fresh items, I was at the mercy of what was available around me, and the driver. For my meals out, I trolled the streets around the Fort Worth convention center for vegetarian or local food options, however my efforts were futile considering that only two vegetarian restaurants exist in the city, at locations too far for me to walk (I was without a car for the entire eight days).

What I did encounter was lots of meat, along with some Asian, French, Italian, and Mexican cuisine ... or for the cheaper, faster fair, I could eat Subway, Qdoba, Tex-Mex, or non-descript cheese pizza. Of course, it could have been worse. Had I been confined to the convention center, my options would have consisted of processed foods: nacho chips and cheese sauce, hot dogs, hamburgers, French fries, and Starbucks coffee … and a bit of fair-trade chocolate.

At a workshop I organized, I invited a farmer to talk to the group. I had spoken to her on the telephone earlier that day--she happened to be at the Dallas Farmers Market at that moment, so I asked, ok, more like, pleaded with her to bring me something, anything, I could eat. She arrived with tomatoes, peaches and pears. I ate the tomatoes and peaches (I did share some peaches), but the pears I saved. Last Friday, I made and canned pear sauce (very similar to apple sauce, and just as good), as a reminder of my Texas adventures in searching for local food.