Where's The Dirt On My Vegetables?

Last summer I photographed some onions from the farmers market. They were covered in dirt. I was so excited. They were not trimmed or cut or cleaned up. They were real onions with dirt.

When you go to a store and get a package of onions all sealed hermetically in plastic. Emotionless.

When you go to a farmers stand and pick up a bunch of onions that have dirt hanging from the roots that is real. Yes they grow in dirt and you are reminded they come from the earth.

We have lost our connection to food as a whole. I have been as guilty as the next person so I will get off my high horse right now. We moms are out shopping and grab this and that and yes it can be robotic. "Must make din ner for the fam i ly."  We go through the motions and get what we need...

Anything that you do day in and day out can get monotonous. It is hard to get excited. Try to take time to really be conscious about what you're doing.

I challenge you to take one day, especially this summer when the food is local and plentiful. Go to a farmers market. Get food in season. Really think about what it is your doing and preparing. Tell me how it feels to you. Make a food connection.

I was recently in my local whole foods market and the whole foods employee was stacking the green beans with surgical gloves on and placing them in plastic bags. I asked her why she would do that? She said "the customers wanted their beans in plastic bags because they did not want people touching them."

Yikes this was a doozy. News flash. People are touching your vegetables every step of the way to get to the market. They grow in dirt and people pick them, pack them, store them, ship them. Let’s get real people.

I told the whole foods employee how the beans when placed in plastic go bad. It is like a greenhouse in there. The plastic traps the moisture. They can’t breath and they rot. You can see the moisture and all the brown spotted beans in their stages of decay. I want to touch what I am buying and see that it is blemish free. I want it to look and feel like it came from the earth.

So give me some dirt on my vegetables please.