>> People need to write/document "local" diets that use local products as well as "native" plants with seasonal (more like monthly if you are being realistic) adjustments for what's ripe/available.<<
I agree. Frex, around here mulberry trees are very common and the berries are delicious. Like olives, they can be harvested by shaking the tree over a sheet if you don't want to hand-pick them. But they're never sold in stores and the occasional basket at a farmer's market is so expensive that it's hard to sell. :/ Which is sad, because the trees can survive damn near anything. They're flimsy but grow back like mad. Persimmons are another native fruit you just don't see in stores -- only Asian persimmons, which aren't anything like local ones.
>> Of course, to be *useful* we'd need more *actual* variety in stores. That id different foods, rather than several dozen brands of much the same thing.<<
That's true for most products. Too often, there's a ton of options but they all have the same flaws. I've been looking for finch seed, and all I can get now is thistle seed. All the mixed finch seed has shelled sunflower which is bad for multiple reasons. I haven't found white millet anywhere.
>> I'm looking at the frozen food section where a quarter of what's there is different brands of pizza.<<
Yeah, that sucks.
I like the rise of grain bowls though.
>> Growing stuff that's more local/native would help break up monoculture. And likely increase biodiversity in other ways due to different critters being interested in the different plants.<<
That is true. We like to shop in Amish territory because the stores there do carry some local produce. Almost all the honey is local too, and the eggs.
>>It's *nice* to be able to enjoy out-of-season produce, as well as stuff that just plain *can't* be grown locally. But we'd be better served if those things weren't presented as "staples".<<
Thoughts
I agree. Frex, around here mulberry trees are very common and the berries are delicious. Like olives, they can be harvested by shaking the tree over a sheet if you don't want to hand-pick them. But they're never sold in stores and the occasional basket at a farmer's market is so expensive that it's hard to sell. :/ Which is sad, because the trees can survive damn near anything. They're flimsy but grow back like mad. Persimmons are another native fruit you just don't see in stores -- only Asian persimmons, which aren't anything like local ones.
>> Of course, to be *useful* we'd need more *actual* variety in stores. That id different foods, rather than several dozen brands of much the same thing.<<
That's true for most products. Too often, there's a ton of options but they all have the same flaws. I've been looking for finch seed, and all I can get now is thistle seed. All the mixed finch seed has shelled sunflower which is bad for multiple reasons. I haven't found white millet anywhere.
>> I'm looking at the frozen food section where a quarter of what's there is different brands of pizza.<<
Yeah, that sucks.
I like the rise of grain bowls though.
>> Growing stuff that's more local/native would help break up monoculture. And likely increase biodiversity in other ways due to different critters being interested in the different plants.<<
That is true. We like to shop in Amish territory because the stores there do carry some local produce. Almost all the honey is local too, and the eggs.
>>It's *nice* to be able to enjoy out-of-season produce, as well as stuff that just plain *can't* be grown locally. But we'd be better served if those things weren't presented as "staples".<<
That's an excellent approach.