Produce Tastes Better When it's from Your Backyard (well...)

Moving into your first apartment is frightening.

The things you'll eat as a college student are far more frightening.

Living as a vegan in LA shouldn't be hard..but living as a 20 year old vegan going to UCLA and on a budget has been a trial. Rising above the college go-tos (ramen, grilled cheese,hot dogs)has definately left me feeling more alive, but has my bank accout on life support.

Researching sustainability and its infinite tenets recently has left me asking: what are my personal solutions for problems I deal with daily? Moving into my apartment and cooking for myself meant a choice: how do I go about things to be as personally healthy and sustainable as possible? Reading Michael Pollan's Omnivore's Dilemma caused me to mull over the local vs organic debate and how I wanted to integrate that into my practices.

I found myself on the Big Blue Bus Saturday morning with a friend, tote bags in hand. The farmer's market in Santa Monica was overcast, but lively. I was confronted with piles of fresh, local produce being sold by those that had grown it-meaning I could talk to these farmers and establish a relationship that could grow (organically!) over time.

"Would you like some bad fruit?" I turned around bewildered to see an apricot farmer offering me an entire bag of very ripe apricots, free of charge. Riding back on the bus that day, loaded down with produce I thought about what I would make, how it would taste, where it came from, the faces of the farmer's and my low impact (no gas,local produce, organic produce, and cheap produce.)

Oh, and that "bad fruit" was delicious. Just another example of how thinking outside of the box, or embracing acceptance (even towards apricots) pans out. Try it.