When I lived in Paris I frequented the Sunday and Saturday morning markets. There the pungent smells of creamy cheeses, fresh baked bread, sweet strawberries, fish fully intact, ducks, geese and rabbits hanging by their feet wafted over me. It was always a scene out of a movie: the little old ladies with their yapping terriers and two-wheeled cloth carriers, young mothers with strollers and prams, trying to hang on to their toddlers while purchasing tomatoes and mozzarella, and grizzly old men hollering "Mesdames! Regardez les belles fraises! 2 euros la barquet!"
This week I visited a farmer's market for the first time. It was a small market in Richmond, Texas. Three feet away from the strawberries I could smell their tangy sweet aroma. I had to buy some. The farmer offered me a taste. He pointed to one of his cartons with a wet finger, red to the knuckle, stained by the berries. I said the smell was enough to satisfy and I bought some. They were deep pink all the way through, some ruby red. I made my way down the row of stalls. One farmer promoted goat’s milk products. In France I learned to love goat cheese, but I never had any that could compare with their plain, creamy white spreadable variety with its slightly sweet flavor, not goaty at all until right after I’d swallowed. Unaware, not expecting any new taste it came fast and quiet, a fresh breeze on the tongue. Then, there was the jalapeno nectar, sweet, with a kick and a zest to knock your socks off without disturbing your shoes.
But I’m supposed to blog about progress. Progress always seems to equate itself with the words industry, free market, and capitalism. A Pakistani acquaintance recently wondered aloud how the French had any influence at all in the world with all those vacations, workers’ strikes, resistance to change, and especially the two hour long dinners. How could they possibly progress? However, when I walk into a Randalls or a Kroger and wander through the rows of canned meats and vegetables, frozen entrees and Wonder Bread, scanning ingredient labels I wonder if all that is really progress, or…just a bunch of crap. Maybe it’s just a simple matter of point of view. I hope to explore the matter further in the coming days and weeks. In the meantime, I hope I made your mouth water!
