There was a popular radio commercial many years ago that started with a man humming and playing guitar softly. Another male voice approaches, “excuse me, your music is fantastic, I want to hire you for a ‘Cheap Jeans’ radio commercial.”

“No way,” the guitarist responds in a slow hippie-type voice, “my music is about peace and love. I want no part of your industrial complex, man.”

“We’ll pay you ten thousand dollars,” the stranger says.

The next sound is the hippie strumming and singing, “Cheap Jeans are the best…Cheap Jeans…oh yeah…Cheap Jeans…”

Even hippies are pragmatists. The farm-to-table movement didn’t start just because a group of people in Berkeley, California wanted to be different. They weren’t “turning on, tuning in and dropping out” over fresh produce.

Let’s remove this characterization that the fresh and local food movement is hippie-based. I don’t think Timothy Leary cared where his lettuce came from in 1967.

I think we should eliminate the idea that if you seek out the freshest foods you’re somehow “counter-culture”. The stereotype persists that you must be protesting AGAINST something to be part of the farm-to-table movement. This isn’t true.

I’m not protesting against one restaurant by patronizing another with better food. I’m not protesting against Chevy because I drive a Ford. It’s just my choice. It’s also a choice to decide what foods you eat.

If it’s not a protest, then what are some of the practical, reasonable, and logical reasons that people give for buying their food from a source as close to their homes as possible?

Do you know what happens to your food before it reaches the grocery store?

The farm-to-table movement gains momentum with every TV news story like that one. You’ve seen it yourself. There’s a food recall or outbreak every month on TV. Our global economy of food hasn’t kept pace with the necessary steps to assure food safety over long distances and long periods of time.

Was it always this way? Was there always such a concern about food becoming contaminated in transit? When I was a kid, we bought meat at the BUTCHER. He didn’t work at the Super Wal-Mart. He was the grandson of the butcher who started the place. Sadly, few family butchers exist anymore.

In our last discussion, I insisted that fresh foods taste best. The item that is out of the field or processor for the shortest amount of time before it reaches your table should be the best, right?

Even if you’re less particular about the freshness and flavor of food, perhaps you’re concerned with the safety of your food. Is it reasonable to assume that the more time it spends in transit and the further food travels the more likely it is to be contaminated or mistreated?

You may agree or not, but it’s something to ponder. I’m sure I’ll have more thought-provoking questions soon.