Things I Won’t Miss When I’m Gone: Dead, Frozen, Bagged Food

Posted by Mike Richard on June 24, 2007
Filed under: Food + Booze

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Talk about convenience: I didn’t even need to take this out of the bag before I tossed it into the microwave. Nowadays, about the only thing frozen foods lack is the ability to feed you. I want my bag of Kraft Asparagus Shoots to literally jump out the microwave and wrap themselves around my head like a feedbag and physically insert the food into my mouth. And I don’t want to have to chew either. Who needs that hassle?

Microwave Asparagus - Frozen and Dead

I remember riding through the “streets” (and I use that term loosely) of Merida, Mexico a couple years back. The local markets consisted of stakes dug into the ground, roadside, hung with various fresh - like five minutes ago fresh - produce, meats, etc. Heads, feet, every conceivable animal part, fruit, and vegetable was on display. No Yellow #5. No perfectly kept, sterile, vacuum-sealed pack perfectly refrigerated down to the precise FDA-approved temperature. All real. All fresh.

I know refrigeration is like owning a BMW 7-series in many parts of the developing world. I’m sure it’s not a novelty for those people living in same. But for me, the idea that frozen food just isn’t an option and that the meal on your plate could’ve literally been swimming in the ocean or grazing the very farm you just visited an hour beforehand is like culinary heaven to me.

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Vagabondish editor Mike Richard lives in Rhode Island - a small patch of land in the northeastern U.S. He is a professional web designer and travel junkie with an unhealthy addiction to backpacking, camping, hiking and seeing the world. He enjoys knit hats and speaking in the third person.



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Comments

Stacy
June 24th, 2007 - 12:54 pm

I’ve been thinking about trying a ban on canned, boxed and frozen food. Could I do it? What about pasta, I wonder. I make a lot of pasta salads with fresh produce, but the pasta is from a box. With 3 boys (make that 4) in the house, I buy a lot of meat in bulk and freeze the extra. Could I still do that? There are some weird chemicals in preserved food, not to mention high fat and salt content, so I cringe whenever I add them to my grocery cart.

But really, Mike, the only way to eat asparagus is grilled with a little olive oil and salt. Mmmm… In the winter, I cook it in the oven.


Preya
June 24th, 2007 - 5:08 pm

Funny post. When I first moved back to the states, I remember being overwhelmed by all of the choices at supermarkets; here’s something I wrote with similar thoughts a while back:

http://www.preyanka.com/2007/0.....store.html


Mike
June 25th, 2007 - 9:04 am

Stacy, I can imagine that cooking only fresh food for five people night after night would be almost a full-time job. God bless you and the mothers of the world. I’ve no idea how you do it.

the only way to eat asparagus is grilled with a little olive oil and salt. Mmmm… In the winter, I cook it in the oven.

Absolutely! And nine times out of ten, I cook fresh. But I stock up on canned/frozen foods too for that odd time when I’m just too damn lazy to cook.


Mike
June 25th, 2007 - 9:12 am

Great post, Preya. All great points.