All American Eating

So I'm in Queens today with the trio of Aunts for Thanksgiving. Fang's cousin Basia says, "I'm giving up the pomegranate juice that I drink because it's apparently manufactured in China." Really? That's peculiar...that it's manufactured in China, that is. She continued, "I looked at the label and it's made in China. God knows what sort of chemicals they use on the fruits and vegetables there." "DDT!!!" yells Ciocia B from the kitchen, "they use DDT on the produce and put lead into the toys and ship it to America. Why can't these manufacturers use products from the good old US of A?"

Who knew this would become the theme of the day?

Basia also mentioned she had found out her bitter cheery juice that she bought in a bodega on the East side was made in Serbia. Aunt Fran said the oranges she bought were from Africa. Even the turnips used in the mashed turnips served with dinner were from Canada. Apparently Canadian manufactured products were considered to be acceptable because "Canada is a very clean and sanitary country."

It's curious to me that in New York that you get a lot of everyday fare from overseas. I grew up in California's central valley, the very hub of agricultural goodness. The produce was bountiful and natural. We had fruit and nut trees in our backyard and you could pluck fresh oranges and peaches as they ripened on the branches. I remember the way they tasted in their unsullied state. In my wildest dreams I wouldn't have imagined that the strawberries we'd buy in the summer would come from growers in Costa Rica. I mean, Watsonville, California was a lot closer and it is a region noted for their strawberries.

Over thanksgiving dinner tonight, no less than five root vegetables were represented sur la table. We believe these (with the exception of the turnips) were American grown. This led into a discussion about garlic and ginger in the grocery stores being Chinese imports (and the lead/DDT thing again).

As least the dessert was homemade although I can't verify the origin of the ingredients. Maybe it's better that way.