Red Peppers

I rarely eat red peppers in July. Local ones don't show up at the market until August, and I prefer to eat locally-grown produce.

But last week our local independent supermarket had organic red peppers imported from Mexico, and I picked up a packet. I like to support local business, but since I won't buy non-organic or processed food, my choices are often limited. This local store, however, is doing its best to cater to people like me as well as to normal people.

I took the peppers home, and because they were imported I washed them more thoroughly than I do the produce I buy from local farmers.

My local farmers eat the food they grow. If it were bacterially compromised, they would suffer the same effects I would. So they're careful with their food.

Produce shipped long distances and stored in large warehouses along the way has very little accountability - that's where the problems come in, I think. Give me small farms and local farmers any day.

Except, I wanted to support my local independent grocery store.

The peppers were organic, so I was not worried about systemic pesticides. I washed the outsides with dishwashing liquid. I use Planet, a coconut-based cleaner. (Did you know most dishwashing liquids are made from petroleum? Kind of weirds me out to be putting a fork in my mouth after it's been washed in petroleum.)

The dishwashing liquid is a good veggie wash for external pesticide residue, but I was most concerned with the dust of the road and the germs of the many hands that had touched my well-travelled peppers.

Satisfied they were clean, I cooked them up for my grilled vegetable salad. They were excellent. And I was happy to have supported my local independent grocery store, as well as the organic farmers in Mexico whose workers are not being poisoned by the chemicals used in conventional agriculture.