Food for thought

Yesterday I sat down to eat my lunch and continue working on the computer while eating; as I opened my browser I saw a news snippet that caught my eye. I’m a former news addict and have worked to minimize my news consumption since Jan, but this one I had to check out. It was a story about Pres. Obama’s daughter and the bigotry that emerged after some right wing radicals saw her wearing a peace sign on her shirt.

As I bit into my Almond Butter and Jelly on multigrain, I thought about a story a former colleague had shared with me..

He and his wife were looking for a place to call home on Long Island, a place to buy a house, where they would want to spend their days and raise a family. One day while he was out on the road for his job he was in Freeport and stopped to grab and eat a sandwich before continuing on. As he sat in his car eating, he watched some kids playing ball in a park across the street. He told me that after some time he saw a heated argument break out amongst the kids. Based on the nature of the argument he didn’t think it necessary to break it up. Essentially the argument went something like this “You were out…no I wasn’t…yes you were”… you get the point.

Upon returning home he told his wife he had found the place they should move to on Long Island from Queens. They subsequently did and raised their family there. I asked him what made up his mind that day in the park. He told me the beauty of the argument was these were kids just being kids. Although they were a group of multiracial kids, race never entered into the argument it was just about the game. And as an African American he knew this was a beacon for what life would be like for his family if they moved there.

Growing up the son of a color blind Jazz musician this was a realism I never thought possible and one that took a few seconds to compute. I heard that story over 10 years ago and when I saw the news snippet it reminded me of his story again. It saddens me to see the bigotry perpetuated when it should only be about the game.

The connection between this story and the green palate is a mind set. Not only are we committed to giving you our takes on Grains, Grapes, Brews and Bites, but also sharing what being open to the notion of “Green” means.

By the way in case you’re curious, the almond butter was freshly ground by us in the bulk section of Whole Foods Market. The texture I find is a cross between smooth and chunky, the jelly is Cascadian Farms, organic Strawberry spread, this has a nice flavor I’d like to see more chunks of strawberry; the bread was Vermont Bread organics multigrain, and all were delicious.