A True Farm-to-Table Meal
By Isabella Sayyah ‘16
My family is going away to Palm Springs for the long weekend on Friday, so we decided to have a Fourth of July family barbecue this weekend instead, but with a twist: We were going to pick the fruits and vegetables for the barbecue ourselves (procuring the meat on our own was a little beyond our abilities so we relied on Whole Foods for that part).
Luckily, not too far from my house is a place called Underwood Family Farm. We first learned about it years ago when my sister’s elementary school class took a field trip there. My mom, sister and I had gone to pick berries there a few summers ago, but we hadn’t been back since. My sister and I had wanted to go berry picking and make a pie as a kind of quintessential summer activity, and my mom and dad decided to tag along. When we got there, we couldn’t limit ourselves to just berries, so we ended up picking a long list of things that included squash, romaine lettuce, arugula, zucchini, turnips, green beans, bell peppers, Anaheim chiles, bok choy, raspberries, boysenberries and a lot of strawberries.
I’ve had “farm-to-table” meals in trendy L.A. restaurants many times, but nothing ever this truly fresh. Of the many food issues our nation is currently battling, I think the fact that we don’t know where most of what we eat actually comes from is a big one. I, for one, definitely eat way more processed foods with a long list of crazy sounding ingredients than I should. When I’m at school and running around between classes, jobs and Daily Trojan all day long, microwaveable food becomes a lot easier than anything freshly made (my cooking skills are also a little questionable). Aside from my weekly trips to Lemonade (OK, probably more like thrice weekly), I don’t eat as many vegetables as I should, so I’m trying to make up for that this summer by taking as much advantage of my mom’s home cooking as I can. I might not be living at home next summer, so who knows how long I’ll have the good fortune to enjoy it?
My life right now is pretty well summed up by this Buzzfeed article; I’m loving the Whole Foods trips.
Though obviously picking your own fruits and veggies all the time is completely impractical, it was pretty good to see the meal through from start to finish, and get to actually see how some food grows. I must admit, however, I’m pretty glad I don’t see the meat-procuring process from start to finish, it would probably make me a vegetarian.
After our afternoon of picking, we got home just in time to watch the dramatic second half (plus extra time) of the Costa Rica v. Greece World Cup game. After that longer-than-expected break, my sister and I decided that we might not have enough time for the whole pie. So instead, we made a berry trifle, with layers of raspberries and strawberries that we picked (And to make it a little more patriotic, we cheated and added some store-bought blueberries). While my parents were grilling the meat and vegetables, we layered angel food cake, our fresh-picked fruit and a vanilla pudding mixture into a delicious nine-layer dessert.
Along with the meat we got on our way home from Whole Foods, we had a fantastic dinner – the perfect summer celebration. We all sat outside and dug into our amazing barbecue feast. And let me tell you, you never feel like you earned a meal so much as when you truly procured the ingredients yourself.
And now it’s on to a long weekend! Though L.A. Times interns don’t usually have the 4th off, I spoke to my bosses who said that if I stayed late Thursday and got all the work I need to do done, I could have a three-day weekend. I wasn’t looking forward to possibly having to spend the weekend at home alone, so I’m really glad. Three days of tanning, swimming and relaxing in the scorching desert – here I come!
