cherries

I have a dilemma.

The dilemma is this: I really try to buy local. I'm a big believer in shopping at local stores, buying local produce, supporting local craftspeople, etc. I went to the farm this morning for vegetables. It gives me nice, warm, squishy feelings inside! But. But. I really, really love cherries. Cherries don't grow here. (At least, I'm pretty sure they don't...if anyone knows of local central Texas cherries, please do let me know!) So during our weekly foray into the world of Central Market for all those things you just can't get at the farm, no matter how hard you try - chocolate sandwich cookies, frozen sorbet bars, rye bread - I spied the cherries. Beautiful, delicious, sweet, golden-fleshed Rainier cherries. I love Rainier cherries. I never knew I liked cherries until I lived in Oregon for a few years. But these cherries...oh, these cherries! Amazing. Wonderful. Juicy. Sweet. Taste like a sunny summer afternoon. Like white cottons fluttering on a clothesline. Like every beautiful cliché you can think of.

And this is my constant battle. To strike a balance between eating and buying local, and being the adventurous foodie I am, who loves fish even though I know I shouldn't, who loves corn even though I know it's a tremendous drain on resources, who loves all these delicious foods that simply don't grow here. I know that those cherries had to be trucked in from many hundreds, if not thousands, of miles away. And I know that I just spent way too much per pound for them.

What to do? I have no answers. I just go to the farm and buy my local fruits and vegetables. And then occasionally, when the mood strikes, and the season is right, spend frivolous amounts of money for a delectable morsel from far away.