OK, I Will Share My Sources

So, I do like to buy food where it is grown when I can, even if that means shipping just to me. Balancing the environmental downsides of shipping against the desire for freshly grown food can be tough, but there just are certain things that do not grow here, especially in winter. And, I want to know and trust the grower. While New York is a food mecca in many ways, and the farmer's markets provide year long fresh foods, there are just a few products that I gather from elsewhere.

So, for example, I bought a huge bag of pistachios from a California organic grower because medium / small sized bags here are expensive and the ones in the bins at health food stores and Whole Foods can be either overly salted or not raw and green and fresh. Freshness matters in nuts where the oils are not stable and not meant to last indefinitely. I wanted raw unsalted ones so I ordered them from Braga Organic Farms which has one pistachio field, http://stores.buyorganicnuts.com/StoreFront.bok. (Please note that by ludicrous U.S. law, almonds even from organic growers must be pasteurized unless purchased in person.)

My delicious, juicy honeybells (a cross between a tangerine and a grapefruit) are available only in January so I had them specially shipped in. Otherwise, sometimes a California variety can be found but I find they do not taste as good and I positively can not find Florida oranges in New York that are not coated with anything at all. Don't even get me started on ones that say could be beeswax, could be petroleum based...why don't they know what they used to coat them? So, Schacht Groves from Vero Beach in Indian River county has juicy sweet amazing honeybells (and oranges and grapefruits) and does not coat their products with anything. So, eat them fast. Schacht uses sustainable, health conscious methods but are not certified organic. Nonetheless, I prefer them to organic coated ones whose zest is not the best...http://www.schachtgroves.com/

So, despite my view that local eaters do well with root vegetables, dried legumes and greenhouse greens in the winter, I do like to support farmers in other areas and to obtain the freshest products possible.