Wordly

Words can be very powerful and contain an entire story within themselves.  I’ll start by going way off track and repeating a story I heard on the radio.  It’s a discussion between two men, arguing how long a story has to be to be able to convey a sound message.  One states that a story must be long in order to give the author time to expand on an idea.  The other says a good thought can be put in very few words.  In the end the second man states that he can tell an entire story in six words.  The other fellow disagrees and challenges him to do just that.  The man takes a napkin and on it writes

‘For Sale.  Baby Shoes.  Never Worn’

And so onto other words……..where once the word ‘organic’ created interest now the buzz word in food excitement is ‘artisan’, a word I was first introduced to at a Good Food show (BBC), we went along to a Slow Food event and ate artisan bread, artisan cheese and drank artisan beer, all with a detailed account of slow, original, non chemical production.  The food (and drink) was amazing…… I’ve loved anything with the word artisan stuck on it ever since.

Obsession – never a word to be put in a good light!  But I think I am bordering on a most pleasant obsession with this good eating, healthy eating, no supermarket lark.  I have done two things that indicate to me that our lives are changing in a more permanent way i.e., this ‘experiment’ is becoming the norm.  First I am compiling a detailed list of all the weird and wonderful places I can get food from…….. and second we are planning our annual holiday based around foraging.  We are going to spend two weeks travelling to places, farm shops, deli’s, food festivals, café’s and the suchlike, and we are going to be tasting, testing, meeting, questioning and generally having a great food fun time.  I will report back.  And I am excited.  Oh sad, sad little life!

Delivery.  Here is a word that has become the bane of my life.  I truly understand that a producer needs to cover postage and packaging costs, but the woe brought to bear when I find a most excellent sounding outlet, chickens that are happy, veg cared for night and day without a chemical in sight, amazing chicken sausages, wonderful scotch eggs, bread so fresh and made so lovingly the page almost wafts baking from the page……. Only to find that the minimum order is £60, or that the delivery is £12.50.  What if I want to test a product out?  For example, generally I do not eat red meat, but I love sausages, so I am thrilled when I find anyone selling chicken sausages.  Found a great site, lots of choices, lots of flavours…….. but the delivery was the £12.50 stated above.  But what if I want only one or two packs?  Why is not my custom worth a little adjustment?  Sadly I left the site.  So it means that I have to shop in a place where not only can I get chicken sausages but also enough other products to make up the minimum order and also to justify the delivery costs.  This does little to help me as a consumer, it does not endear me to the producer, and it smacks of online supermarket.  If I am forced to buy lots of goods all in one place am I not just back in Tes** but now paying a little more per product?

Sigh.