Sunday, October 27, 2013

Sourcing a pie

I asked my friend where the rest of the ingredients came from:

"I love when my food is largely locally sourced but other than the fruit that pie sadly wasn't.  The berries were from the UP.  Flour was organic King Arthur. Sugar and butter were from the grocery store as was the lemon juice."


In the U.S., the state of Michigan ranks second in agricultural diversity only to the state of California. It’s possible that the sugar came from beets, and beets are a substantial crop here in Michigan. It’s possible the butter could have come from Michigan as well. The salt-might have come from Detroit—an ocean once covered the state and though few people know it, salt mining remains an active industry in Detroit. And while I don’t know where King Arthur flour comes from (perhaps Kansas?), Michigan also grows varieties of wheat suitable for pastries and cakes.
Aside from the lemon (which likely comes from the state of Florida), Michigan has the ability to provide most of what we need for a pie made from rather local ingredients. Though there are people passionate about getting good food that supports their local communities, it’s a challenge even for us to know where it all comes from.
Salt could have come from Detroit:
Flour--maybe from Kansas? King Arthur Flour

...

I wound up adapting (and finishing!) this to introduce myself as a strategist for ISMOTION's educational programs--go read it there!!! http://ismotion.co/introducing-ian-with-ingredients-for-adventure/
EDIT: Had to change the link as the company website changed and we lost all the embedded links and many of the images too. :-( On the bright side, I remember one link: if sound could uniformly represent taste for everyone, I'm pretty sure it the pie would sound like the song embedded.