Post Party Wrap Up and a Few Odds and Ends

There's a lot to say today about my adventures in ethical eating. First, the dinner party. It was a smashing success. Everyone had a wonderful time and enjoyed the meal, the wine, the company. We even spent a few moments talking about ethics and food. I was asked if the food we were to eat was ethical, and I think by and large it was. But there is one ethical value associated with food that I think is often overlooked--community.

We generally enjoy food more when it is shared with others. Family gatherings, dinner parties, meeting for coffee or a drink, dinner dates, etc., are all reminders of this fact. Last night's dinner, shared with good friends, who all shared in the bringing of the food to the table in one way or another, make the meal a more ethical one just by being there and sharing. Sometimes this ethical value competes with others, sure. But I do enjoy the laughing and the talking that comes along with the eating when eating together.

A note of thanks, therefore, goes to my guests who brought with them great wines, good salad, decadent desert, and a reminder of our time together in Italy. But most of all for the sharing and celebrating we did last night together. You all have my gratitude!

Today, lunch with friends at the Main Market Co-op in downtown Spokane. Always a treat! Good company there, too. And some unexpected company, too as another friend joined those I was planning to meet there. Gotta love the co-op--always fun to meet on purpose and accidentally there!

If you haven't been to the co-op -- go! You don't have to be a member to shop or eat there, but shopping and eating there might entice you to join. For lunch I had the faro salad (absolutely a fabulous mix of this old grain, celery, dried cranberries, asparagus and onion) and a spinach, strawberry, pear and fennel salad with a really nice, very light, lime yogurt dressing.

And last but not least, as the photo above indicates, my early arugula (planted the first week of April) has bolted. I guess that means some arugula in things for a few days, and better plant some more greens over the next day or so. Not sure if it will be arugula or mizuna, depends on which seeds I find first.

Thanks for reading and remember eating ethically can be easy--a few conscious choices like shopping at the co-op or growing your own food shared with friends makes for a meal that feeds the body, nurtures the soul and does well by the earth. Happy eating!