SPARC meetings are always fun.
Last night’s presentation by tree-loving botanist, Tom Alford was no exception. He hiked the now completely protected forest - a rare achievement in these times. Giant puffballs (Calvatia gigantea) typically grow in meadows - but there they were on SPARC lands. Did the fact that this forest had been a suburb until 1971 have anything to do with this?I’ve only seen American Chestnut (Castanea dentata) in this part of the East Coast on a very steep slope of Schunemunk mountain. But they are on SPARC land.
I’m hoping that Sandra Kissam continues to work her magic in this eastern deciduous forest region. She’ll focus on Stewart, but maybe she’ll become a catalyst for others to spend face time in the woods.
I keep referring to Pollan’s THE OMNIVORE’S DILEMMA. I read about a dozen pages, my head swims and I try to wrap my mind around the fact that we are allowing a few out of control corporations to poison our plants, animals and children.
Our obsessive and relentless quest for speed and convenience is coming at a high price. Nitrogen fixing, which allows us to produce food whether nature cooperates or not, gives us filler without nutrition - hydrogenated oils, trans-fats, fructose - we know it’s bad for us, but it tastes good going down and we’re too busy doing other things to focus on eating.
I’m not a purist. But when I eat processed or non-organic food, I feel a difference. I was raised on fresh food, so store-bought still tastes artificial by comparison. But what if I were born 20 years later? Would I have a way to compare fresh to processed? Would the concentrated flavor of processed food outrank the surprise of variable flavor in a handful of peas or berries?
As a new day dawns and I contemplate a Stewart hike in the hopes of maybe finding my own giant puffball mushrooms, I feel blessed - at least I know there’s a difference.