Food in the World – 1

 

I have been back in the states for a few weeks now.

Perhaps the most disturbing advent on returning from Thailand to the US is ones life-long need to obtain food.

So, off to the market!

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Having been in Thailand for nearly three months, I was totally addicted to the idea of obtaining good food there. No matter where you are, within a block or two there is a local market. Often, right outside the door where you are staying, there will be a multitude of vendors selling fresh fruit, eggs, vegetables, meats, seafood and unheard of sweets.

My first time returning to a grocery store here in the states filled me with sadness and despair. The choices the corporate food industry has poured into our economy since WW II is hard to fathom. Having been born into it adds to the insanity. Then, added to our birthright is the Western assumption that this is the best in the world – the We’re # 1! mentality.

Instead, we have been systematically doomed by corporate entities aligned with power and money.

Until you travel into parts of the world that still have a local, nature-based food source, stores like Whole Foods, Safeway or a local Co-op appear to be everything one needs. Then, no need to look too closely. Everything you see is wrapped in plastic. Noxious, poisonous chemicals line the shelves. Drugs abound.

The natural world is nowhere to be seen, smelled or touched.

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___________________Then, you see a local Thai market___________________

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Thai markets are a combination of local beauty, neighbors, yelling, chatting, arguments, romance, affairs, freshness, meats, vegetables, fruits, food, seafood, herbs, laughter, flowers. Involving food and society, there is nearly nothing not to be sourced there. If there is, and you request it, odds are that within minutes someone will have it in hand or tell you where to find it. I’ve even been told I’m cute and then kissed – a simple ploy to bring everyone at the market into a fit of laughter.

Along with things to take home to make meals, many sellers also make meals prepared for you. Over time, where the same people shop daily, everyone knows the ins and outs of each vendor. Each vendor knows the wants and needs of each customer.

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Dinner is bagged up for you to take away. Choices abound.

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Then look at meals & food here in the US. Plastic, chemicals and machines abound.

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Being a tropical country, Thai markets have a myriad of fresh fruits and vegetables. Many are unfamiliar and strange. Then you taste them. You wonder how much variety and such deliciousness is unknown to the Western world.

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 – Vegetable / Fruit sales in the states –

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Then you see the seafood.

Suddenly you understand that you are surrounded by oceans in a seafood loving culture.

My vegan diet suddenly died – along with many living things.

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 – Mushroom sales in the states –

     –  Mushrooms in Thailand –

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Not being a meat eater per se, I never entered into into the butcher section at the markets this trip. Even so, as you walk by you see a number of animals being hacked to pieces. Blood runs down the gutters. Hanging from hooks or stacked up with their families and friends are legs, organs, heads, feet, wings, tails, snouts. Thailand is a Buddhist country so nearly everyone is abhorred by such slaughter. Nevertheless, there is also the basic, adhered to principle:

If I didn’t do it, I’m not responsible. So, if it’s delicious, I can eat it.

There isn’t a caste system in Thailand. Despite that, most slaughter houses are run by the lower classes, or by Muslim’s. Once, years ago, I lived near a slaughter house in Nakhorn Sawan. At midnight, you could hear the cries of cows and pigs being killed for an hour. I couldn’t understand why on earth they would kill in the middle of the quiet night. I asked about it then learned that the killing didn’t count – above all, the hour from midnight to one was considered a non-existing period of time.

[The morals of animal torture and killing in Buddhist society are complicated ethics – another story at a later date.]

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 – Thai meats –

 Chicken. Generations under the knife.

Grilled meats are still the most sought after cooking method. You can see why.

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Then there are the flower choices.

Flowers are one of the Triple Gems in Buddhist society. [The triple gems: Flowers / Incense / Candles which represent Buddha / Dharma / Sangha (community)] As such, flowers are found everywhere. And such a pleasure to see, to smell, to touch.

To see the Bangkok flower market visit: Bangkok Bus 53 {4}
To learn more about the Triple Gem: To Make Merit

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And then – dinner is served. Or breakfast. Or lunch. Or snacks.

Thai’s are avid eaters.

 A small village where local women brought food to the temple one day. It was free for everyone.

I didn’t even know what most of it was.

Those mushrooms in the upper left of the bowl though? I was told they grow wild underground in the forest, like truffles. One of the most delicious food sources I’ve ever had. After I found out what they were I saw kilos of them in local markets.

This one bowl of Thai food alone explains my angst ridden trips to Safeway.

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Coming next: Food in the World - 2  {All about street food, cafes and restaurants.}