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When we were shopping in Pete's farm stand I was a little surprised to see produce from other places for sale. Apples from the farm down the road? Eggplant from another state? Mangoes from who knows where?! I thought, 'How dare Pete! And after all that talk about the importance of local food! I soon realized that Pete was not only being fiscally smart, but environmentally friendly as well! It would take more gas and resources for Pete's customers to drive from his stand to some other store to buy the rest of their food. So in the long run, he's doing the earth, and everyone else a favor.
I definitely think that the trip was worth was the costs! I'm sure that the carbon footprint of going was significant since we took the Blue Bus instead of the vans. Despite that, the trip definitely had an affect on me. Standing in the fields and getting Pete's opinions on the problem with organics really put all of our readings and homework into perspective. Getting his views towards the push and pull of "organics" brought me down to earth a little. Even with what we've learned in class, I generally find myself eating without thinking, having "food without thought", you could say! Its a habit for me to just sit down and eating without a thought, even with all the discussions in class telling me to do otherwise. So for me at least, this trip solidified things. It brought together the books, the articles, and discussions, and really made me think.
 
I especially loved when Pete said that people are "poisoning the poor" with unhealthy food in soup kitchens and homeless shelters. I thought that this was very interesting. It helped to take the focus off of our meal choices at Bryn Mawr College, and instead gestured towards a part of society that truly has NO say in what they eat.