Can't a Person Get a Decent Meal Around Here?

by Pan Tangible
(Wolf Creek, OR USA)

I just returned from vacation and find myself mulling over the near impossibility of finding fresh, healthy food while traveling. No problem finding pastry, especially the kind that was made in a factory, loaded with preservatives and wrapped in plastic. No problem finding deep fat fried stuff or candy bars or bad coffee.

I am relieved that my children are grown and I don't face the quandry of how to feed them on the road anymore, but my health counts, too, and on this latest trip, I was struck by the twisted system that thinks so little of our health or our pocket-books, a system that thrives on ripping us off and poisening us at the same time.

Imagine for a moment little booths on every street corner selling baskets of fresh raspberries. Or maybe a bundle of sweet juicy carrot sticks for a dollar. Why must I buy 12 dollars worth of lunch when I am only 4 dollars hungry? Why must a salad cost $14.95? Why does my dinner at a restaurant come on a plate the size of a hubcap when all I need is a human-sized portion? I smell a conspiracy here. The free-market has failed us.

I went to Waikiki a few years back and faced the same problem. If you can believe it, I couldn't find fresh tropical fruit (other than pineapple) in Honolulu. We splurged on a breakfast buffet and the only fruit offered was red delicious apples and tired oranges from California. I didn't fly 4000 miles to eat red delicious apples! We finally tracked down a little health food store which offered locally grown avocados, big and cheap and fabulous.

We, as a society, must find a way to support businesses that care about our health, and to reward restaurants that offer quality nutrients, not just a massive quantity of calories. Here we are, a blessed and wealthy nation, why can't we do something as simple as offer our people decent food at reasonable prices?