Slow Life with Real Food

Sunday is my new favorite day!  We wake up, put on our best clothes (in Santa Cruz this means a pair of jeans with flip-flops and a clean t-shirt with or without sleeves), grab our cloth bags, and walk down the street to our local farmers' market. The coastal fog is usually lifting by the time we get there, and we are welcomed by familiar faces (like Ilya and Ilya, the uncle/nephew team of Russian crepe-makers) and the rhythm of the band (like the folksy C-Monkeys). I buy my 'Shake It Baby' peach iced tea and a spinach and tomato crepe, and settle down for a yummy breakfast. After we sample the fruit harvest and some fresh heirloom tomatoes, we buy the majority of our weekly groceries, all locally grown, baked, or caught by family farms, local bakers, and fishermen. This is our Sunday morning ritual, and a big part of our spiritual life. It's like going to church, but it feels a lot more light-hearted.

The farmers' market is a little different than church, but in some ways the same. Both the differences and similarities can sometimes be pretty obvious. Sure, there is no preaching about the good Lord, there are no gospel readings or offerings, and there are no prayers, just to name a few of those differences. But the similarities are outstanding. There is soulful, joyful music to sing along to, there are the same friendly faces to see every week, there is food to share (although it is slightly different than the jelly donuts I grew up with after church in Texas). There is a schedule, if you are the orderly type (first buy fruit, then veggies, next baked goods, then meat/fish, and last but not least are the flowers). Now comes the truly spiritual part - nourishing your body with the best food around, and directly supporting the efforts of small farms, both of which are of the upmost importance in our lives. Like church, we go to the market to commune with God; we go to the farmers' market to enjoy the bounty that God gives us, and to honor it by supporting good stewardship of the land. And, as in church, we go to be a part of a community that, for the most part, shares with us the same spiritual sense of our actions.

I am speaking on behalf of the Payet family, of course, but if I had my way the farmers' market would be enjoyed by all and important to everyone. I can imagine a very healthy, happy, and peaceful world if it were true, and isn't that something spiritual?