I think we are all in violent agreement here about the main points and have a few minor quibbles about small details. The dismal cuisine of which I spoke was probably more of a visceral memory of early-80s winter food options in the midwest than a reflection of current choices (and as much as I may complain I know I was luckier than most because my mom would visit a sister in Chicago every three months or so to hit the ethnic markets available there and stock up on neat things -- back when an eggroll was considered "exotic" ethnic cuisine for midwesterners not living in Chicago, Madison, or Minneapolis this variety was quite welcome...)
One point you sort of touch upon is a constant mystery to me. Canned/frozen/preserved fruits and veggies have come a long way from the cooked-to-mush-during-canning state I remember from my childhood, but there seems to be some "freshness" fetish that was drummed into the collective consciousness during the 80s and 90s which is no longer serving us very well. I am a fairly sophisticated and knowledgeable customer when visiting the market, but I still find it hard to not be influenced by this fresh > preserved idea. For most tomato use cases a high-quality canned variety will taste better than a "fresh" tomato that was shipped more than 200 miles, but it has taken me quite a while to feel comfortable avoiding the produce section and head for the canned vegetable aisle during large swathes of the year.
[And I agree about you about Pollan; he is much like Jared Diamond IMHO, great when doing science/history reporting and it goes downhill fast when they venture closer and closer to politics and policy.]
One point you sort of touch upon is a constant mystery to me. Canned/frozen/preserved fruits and veggies have come a long way from the cooked-to-mush-during-canning state I remember from my childhood, but there seems to be some "freshness" fetish that was drummed into the collective consciousness during the 80s and 90s which is no longer serving us very well. I am a fairly sophisticated and knowledgeable customer when visiting the market, but I still find it hard to not be influenced by this fresh > preserved idea. For most tomato use cases a high-quality canned variety will taste better than a "fresh" tomato that was shipped more than 200 miles, but it has taken me quite a while to feel comfortable avoiding the produce section and head for the canned vegetable aisle during large swathes of the year.
[And I agree about you about Pollan; he is much like Jared Diamond IMHO, great when doing science/history reporting and it goes downhill fast when they venture closer and closer to politics and policy.]