Starting off a local eating month in California feels a little bit like cheating to me, mostly due to the fact that I've been up to my ears in figs. Figs have always seemed like the ultimate in vegetal indulgence. But it's not just figs, I have access to everything here-- there are nuts and pomegranates, citrus galore! Something I have noticed amidst all this plenty is that I'm having a hard time distinguishing what's local because it seems like it all could be. Even if something says "grown in california," which roughly 70% of all supermarket produce does*-- California is a big state, so it's not neccessarily grown within a reasonable distance of San Francisco.

Luckily today we went to Rainbow (my favorite grocery store on earth-- anything you could dream of comes in bulk) and Rainbow puts a tag next to every item that comes from 200 miles of the store. There is another side to all of this abundance though, I went to the farmer's market at the ferry building on Tuesday, and I will have to admit that it made me look forward to going back to the Union Square Green Market in New York. Things somehow feel more precious there, maybe because the growing season is finite... Or maybe it's just because I know right where to find my favorite edible jewels.

* Not a real figure, but one that I thought sounded about right.