Wednesday, June 13, 2012

The Land of Plenty


People give you funny looks when you slap a yard-long hunk of meat on the belt in the Safeway check out line. A sweet young man behind me said, "What is it?" I replied, "This is a $17 whole pork loin."

He wanted to know if you could cook it in a crock pot. I said the plan was to cut it up at home for the freezer. He looked impressed and said his girlfriend had once bought a whole turkey for only $12 and they ate leftovers for several days. He thought that was "the way to go."  He was buying canned beans for dinner since his girlfriend was out of town. We had a nice chat.  Maybe I've become one of those infuriating ladies who dawdles along talking to everyone in line.

Well, I'm not squeamish and I soon had the thing sliced up into 9 thick chops and 3 big sirloin roasts which will become at least 12 meals plus leftovers. Less than a dollar a meal for high quality protein?  In Seattle, one restaurant breakfast with a glass of juice can set you back about $15.  Not to be insensitive, but it does make a person wonder how anyone goes hungry in this amazing land o' plenty.  I just read this morning that food stamp rolls are up 240% for the middle class-- a sad statistic.


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