Monday afternoon was a beautiful one. Since I found myself with some free time, I decided to engage in this summer’s leisure activity of choice: Sitting on a quiet patio with a good cocktail or two and some great reading material. Luckily, such a patio exists not two blocks away from my front stoop.

Because a good cocktail is better enjoyed on a full stomach, I ordered the crab cakes. It came with a mixed green salad.

The salad came with tomatoes.

The tomatoes came with their own surprise inside.

As a result, I spent Tuesday in bed, in the fetal position, when not positioned over my toilet. In my current state, I had some time to reflect upon how the effects of large-scale industrial agriculture have effected our food culture here and abroad. From monoculture farming and genetically modified seeds, to  new livestock breed patenting, the industry has gradually been allowed to disassociate food from its place of origination.

Hopefully the general cultural zeitgeist afforded by the global marketplace and by the Internet — the fracturing of markets into micromarkets differentiated by niche products or regional availability — will reinforce the economic viability of alternative agronomics such as Community Supported Agriculture and the slow food movement.

Until then, I suppose we’ll need to be comforted by the fact that foodbourne illness outbreaks are discovered and broadcast in near real time, allowing faster response time.

Meanwhile, at the far end of the food supply chain, I’m heading back to bed.