Welcome to America, I’m Eating Your Pantry! This is the 1st part of a 3 episode newsletter that reveals the details of the first stop on my nationwide tour. To kick off AIEYP in the spirit of the feast, I traveled to Yakima, Washington, home of the largest agricultural valley in Washington State, and one of the major breadbaskets of our country. The Yakima Valley is famous for its internationally distributed Yakima apples, and now hosts an ever-expanding array of high quality vineyards. In this agricultural backdrop, I visited Mateo Solomon, a subscriber to the original “Eat Your Pantry” newsletter. With Mateo, I conducted a one-on-one consultation about the joys and economy of Pantry. Mateo gladly allowed the camera to set focus on him and his Pantry so that those reading this newsletter could learn valuable Pantry lifetime lessons. Enjoy Mateo’s Pantry!
No man gets lost on a straight road.
And no roads I’ve seen in my travels are straighter than the roads of Yakima, Washington.
In fact, during my 3 days in this self proclaimed “Palm Springs of Eastern Washington,” I spotted only 3 curved lines in the entire city. The first was a small, lonely statue perched in a small city park (providing less turf than my own front yard) located directly across the street from the 2nd curved line I saw- the circular font of the Petco logo. I’m sure the corporate offices of the artsy Petco are NOT located anywhere within the straight lines of Yakima.
But getting back to the unashamed straightness of Yakima, if somebody were to lock their steering forward on one of these roads (in an effort to not get lost), and they kept driving for a solid 15 minutes or so- the one certain thing is that they would end up on a farm.
But oddly, there must be a mysterious force preventing the Valley’s abundant crops just down the straight roads of Yakima from entering back into the incorporated limits of this agricultural city; at least not directly anyway. The truth is that before you get out to the farms of Yakima or their food gets in to you, your steering wheel doesn’t need to turn left or right before you’ve cruised past hundreds of mini-marts, each glamorizing their abundant crop of Bud Light. With these ads, I’m reminded that the bounty of hops grown in the Yakima Valley is readily available in its hometown after all. Most people, including many in Washington State are unaware that the Yakima Valley dominates hops production with an incredible 25% of the world’s crop. Some of this hops is processed into expensive, snobby beers. But most of it, thank god, is processed into the golden light and refreshing Bud Light. I don’t know much about beer, but I figure that the good people of Yakima compared to anyone in the world should know a quality brew. They are the ones growing the stuff man!! And the people of Yakima are voting with their dollars and billboards, Bud Light! Beer of the makers!
But not to sidestep the star of this Episode; in the spring I sent out a promotional offer to travel anywhere a subscriber invited me to- and in return for their hospitality and foods stuffs, I would teach them the art of good healthy eating and big money saving - eating their Pantries! Mateo Solomon was the first to take up on this offer, so I bought a Greyhound ticket to his home of Yakima
Mateo was waiting as my bus arrived on time. (Click on the photo and find the sign promoting anti-Pantry sentiment)
Indulging in no extended greetings, we had some serious business to get into that night if we were going to be successful with his Pantry. We ran down to the local Wal Mart and picked up the most important tool of the trade, a Crock Pot! We had to hurry and set up the dried beans for the rest of the weekend.
Stay tuned next week for Episode 2, where Matt Sugars & Mateo find themselves in Walla Walla eating beans and oatmeal pie off of a car dashboard...
***New Merchandise in time for Christmas shopping*** The 2006 Eat Your Pantry! Calendar is now available.
11 comments:
I appreciate your openmindedness, but Budweiser beer tastes like what I imagine piss tastes like. It is watery and completely boring. If you want a cheap beer, I recommend Henry Weinhardts.
I just couldn't let your endorsement of Bud go answered.
Have a great Trip!
-John
Yaay, pantry!
Where does Sterno fit into the Pantry Way? And why do I keep typing "panty?"
Hey, to prevent "comment spam" you should put the word verification requirement on.
"Outside food"...so that's what they call Pantry, huh?
Little to "they" know that they are in for a Copernican Revolution thanks to EYP.
John,
Perhaps you are correct in you assessment of beers such as Budweiser. However, in solidarity, I will stand behind the preferences of the farmers and laborers of the Yakima Valley. Their investment in the process suggests to me that such cheap beers so wildly popular in this region are more ‘authentic’. Besides, would the ad agencies behind the snobby beers produce such incredible billboards?
Chris,
"Outside Food" feels like a rallying point for Pantry, doesn't it? Let's see where that one goes...
Previously on Pantry, Ape Girl was working on the grassroots "People @ Work" Pantry movement, in an effort to provide full kitchens in workplaces. Now that Pantry is back, I'm curious to see how far that one can go as well.
Pete,
By Sterno, I assume that you are referring to the portable stove?
http://www.baproducts.com/p62.htm
I have never owned a Sterno product, but from the outset I would say that Sterno would be a perfect accessory to Pantry. I’m all for it.
And regarding the spammers, I saw that feature you mentioned when I was setting this newsletter up. I decided to see if the spammers could at all contribute positively before pulling the plug on them. Perhaps Sterno may try to fry up some spam on this site, which I would support!
Every pantry needs its spam, no?
O.K., I gave the spammers a chance, I thought maybe they'd have more advanced tools by now- like being able to scan a page & identify a topic, enabling them to post spam at least somewhat relevant to Pantry. But Nascar and free movie downloads aren't hitting the mark here. Rod's simultaneous postings are another giveaway. Always battling censorship, I'll leave these comments up, but don't click on Rods stuff- unless you dig random, non-pantry spam.
I assume you had no options in Yakima other than WalMart? None, right?
Kathy,
From what I understand, as I am writing this reply- scores of the good people of Yakima are being forwarded this newsletter. I will refrain from answering your question, and will leave it for them to reply.
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