Why New York?

I took a long weekend and drive down to Cooperstown to visit the Baseball Hall of Fame with a couple of friends from Pennsylvania. It is about 280 miles from Buffalo, over to Syracuse, down to Binghamton, and then up a little bit toward Albany. What does this have to do with food?

Well, the bulk of the drive goes through rural New York. Particularly on I-88 from Binghamton to Cooperstown, the roadside is dotted with wide acres and picturesque farmhouses. Signs of previous farms are also scattered on hillsides in the form of falling barns and decrepit outbuildings. The Southern Tier has already had their first snow, and some of the structures were dusted with the new snow--it added to a very Halloween-creepy feeling in some areas.

Whenever I drive in rural areas like that I always wonder the same things: if you are not a farmer, where do you work to earn income; how do you do your shopping in the winter if there is a snowstorm and you are running low on the basics like milk; and, do the people who live in these small towns long for the hustle and bustle of city life the same way I often want to trade in my Cape Cod and conveniences for fields and a farmhouse? When I was in college in very rural Allegany County I knew that most non-farmers worked for the local colleges, many residents had big freezers and 4-wheel drive, and escaping to Wellsville or Hornell often filled big city needs. It was an idyllic town, where the colleges brought entertainment to campus and life was very rarely boring. But I wonder how life outside of college towns in rural areas is shaped.

Overall, I will say there was one stunning thing that struck me with every new mile I drove--New York is a beautiful state. I saw a lovely variety of rolling hills painted umber and russet with dots of green and swaths of brown, cows and horses roaming happily on gentle slopes, and many areas that were perfectly suited for picture postcards. I always thought my home state, Missouri, was filled with natural beauty (especially because of the Ozarks), but every time I travel in New York State I am struck anew by how much I love living here. It is often the same for me just driving around Buffalo.

What does this have to do with food? Not much (aside from seeing a good number of farms, anyway). However, it did remind me why thinking local is important to me. These are real farms and real lives in our own state that we are supporting every time we choose something that wasn't shipped here from Chile or California. For me, it makes me feel more connected with my fellow New Yorkers, and proud that I live in an area of such bounty. It just gives me one more reason to appreciate the small joys of where I live, and why I have chosen to call this place home.