Grocery Shopping in Greece

As a follow-up to my last post about the food in Greece I thought I'd tell you about how people shop for their food. There are a couple supermarkets in a town about 20 minutes away by they're really about the size of a large convenience store. There are several produce stores and on certain days farmers would come into town and set up stalls with fresh produce. We would take advantage of the produce places as the price and product was better than the supermarket.

One of the major ways people shopped in the mountains where we were was with home delivery. Trucks and vans outfitted with bull horns and speakers would drive up and down the streets and call out their wares. If you were interested you would flag down the seller. You can get anything from fresh fish and produce to shoes and furniture. We would regularly run down for the bread man to get a daily loaf. Most people buy their bread everyday as it's without preservatives. Whatever is not eaten turns into toast, chicken food and compost.

Below are pictures of a produce seller. He called out "Fresca!" This is probably from his small farm. Most people tend a small vegetable garden by their house but there are plenty of small farms that grow a variety of things in a 1-5 acre space of land.

I really liked this way of distribution and I have to tell you that I had some of the freshest and most delicious produce while in Greece. Tomatoes, zucchini, cucumber, oranges, lemons, cherries, watermelon and peaches. The best peaches were from the neighbor's tree and they were to die for. I came home to Vancouver and and went to the produce store and was saddened to see rock hard nectarines and peaches from California. No thanks. I'm thinking that we don't even know what food is supposed to taste like. My daughters are so used to under-ripe, dry and crunchy fruit that they complained the fruit in Greece was too juicy and soft. Hopefully their opinions will change as they get older.

I would buy local produce if I could get it but I'm finding less and less of it in the stores. I will keep trying though because I want local farmers to know they have a market here and that I appreciate biting into a fresh ripe Okanagan peach. What do you think? Are farms disappearing in your area? Where does your produce come from?

Feed Your Soul Free Art Project and Scoutie Girl

So I've heard about  Scoutie Girl a few times online but I hadn't visited the blog  until I received a link to it through my Etsy newsletter. Whoowee! This blog is full of wonderful eye candy for someone like myself. So many amazing artists and artisans are featured in this very polished looking blog. I haven't just visually scanned it as I do a lot of other blogs, (sorry to all bloggers but now that I'm a Mom, I rarely get more than a minute to read anything. Sad but true) but I've actually been reading a few of the articles too which are very honest and relevant to my current creative life. I have been really impressed with this blog and I encourage you to take a peek at the site if you haven't already. I signed up for the daily email. (My "Inbox" is getting huge!)

One feature that really caught my eye was Tara's article "Is Art a Luxury -on the luxury of chocolate cake". Now this really hit home with me because as an artist trying to sell in a recession you can really feel like on the bottom of the food chain. People don't "need" art like they need to have shelter and clothing. As well, where I'm living with my art teacher husband, we are constantly hearing that arts funding has been drastically cut and public schools will lose their arts programs because we don't "need" them as much as balanced budgets. It's hard to hear that your "being" is not needed or appreciated. I won't be too  much of a downer here because at least Tara does know that the arts and creativity are very much needed and appreciated. The arts give life meaning and joy much like a delicious piece of cake Tara claims as a necessity. I'm totally with you there!

To that end, if you CAN'T afford to bring art into your life Tara has supplied a link to Feed Your Soul Art Project which provides tons of free downloadable images supplied by a great bunch of artists. When I saw some of them I began thinking, "I want this one, and this one, and this one...." and then my next thought was, "I want to be in this group, I want to submit something for download."

This got me to thinking about how often as creatives, we give our images for free. How often are we asked to donate to a good cause to "get your work out there"? Don't get me wrong, I love the idea of this site and I would love to participate but I want to hear other people's thoughts about how as artists your work is not "needed" unless it is to generate funds for other things. Is that what art is for? To supply and maintain social structures that make life livable? Is creating only for giving without the expectation of anything in return? I know for myself, the act of creating something alone is enough for me to continue doing it. Receiving accolades or money is the icing on the cake. Tell me your thoughts on this. I'd love to hear them.