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Canning in the Age of Trump
I have no idea why I’m feeling the need to put up enough food to take care of my entire family for a year. I don’t know what is getting to me.
Maybe it’s that I’m no longer working, and so I feel as if I don’t contribute anymore.
Or it could be just because I’m an Italian Nonni, and food is my identity.
All I know is that this fall, this harvest season, finds me in a sort of frenzy of food preparation, unlike anything I’ve done before. I have been to my local farm stand several times a week, bringing home bags of beans, corn, carrots, beets, and onions. I have bought two boxes of tomato “seconds” to be canned.
I have also gone to our local farmer’s market almost every week. I’ve brought home dozens of ears of fresh local corn, tons of garlic, more fresh carrots and beans and a whole basket of onions.
I have also filled my freezer with locally raised beef, lamb, chicken, and pork.
I don’t know why, exactly. I’m not sure why I feel a need to grab as much good food as possible.
But I do have a theory.
Every night, before I go to bed, I check my news feed. Has war broken out? Has anything been blown up? Was there another gun massacre anywhere in my country?
