"Local " Produce FAIL

That trip to the store didn't quite work out as I expected.

Our house is a banana house; we consume at least 3 a day. And I don't like going to the store THAT often, so I generally buy 4 to 5 ripe ones and 6 to 8 green ones (10 to 13 total) every trip.

I had to get bananas, so at my main grocery store (which will go unnamed, but is based in SoCal and includes the initials T and J) I checked one type of banana's place of origin ... Ecuador.

Remember, I am trying to buy produce from North America. You wouldn't think that was too hard. And it's not like Ecuador is in Central America, just south of Mexico. It is in South America.

I check the other type of banana ... Ecuador again! What is the point of having it be organic if it has to be shipped 3500 miles?

So unfortunately, I bought 10 bananas anyway. Fail.

I had to get garlic as well, and I took a look ... Argentina! 6000 miles for garlic? When we have the garlic capital of the world in Gilroy right up the 5 Freeway? Fail.

Some bright spots (at both the aforementioned store and Costco): Strawberries and avocados from California; apples, lettuce, mushrooms and broccoli from "USA"; zucchini, tomatoes and blackberries from Mexico; and green beans from Canada.

So my next to-do is finding a new source for our banana fix. Mexico or the Caribbean are our best bets ...