licorice

i had a funny conversation with my 5 year old yesterday. we were in the car and i happened to have a few little cherry licorice bits and was sharing them with the kiddos. cleo said "licorice is a funny name, why do they call it that?" i am typically way too long winded and informative in my answers so i think i launched right into something about there actually being a licorice root and then quickly realized the girl has never had black licorice and so wouldn't have a reference point for that little factoid. so i cut myself short and said "this licorice you are eating is just candy its made from a bunch of sugar and then they flavor it to taste like a fake cherry." the look on cleo's face was so funny. she was wide eyed and doubtful and said "fake cherry? why don't they just make it taste like real cherries?" out of the mouth of babes!! she is so right.

why is there food that approximates other food (and doesn't do a very good job of it.) why can't they flavor licorice with the essence of true summertime cherries? why does lemonade out of can taste nothing like actual tart lemons sweetened with sugar? why does processed cheese make me think more of the plastic it is wrapped in then the cow it once came from? our palettes are used to this kind of food mockery but maybe we shouldn't let them be. i get worried that eventually children won't want to eat a real cherry but instead will want the little cherry like pellet that comes out of a wrapper i have now honest to god seen at costco. having a relationship with the food and the tastes we encounter is important. i hope to build that kind of culinary knowledge and legacy in my kids. i don't think i can ever swear off candy and junk completely in my house, i am american after all, but i want to be sure my kids actually know what a real lemon, orange, strawberry, and cherry taste and look like before they go thinking starbusts have got nature all figured out.

in defense of kids and their eating, i also wanted to share a very cool program just launched by Slow Food USA called Time for Lunch which is a campaign to change upcoming legislation to provide more than the shocking $1 a day/per student food allowance currently in public school cafeterias. this increase in funding will help provide america's school children with REAL food at school. think how impossible the idea of fresh fruits and vegetables (especially organic ones) on a plate is for only $1. i would recommend watching the short little video about the program on the link above and then signing the petition. even if you don't have school aged kids, this is a national issue we should all be concerned about. how can we have a healthy nation if we don't feed it good food?