Grade A Eggs!

In this land of constant summer the wealth of produce all year around is truly a gift.

It certainly makes it easier to eat seasonally, locally and organically when even the tinniest house in Berkeley has a citrus tree in the backyard; rosemary grows like a tree here and tomatoes are the gift that just keeps on giving.

To be a huge fast food chain in this rarefied climate must be challenging. McDonalds has an outlet on Shuttuck street, the main drag in Berkeley, a short walk away from Chez Panisse and an advertising campaign going on here in San Francisco touting their Grade A Eggs in their breakfast sandwiches. Which reminded me of an article I read a while back at Huffington Post that listed the ingredients in McDonalds grade A eggs:

Pasteurized whole eggs with sodium acid pyrophosphate, citric acid and monosodium phosphate (added to preserve color), nisin (preservative). Prepared with Liquid Margarine: Liquid soybean oil, water, partially hydrogenated soybean oil, salt, hydrogenated cottonseed oil, soy lecithin, mono-and diglycerides, sodium benzoate and potassium sorbate (preservatives), artificial flavor, citric acid, vitamin A palmitate, beta carotene (color).
Free association being what it is this reminds me of the picture perfect market style boutique grocery store at the Ferry Terminal which had this on it's shelves:

Which is really just another example of how here in San Francisco, in all aspects of life, tolerance and diversity win the day.

Junk food and cheap sugar will always have their place as long as there are people struggling to make ends meet, because, rather obviously, in order to have a citrus tree growing in your back yard you need to have a back yard.