​Take in the day's light
Trees absorb 'til sunfall, they
Take in the day's light

Quick disclaimer that this post is more candidly thoughtful than most here.  The thoughts within are more inquisitive based on the intersection of the human food system and nature rather than an analytical deep dive.  I had been thinking about how "ugly food" services factor into that system and this is an attempt to stitch together a big picture from tangential, interconnected thoughts. 

Hope you enjoy it!

Imagine yourself walking through your local grocery store.  You're looking for some fruits and vegetables to bring home for a week's worth of meals and you're confronted with a plethora of delightful options.  Yet, despite the brilliant display of colors and plenty before you, you're probably still going to pick up and put down at least a few of them before putting anything in your basket.  There's this feeling while you're picking your groceries that out of these options, there is some perfect pick for you in the moment.

And, hey, maybe this is true.  Maybe you're planning on making a fruit salad in a few days and you don't want the ripest fruit in the batch.  It's going to be sitting on your countertop for a few days, and you'd like to account for that.  Beyond that bit of planning, though, what is it that's making us be so selective about the food on display.  It all looks good enough to prepare meals and cook with.  Why are we doing this?

You might be thinking that this is an instinctual human behavior, ensuring we're finding the food that's best for us.  This is a correct thought.  Humans, as with all animals, do need to go through a certain trial and error when being introduced to an environment.  Before we knew which food to display, we needed to know which foods we could actually eat.  To some extent, this selection behavior could be a residual habit of our ancestral gathering selves.  But, in this environment, it's not about whether the food is edible.  Beyond that ripeness point, our selection is one primarily of luxury.  We're looking for an "ideal" food.  So where does this concept come from?

Let's dive in!

Light descends the sky
Giving way, encroaching night
Blots the forest floor

A pale purple cloud
It passes with the seasons
Under light spring rain

​Berries in needles?
Upon closer look reveals
A cone in disguise