What color is local?

Two nights ago the moon was a gorgeous deep pumpkin shade of orange. My photography skills aren’t up to the challenge of a worthwhile snapshot of such a nighttime beauty. My writing skills need more practice to capture the view I enjoyed about 4 am~ish. I won’t begin to denigrate what I watched by ascribing a pantone number to it. According to my copy of the book The Color of Nature, the moon I enjoyed in early June was about the same shade of orange as the deep orange of a Sumatran Tiger. If I hadn’t looked it up, I wouldn’t have thought of that comparison.

farmers market: all local?

Photo by J. Harrington

Colors, or, more precisely, the words for colors, are but one of the topics on which we humans often find ourselves in difficulties. I remember some years ago doing a little research on the word “organic,” as it relates to food. Those who were more adamant about the original intent of organic food production believed that the agreed upon definition used by the Department of Agriculture was / is a corruption. The last time I checked, there still wasn’t an agreed upon, explicit definition of regenerative agriculture. According to a recent article in The Guardian, The truth about ‘local’ food in US supermarkets: ‘It’s a marketing gimmick’ A good part of that problem may derive from Congress and the U.S. Department of Agriculture providing a variety of definitions of “local.” 

In developed countries, consumers are faced with a variety of competing products, very similar in nature, and the differences are obscured by marketing and sales terms that are intended to obfuscate as much as enhance a product’s functional pros and cons. Reviews frequently provide some comparative analysis but many consumers fail to have a clear definition of their own needs.

Waayyy back when I was in college, I learned that there are three kinds of lies: “Lies, damned lies, and statistics.” That pretty well covers both language and math as a source of mis and disinformation. I’m thinking that a week long general strike by consumers might get the attention of the corporatocracy and bureaucracy enough to convince them that honesty as the best policy enhances profits more than “caveat emptor!” Do you think we’ll ever agree on what the meaning of the word “is” is?

Letter to the Local Police

By June Jordan

Dear Sirs:

I have been enjoying the law and order of our

community throughout the past three months since

my wife and I, our two cats, and miscellaneous

photographs of the six grandchildren belonging to

our previous neighbors (with whom we were very

close) arrived in Saratoga Springs which is clearly

prospering under your custody

Indeed, until yesterday afternoon and despite my

vigilant casting about, I have been unable to discover

a single instance of reasons for public-spirited concern,

much less complaint

You may easily appreciate, then, how it is that

I write to your office, at this date, with utmost

regret for the lamentable circumstances that force

my hand

Speaking directly to the issue of the moment:

I have encountered a regular profusion of certain

unidentified roses, growing to no discernible purpose,

and according to no perceptible control, approximately

one quarter mile west of the Northway, on the southern

side

To be specific, there are practically thousands of

the aforementioned abiding in perpetual near riot

of wild behavior, indiscriminate coloring, and only

the Good Lord Himself can say what diverse soliciting

of promiscuous cross-fertilization

As I say, these roses, no matter what the apparent

background, training, tropistic tendencies, age,

or color, do not demonstrate the least inclination

toward categorization, specified allegiance, resolute

preference, consideration of the needs of others, or

any other minimal traits of decency

May I point out that I did not assiduously seek out

this colony, as it were, and that these certain

unidentified roses remain open to viewing even by

children, with or without suitable supervision

(My wife asks me to append a note as regards the

seasonal but nevertheless seriously licentious

phenomenon of honeysuckle under the moon that one may

apprehend at the corner of Nelson and Main

However, I have recommended that she undertake direct

correspondence with you, as regards this: yet

another civic disturbance in our midst)

I am confident that you will devise and pursue

appropriate legal response to the roses in question

If I may aid your efforts in this respect, please

do not hesitate to call me into consultation

Respectfully yours,

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