What would I miss most? Probably coffee. Could I live without it? Sure. I could also live without dates and mango, I don't particularly care for either. Sugar beets are grown and processed only 50 miles from me, so that's not a problem. My favorite olive oil is Schiabicca's, grown and processed in California.

Cinnamon I'd miss, ditto pepper, although I'm told that dried nasturtium seeds could sub for black pepper and since nasturtium blossoms do indeed taste "peppery", that might be possible.

We're creative cooks and creative people, I'm sure it wouldn't be long before we found substitutes, just as diabetics have found substitutes for sugar and those of us with high cholesterol have found substitutes for unhealthy fats.

Annie

I would miss imported fruits such as mango, and imported fishes, but I would also miss the diversity that has blessed our supermarkets in the past 20 years or so. My children have such a broader and more interesting diet than I did as a child. I know that my mom, growing up, was hardly exposed to anything. Then she met my dad, a southerner, and his mom exposed her to things she'd never even heard of, such as eggplant and okra. I feel like we've now gone to the next step and I would miss that.

Nancy

Oh, definitely cinnamon, coffee, curry and cocoa! Never acquired a taste for black pepper and olive oil so I wouldn't miss those (those would go in the cooking confessions thread cuz I always substitute or leave out LOL).

Coffee, absolutely. I'd never be the same.

Coffee, cocoa, pepper and spices - most of the rest...ehhh?

Me, too -- coffee. My drug of choice.

Coffee is the only thing that I'd have a hard time going without. There are some other things I really enjoy that we can't grow here but I could easily make do.

Nancy

Tea.

Scotch and Gin.

And I'd miss DW who I'd have to lose because she's a mess without coffee.

I would most definitely miss chocolate, coffee, cinnamon, pepper and Spanish olive oil.

I'd be one cranky #$&*$%^ without my coffee!!!
Otherwise, I could easily adapt.
I would miss cinnamon, but I'm not going to kill anybody if I don't have it. Coffee is another story.

Deanna

The US stretches from sea to shining sea, and to some islands in the middle of some of the seas.
We pretty well have the climate to grow most anything we need...but the industry has not been developed to grow spices. However Kona coffee is among the best...and I'll bet we could grow cinnamon and tea on Guam, and vanilla in St Croix and Florida.
Now you see what Colombus was seeking when he stumbled across this continent, and why it was so important to Queen Isabella?
Linda C

Tea
Cocoa/Chocolate
Mustard
French, English, and Italian Cheeses
Flowers

Garlic hands down! I know California produces garlic but you can't find it in my part of Canada. The only garlic I can get most of the year comes from China. In the summer we can get local garlic but that's 3 months out of 12. I don't think I could cook without garlic.

Coffee I could care less about, although Clive would be moving in with James' wife!

Just don't even suggest there would be no tea. Think I better start a stash!

Well, I would trust imports from Europe, overall, but not from China. I am careful not to buy food from China - very common for the garlic here to be from China...if they can't make safe toothpaste or heparin then I really don't want their allium either.

Britain has a great thing going about local food. I'm all in favor of knowing where my food comes from, who grows it, etc...

In Holland, they eat much more seasonally than in the States. It's just not natural to have certain foods all of the time - you must wait for the seasons. I think it makes you appreciate things more...

seagrass

We are net importers of even such basics as sugar. CA olive oil represents a measly 1% of all US consumption according to the University of CA, Davis. Kona coffee might be great but Hawaii cannot meet US demands...can you imagine the lines at Dunkin' Donuts? :)

Also, it takes time to develop new industries of any nature including food crops. It takes 3 years from planting a vanilla vine to harvesting a bean & production, if possible at all, would be limited to south Florida. The bottom line is that the US is soon to become a net importer of food. We already are of many items that have become common in American homes.

Globalization has both spoiled us & put us at risk. My parents ate a mostly northern & western European diet. My generation eats a much more diversified diet. I'd not enjoy going back to just what was available to my Mom. Sure, we could survive but there would be a lot of changes in our household.

I'd miss the tropical fruits the most. We each eat 3-4 pieces of fresh fruit a day & the diversity we have now is really nice. I make black bean/mango salsa a lot. We love the stuff on top of grilled salmon.

/tricia

I'm actually not very fond of fruit, I'd much prefer vegetables. Kiwi, pineapple and pomegranite all make my mouth sore, for some reason, and I can't eat grapefruit because I'm taking Lipitor. I haven't bought a grape since my own vines frosted last year because they are just not very good. I bought strawberries last week and like the tomatoes, they are not as good as the styrofoam packaging they came on. So, yes, we import things and have them year round. Are they very good? Some of them are, but many of them are not.

Additionally, if people would buy more American products we'd not be such huge consumers of imports. We buy imports because they are cheap and they are available, not because we can't buy American or local replacements. Would it take time to adapt, to change our habits? Of course. Would it be possible? Certainly.

Further, I'll go without before I knowingly buy goods from China, better to be "deprived" than be poisoned.

Chase, don't worry about the garlic. I grow my own, I'll share. I'll even plant extra! I have a nice, hot, albeit small variety that stores nicely for several months.

Annie

I'd miss coffee and chocolate a lot. And no real Parmesan would be hard. As a Californian, becoming a locavore would be less hard for me than for others. The Watsonville strawberries have been wonderful for 6 weeks, my garlic is also just down the road and the produce in the farmers market has been lovely. But prices on all food stuff have been climbing, local or not, and I don't think it's going to get better for quite awhile.

No, Annie. Buying more American crops isn't what I was asking about. I can't buy more American cinnamon because there isn't any. It has nothing to do with cost. My pantry is full of international foods. It's about the diversity we enjoy now because of globalization.

We are approaching being a net importer of food now. If all imported food were to cease then could the US feed itself? How long? Demands on our existing production would increase dramatically. You wouldn't be able to afford the CA olive oil you prefer. Sure, you could use corn oil but that's not my point either. My point is to draw attention to the extent we rely on the international community for our food. It would be difficult to be isolationist...if not impossible. I'm all for globalization, in most instances, but the food crop thing bothers me a bit. Remember how quickly store shelves went empty a few years back when there was the dock workers strike? I remember it because DH wanted a new travel alarm clock & we couldn't find one anywhere in town due to the strike. Imagine our grocery stores if suddenly there was no imported food. I couldn't even make my favorite chili recipe. :(

/tricia

"Chase, don't worry about the garlic. I grow my own, I'll share. I'll even plant extra! I have a nice, hot, albeit small variety that stores nicely for several months."

********

How can I be added on the list Annie??? I want some too. LOL!!!

I know what you're getting at, Tricia, but frankly, I think we're spoiled. We're used to getting whatever we want, whenever we want it. Could we feed ourselves? Yes, I believe we could, and probably in a much healthier fashion than our currently fat/sugar/salt soaked society does. Would it be as diverse? Of course not.

However, we only buy 1% of our olive oil from American producers? Why? Could our supply be expanded to supply it all? Possibly, I don't know, but we could sure supply more of it than we do.

I don't believe it would have to be the devastating event that you picture. Was your husband able to do without that travel alarm the minute he decided he wanted it? Of course, just like I'd do without cinnamon. I'm far more concerned about threats to our domestic shipping practices than about imports from other countries.

As for that garlic, Chase, just plant it in a pot. Mine grows in the flower box in front of my house here in town because it has to stay in the ground all winter and I always forgot about it in the spring and plowed it up!

Dixie, maybe I could quit my job here and make a living growing garlic in Michigan, where all the Master Gardeners told me I couldn't grow it, ya think?

Annie

i thought long and hard on this one and although i do enjoy things from other areas, there's not a thing i can think of that i can't grow myself or purchase in my own country - although i can't say i really know where salt comes from, and that i would definitely miss.

my parents introduced us to all types of food as we were growing up and we never lacked. what was maybe not prepared in our home certainly was in any number of relatives' homes. we also grew (and still do) much of what we eat, and other than chickens early on (no longer allowed), we didn't raise livestock. it used to be a real treat to wait for certain fruit or veggie seasons. i do have the world available to me, but there are things i just don't purchase - namely tomatoes. if they aren't coming direct from my garden or someone else's, i don't want them.

i'm not much for prepared or packaged foods and i try to be very careful of reading where things are coming from. today as i was shopping, i wanted a particular piece of fish, but the boy working the counter couldn't tell me where it was from, so i passed.

excellent "food for thought" tricia,

maryanne

Annie, I don't think we're on the same page. I'm talking about how we enjoy the diversity of our global food chain. It's not "devastating" that I couldn't make my favorite chili. It would, however, be missed.

I'm also considering the many different cultures in the US today that were not so heavily represented a hundred years ago. Globalization has allowed our new immigrants who have food traditions that are very different to our European heritage to continue making family favorites. I'm sure they'd miss familar foods.

My question was what you'd miss the most...not whether we could survive without or adapt. I think most of us use international foods every day in our kitchens.

The Univ. of CA, Davis report says that even if CA's entire olive crop were crushed for oil less than 10% of the US consumption needs could be met. I have no idea how much land is available in CA to plant olive trees. I do remember though that it takes about 10 years for an olive tree to reach fruiting maturity. You get small crops after 4-5 years but not enough for commercial production. There are climate problems outside CA.

/tricia

PS DH did need the alarm. He was off to the corporate retreat & there's no telephone, TV, nor cell service. It was his weekend to do corporate b@llshit 'meditating' alone in the woods. He didn't want to miss his return flight! We kept driving until we found a clock. rofl

Neither of you already had an alarm clock? Or a watch with an alarm? Really?

OK, so you want to know what I'd really miss. Just coffee, and I'd live without it relatively easily. Hmmm. I wonder if I could grow that in a pot? LOL

Annie

I'm surprised more of you haven't mentioned mustard. I would really miss MUSTARD!

We are all in each other's back yard now - the world is united as never before - like it or not. I like to be as positive as I can be about the way things are, and not dwell on the way things used to be.

The only thing bothering me right now is Tibet - but even on that topic there are good and bad points to the story, believe it or not.

I'm trying to be as Dalai Lama as possible about life -- do these robes look good on me? LOL.

Coffee, chocolate and cinnamon. I always buy Michigan sugar (from sugar beets) and can get most other items from here in the USA, but our climate just doesn't allow for much coffee, chocolate or cinnamon plantations!

DG - You'll be happy to know mustard flourishes in northern California.

Annie - you could probably growa coffee tree, but whether you'd get any beans is another matter. They take several years to bear fruit, then only produce between 5-10 pounds a year. (Unless fertilized and genetically manipulated out the wazoo.) And, naturally, the suckiest coffee trees produce the most cherries.

Sure, we could feed ourselves. We wouldn't like it because we're spoiled rotten and want everything that we want immediately if not sooner, at our fingertips, at dirt cheap, thank you very much. ;)

I'd miss spices and tea the most.

This was something the Kingsolver family debated when they decided to live on locally produced for for a year, and wrote about it in their book, "Animal, Vegetable, Miracle, a Year of Food Life." They were going to live entirely on locally produced foods, including foods they produced themselves. But, when push came to shove, they decided there were just some imported items they couldn't bring themselves to do without. So, they made exceptions for those things. I think they were along the line of what's already been mentioned: olive oil, coffee, and maybe chocolate.

I don't know which I'd miss more, coffee or chocolate. Probably coffee, no, chocolate, no coffee. Um, maybe chocolate. And then y'all reminded me about pepper. I put black or white or both kinds of pepper on nearly everything I eat, even popcorn. I'd certainly miss that, but it wouldn't compare to chocolate or coffee. I'd miss olive oil, too, and use it nearly every day, but wouldn't miss it as much as chocolate or coffee.

Sally

Olive Oil, Black Pepper, Balsamic Vinegar, Stilton, Nutmeg, Hungarian Paprika, & good Gin. And Jamaican rum.

I'm living abroad and on a subtropical island where many of the items mentioned can be grown so I'd miss different things. Coffee trees are for sale in the local nurseries and I've seen one growing in a friend's garden. Knowing when to harvest and how to toast the beans would be something folks would have to learn, as coffee growing is just for hobbyists and is not an industry here. Bananas will also grow in every garden, as will papayas and other tropical fruits, such as mango.

I have a cinnamon plant growing in a pot but I also don't know how to harvest it as it's always green. Perhaps cocoa would also grow here.

But I'd miss the other cold climate fruits such as apples which will grow here at higher elevations up the mountain but presently not in such quantity for it to be a commercial enterprise. I'd miss some imported German and English sauces and Wolf would miss German sausages. And of course we'd both miss the occasional European chocolate bar.

I think we could manage living from locally grown produce, fish from the islands (although I'd miss salmon) and local poultry.
Certainly folks would have to grow a few more things in their gardens though. And they'd have to get rid of a few hotels and golf courses in order to give the land back to the farmers lol.

SharonCb

"Thank God for Tea! What would the world do without tea? How did it exist? I am glad I was not born before tea."

Reverend Sydney Smith 1771-1845

Sharon, you wouldn't have to worry about garlic. I'd keep you supplied. There are a number of growers out here.

I'd probably miss Coffee since it isn't grown in Canada.

Ann

Definitely coffee.

I'm not 100% certain, but I believe that the United States is one of only three or four nations that is capable of feeding itself totally on domestic production.

I'm with MRSMARV, my life would be bereft without tea! I just cannot get into herbal tea. Without real tea, I would make do with ginseng tea, which would probably soon go completely extinct in the wild! I like coffee, but tea completes me, lol! Kona coffee happens to be my favorite!

I'd have a very difficult time too without pepper, cinnamon, and cumin. There is wild ginger and wild mustard in the US, I've had them and . . . eh.

We are so very lucky here in the US and I hate to see people take our blessings for granted. I've been eating a peasant diet anyway since I became unemployed. Bread, pasta, rice, potatoes, onions, carrots, cabbage and apples and various types of beans are my staples. There's a million varieties of just that stuff. Add peanut butter and jelly to that mix and I already feel pretty lucky!

I would miss bananas but could live without them. Maybe if bananas weren't so cheap our paw paw crop would take off! I've heard they taste something like bananas. The one time I had one in the wild it tasted like soap, but I was told it wasn't ripe.

This is actually very eye opening to me as people mention things I just take for granted, and hadn't thought about being imported. Cumin is imported? I'd miss that for sure. How can you have chile without cumin? I love cumin in so many dishes, and it is so unique.

"We are so very lucky here in the US and I hate to see people take our blessings for granted. Amen to that!

Sally

I like coffee a lot, but I could get by without it. Same for chocolate. Both are Western hemisphere products, so maybe we don't need to worry.

Chiles are easily grown and can provide the picante of other spices.

On the practical level, I would miss the many products of all kinds I shop for in oriental grocery stores. It has become easy to get ingredients for Chinese, Japanese, Korean, Thai, etc., dishes that once were difficult to find. I would miss that.

Jim

Coffee, chocolate, and spices in that order for me.

Like Annie mentioned, I think we could feed ourselves if it came down to it. Choices would be limited for sure. My Grandparents were both farmers and for the most part survived off of the land they farmed. Yes they did trade and sell things for others but more or less they did good with what they could get within a 60 mile radius from the farm.

David

"Coffee, absolutely. I'd never be the same."

What Shaun said. You don't want to know me, before my 2 cups of coffee in the morning. DH knows not to talk to me.