The Conundrum of Free

Something I love possibly more than meat is being cheap (two loves only recently in conflict). So it's no surprise that when Pumpkin told me about the free art gallery showcases with free food/wine, I said yes! In fact, there was only free wine, and very little of it, but the art was quite good (if not a little modern for my taste). My favorite of the night was one artist who squirted out different colors of paint, building on each other to form vertical height. The result was a 3-D mirage of color. Almost worth the $10,000 price tag.

The first week in San Francisco is also free museum week and the Museum of Craft and Design generously opened their doors late. AND they had free food, in the form of salsa/guacamole/sour cream and chips, as well as tiny red velvet cupcakes and cream puffs. Even though I wasn't hungry yet (and I had thrown a half chicken into the fridge in hopes of making delicious chicken parmesan), I grabbed a bunch of chips, loaded it up with salsa and guacamole and called it night. Then, after finishing the first batch, I went for a second round. And two cupcakes. Oops.

For lunch, I had a hearty dim sum meal sponsored by my mom. We ordered the typical shrimp and pork dishes, and I gave no thought to sustainability (except that I was probably violating many rules, as shrimp is almost always from overseas, and poorly caught). I often hear of moralistic eaters in a conundrum at parties. Their mind pitted against their heart. After all, somebody important prepared and/or paid for the food. I have no similar qualms. If it's free, I'm eating it. My battle only goes as far as my wallet. If somebody is kind enough to share their food with me, I'm going for gold rather than waste and jilted feelings. Besides, food should be enjoyed in the company of others!

So today, besides my 3 persimmon (from the farmer's market) breakfast, my diet was completely dictated by others. It'll happen. But at least I got to tell my mom about sustainable meat production. Her eyes started to glaze over after I revealed the price per pound and she concluded with, "How do you know they aren't lying to you?" Oh Mom, ever vigilant.