what kinds of organics, (& variety of) are available where you live?

[Trek420]

Oakleaf and all, it takes seconds to prep fresh fruit and vegies. It's fun and relaxing. I used to be a prep chef. I love the little tricks and tips for prep, smooshing garlic with the flat of a French knife ... it's easy to do.

Lots of produce can just be eaten out of hand. I've been (still am ) living in a remodel and had no kitchen at all.

One of my favorite things to do during the worst of the mess was surf the farm market for snacks ... cherry tomatoes, sweet snap peas, almonds and nuts of all kinds .... now that I have a kitchen it's still easy to cook with those things. Toss some mixed greens into a bowl, top with the same things listed above, I can make a vinaigrette in seconds with a bowl and a fork or just pour out of the bottle (still organic). Voila.
Broil some chicken, steam fish .... whatever you want, crusty bread and you gotta meal.

I prepped for some of the best in CA but if I know anything about easy home-cooked meals it's from my Mom (who's also Duck on Wheels Mom).

At 85 she still amazes me and others at what she just tosses together. She walks to the farm market which helps keep her fit and uses produce from her small home garden.

But we can all learn these things.

Of course there are cooking shows on PBS and on the Cooking channels, and some local schools here have programs like the Edible Classroom that teach nutrition, science and other subjects by growing crops on the school grounds. One of the many things great about farm markets is you can ask "what is this thing? How do I cook it?" and talk with the growers.

[michelem]

Well, I'm in Northern California as well, but we do not have near the choices in SF. Our local (downtown) farmer's market is a joke. A smattering of booths, and nothing organic. Local, yes. Organic, no. Raley's/Bel Air and Trader Joe's have okay organic sections, but rarely local (lots from Mexico though!). Raley's/Bel Air is very expensive as well. Last night I broke down and bought a small CA organic watermelon and it was almost $8! And that was "on sale!" The BEST place around here for local, organic produce is the Sacramento Natural Foods Co-op, however, it is at least a 30 minute drive for me, each way (more in traffic). So, I only get down there a 3 or 4 times a year. Wah wah wah. We're supposed to get a Whole Foods here sometime next year.

HOWEVER, although we have a tiny yard, my hubby has already planted a peach tree and a lemon tree and next he is going to do a tomato plant and more. These will be organic and as locally grown as you can get! I can't wait until the trees/plants mature!

[Trek420]

Well, I'm in Northern California as well, but we do not have near the choices in SF. Our local (downtown) farmer's market is a joke. A smattering of booths, and nothing organic. Local, yes. Organic, no.

I'm in the East Bay and our farm markets are great. I have 3 within a few miles of me. Both have a mix of local and local/organic stuff. I wish they had them on different days. It's all on Saturday so if I'm busy .... S.O.L.

I recently was in Sonoma and there in the heart of wine country they had fewer food options. I liked their host of community groups, everything from a literacy reading garden to knitting. But fewer farmers.

Guess they are all down selling in urban Bay area

[extra-vert]

If only I had the tiniest amount of space for planting a garden - ohhhhhh

[Zen]

I am writing this between bites of green beans and new red potatoes that I bought from a Mennonite road stand today.
incredible quality, don't know if it's organic but it's local.

I also bought an onion, 2 squash, whole buncha little baby beets, blueberries and cherries.
The produce was all so beautiful I got a little carried away.
My total was fourteen dollars. How does that compare to CA?

[Trek420]

My total was fourteen dollars. How does that compare to CA?

I'd say that is very good!

[extra-vert]

One of my favorite things to do during the worst of the mess was surf the farm market for snacks ... cherry tomatoes, sweet snap peas, almonds and nuts of all kinds .... now that I have a kitchen  it's still easy to cook with those things. Toss some mixed greens into a bowl, top with the same things listed above, I can make a vinaigrette in seconds with a bowl and a fork or just pour out of the bottle (still organic). Voila.
Broil some chicken, steam fish .... whatever you want, crusty bread and you gotta meal.

Trek420 - very good point! It seems such a 'misnomer' what's the word I seek here, that people think it's such an effort to throw fresh stuff together - I do it all the time. And, btw, yes, it's actually very therapeutic and relaxing after a long day. It's an area of our lives that has become contagiously described as "too much time and effort". It's almost like an urban legend with a lot of momentum. So to just stop and reconsider that it's not that much more effort is a good thing. Time consuming is when one gets into calorie counting and carb watching and measuring - forget about it!
I will share with you though, my favorite fast processed, (somewhat) dinner:

Take those cheapie ramen noodles in the plastic pack for $.25, throw away the seasoning packet that comes w/, (way too much sodium & crap). Boil the noodles with a little salt and sesame oil. Sliver, (really skinny slivers) of green bell pepper to throw in maybe half way. Steam some broccoli. Throw and egg or two into the noodles towards the very end. Mix the broccoli in, throw in some soy sauce. Put it all in a big bowl and throw some sesame seeds on top. You can totally be on the forum blogging away in between all of this prep. Of course the healthier approach is a less processed noodle, like a buckwheat soba noodle, but the processed ones are my little spoiling indulgence!

[extra-vert]

Michelam, what about Rainbow grocery in SF or that store, (drawing a blank) in Berkeley that's just like Rainbow, but not just vegetarian? Maybe you're in South bay somewhere, but I love Rainbow. Then, I also have the corner produce markets in my hood in walking distance.

[michelem]

Thanks extra-vert. I'm in Folsom, about 25 miles northeast of Sacramento. Yes, the Bay Area has a much better selection. Sac has GREAT farmers markets as well as the Sac Co-op, but I REALLY REALLY hate to drive! When we moved here, I told my hubby I didn't care if we had to live in a trailer, I wanted to be within 5 miles of my office.

[extra-vert]

Got it.

[redrhodie]

Here in Newport, I have a natural market within one mile. The grocery store, also within a mile, has some organics, but not a great selection. I get nearly all my vegetables from the local farm co-op I belong to, about 10 miles away. Lots of beets and greens so far, it's still early in the season for us. We also have a farmer's market a couple of blocks away on Wednesdays, which is tiny, but I'm glad it's there. Guess I'm one of the lucky ones.

[OakLeaf]

I just don't have the knife skills, and it's not for lack of use. I cook all the time (used to be daily) and it always takes me 2+ hours to make a meal from scratch with more than 3-4 vegetable ingredients - especially if there are a lot of different seasonings that need to be measured and ground. Even something really simple like pressure cooker risotto with just onion and garlic and two vegies takes me an hour and a half from apron to table. That large bunch of broccoli? Washing, trimming, peeling the stems will probably take me 10-15 minutes. One of these days I'll take a knife skills class at Sur La Table.

I was lucky in that my parents taught me a LOT of things around the kitchen (baking bread, making tofu, making butter, cleaning fish, canning, making candy, etc.), but knife skills just weren't one of them.

But... how many of the people that were the topic of the original message are going to take the time to learn knife skills? How many probably don't even realize that there is a quicker way to do things? How many of them would just be totally intimidated even going into a cook's store?

/okay, this is a little drifty. But as I understood the OP's thrust, it had to do with people's ability to cook healthy, and all I'm trying to say is you have to look holistically at their ability, not just whether the ingredients are available for purchase. (which as I mentioned, they aren't always.)