About six years ago, I went through a period of constant fatigue. It came over gradually, and I noticed it because I was feeling tired everyday and nothing helped. I was worried and a bit scared. I went to the doctor’s but there was nothing wrong with my blood test.
I was living in Hoboken at the time. Iridesco, the design studio Danny and I started, was in its third year and we were getting by. We worked long hours and ate out a lot. I consumed a lot of cheap pasta, pizza, fried rice and Indian food.
A friend of mine heard about my diet, and suggested that I tried cooking and eating more home-cooked meals. She explained to me that restaurants often use cheaper ingredients and bad oil, and our body needs to work extra hard to process all that junk.
So I started cooking again. I heard about the farmers’ market in Union Square. I bought a loaf of peasant bread for the first time in my life (from Bread Alone) and was amazed by the taste (and still am every weekend when I have their bread fresh). I started to watch what I eat. And gradually I got better and felt fine again.
After getting back to cooking, I became interested in the ingredients. I started to notice the difference between produce from the farmer’s market and those from the supermarket. These days, I favor organic and local food not just for moral and health reasons, but mainly because they taste (a whole lot) better. My wife and I enjoy trying out the different varieties the market offers (who knew there are so many kinds of potatoes!). There’s also something about just going along with whatever the season offers, even though it gets kind of sad and boring during the winter.
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