Thursday, March 25, 2010

I’d like to regale you with a tale of two sandwiches tonight. “Tale” may be overstating it, actually, because there’s nothing so involved as a story here. It’s more a recollection, some memories that illustrate my current relationship with organic foods. It’s traditionally been touch-and-go. On one hand, I understand why the industry exists. I’ve seen Food, Inc. I get it. The health benefits, the sustainability, the humane treatment of livestock. But on the other hand, I balk at the expense, and in the back of my mind I’ve always wondered whether the whole movement was an agri-industrial complex conceived by people who don’t believe in showers and name all their firstborn “Star Child.”

The first sandwich in question was the new Bacon & Blue burger from Wendy’s, and the road to this burger began, as it always does, with an advertisement. An online ad, no less. Normally I’m immune to the stuff, since I’m immersed in it during office hours, but I found myself clicking on a banner a few Saturdays ago. Maybe it was the sizzling beef, or the lettuce that bounced just so, sending water droplets flying every which where, or the blue cheese crumbles that seemingly rained from the heavens. I was mesmerized. The ad spoke to me, and in short order I found myself in my car, hurtling toward the nearest location.

What I discovered was a supersized helping of disappointment. No springy lettuce. Gray, rubbery beef. Blue cheese that appeared to be aged, by the gnarled hands of ancient Cheez Whiz artisans, in a tin can. Worst of all, the Bacon & Blue tasted terrible. You figure if the patty were indeed assembled from a thousand cows, then probability dictates at least some of it would be palatable. Well, you’d be wrong. Biggie wrong, in fact.

A few days later, I pulled up to an Earth Fare for lunch. I didn’t have much in the way of expectations. But when I took that first bite into a tuna melt from the deli, it was like I had found something. The thick bread, the melted cheese, the generous helping of tuna that didn’t have any fish taste at all–it was a bounty of textures. What’s more, the sandwich was grilled. It was a delicious revelation that fundamentally reversed my distrust of panini. And unlike my experience with the Bacon & Blue, I didn’t feel as if I had been marinating in preservatives and hydrogenated oils, post-consumption. Could this be the organic difference? What’s next? If I ate enough tuna melts, would I wake up one day in a commune? More research is clearly needed, starting tomorrow.