Food!

I have to confess that before we came to the US I had an impression of what I thought American people might eat (and I send sincere apologies to my American friends who are reading this confession).

Burgers, donuts, cookies, thick red meat, chips, fries - anything calorific, and I'm sure I'm not alone in my thoughts. So it is with some surprise that I tell you that Californians seem to defy this impression.  There is a healthy food choice here that is unparalleled, fresh and organic all the way! I've even heard it said that if you ask a waiter here how fresh the fish is in San Fran, he looks at his watch. In fact, whether you exercise isn't the question asked - its what exercise you do. Everyone runs, everyone belongs to a gym. And people really do care about their environment. You can't buy aerosols anywhere, there are no plastic bags available, no smoking on streets, recycling points all over the place and a general feeling that everyone here cares about their waist line (I'm breathing in whilst I type).

Let me start by telling about convenience food. Last night we took the children to a local Italian restaurant called Osteria Coppa in downtown San Mateo (farm to table cuisine, no less). http://www.opentable.com/osteria-coppa

When we asked for the menu we were presented with a small I-Pad type device to 'look through our menu and read through the ingredients' across the scrolling screen. We zoomed in to get a good look at where the lobsters came from and where the wine grapes were grown. And all menus have the calorie content of the meal listed next to the item on the menu. I would never have believed that a cobb salad had more calories than a burger! Dan keeps chuckling at this, having watched me eat the said salad last week with a drooling eye on his burger, which of course he refused to share. The salad had twice as many calories!

Osteria Coppa, San Mateo

And its not just in restaurants.  Photographic evidence of our local supermarket Whole Foods below.

Annie at the fresh veg section of Whole Foods

OK, so there are probably supermarkets around that don't quite offer this selection! This is most certainly the Waitrose of choice.  And admittedly, locals call it 'Whole Paypacket' because of the prices....!

Fresh, local crab

The fresh fish counter

And, you're right. There is a cake section.

But the cheese section is pretty impressive, with some 'local' favourites. 

And the Californian olives, and choice of nuts and dried fruit is pretty impressive!

Olives!!

Dried fruit and nuts

But Whole Foods should come with a warning to its customers. In the San Mateo store there is a very strange British woman who takes photographs whilst she shops....don't approach her. You have been warned.

Finally, it was after we left Whole Foods with our camera that I was able to take the following photograph. Yes, that's right folks. A random guy doing weights on the street. Literally, on the side of the road outside an apartment block.

Only in America, right?