Look it up in the dictionary!

Did you know that 'produce' actually refers to any farm-produced good, not limited to fruits and vegetables, that is generally fresh and in the same state as it was grown? I had no idea.

This is how much the supermarket has shaped the way that we think about food... that even a girl who was born and raised on a farm (who now lives in a city) thinks that 'produce' only refers to what the supermarket refers to it as. Kind of scary how little we actually know.

I have finally turned a corner with my thesis. Last week I presented two different design ideas to my supervisor... who to my delight liked both of them! So I bit the bullet yesterday and picked one. It's a huge relief actually, to have a direction. I finally feel like I am accomplishing something... like maybe one day I might actually finish this beast.

Traffic at the Ontario Food Terminal

Here are a couple of graphs that I whipped up this morning to indicate traffic coming through the Ontario Food Terminal, the largest wholesale fruit and vegetable market in Canada (and one of the largest in North America), which is located in Toronto.

Buyer Entries are the amount of number of registered buyers who operate stores selling fruits and vegetables, as well as restaurants, caterers, florists (yes, there is a section of flowers), and corporate buyers. these people must be registered and prove they are not the end consumer of the products they buy (i.e. you and I can not go there and buy a bushel of tomatoes, no matter how much we really, really want to).

Truck Entries are independent truckers who are bringing in produce to sell to the wholesalers at the market. These trucks can come from as far away as Florida, California and Mexico. It is interesting to note that though the OFT is located directly beside a rail line, there is essentially no rail transported goods at the terminal.

The data shows exactly what I want it to (a decline in buyer traffic), so now the task is to figure out why. I love problem solving in the morning!

Hmm...

If I was a permanent Farmers' Market and Culinary Center in Toronto, where would I be located?

Hopefully I can figure that out by the end of this week.

Late Night Laments

I have a problem and I can’t seem to fix it. Somewhere along the way, between the reading and writing and map-making frenzy, I have forgotten what I am actually trying to do. I have lost my way.

The most harmless questions have come to feel like an assault on my soul. Of course no one seems to notice the dullness I feel when they ask, “So when are you finished?” And my answer, almost automated after countless repetitions of the same spiel, has become tedious and halfhearted. I have lost my way.

The date on the calendar has come and gone. The date that I was hoping may be my last day as a student. The date, which has prevented me from graduating and joining the real world for good, has gone while I was busy making ‘stuff’ and forgetting what the point was. I have lost my way.

Somewhere, in the translation from head through hand and onto the computer screen, I forgot about being real. I forgot what it was like to get excited about learning and discovering and designing. I forgot about epiphanies, because I lost my way.

And today is the day that I start listening again. Listening to my heart, my research, and my epiphanies. Today I remember what I am trying to do, trying to make the world, my world, a little bit better. Eventually I will find my way.