Don't get me on bacon

Once upon a time tomatoes were so easy to trust,
Cut one open, slice it into slim cuts for a sandwich
A little homemade mayonaise with paprika, for a special touch,
Or just eat it like an apple;
Good wasn't it?

Then came global agriculture
Corporate farming
Hydroponic crop development
Over-fertilization
Run-off into the rivers and streams
Global economics
Hybridization
Supermarket chains
Spreading like kudzu all over the country
One or two on every corner, with more in the planning stages
To boldly meet the needs of the American consumer
And to be there when we needed them
To provide the fruit and vegetables we all need
But clearly harder to get your kids to eat,
At least in this generation.

And why do you think that is?
Look at what they were working on for us,
The scientists in their sterile laboratories,
Flourescent lights and stainless steel,
Publishing papers in their little journals
Spreading the news of their discoveries to others
And developing the thick, mealy, pink flesh
Which were picked early to ensure the safety of the fruit
Which sat on a truck for a long time of travel
To lie on your grocery shelf for a long time,
Giving us a long shelf-life,
To smugly await your ultimate purchase
When you finally realized
That nothing out there on the shelf of any other supermarket
On any other corner of any other development,
In any other suburb of any other megalopolis,
Was any better

And nothing is better thanks
To our failure to cultivate our own little gardens
Like our grandparents did in the Depression
And the Second World War,
Victory gardens to defeat Hitler and Mussolinni and Tojo,
And even in the Fifties,
When life was simpler,
And despite the fact that good tomatoes from the farms nearby
Were just as close as your corner green grocer
Or the farmer's market out on the highway,
We could still take the time to grow our own

So the Summer was be a special time
With bacon, lettuce and tomato sandwiches,
And freshly-made potato salad
And sweet iced tea with fresh, sunny lemons from Florida
Spreading the bright sunshine
Around the kitchen table with your family,
And your grandparents and cousins,

And don't get me on bacon.