5. Pie, Part One OR Food, Part Two

Jeff Szymanski is an ex-military man gone veggie-burning blueberry farmer who lives near Olean, New York. I found him on the internet, and he offered to fill up my “veg” tank without asking anything in return—except that I meet him early in the morning, fourteen hours after I received his message. Surrendering an opportunity to try real buffalo wings, I drive south, spending the night in Alleghany State Park and meeting Jeff around 9 AM. While he fills up my tank, I learn about his time in the military, his decision to home school his children, and the remarkable ways in which his community has become his family. He directs me to a local farm stand, then to a local restaurant called Red’s and Trudy’s, whose owner doesn’t know where the meat he serves comes from. I continue to struggle with the meaning of my fourth rule (my vow to eat only local food) as I gobble a loose meat hamburger of mysterious origin under a placard that reads, “A man’s gotta believe in somethin’. I believe I’ll go fishin’.”